Chapter 2 #2
They were nice. So far. Cheery, happy friends with their own brand of teasing.
Noble looked to her. “Are you married?”
“Uh, no.”
“Do you wanna be?”
Even Quiet Guy cracked a smile. It seemed polite to do the same.
“Don’t ask her that like I’m some creep,” Ozzie said. “She doesn’t know us.”
Noble tipped the last of his beer into his mouth. “Oh, she doesn’t care. She was talking about her pussy three seconds ago.”
“Yeah,” Ozzie said, “but there are like rules now.”
With no clue where the conversation was going, she went to scavenge in the fridge. It was after dinnertime, she was hungry. Her own cupboards were bare and she so didn’t want to shop. These were guys, maybe if she offered to cook, they’d let her join them.
“Rules?” Noble asked. “About talking round women?”
“Sexual harassment stuff.”
“She doesn’t work for us. She works for Cam, who she’s never even met. There’s also a door right back there. If she’s scared or offended, she can stroll back out the way she came. And she strikes me as a woman who’d do just that if we hit her hard limit.”
“You can’t throw her out. This isn’t your place.”
“May as well be, we hang here more than anywhere else,” Dalton said. “But I wasn’t throwing her out. I said she could go if she wanted to. There’s a clear route of escape. No one’s stopping her.”
“Are these steaks for anything special?” she asked, touching the edge of a packet.
“The grill.”
That was a new voice… or was it?
“What the hell took you so long?” Dalton asked. “I’m on my second beer… or I would be if Oz would stop proposing to your new assistant.”
“My new assistant?” the new voice was surprised.
And those three words gave away just enough that she could identify…
Twirling on the spot, she stopped when her eyes landed on his. “Sir Texts-A-Lot.”
“Candy,” he said, then frowned. “I didn’t look at my phone once… after I put it away.”
“What else was I supposed to call you? Mr. Loves to Ask Questions? Mr. Holds Wine to Ransom? You’re the first unicorn I ever met; I didn’t realize you were all so sensitive.”
He smiled. Good. Okay. That was better than being thrown out.
“Most people call me Cam,” he said. “Camden Collier.”
“You two know each other?” Noble asked, looking back and forth between them.
The others were probably doing the same, all she could see was that glint in the unicorn’s gaze. The same one that teased her at the mixer. She hadn’t gotten to the bottom of it yet.
“She was at the Brooker thing on Saturday night,” he said, still focused on her.
“She was?” Noble asked. “If I’d known that…”
“You wouldn’t have hooked up with the blonde and abandoned me so fast?
” Collier asked, tearing his gaze away to look at his friend.
“What are you doing with that?” He passed the guys at the island to deal with something next to Ozzie.
She heard a door open and then he was handing beers to his friends.
He stepped closer to offer her one. “I don’t have any red. ”
“I’m drinking your scotch,” she said, nodding at the glass on the island.
He put the beer back to come closer. When he raised an arm, it almost felt like he was about to lean in, like he was… The fridge seal popped. Right. Yeah. Shit. She was standing right in front of it so scooted out of the way.
The guys crowded in quick, grabbing a bunch of whatever from the fridge to take it past the games area and out the glass accordion doors onto some kind of deck.
Collier was the only one left. Once his friends were out of sight, he turned to her again.
“I make a mean red wine sauce,” she said and shrugged. “Except you have…”
“No red wine, right,” he said. Damn, she’d missed his smile. Was that weird? Probably. “I’ll do better next time.”
“Actually, it’s sort of my job,” she said, tilting her head, squinting at no one. “Unless you kick me out.”
“Want me to kick you out? I’m into role play. There’s a code for the side gate, let yourself back in after the scene.”
Her smile quickly became a laugh. “Is this going to be weird?”
“‘Cause you want to sleep with me?”
“Uh…” Her eyes rolled to their top corners. “I believe I said you weren’t my type.”
“Right, but if I’m your boss now, I’m sort of sliding into the sleaze category.”
“True,” she conceded, pointing at him while leaning the other way to snag her scotch. “I do like to wear really short skirts… And I’m sure you could make a few inappropriate comments throughout the day.”
“Just to really get you going? Whatever works for you, honeybun.”
“Oh, that’s good,” she said, her eyes widening above the rim of her glass. “The condescension thing, that’s a popular one with the professional sleazes.”
He jabbed a thumb back over his shoulder. “You met Noble, right? He’s a pro. I’m surprised he didn’t take a swing already.”
“He was kind enough to offer his friend my hand in marriage first. But I’m sure he was getting around to making a pass.”
“Good,” he said, bobbing his head. “Good. First impressions are important.”
Her thoughts exactly. “Yeah, they nailed it. Managed to sneak my pussy into conversation and everything.” His brows rose above a tentative smirk. Just seeing his uncertainty provoked her laugh. “It’s fine! Sheesh, I think all of you are out of practice.”
“You can swear, you know. I’m a relaxed boss, reasonable.”
“I’m a class act and a professional,” she said, ignoring the berating voice in her head.
“Now, seriously…” Changing the subject, her hand landed on his chest. His hard, very intriguing chest. Bad, bad, naughty thoughts.
Eye contact was the best way to go. Respect.
Restraint. “I can get out of here if you don’t want to give this a shot. ”
“You should know Brooker people never last here.”
“In the interest of fairness, I should tell you, I never last with clients.”
“Sleep with them?”
“Only the really rich ones,” she said, appreciating his smile. It wasn’t true, she’d never slept with a client. She’d only slept with two men her whole life. Something that would change later in the week if Nathaniel delivered on his sexting promises. “Just never found the right fit.”
“There are lubricants on the market that help.”
The guy was just… too on her wavelength. “Maybe the sex jokes put your previous assistants off.”
“Men, women, doesn’t matter who they send, no one sticks around.”
“Because he fires them!” Ozzie was in the doorway to the deck. “Are you two joining us or doing your dance in here all night?”
“I never dance with men who don’t buy me drinks,” she said, swanning past him to head for the smiling Ozzie. “No wine, no dance. You inspired me with your tit-for-tat thing, Mr. Collier.”
“Who bought the scotch?” Collier asked, following in her wake.
“Who didn’t buy the wine?”
“Who didn’t know you were coming?”
“Uh… me,” she said.
An awning hung over the broad deck, heat lamps and patio chairs were warmed by perfect lighting.
Down a couple of steps, a vast slate patio had a grill to the side, a bar at the opposite end, and a sunken seating area.
A wicker fence at the back intrigued her.
It lined up exactly with the back of the building, which was odd.
Did his property line really end right there?
There were no buildings backed directly onto his.
The guys were already down the stairs and at the grill, commenting on whatever Dalton was doing.
“We’ve got a guest, you better do it right,” Noble was teasing the quiet guy.
“Hustle, Candy,” Cam called, gesturing her over when he and Ozzie started for the sunken seats.
“Do you want me to go to the store for—”
“No, you’re not working tonight. Just get down here.” He stopped. “Oz needs practice with women.”
“Talking to them?” she asked, descending the stairs.
“That too.”
When that smile of his twisted his lips, hers was never far behind. What an idiot. Exactly the kind of idiot she shouldn’t be working for. Hell, wasn’t like she picked him. Allan would have no one but himself to blame if it became a shitshow. How was that for swearing?