Chapter 27
POWERFUL FEELING
“Do you have a minute to meet this morning?” Noelle asked him the following Monday.
Spencer looked up from his computer. “Let me check.”
He was going through his calendar. He’d learned already to stop saying he was available when she stopped in. She was doing it more and more and most times it was something that could have been handled via an email.
“I don’t have much going on that I can’t rearrange,” Noelle said when he was going through his calendar and workload.
“How about eleven,” he said. “I should be off my call by then.”
He was getting on it soon with London. He could walk down to see her, but he knew if he did, he’d be there longer than necessary.
They were going over a few things from their trip to Maine. Which was over a month ago at this point.
She and Paris were still working on summaries from their trip to Florida. There was more going on there and the twins were flying back on Wednesday morning for another few days without him.
There was no reason for him to go again and they could have more than this trip in the future on top of it with the amount of work to do.
They were staying a few extra days and visiting with their parents for the weekend and returning on Sunday night.
He wasn’t the clingy type, but maybe he didn’t want to be away from her that long either.
Noelle nodded and strode out as if she had something clawing its way from her belly to shoot out her lips.
Maybe she’d figure it out before they met. Or he hoped.
He got up to get some water, then shut his door to call London.
“Hi,” she said. “You’re a few minutes early. You know how I feel about that.”
“You didn’t have to answer,” he said.
“And keep you waiting? Maybe I should have and see if it worked you up any.”
“Not likely. Do you think you’d be the first person who has kept me waiting in life?”
She laughed and the sound shot bullets of excitement through his veins.
He didn’t remember the last time a woman did this to him.
And that was why he’d opened the window of his emotions a tiny crack to her the Saturday they returned from their trip.
She’d been worked up over her mother finding out about them. Almost angry.
He had to feel out her reasons for that. To hide the hurt it might cause that she didn’t want even her parents to know.
Then he reminded himself that his parents hadn’t known either.
He had called Coy last week, spoken to his brother-in-law and Angel, told them he was dating London, then made the call to his parents.
His mother, she’d been thrilled with the news and wanted to know as much as she could about the woman who was taking up a lot more space in his brain than he’d given anyone else.
“I think you enjoy it,” she purred, her voice velvet-soft and sharp enough to slice through him, even make his dick move some in his pants. “You like seeing how long it takes before someone cracks.”
He rocked back in his seat, glad the closed door was hiding the stupidly wide grin threatening to give away what he was thinking and feeling.
“You enjoyed it yesterday,” he murmured.
She laughed, a low, warm sound that wrapped around him like a hand sliding under his shirt. He could feel it skating across his skin, and settling in places it had no business settling. No business taking up residence in his thoughts while he should be working.
If he were with her in person right now, he would want to reach out. To touch her. Pull her close to his side.
And she’d come.
Hell, she always did and it was a powerful feeling for a man to have knowing how strong and stubborn London was.
“Now you’re just teasing me with no relief in sight. We have to keep this professional. I can’t believe that you of all people are crossing that line.”
He laughed. “Fair point. So let’s get to work and keep it professional since it seems you’ve got more willpower than me.”
When he hung up thirty minutes later, he had to admit it was one of their more pleasant work interactions. Maybe they’d be able to get through their days without her wanting to snap his head off or him fighting not to lose the patience that he rarely did.
And when Noelle came into his office shortly after he’d hung up with a frown etched into her face, he knew he’d have to put all of it to use again.
She shut the door and sat down in front of his desk with more force than necessary. As if she was ready to lose everything within her and he was about to find out the reason.
“Did you know that London and Paris are first cousins to West and the rest of them?”
That took longer than he thought for someone to piece together. A few weeks shy of two months.
“I did,” he said. “Not that it makes much of a difference to anyone.”
“Why wasn’t I told?” Noelle asked, crossing her arms. He didn’t understand why she felt the need to be offended over that.
“It has nothing to do with your work or their ability to do their jobs.”
“That’s why I got the lecture, isn’t it?”
“What lecture is that?” he asked calmly.
He’d had to talk to her a few times about getting ahead of herself with her work.
She took five steps forward and three back, but he had to remind himself she was still progressing.
“The first one. Where London rammed it down my throat because I dared to correct her work.”
He let out a breath. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a tantrum and that was exactly what it was going to turn into.
“She is within her rights to say what she had. I told you that. You still have a lot to learn, like we all did when we first started.”
“I’ve been here for years,” Noelle said as if she remembered her place again. “You’re the first one who is giving me more responsibility. Maybe I jumped the gun with excitement.”
“There is nothing wrong with that,” he said.
“But I don’t want London making my job harder. Just because she’s their cousin, that’s why I got in trouble. So if I don’t suck up to her, then it will happen again. I don’t think that’s fair, do you?”
He didn’t want to be in the middle of this, but there was no way to avoid it. “You don’t have to suck up to anyone. You just have to do your job and be respectful.”
“I get that,” Noelle said, adding a smile this time. “And I’m sorry if I’m coming off like a witch. I don’t mean to. But can I be honest with you behind closed doors?”
“Of course.”
“London is kind of a bitch. And now that I know she’s related to West, it makes sense why she can get away with it. So I get it. I’ll bite my tongue.”
Like now? he so desperately wanted to ask, but wouldn’t.
She didn’t know his relationship with London. She was coming to him as her boss who she hoped to confide in and kept it with the door shut.
“Keep it professional regardless of your feelings. We are here to do a job and that is what you need to keep in mind.”
“Got it,” Noelle said. “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes though. You have to work with her more. I think deep down she might wish she were a man. Or wants to come off that way. I get it. In our field you have to be tough, but you can’t be bitchy either.”
“Nor catty,” he said, lifting an eyebrow.
Her face flushed and he got his point across.
Noelle stood up after that and it told him this meeting was nothing more than a bitch fest all along.
She opened the door and walked out. “Oh, hi, Nelson.”
“Hi,” Nelson said, then kept walking by. Probably was in with Braylon.
Nelson and Kenzie had been gone for over a week. Kenzie took the bar in Utah almost two weeks ago, then the entire immediate family flew there for Kenzie and Nelson to get married a second time. This time with family present.
Spencer knew it was happening along with a select few others. Then Kenzie and Nelson went on a honeymoon, returning yesterday.
He didn’t think he’d have this much drama in his new job but was finding it was coming from all directions, not even bad drama, but just more personal information than he’d been privy to before.
Which made him want to keep his relationship with London sealed up even tighter, but with what Noelle just said, he wasn’t sure that was going to be possible much longer.