Chapter Eleven #2
“I didn’t say that.” She glared at Bogs wanting him to shut the hell up as heat rose up her neck.
“Don’t feel bad, you are not the first to be surprised. He’s actually a really great guy when you get to know him.” Kenzie found that hard to believe but she smiled anyway.
Cassie finally released her hand and clapped hers together. “Am I the first?” Kenzie stared back at her. The first what?
“Whoa, baker girl, slow down and back away from my girl. Gonna send her running with all your crazy.” She glared playfully at Bogs but she quickly smiled again when he put his arm over her shoulder.
“Yes, you are the first. You get the bragging rights, get to run back to the rest of them and say you met her first.” He raised his head and inhaled. “You making brownies?”
“Well, yeah, had to make your visit worthwhile since there’s nothing wrong with me. Damn, stubborn, bossy man of mine. I mention I’m nauseous and he’s ready to call the ambulance, as if I’m the first woman in history to be pregnant.”
Now, it made sense. Not that T was married or a soon-to-be dad. She still couldn’t figure out why someone would put up with him, but his concern made sense, and it made him seem more human.
“She makes the best brownies, c’mon, you gotta have one while I have six,” Bogs said, walking further into the house.
“That’s how I got dubbed baker girl.” Cassie giggled. “It’s better than being weather girl.”
“He’s got a thing with that, huh?”
Cassie nodded.” Yep, I’m baker girl, Sadie is weather girl, but don’t ask her why when you meet her. She hates her story. And my best friend, Evie, is shy girl.”
She was secretly happy no one got her nickname.
They entered the kitchen to see Bogs shoving a brownie in his mouth. They smelled delicious.
“Please eat some, the sight of any food turns my stomach so they’ll go to waste.” She turned to Bogs. “I was giving her the history of your nicknames. So, when are you going to give Kenzie one?”
“Already did. First time I saw her.” Bogs shifted his gaze to Kenzie and the butterflies swirled in her stomach. “Isn’t that right, pretty girl?”
She didn’t think it was possible to make her a giddy middle schooler but her cheeks flushed and nothing she did could hold back her smile.
“Awww…” Cassie sniffled. Kenzie looked over to see her with tears in her eyes. Bogs calling her pretty girl was sweet and made her happy but certainly not enough to make anyone cry. Cassie shook her head. “Sorry, hormones.”
They spent the next hour at Cassie’s place discussing her hard-headed overprotective husband.
It was strange how seeing a person through someone else’s eyes could change how she saw T.
Through Cassie, he didn’t seem like such an awful guy, more like Bogs said earlier, just rough around the edges. And the middle maybe.
“So, you’ll be at dinner on Sunday?” Cassie asked her as they walked through the door.
“Um...” Kenzie didn’t know how to answer that.
“Yeah, we’ll be there. Didn’t know anything was planned though.”
Cassie blushed, looking between Kenzie and Bogs, a guilty smile curling her lips. “Well, technically, I just planned it.”
“When?”
“About ten seconds ago.” She curled her arm around Bogs’ waist. It was a familiar brotherly hug that he returned.
Once he agreed, they drove over to the office.
“She’s great.”
“There you go again, sounding surprised.” Bogs chuckled, turning onto Main Street.
He gave her a side glance. “You know, T’s actually a good guy, just has no bedside manner.
And he’s got no time for people he doesn’t care about.
That’s the thing, when you’re in, when he takes you into the fold as family or friend, he’d do anything for you. ”
She nodded and turned to look out the window. She doubted she’d ever be taken in by T.
****
They made it downtown to his office ten minutes later. He parked in his usual spot and grabbed her laptop bag before she could. She actually looked surprised when he grabbed it. He hoisted both his and her bags over his shoulders and rounded the front of the truck.
“I could have carried my own bag,” she said.
“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have been able to show all my gentlemanly skills.” He winked and walked to the back door.
“You got a lot of those?”
He unlocked the door and swung it wide and stood back. “Pretty girl, I got skills you don’t even know exist.”
Kenzie blushed taking his innuendo exactly how he meant it.
He may be playing the part but all gentlemanly manners went out the door when she strolled down the hall in front of him.
His gaze landed on her ass. Perfectly round and thick, but not overly big.
He’d always been more of a breast man but her ass had him rethinking it.
Her sway, which he figured wasn’t intentional, stirred a tingling sensation straight down to his cock.
She slowed down at they got closer to the lobby and turned around, holding out her hand. He reached over his shoulder and released her bag, handing it to her. She smiled. “Thanks.”
Even a simple gesture of thanks had him turned on.
Maybe it was the sweet spread of her lips, or the coy way she looked down at her feet.
He’d fucked her twice, made her come at least four times and scream out for God, yet she still seemed a tad shy around him.
He liked that, but he also assumed she was shy because she didn’t see this as anything more than sex.
He might have thought the same thing if not for the extreme desire to know more about her, have her spend more time in his house, with or without clothes, but just be there. There was something about her that made him feel connected in a way he’d never felt before.
“You’re welcome.”
Kenzie veered off from the hall and moved down to the conference room.
He stood frozen for a second before grabbing her arm and hauling her against his chest. She gasped, caught off guard, but it gave him the perfect opportunity.
He leaned forward, taking her lips in a strong, forceful kiss.
His tongue swiped over hers, a small moan emitted against his lips.
He wrapped his arm around her back, getting no struggle.
She fell into place as if she wanted it as much as him.
He’d never been one for public displays of affection.
Grinding on the dance floor, a hand on a knee at the bar, a woman draping herself over him in hopes of her taking him home had been the extent of display he was interested in.
Making out in public, and more importantly, the hallway of his office, went against every rule he’d set up for himself.
With this girl, the rules didn’t apply.
His shirt bunched at his waist and she tugged him closer.
His response was natural without thought.
He crushed her against his chest, containing a groan when her tongue circled his slowly.
Kissing had always been a mere foreplay to the real deal.
But with Kenzie, kissing her got him hard and on the edge of unloading in his pants like a senior at prom.
The weight of her body pushing forward had his unsteady feet wobbling.
He was the real sucker here. He started the kiss determined to knock her off her feet and she was doing the exact same thing to him. Her lips spread further apart into a smile against his mouth when they parted an inch. That fucking smiling.
“Making out in the hall is frowned upon at most work places.”
“Being the boss has it perks.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Come in my office, I wanna show you something.”
Her gaze immediately dropped to the crotch of his pants. She pushed away with faux shock but he read her eyes. “I bet you do.”
“Boss’s orders?” He cocked a brow and watched her lips tighten, trying desperately to refrain from laughing.
Kenzie shook her head and giggled. “You’re forgetting, Bogs, you’re not my boss. You’re just my captor.” She winked, stepped into the office and closed the door. He stepped forward. He wanted her. Again. And again.
Moral and ethical integrity didn’t stop him, the ringing of his phone had saved her from being bent over the conference table in ten seconds flat.
“Yeah,” he answered, making his way into his office. He flicked on the light and waited for a response. He looked down at his phone to a blocked number.
“You have something that’s mine and I’d like it back.”
A chill ran down his spine. It had nothing to do with the tone of the voice or the man it belonged to.
It was the words he had used. Kenzie was not his, she was his.
He had to play this right. Going off on the man claiming Kenzie as his own would relieve him of the upper hand he currently held. He sat at his desk and chuckled.
“What would that be exactly?”
“Don’t insult me, you know what I’m fucking talking about, mainly who.
” There was a frustrated edge Bogs hadn’t picked up on before.
Dante may play the part as the man in charge but he wasn’t.
The money they stole wasn’t his but he was certainly responsible for it, and if not returned, that fell on Dante’s shoulders.
His frustration stemmed from desperation and a desperate man was a dangerous breed.
“Ahhh… you mean the girl.”
“I may not scare you but I should. This girl stole from the club, a club that is run by me, but owned by someone else. Someone I can guarantee you do not want to cross paths with.”
Bogs smirked. “You’re a cryptic motherfucker.”
A heavy sigh from the other line was drawn out dramatically. “I can see this isn’t getting us anywhere. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Hold up, Dante. I get that you want your money and ya got people to answer to, but this girl? She’s not the one you want. She was merely caught up in someone else’s shit.”
“Not my problem.”
“It kinda is ‘cause even if I handed her over now, you’re still out the twelve grand.”
His nasty snarl put Bogs on edge. “Then she can work it off to pay us back. On her back and on her knees.” That struck a nerve in Bogs.
Hold it together, man. His hand clenched into a painful fist. Men like Dante lived for throwing people off guard for intimidating and getting into his head. Dante was smart but Bogs was smarter.
“Twelve grand is a lot of cash, it’ll take some time.
And while you may eventually make that money back, I’m thinking the man you answer to isn’t going to be patient.
If I had to guess, your ass is going to be demoted, quick as fuck, and you’ll be back to doing bitch work.
” Bogs forced a snicker. There was nothing funny about this but he had to make Dante think.
With the silence, Bogs knew he had him.
“I’m willing to offer my help locating Taylor.”
Dante scoffed. “And why would you do that?”
Bogs leaned forward onto his elbows. “It’s not right this girl goes down for something she was never really a part of,” he lied. “I help you nab Taylor, you back off Kenzie. Deal?”
Dante said nothing and Bogs waited. Corissa walked through the door holding a folder and eyed him suspiciously. He could just imagine how wound up he must look. His muscles were threatening to split.
“Fine. One week.”
“Done.”
“You’d do best not to cross me, Mr. Garrison.”
“No worries, man.” Bogs ended the call and sat back in his chair.
Corissa inched forward. “Um…you okay?”
“Yeah.” He took a deep and laughed. “Just making a deal with the devil.”
Corissa widened her eyes and dropped the file on his desk. “So, the usual?”
Bogs laughed and reached for his laptop.
The whole story he gave Dante was bullshit.
When they did find Taylor, he wouldn’t turn her in, but for now that was the story he’d go with to keep them both safe.
He didn’t fully trust Dante to take his word.
He would stick to the plan of keeping Kenzie close and hidden at Jonah’s until it was all settled.