Chapter 12
Fucking hell, I’m in over my head.
I need to get my shit together, rein in the stupid fucking urges that haunt me nonstop, and get over this crush so I can focus on what’s really important.
But calling what I feel for Ivy Lane a crush seems like the understatement of the century. No, I’d say my thoughts of her are borderline obsessive at this point, and the only thing I can do is try to avoid her by smothering myself in my work.
I even went as far as moving her into her very own office, normally reserved for my executive assistant that I still haven’t gotten around to replacing. She might have a shared door to my office, but at least I can somewhat keep her from causing too much trouble with the staff.
Every morning, we get ready and eat breakfast in silence, where she makes sure I have a full glass of water and breakfast in my stomach before she lets me have any coffee. Then, we drive to the office as I force myself to go along with her small talk, answering questions and pretending I’m not thinking about how wet her pussy got for me or the pretty pink flush of her cheeks as she held back her moans.
Fuck, I’m hard all over again, just thinking about it. I think I’ve had a permanent boner since the moment she stepped through my doorway and agreed to this stupid charade. I’m afraid my cock’s going to get stuck like that because heaven knows jerking off to her every night isn’t doing a goddamn thing to help.
I don’t trust myself to be alone with her and have found an excuse every night this week to leave just so I don’t have to be.
But not tonight.
Thanks to my temporary moment of weakness, agreeing to this trivia night, I’ve got to force a smile and play nice, no matter how badly it pains me.
I look around as people start to file in, all wearing smiles on their faces. Sure, Kingsley Industries is a good place to work overall, but these folks are from my department, and I’ve never seen them so happy. Hell, Ricky threw his back out, demonstrating how to do the worm at lunch earlier this week, and is walking on a cane. But judging by the grin on his face, you’d never know it.
“Leo, could you grab a couple of pitchers of water to put on the tables? I’m going to do one more mic check,” Ivy says.
She’s wearing denim cutoff shorts and a cropped white tank top that reveals her belly button when she lifts her arms or moves just right.
She’s sexy as fuck. All smiles and sunshine.
“Sure. Yeah. I’ll go grab some.” I shake my head, trying to get my mind back out of the gutter, but she’s not making things easy for me.
I help myself behind the bar and into the kitchen, where I know Jett keeps the extra serving supplies, and grab four water pitchers from the shelf.
“What the fuck are you doing back here? You’re not wearing slip-resistant shoes or a hairnet,” Jett’s voice calls from behind me, and I spin around to face him.
“Relax. I was just grabbing some extra pitchers. Didn’t want to inconvenience you. It’s really picking up out there, and as far as I can see, you’ve only got one server working tonight …”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “Yeah, well, I had two servers call in sick, so we’re making do.” He tilts his head to the door. “If you hadn’t invited your entire company, it wouldn’t be a problem. I couldn’t find anyone to fill in so last minute.”
I scratch my chin, feeling like a dick. He’s right; I told Ivy I’d make the reservation, but it totally slipped my mind, as I was too distracted by the actual work that needed my attention.
“You got an extra pair of shoes around here?”
Jett narrows his eyes. “Leo, I don’t need any favors. I’ve got it under control?—”
“We need all hands on deck back here. I’ve got thirteen tickets waiting, and we’re approaching a forty-five-minute ticket time!” one of the guys on the line yells, and Jett just shakes his head.
“Let me bring these waters out, and I’ll be right back. I’m going to need those shoes and a hairnet.” I move past him, and I fill the pitchers with water and ice and head to the table.
“Leo, this is all amazing. I can’t believe you approved it,” Fran from accounting says as I place the waters on the table.
A smart-ass comment is on the tip of my tongue when Ivy gives me a wide-eyed look of encouragement, as if she’s mentally telling me to accept the compliment.
I swallow a gulp. “Thanks, Fran. I hope everyone has a good time. You all deserve it. It’s the least I can do.”
This earns me a proud smile from Ivy, and fuck if it doesn’t feel good to be on the receiving end of that smile. I’m so used to pissing her off that I don’t think she’s ever looked at me like she’s proud of me. She seems to be the one to see through my bullshit, even when I’m trying to do the right thing.
Ivy leans a hip on the table and faces me. “Now, was that so hard? Look at them. I didn’t know Ricky knew so much about superheroes, but he hasn’t shut up since he got here, and we haven’t even started with the trivia questions.”
“It was fucking painful actually. I think I just got a lie bump on my tongue,” I say as I start filling the empty glasses with ice water. “Listen, I know this is all supposed to help me look like a cool boss and everything, but Jett’s drowning back there in the kitchen. I’m going to go back there and help him get out of the weeds. Can you handle running everything on your own for a bit?”
“In the weeds? Who are you, and what have you done with my billionaire boss daddy?”
I send her a warning glare, and she just smiles.
“I’m not all white collar. I worked in a restaurant all through college—Jett and I both did. It’s where he fell in love with the idea of starting his own, and I realized I wanted nothing more to do with it.” I place the last cup of water down as the lights start to dim, and the rock music in the background gets a little louder.
“Don’t worry; it’s just a little mood lighting. Go help your brother. I’ve got this under control.”
She winks, and I grab her wrist before she walks away.
“Thank you for taking the initiative and pushing this. I think this is exactly what our team needed, and I never would’ve known that without your annoying nagging.”
She places a hand over her heart. “Oh, Leo, your words are so touching. You should write greeting cards.”
I press my lips together to keep from smiling. “Shut up and get up there before Ricky takes over and starts singing the Spider-Man theme song.”
“That’s an oddly specific example …”
“Trust me, you’ll have that song stuck in your head for weeks. I’m just warning you.” I loosen my grip on her wrist and rub a thumb over her soft skin. “Remember to keep things professional, okay? I’ll be back as soon as I can. I want everyone to have fun, but this is still a work event?—”
She rolls her eyes. “Relax. I’m on your side, remember?”
At that, I drop her hand and head to the kitchen. I don’t have time for her antics right now, and Lord knows, if I give her a reaction, it’ll only prompt her to keep going.
I burst through the doors, and Jett shoves an armful of gear in my chest.
“You fucking took long enough. Get dressed and meet me on the line. We’ve got tickets piled high, and I just turned off the phone because we’ve got just as many to-go orders.”
I strip off my work shirt, throw the apron over my white undershirt, and replace my leather loafers with rubber -soled, slip-resistant shoes.
A flash of steam scalds my face as I add the chilled cream to the pan.
“You’ve got to lower the heat, bro. You’re going to scald the sauce,” Jett calls from beside me as we fall into a flow state, tackling tickets and moving in rhythm.
It’s satisfying, working with my hands, seeing tangible results for my actions right before my eyes, especially after the frustrating week I’ve had. I let my body do the work and my mind take a back seat as the familiar skills brim to the surface. It feels oddly relaxing and comforting, working alongside my brother.
I feel closer to him back here, like how things were before, when life was easy and we were best friends.
I’m almost able to forget my spitfire, loose cannon of a fiancée … almost.
I just hope she’s not doing anything crazy while I’m preoccupied back here, but it’s just trivia night. How much trouble could she really cause?