Chapter 9
brIDGET
“Which one is his?” Mallory asked, following me into the empty office.
It was just as I’d left it not even thirty minutes earlier.
It wasn’t dark out, so the overhead lights weren’t needed to see.
I pointed to the far desk, the one no one ever used.
When James Corp rented out this space in a small office building on the south edge of town, they’d overestimated on office size. Or someone got the math wrong.
“How are you going to get past his password?” she wondered.
“I hate you,” I told her when she pointed out an obvious roadblock in my plan. “I can go in the back way to the company’s firewall and access the password system.”
I dropped into the chair behind the desk.
“You can do that?” she asked, sidling up beside me. “You’re like the computer geek on that TV show.”
I didn’t know which show she meant, and I wasn’t going to ask. I really didn’t want to know the comparison. It was probably some nerdy guy with a pocket protector.
I lifted the lid and the display illuminated.
“Huh.” I pushed my glasses up and blinked. “It’s not protected.”
That shot I had back at the bar was long burned off.
My heart was pumping so frantically that the liquor never had a chance to make me buzzed.
But was I seeing this correctly? No password?
There was only his home screen, which had a background photo of Maverick with three other guys.
One looked a lot like him, but had a beard, so I assumed he was a brother. Were the other two brothers as well?
“Holy hot lineup,” Mal murmured, leaning down for a closer look. “I’m not sure which one I’d pick.”
I looked over my shoulder at her. “I didn’t realize that was an option.”
She rolled her eyes at me, then hip checked me in the shoulder since it was at just the right height. “Come on. Have some fun.”
“Your kind of fun got me in this situation in the first place,” I reminded.
She wasn’t to be distracted. “I won’t pick Maverick because he’s yours.”
“He’s not mine,” I countered.
“He totally is. If you sent some random guy that sex quiz, you wouldn’t be this freaked out.”
“Yes, I would.”
She turned and leaned against the edge of the desk so she faced me. “You’re telling me if you sent the quiz to Bixby that you’d freak?”
“Bixby isn’t random and would know you put me up to it.”
“True. I’d pick him.” She turned and pointed at the brother on the far right of the photo. With his light brown hair and wide grin, he was good looking. But nothing like Maverick.
God, I got hot just staring at him in a group photo. That wavy hair. That smile. Those eyes.
I clicked on his email icon and waited a second for his inbox to fill the screen.
“There!” Mallory shouted and pointed again.
A thrill shot through me. There was the email! I clicked on the little box beside it, a checkbox filling it when I did so, then slid my finger over the trackpad toward the delete button and–
“Looking for something?”
I hit Delete before I launched to my feet, knocking Mallory back a few steps, bumping into the water cooler and making the half-full water jug wobble.
“Maverick. I was… I just–”
The corner of his mouth turned up, probably thinking Mallory and I were two of the Three Stooges the way we’d reacted. He was still in the pink t-shirt and jeans. Every time I saw him, he was even more handsome.
Maybe it was the lack of harsh fluorescent lighting. Or maybe it was just my ovaries telling me he was the one they wanted to give an egg to.
“Email,” I blurted. “I was checking your email.”
I couldn’t lie to save my life.
“Oh? I received the updated report.”
I slapped the laptop lid down. “Yes, good. I sent it and worried you didn’t get it. Since you’re leaving tomorrow and all.”
He took a step closer. “That’s the thing about emails. I can get them wherever I am.”
“You’re Maverick James,” Mallory said with all her extroverted powers. The way she was eyeing him like a pile of Halloween candy after a few hours of hardcore trick or treating made me have feelings–like jealousy–I didn’t want to think about.
Maverick’s gaze lingered on mine another moment, then met Mallory’s.
“I am, but I don’t know who you are.”
She shrugged, waved her hand. “Oh, I’m Bridge’s best friend. She wouldn’t be here without me.”
I glanced down at the desk, only looking at him through my lashes. And glasses.
“Yes, I have a feeling you’re right,” he murmured. It was amazing how someone so big could temper his voice to be almost… gentle.
“Bridge is more exciting and alluring than her shoes let on,” Mallory told him.
My head whipped up. “Mallory!”
She shrugged. “What? It’s true. Those shoes are awful.”
Maverick was full on smiling now.
“I like your shirt,” she said, pushing on.
Maverick looked down at his sculpted chest. “Thanks.”
“You’ve only been here, what, a day and you’re getting involved in the community.”
“How do you know I just got to town?”
“Bridge told me all about you.”
“Mallory!” I yelled again. I was probably the new world record holder for the most embarrassing day. “Can you just stop talking?”
“You meet incredible people at this coffee shop,” he murmured, referring to Steaming Hotties.
Oh. My. God.
His gaze was still on me. I could feel it.
“About getting involved in the community, I meant that you’re participating in the Parade of Pooches,” she replied, pointing at his broad chest.
He frowned, tugged at the shirt as if he missed something in the Steaming Hotties script. “Parade of Pooches?”
“Tomorrow is Hunter Valley’s summer parade,” she explained. “The county animal welfare group pairs up with volunteers to walk in the parade with shelter dogs to get them seen and adopted.” Mallory twirled her finger. “On the back. It says you’re a participant.”
He glanced over his shoulder as if he could read what it said, then back at Mallory. “A pet charity? Sure. Sounds like fun. What do I have to do?”
Mallory set her hands on her hips and did a weird lean. “Not sure, but I’d just show up at the shelter in the morning. The parade starts at ten, so before that.” She turned to me, gave me a stupid thumbs up. “He’s handsome and nice. Good job, Bridge.”
I let my eyes bug out, telling her without words to shut up.
“Are we all set with that email?” Mallory asked, finally getting us on track to get out of here.
I nodded. “Yes, all set.”
Definitely. As if. Absolutely not.
She sighed, grinned. “Great. So tell me, Maverick, those guys in your wallpaper photo.”
He jammed his thumbs into the front pocket of his jeans, clearly not expecting her whiplash of topics. “My brothers?”
“Three brothers. Wow. You’re all hot as fuck because–what’s the line in that movie?–your father’s a weatherman?”
A deep laugh ripped from him, and I was stunned, comparing him to the growly, pissed off version from earlier. “I’m not sure which movie you’re talking about, but no, our father was definitely not a weatherman.”
Another film reference? The whole movie thing was what got me in this trouble in the first place. I needed to limit Mallory’s screen time like a parent would a toddler.
“Since you’re taken by Bridge and all, tell me about the guy on the right,” she pushed as I gasped at her boldness.
“Light brown hair?” Maverick asked.
She nodded. “Needs a trim. Dimple in the right cheek. And a shave, although I don’t mind a guy with a little scruff. Green shirt with sunglasses tucked into the pocket.”
“You sound like a detective.”
“First grade teacher. I’m just observant about some things.”
“Like my brother?”
“Mmm,” she replied, her eyes glazing over at only the thought of the man.
“I’ll be sure to tell Theo you asked after him.”
“Theo,” she repeated, as if testing his name on her tongue. “Yes, tell Theo all about me.”
I didn’t say a word through all of this. I’d been caught red-handed on my boss’s computer. If Mallory wanted to try to pick up Maverick’s brother, she could have at it.
“Well, we should get going,” I prodded. “Ladies’ night, remember?”
I’d never once been so eager to get back to a crowded bar than right now.
“If you’re done, sure,” Mallory said with a shrug as if what was happening wasn’t a big deal, stepping around the desk.
I followed.
“Bridget,” Maverick called.
I stilled, spun on my ugly shoe covered foot. “Yes?”
“Can I talk to you for a minute? About that email?”
Oh shit. My pulse kicked up a notch and my palms began to sweat. “Right. The email. Sure.”
He stared at me. I stared at him, then the industrial carpet-covered floor. Then the water cooler, then back at him.
“Okay, then,” Mallory said, cutting into the uncomfortable silence. “I’ll wait outside.”
She bolted before I could tell her not to leave me.
Maverick took a step closer, then another, until he loomed over me.
“The email,” he said.
“Right.” I licked my lips and his gaze dropped to my mouth. If he hadn’t seen the sex quiz one, then he was talking about the project one I’d sent. “I’m happy to go over the schedule with you, or I can connect with your assistant to set up a meeting.”
“I don’t need Bradley to make dates for me.”
I looked up at him, confused. “He makes dates for you all the–oh, you mean dates.”
“Yes. A date. You. Me.”
I pushed my glasses up. “You’re leaving tomorrow.”
He shook his head. He wasn’t the only brother who needed a haircut. While the sides were clipped fairly short, the top was long, and it swooped over his forehead.
“I’m not going back to Denver. I’m staying here. With Jimenez fired, I’ll lead the project.”
He wasn’t leaving? “Oh.”
He would be here for months.
“So, the email,” he prodded. “I want to make those things happen. I want to do that with you.”
I nodded. “Okay, well, I’m just the assistant and like I said, I can go over the schedule.
The math again, but I feel confident it’s accurate.
” I didn’t want to add that, but he was now not only my boss’s boss, but he was now my boss.
God, that barely made any sense. The last thing I wanted to do was remind him of my freakish abilities with numbers because I’d be seeing him every day.
“I’m talking about the other email.”
“The other–” My face flushed so hotly I was surprised the pink t-shirt didn’t catch fire. “Oh God.”
“Tell me, Bridget.” He moved to stand in front of me, crossed his arms over his chest. “Who the hell is Jake Ryan?”