Chapter 6
REBEKAH
I held back my happy dance until I was out of the view of Beau’s dreamy eyes. I couldn’t believe I had done it! I landed myself a job and couldn’t wait to start tomorrow!
Turning down the street, I skipped my way toward Beans and Things.
Vic had told me to stop by after my interview and fill him in on all the details, so that was exactly what I planned to do.
It felt so good to have a close friend again.
My life had been dark for so long that I had forgotten what it meant to not be alone anymore.
Ding!
“Bekah girl! Grab a seat, I’ll bring over your coffee,” Victor shouted over the sounds of the espresso machine. Throwing up a thumbs-up, I dropped into the bean bag and did another little happy jig.
Things were finally starting to look up. “What’s got you dancing over here? Did you get the job?”
“YES!” I squealed! “He wants me to start tomorrow.”
I let out an oomph as Vic tackled me into a hug, careful not to spill our coffees. “I knew you could do it!”
I smiled because he was right. During a mini-spiral this weekend, he had reminded me that I was going to rock this interview and that Beau would be an idiot for not seeing just how great of an addition I would be to his company.
“This calls for celebration! I’ll be right back,” Vic said before dashing behind the counter again. A few moments later, he came back with a pumpkin and cream cheese muffin for both of us.
“So, what was he like?” Vic asked, interrupting my special time with my muffin.
“Who?” I sounded bemused, though I knew exactly who he was asking about.
“Don’t be daft, Bekah. We both know that you know I’m talking about Beau. What did you think of him? Isn’t he as hot as I said he was?”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, Beau was smoking hot. Vic wouldn’t lie about that kind of thing. I shouldn’t be thinking about my boss that way, though. “You know he is, Vic. He’s my boss, though. I’m not allowed to go there.”
Vic let out an exasperated sigh. “There’s nothing wrong with window shopping, Rebekah. No one said you had to jump his bones on the first day of work. At least make it to the second day.”
He kept a straight face for two seconds before busting out into giggles. “I’m kidding! For real, though, no one would blame you for going there.”
“I have no intention of hooking up with my boss, Victor. No matter how drool-worthy he is. That’s a recipe for disaster. We both know I can’t risk this job.”
Vic’s eyes softened at my words. Normally, I didn’t make it a habit to pour out my traumatic past on people, but it wasn’t like I could hide that part of my life from him. There was no hiding the pictures and the memorial I had created for her in my home. My sister wasn’t a dirty little secret.
“Enough about me, is there something you need to fill me in on?”
“If you are asking about McHottie, I haven’t seen him yet today. The shift is still young, though, so there’s still hope.”
I squeezed Vic’s hand before grabbing my coffee and taking a big sip. This was the perfect celebration treat. We settled into comfortable conversation as we waited for his break to come to an end.
Ding!
As a drop-dead gorgeous man walked in, Vic and I whipped our heads toward the door, and a small gasp fell from his lips. “That’s him!”
I flipped my gaze back to where the man was walking to the counter, his eyes scanning for something, or rather, a certain someone. “Well, don’t just sit here. Go help the man!” I whispered, pushing Vic to his feet.
My best friend stumbled behind the counter before greeting McHottie. I couldn’t help but agree with Vic that he was as fine a piece of pie. Chocolate eyes and dark brown hair filtered into my mind, and I knew I was in trouble.
Before heading home, I stopped at the library to check my email one last time for the day. I quickly fired off an email to the hiring manager at the bank, declining their job offer before turning my attention to my inbox.
My heart raced when I saw an email from Beau sitting at the top of my inbox. Not wanting to waste time, I clicked his name and began to read.
Rebekah,
We had a break in the case and had to leave town for a mission. I’m sorry that I won’t be available for your first official day, but duty calls.
All of my team has left for the mission, except Seth. Be at the office at 0900, and he will be there to help you get settled. Don’t be afraid to ask him for help if you need it.
I’ve created a PIN code for the alarm system.
There is a key in the top drawer of my desk.
You will also find a company credit card in there.
Feel free to use it to grab any organizational things you might need.
If you can’t find it at the local store in town, place an order online and have it delivered.
I don’t know how long we will be gone, so be sure to behave, Little girl.
Beau Sinclair
Shadow Force Tactical
My eyes zeroed in on the last line of his email. “Be sure to behave, Little girl.” What an odd thing for a boss to say to his employee, but I tried not to read too much into it. Especially the last phrase. There was no way he could know that I was a Little.
Shaking my head, I finished clearing out the junk in my inbox.
Once I was done with all of that, I logged off and waved to the librarian before making my way home.
Even though Beau wouldn’t be there, I still had to make a good impression on my first day, so I wanted to lay out my clothes for tomorrow and get plenty of rest tonight.
Rising with the sun, I hopped in the shower before taming my hair into submission again. With a cup of coffee in my travel cup, I headed out the door after saying bye to Ophelia with a kiss to her furry head.
The walk to SFT wasn’t a long one, but I enjoyed the quiet time to myself.
After taking a deep, steadying breath, I opened the door and headed in to find Seth.
I remembered meeting him on that first day, but it still didn’t stop the blush from creeping along my cheeks when I saw him again, standing behind the front desk area.
“Good morning, pretty lady. It’s just you and me here for the next few days. Beau told me I’d best be on my best behavior with you, so what he really means is I need to show you the secret treat stashes the guys have,” Seth said, dropping his arm along my shoulders.
“I don’t think that’s what he had in mind, Seth, but I’m here for the devious behavior!” I replied with a giggle.
Seth shrugged at me before opening Beau’s office. “Okay, I will leave you to it. Beau said that he left the company card and that I was to accompany you to the store if you needed to go. There’s water in that fridge and a stack of papers on his desk that you should probably start with first.”
I nodded and made my way to the desk, dropping my bag into the chair. I eyed the stack of paper before turning and saying bye to Seth. Finally, alone, I took a deep breath and let out all the tension in my body.
I spotted a radio in the corner of the room and turned on the local rock music station. With a little dance on my way back to the desk, I started going through the papers, separating them into stacks to file.
I don’t know how many hours had passed before there was a throat clearing behind me. Spinning around, I took in Seth as he stood inside the office, watching. A blush bloomed across my cheeks because I knew that he was watching me dance as I moved piles of paper around.
“Looks like you’ve been busy in here, Bex. How’s everything been going?”
“Good, actually! I think I finally figured out the filing system I will need to help keep things separated. I pulled the file cabinet over to the corner and started emptying it, stacking the contents to the side to be put away in boxes.”
Seth interrupted me before I could continue. “You moved it by yourself? That’s not safe, Bex! You could have hurt yourself!”
“But I didn’t! I was careful, also, I’m a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need help. Plus, you were busy, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
He rolled his eyes as he replied, “That’s what I am here for. Please bother me! If you had gotten hurt, Beau would have had my head on a stick! And I don’t know about you, but that’s not the kind of stick I want my head on.”
My jaw dropped as Seth’s joke rang out in my mind. “I can see the question swirling around in that pretty little head of yours, so let me just answer it for you now. Yes, I am gay. And yes, it’s that stick you think I’m talking about.”
I couldn’t hold back the laugh that bubbled out of my chest. “Well, now that we have that settled, do you know what you need to pick up to organize things?”
Wiping the laughter tears that ran down my face, I replied, “I do. I started making a list when I realized it would be more than one or two items.”
“Okay, well, break time. We can grab lunch and then head over to the department store on 10th and see if they have what you need.”
“You sure you can just leave?”
“Yeah, we won’t be gone long, and I’ll let the boss know. They are on rotating shifts right now, so most of them are asleep while the others are keep watch.”
I didn’t really know what the men did on missions, but I trusted that Seth knew what he was talking about. With my bag over my shoulder, I followed Seth out of the building and toward the back parking lot. I let out a whistle when I spotted his vehicle.
I didn’t know much about cars, but I could appreciate a classic when I saw one. “Damn, Seth, she is a beauty! What kind of car is she?”
Seth’s eyes sparkled as he dove into the car specs.
“This is a 1967 Ford Mustang drop top, painted in night-mist blue with a tan soft top. She’s got a 289 V8 engine with around 200 horsepower.
Light blue vinyl seats with navy accents along the dash, and dark blue carpet finish off the inside of the car. ”
I smiled at his boyish personality. It was adorable to watch him light up, talking about the car. “Sounds amazing!” I said after a moment, as if I understood every word that had fallen from his mouth.
“You have no idea what any of that means, but I appreciate you faking it.”
Laughing, I slid into the front seat and pulled the lap belt across, buckling up. “Caught me. That was a foreign language, but I respect the love you have for the car. She really is a showstopper.”
Seth threw a grin my way as he pulled out of the lot and turned toward the dept store. We rode in silence, just the radio keeping us company.
My jaw dropped when I noticed the total at the cash register. We were standing at the checkout after walking around for the past two hours, collecting all the stuff I had on my list for the office.
“Your total is $125.38,” the teenager who rang them up said.
“Is that including the delivery fee? This won’t fit in my car, unfortunately.”
I let out a hiss and nudged his arm. I had already spent too much! There was no way they needed to pay extra for delivery.
“No, sir, with the delivery fee, the total will be $148.76.”
My knees felt weak, and my stomach was in knots. Beau was going to flip his lid when he saw the credit card statement. We didn’t even find everything I had on my list. I would just need to make do with what I had already bought instead of buying more.
Seth handed over the company card and collected the receipt before ushering me out of the building. He helped me back into the car before slipping into the driver's seat. I lasted all of two seconds before the words came bursting out of me.
“Seth! That was way too much money! Beau is going to shit a cow!”
Seth let out a laugh at my outburst. “I promise, Bex, the company isn’t going to be hurting for the little money you spent today. When we get back to the office, we will order the rest online in the cave.”
“But…”
“No buts. It will be fine, Bekah. I promise.”
I let out a harrumph before settling into my seat. I wasn’t going to argue with him; it seemed like it wouldn’t get me anywhere anyway.
“Wanna open her up?”
I sent him a puzzled look before I realized he was talking about his car. “Is that a dumb question? YES! Can we?”
A devious grin crossed Seth’s face before my body was jolted backward in the seat. I let out a squeal as the car flew down the back road. I felt like I was flying with how fast the car was moving, yet it was such a smooth ride.
There was a ringing over the sound system. “This is Seth.”
“WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING A HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN MILES AN HOUR?”
I turned and saw Seth’s eyes widen. Guess he should have paid more attention to who was on the phone when he answered.
“Hey, Boss. Uh…who said we were going that fast?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the alert on my phone.”
Seth swore under his breath as he tried to quickly come up with an excuse. “I swear to God. Slow your ass down now!”
“Rodger.”
Silence followed as a click sounded on the radio. I busted out laughing as we pulled into the parking lot of SFT. The fun was over for the day; time to get back to work.