Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Amy
I was quickly starting to think that trouble followed the Caine cousins like a hungry puppy looking for scraps.
Or perhaps they were the magnet for it. I hadn’t been sure what to expect when Wolfe invited me to breakfast, but watching a near-brawl in the parking lot hadn’t been anywhere on the list.
Of course, I had met Reagan’s boyfriend, Billy, but only once, and that had been one night at the bar.
He’d come in to play pool with a couple of his buddies, and right there in the back of the room, he’d blatantly flirted with some blonde, not to mention me.
His slimy smile had put me on edge, though, and I had stayed as far from him as I could manage.
I had suspected there was trouble in paradise, but I hadn’t realized it was quite that bad.
Having watched that asshole talk to Reagan like that made me want to go find her to see if she was all right.
Since I didn’t have to work tonight, I wouldn’t have a chance to talk to her then.
Or maybe I could. I'd just stop by the bar for a minute.
Yep. That was what I would do.
But I had to get back to work. The rest of our breakfast had gone smoothly, although Lynx hadn’t stuck around.
As soon as Rhys left, Lynx was out the door without a word to anyone.
I'd half expected Wolfe to say something about it, but he never did, and I wasn’t the type to bring it up, so we’d shared minimal small talk.
And now I was once again tucked away in the office, finishing up my filing.
I didn’t have but a few more to go, and I knew I couldn’t pretend to do it for long.
For one, I would get bored if I didn’t have something to do.
So, after tucking away the last invoices where they belonged, I got to my feet and decided I'd go back to my own office and wait for the phone to ring.
When I stepped out, I heard voices downstairs, so I peeked over the rail and noticed a tall brunette standing close to Wolfe, the two of them looking at a table.
I gave the woman a quick once-over, starting with the four-inch black pumps, the A-line skirt that molded to her curvy body, and the white silk shirt that showed off her generous breasts.
I noticed how Wolfe took a step to the side, putting some space between them as he pointed out something on the table. The woman quickly closed the distance between them, her hand coming to rest on Wolfe’s arm.
Nope.
Uh-uh.
A foreign possessiveness flooded me, and the next thing I knew, I was walking down the stairs, my boots clanging on the metal.
Wolfe’s eyes quickly shot to me, and I saw relief, as though my coming down was going to possibly save him from the woman with the red talons practically digging into his forearm.
“Hey,” I greeted, walking right up to the two of them. “I didn’t realize we had someone coming to pick up a piece today.”
Wolfe glanced at the brunette, then at me. “Amy, this is Melissa Stephenson. Mrs. Stephenson, this is Amy Smith. She’s our new office manager.”
Mrs. Stephenson.
No doubt, Wolfe had tacked that on to remind the woman that she was married.
Not that it seemed to faze her. She didn’t take her hand off Wolfe’s arm.
I gave her another once-over, starting with her professionally highlighted brown hair, her painted-on eyebrows, the fancy shimmering eye shadow, dark liner around her eyes, and the shiny gloss on her red lips. All the way down to her perfectly painted toes peeking out of her impractical shoes.
“Nice to meet you, Amy.” The woman said my name like it gave her a bad taste in her mouth.
“You, too,” I said. “Is this your dining table?”
When the two of them turned toward the table, I purposely inserted myself between them. It was almost funny considering I looked like a child standing between my parents.
“It is. Wolfe was just explaining the process to me.”
The process? Really?
How freaking hard could it be? The woman surely knew what it took to build a table, slap some stain and sealant on it.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that easy, but it shouldn’t require an educational course.
“It’ll be delivered on Friday,” Wolfe informed her, his hand sliding down my back, his finger hooking into the belt loop on the back of my jeans. Anyone looking at us would likely miss the movement, but his simple touch stole the air from my lungs momentarily.
“I’d like for you to personally deliver it,” Mrs. Stephenson said, turning to face Wolfe. “I’ll pay extra.”
Wolfe was shaking his head.
“I’m sorry,” I inserted. “That won’t be possible. Wolfe has another project he has to have completed by then.” I didn’t know that for sure, but hey, it sounded good.
Wolfe tugged at my belt loop and I had to bite back a smile.
“Then I can wait for it,” Mrs. Stephenson said. “Just pencil me in for the next available day that you can deliver it. I’m not trusting it in anyone else’s hands.”
Wolfe sighed.
“I’ll check the calendar,” I told her. “And I’ll call you to let you know.”
“That’ll be perfect.” The woman’s eyes never left Wolfe’s face.
It wasn’t enough that she was married. Based on the crow’s feet around her eyes and the permanent wrinkle in her forehead, I would guess the woman was over fifty. At least two decades older than Wolfe.
A cougar after a Wolfe.
I laughed but managed to cover it up with a cough. Sort of.
I turned to Wolfe. “I actually need your help with something upstairs, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” His eyes said he knew I was full of shit.
Ignoring him, I turned to Mrs. Stephenson. “I’ll call you this afternoon with a new appointment.”
The woman turned to Wolfe. “Walk me to my car?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Well, it looked as though I hadn’t been able to save the day after all.
I watched as Wolfe walked the well-dressed woman out the door and into the blistering Texas sun. Not knowing whether I should wait for Wolfe to return, I decided I would get back to work. Something told me he would come find me when he was ready.
“A cougar after a Wolfe,” I muttered to myself, giggling as I bounced up the stairs. “Now that’s funny.”
Wolfe
Looked as though Amy Smith was a bit of a spitfire.
I thought about how she’d discreetly come between Mrs. Stephenson and me, obviously in an attempt to protect me from the viperous woman. I liked that she had.
“I really appreciate your little helper making this happen,” Mrs. Stephenson said as I opened the door of her Lexus for her. It wasn’t that I was being overly gentlemanly, but my upbringing wouldn’t allow me to be rude. Not to a lady. Not even a man-hungry one like Mrs. Stephenson.
She rubbed up against me, the scent of her perfume assaulting my nose. I was pretty sure the woman had bathed in that shit.
“Hopefully she’s competent enough to get it taken care of correctly.”
How fucking hard could it be to schedule an appointment? Jesus. The woman made it sound like rocket science.
“She will,” I assured her, waiting as she got situated in her car.
After pushing her sunglasses on her face, the woman stared up at me. “I look forward to seeing you again.”
I nodded, then shut the door, turning to walk away before the engine started.
Thankfully, I remembered we had a box of Cedar Door T-shirts stashed on one of the shelves.
I quickly made my way over and snatched one.
I traded it for the one that had the stench of overpriced perfume and then headed up the stairs.
I found Amy in the break room, retrieving a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
I stepped inside, shut the door, then leaned against it, keeping my eyes on her. On her ass, specifically, because Lord have mercy, her ass was so damn sweet in those jeans.
I was still staring as she turned to face me. I slowly lifted my gaze to her face.
She was smiling.
I lowered an eyebrow and pinned her with a glare. “What was that?”
I saw right through the innocent countenance that washed over her features.
“What was what?” Her sweet tone didn’t fool me, either.
The corner of my mouth tipped up. The woman was something else. The more I was around her, the more I got to know her, the more I liked her. No, I didn’t know the first damn thing about her past, but I knew what I needed to in order to form an opinion. The fact of the matter was, I liked Amy Smith.
A lot.
“Come here.” I pointed to the spot directly in front of me.
Amy set the water down, then moved to the spot I'd pointed at.
Her smile was still in place. “Yes?”
I tilted my head, studying her face. “You’re so damn pretty,” I found myself saying.
That seemed to surprise her, but her smile didn’t falter. “Uh … thank you?”
“I think you’ve got a devious side,” I teased. “One I’d like to get to know better.”
“Me?” Her wide brown eyes were full of feigned innocence. “Whatever do you mean?”
“You came all the way down those stairs to protect me from that viper.”
Amy giggled. “I was thinking she was more like a cougar, but that works, too.”
Unable to resist touching her, I put my hands on her hips and pulled her against me. She placed her palms flat on my chest, slowly sliding them north toward my neck.
“I like when you touch me,” I admitted.
“I like when you touch me, too,” she said softly.
“All the things I wanna do to you…”
I hadn’t meant to say the words out loud, but rather than apologize for them, I leaned down and kissed her. Softly at first, letting her lead as I had the first time. That lasted for at least a solid minute before Amy pulled back, her eyes locking with mine.
“Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Act like I might break.”
“Amy…” Hell, I couldn’t answer that because it was true.
“Is Rhys the dominant one in this relationship?” she asked, her tone sassy.
“How’s that again?” I asked, grinning.
“Well, he kissed me like he was trying to possess me. I just thought…”
I lowered my voice, leaned in close. “Is that what you want? Me to possess you?”
“I want you to kiss me like you mean it.”