Chapter Four #2
She could picture him without even trying.
Reclining back in his swivel chair, ankles crossed and feet resting on top of his pristinely kept desk.
One good thing she could say about the man, he was neat and tidy.
With his workspace, anyway. She had no idea how his house looked.
He could live in squalor for all she knew.
Or cared.
But he always maintained his work environment with the utmost care, something she appreciated as a neatnik.
Her desk phone beeped with an internal call from Colleen. She heard Kolby’s beep, too.
“I need you both in here now,” she said.
“Coming.”
Charity hung up and stood, grabbing her tablet just as Kolby’s door opened. He stopped short, his gaze centered on her.
She stood, rooted, as a sudden awareness of him shot through her.
He looked...tired, something she rarely noticed him being.
Tiny purple patches settled under his eyes, telling her he’d lost some sleep.
Her mind quickly darted to the notion he’d probably been up half the night “entertaining” one of his lady-friends.
And that was the nicest description she could come up with for them.
He hadn’t shaved, and from the look of the scruff covering his chin and cheeks, hadn’t yesterday morning either, after he’d left her apartment.
She shuddered, remembering the look of him clad in waist and thigh hugging silk boxers, his powerful, thick legs spread out across her bed, his chiseled arms carelessly tossed over his head.
After a split second of mutual staring, he nodded, then moved past her desk to Colleen’s office.
Blinking, she followed.
He held the door for her before trailing her into the room.
“Good,” Colleen said, her feet perched on the stool again, her hands folded and resting on her protruding belly. “Both of you, grab seats.” She pointed to the chairs in front of her desk.
Charity pulled hers a little further away from Kolby’s, a gesture that had him raising his brows before he settled down and stretched his legs out in front of him.
Charity sat bolt upright, her back never even touching the chair, her tablet at the ready.
“First, good job with the wedding this weekend. The MOB called me this morning and gave you both a glowing review.
Charity grinned. The mother of the bride (MOB) had been a doll to work with. The MOG as well.
“Now. Moving forward. You’ve got the Mayberry wedding on Saturday. Everything set?”
Charity nodded, as did Kolby.
“Okay, good. Now. I’m being pressured by Slade, my OB and my annoying sisters,” she said, “to knock off before the last month. In fact, they all want me gone today, and I’m listening.
These two,” she rubbed her belly, “are way more rambunctious than the other two and I need some sleep. So, after today, I’m out. ”
“We’ll hold down the fort,” Charity said. “Don’t worry.”
“I’m not. Not about that, anyway. I know you’re both consummate professionals and always give one thousand percent to every job we do. It’s why I’m so thankful to have you both with me and why I trust you both implicitly.”
Charity snuck a quick glance from under her lashes at Kolby. He hadn’t moved, not once, since sitting. He looked totally at ease.
“But there’s something I want to discuss in light of what happened this weekend.”
If it were possible, Charity sat even more stiffly.
“The incident with the drunken wedding guest had me thinking of the venues you travel to alone, Charity, since I’ve been banned from long car rides.”
A sick sense of dread wormed its way down her spine.
“Nothing’s ever happened,” Charity said, shaking her head. “I’ve always been safe. No issues. Really.”
“I know.” Colleen nodded. “Just like I know you can take care of yourself if something were to arise.”
That made her feel moderately better.
“Even so, from now on I want Kolby with you whenever you have to do an out-of-town research or recon visit. We’ve got four venues we need to vet as soon as possible,” she barreled on, despite Charity opening her mouth to protest. “All of which are outside Heaven.” She pulled her own tablet from her desk and swiped at the screen.
“Two in Concord, two in Manchester.” She handed her assistant a piece of paper.
“I called them early this morning and arranged times and dates for you to meet with the event coordinators and tour the venues.”
Charity took it, looked it over quickly, then handed it across to Kolby. He barely glanced at it before handing it back.
“And then there’s the destination wedding in Aruba for the Carruthers/Webster wedding.
I was originally scheduled to go, but then this happened.
” She pointed to her belly. “No flying allowed, so you’re both going to that one without me.
All your travel arrangements are booked.
You go down on the Thursday before the Saturday wedding, then fly home on Monday, after everyone else has left.
The bride’s parents are paying for your travel and hotel stay. ”
Charity knew all this because she’d been the one to make the arrangements. It just now dawned on her that those arrangements involved Kolby being by her side the entire time without Colleen as a buffer.
Damn.
And now he had to accompany her on the day trips she routinely took alone or with Colleen.
All because of a bunch of obnoxious and inebriated frat boys.
So much for Operation Ignore the Beast.
Another glance at said beast from under her lashes showed her he was as annoyed as she was with this edict from their boss.
His mouth turned down at the corners and he’d slumped a bit more in the chair.
She knew him well enough, though, to know he wouldn’t argue with Colleen.
He respected her too much and always bowed to her in the decision-making process because it was, after all, her business.
Her name was on the marquee, so to speak, and he made sure she always received the deference she deserved.
“Questions?” Colleen asked. “Concerns?”
Neither voiced any.
“Good. Then,” she glanced at her iWatch, “Slade should be here in about five minutes to drive me home to start my forced house arrest.” She laughed at her own joke.
They both rose.
“Don’t worry about anything, Colleen,” Charity said. “We’ll make sure everything goes smoothly."
“I’m not worried,” she assured them. “I’m just pissed I’m going to miss that trip to Aruba. I was looking forward to getting away for a few days of sun and sand and mojitos.”
“I’ll fly us down for a weekend getaway as soon as the doc clears you,” they heard from the door.
Slade Harrington, billionaire–no lie–covered the doorway, hands in his pockets, as he grinned across at his wife. That he loved her beyond all measure was so clear on his smiling, worshipful face that Charity had to physically suppress the sigh that bounded through her and squeezed her heart.
What she wouldn’t give for a man to look at her as if she hung the moon and the stars.
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Colleen said, attempting to rise by herself. Slade bolted across the room to help her so quickly, Charity’s hair fluttered in the breeze he left in his wake.
“Easy, babe.” He took one of her hands, wrapped the other arm around her back. “Lean on me.
“I’ve been doing that since the moment I met you,” she quipped, bussing his cheek. “You two okay if I head out?”
Kolby nodded while Charity said, “Go. Put your feet up and relax.” A quick head flick toward Kolby and she added, “We’ve got this.”
Before leaving, she kissed them both on the cheek, told them she was a cellphone away if they needed anything.
“But don’t need anything,” her husband added as he helped her into the car.
They waved as Slade maneuvered the luxury vehicle out onto the county road.
Intensely aware they were now alone, Charity folded her arms across her chest and turned to the photographer.
He was staring down at her, his hands nestled in the back pockets of his well-worn, much-loved, and ridiculously fitted jeans.
She couldn’t read what he was thinking, but if it in any way resembled what was rambling through her own head, she knew he was resigned to the fact they were stuck with each other for the duration of Colleen’s maternity leave.
Not exactly an ideal situation, but she was determined to go onward as if nothing had happened between them.
He hadn’t told Colleen, so he’d kept his word about that. Why he had to relate the frat boy incident was another story, but she’d let it go.
Kolby ticked his head toward the list she still had in her hands.
“First appointment’s in an hour in Concord,” he said. She glanced down at it. “Want to head out soon?”
After a few moments spent staring at the paper but not recognizing the words, she nodded. “I can be ready to leave in ten.”
He returned the nod. “I’ll go grab my gear and meet you at the truck.”
So much for avoiding traveling with him. It made sense economically, not to take two cars. But Charity wasn’t thinking about money when she’d instituted Operation Ignore the Beast. In this instance, though, she had to abide by her boss’s wishes.
Fifteen minutes later, with their location plugged into Kolby’s GPS, they pulled out onto the same county road Slade and Colleen had recently driven over.
Silence filled the cab, neither of them making any effort to talk, something she was grateful for.
She didn’t know what to say to him, anyway.
It was obvious he was still pissed at how Sunday morning turned out.
He’d probably had thoughts of sticking around, have her make him breakfast. Maybe even find a way to get them back between the sheets.
Charity blushed. Just thinking about what they’d done had the heat in her cheeks mounting, even if she couldn't remember a thing.
“Is it too warm in here for you?” Kolby asked. “Want the air on?”
“What?” She shook her head, trying to get the image of him naked out of it.
“Your face is red,” he said. “I thought you might be warm.”