Chapter 4 #2
Trixie had no intention of falling in love, but man, she craved it.
Worse, she craved it with Cayden, Mr. Cocky Biker.
So maybe working towards a relationship wouldn’t be such a bad thing with him.
Maybe, when it ended, she could at least say she tried.
Maybe knowing she’d put the effort in would make it less painful when he walked.
Because he would walk. They all walked.
Cayden didn’t know what was going through Trixie’s mind, and it was killing him. Jeff had interrupted them before he’d gotten any response out of her. He’d laid out his intentions to her, and he had no idea what her thoughts were. Stupid Jeff and his rotten timing.
In hindsight, Cayden probably could have picked a better time to all but profess his love for her.
Cayden was under no illusions. He wasn’t in love with Trixie, but he knew it was only a matter of time.
She was perfect for him in every way, and he couldn’t risk her falling into another’s arms. That would kill him faster than any bullet or shiv.
He wanted to stop her before she entered the breakroom. He needed to know her thoughts. But Jeff was chatting away next to him, and there were others around. It would have to wait. He’d promised her he’d be professional outside her office, and he needed to keep that promise.
Finally admitting how much he wanted her and how often did get him thinking, though.
He was clean. They tested him every six months while in prison.
He also hadn’t had sex in roughly three years.
He didn’t know if she was on any type of birth control, but he wouldn’t risk it regardless.
The second he got her explicit permission, he would be inside her.
Which meant he needed to pick up some condoms next time he was out.
That would be difficult. If he wasn’t at work, he was at the house.
That was the terms of his parole. The only exception was if he was off property with either Mr. or Mrs. Wynn, who viewed Trixie as a daughter and were not oblivious to his attraction to her.
Maybe he could get one of the other residents to pick up the condoms for him.
Geordi was out, but maybe Paul. Definitely not Victor.
He still hadn’t forgotten how the arsonist had stared at her last Sunday.
He wasn’t familiar enough with any of the other residents to ask them for a favor so personal.
Paul had a furlough trip coming up with his wife.
Mr. or Mrs. Wynn wouldn’t think twice about him picking up such supplies.
Cayden would just have to make sure to slip Paul the necessary cash for the transaction.
He had to bury his frustration that he needed someone else to purchase something as simple as a pack of condoms for him.
Plan set, Cayden followed Jeff into the employee breakroom.
Jeff gestured for Cayden to follow him, but he shook his head.
He was better in the back. He needed some space between him and Trixie, plus he wanted to watch how she interacted with her employees and how they interacted with her.
There was a lot of temptation sitting outside those doors, and he might not be the only one with the skills to take it.
Trixie said she trusted her employees, but one of her trusted employees had also been easily conned into handing over the keys to an Aston Martin to Cayden last Friday.
Speaking of which, that employee—his embroidered coverall said Gary—shifted in his seat and caught sight of Cayden. Recognition set in before confusion. Cayden gave him a chin lift but didn’t offer up any information. It was up to Trixie to introduce Cayden.
Calling the meeting to order, Trixie sat on top of the far circular table, facing the rest of them.
Around her table sat Jeff, a woman wearing a pantsuit, and a man who was far too attached to his cell phone.
Cayden immediately had them pegged as her managers.
Jeff was obviously her head mechanic, the woman and her manicured long fingernails was the head of sales, and the man and his quick thumbs was in charge of marketing.
There were three other round tables with six chairs each around the room.
Directly in front of Cayden were the mechanics.
Their coveralls and blue-collar appearance gave them away.
To their left sat the sales team in their spiffy outfits and perfect hairdos.
All the way over to the right was the mismatched table.
He figured the woman in her thirties was in marketing, because her thumbs were in a clear contest with the man at Trixie’s table.
There were two men whom Cayden had spied in the bay last week and knew they were painters.
Then there was a young man who looked completely out of place surrounded by so many adults.
He had a notebook and pen out, which Cayden found interesting. Who used pen and paper anymore?
Bringing his attention back to Trixie, Cayden surmised that she had a good crew.
How each of them worked individually and with each other, Cayden didn’t know yet, but she had a decent size staff for her operation.
He needed to make sure to compliment her on that.
He was concerned for her business and personal security.
He didn’t need her thinking he was coming in and taking over what she’d worked so hard to build.
The talking halted immediately as soon as Trixie sat down, as if planting her cute little ass on that table was equivalent to a judge’s gavel. Damn, now the image of Trixie in a sexy judge’s robes was stuck in his head.
He had to close his eyes and take several deep breaths.
When he opened them, he tried to casually glance down as he silently ordered his cock to behave.
Yeah, maybe telling her he would wait until she begged him to sleep with her wasn’t the brightest idea he’d ever had.
In fact, right now, his dick was calling him all sorts of stupid.
“I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.” She crossed her legs before her on the table.
“I’ve got two announcements to make before we go over this week’s schedule, but first.” She reached behind her and pulled out a large mason jar.
There were several dollar bills in it. Cayden cocked his head to the side in wonder. “Who has something they want to share?”
Several employees raised their hand, a dollar bill in each one. What the hell was this?
Trixie passed the jar to a mechanic in coveralls to her right.
He stood to collect the jar from her, dropping the bill into it.
He remained standing. Cayden was sure his name was Will.
He was one of the men Cayden had talked to on Friday to win his kiss.
The man’s smile was wide as he announced, “Ashley’s pregnant! ”
The uproar through the room made Cayden jump.
He was not used to such celebrations and camaraderie.
When he’d been younger, he’d viewed the Black Pythons MC as a family, as brothers.
But they weren’t. He hadn’t been their brother, he had been their pawn.
Each member trusted each other to do their assigned jobs, but when push came to shove, it was each man for himself.
Always.
This was a family. He’d never seen or even heard of a workplace like it before. Trixie, and likely Bobby too, had cultivated a family out of strangers.
Watching as Will was slapped on the back, his hand outstretched to shake as many hands as he could, and that smile on his face…
Cayden realized this was Trixie’s world.
She trusted these people to do their assigned jobs, but there was also affection, loyalty.
They had her back as much as she had theirs.
Cayden still didn’t understand the significance of the jar of cash, but he definitely caught onto the ritual.
As everyone settled back down, Trixie hopped off the table with ease.
She hugged Will tightly, and though it was completely platonic and in view of everyone in the room, Cayden’s green-eyed monster reared its nasty head.
It took everything in him not to tear the two of them apart and declare that Trixie was his.
Yeah, he was definitely not used to this sort of environment.
After Trixie and Will retook their seats, the jar was passed to the next employee who dropped his dollar bill in and announced that he’d finally booked his vacation dates.
It went on, from something as simple as a child finally tying their shoes on their own to bigger announcements like closing on a house.
Finally, the jar was brought back up front to Trixie.
She placed it on the table between her and her crossed legs.
She took out a twenty-dollar bill, and the room immediately hushed.
Cayden had picked up on the bigger the announcement, the larger the bill offered.
“Payton called me yesterday. He and Claudia are the proud parents of an eight-pound-two-ounce healthy baby girl!”
The applause given this time rivaled the one Will had received. Cayden recalled Trixie telling Paul that one of her painters was out on paternity leave. That must be Payton.
Once everyone settled back down, Trixie pulled out a single dollar bill and put it in the jar.
“I would also like to introduce to you our newest employee, Cayden Russo.” She gestured to him in the back of the room.
Trixie waited a moment before continuing.
“Mr. Russo is going to be working on updating our security and verifying we are doing everything possible to protect our customers and their property.” Her eyes narrowed as they landed on the table where Will, Gary, and Terrance sat, the three employees whom Cayden had tricked last Friday.
“He already has become aware of certain lapses on our part and will be working closely with me to rectify this.”
Gary’s head did a whiplash between Trixie and Cayden. “Wait, he wasn’t from Peterson’s insurance?”