Noah’s hand darted and he scooped up the pitcher before it spilled anymore.
“Good catch.”
He grunted in response and passed the pitcher to a waiter walking by. She started to ask him a question, but he turned his back to her. A scowl came over him and he scanned the room. “When is this over?”
I laughed, taking my seat. “It hasn’t even started.”
“Oh god.”
Theresa was whispering in Amanda’s ear. I gestured to her and asked him, “When did she start?”
“Don’t get me on that. She’s been going like this since I picked her up.” As his jaw clenched and his shoulders stiffened, I knew there’d been another fight between them.
“Are the two of you a two anymore?”
“We never get to that point. Something always comes up.” He shot me a dark look. I didn’t take offense to it. Ever since the sparring lessons, I’d gotten to know my boss a bit better.
“I thought you were going to be? I thought you told her how you felt.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Theresa’s voice jarred from across the table. Her eyes were narrowed, studying us, but she teetered on her chair again. Amanda caught her this time.
“You.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? What are you saying?”
Noah leaned back and locked gazes with her. “I was about to tell her that you’ve drank way too much for the night. I should take you home.”
“No.” She pounded a hand on the table. “You said you’d stay for Karaoke. It hasn’t even started.”
“Fuck Karaoke.” He glanced around the bar. “Look at this. I’m a damn freak show.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“Yes, I am. I shouldn’t be here. I’m everyone’s boss. This isn’t appropriate.”
Theresa shot her hand out and pinned his arm to the table. She leaned close, lowering her voice, but not enough. “You promised me you’d do this. I don’t care whose boss you are. Co-workers party all the time together.”
“Yeah,” he said. “At holiday parties.”
“Noah.”
He shook her hand off and stood from the table. As he reached for his wallet, he glanced up and froze. His eyes rounded and his mouth opened. Then a hush went over the room. I closed my eyes as tingles raced over my skin. I felt him coming. I knew he was there, and as I turned around, Carter stood behind me. A slight smirk was there.
He wore a hooded sweatshirt over custom-fitted jeans. I knew he aimed to look casual, but it only made him look younger and innocent. And everyone in the room knew Carter Reed was no angel, though his face teased at the image. His eyes were filled with dark promises as he skimmed over me. I hadn’t thought he was coming, but I was glad Theresa made me promise to dress up. I wore shimmering black pants, loose, but they rested low on my stomach. They matched the black top I wore. It was sleeveless and the ends tied around my neck. There was no back. It ended under my sides. That was it. His hand touched the small of my back as he sat beside me. A fresh burst of sensations shot through me. As his thumb rubbed over my skin, he leaned forward to kiss underneath my ear. It looked like he was saying something to me, but he wasn’t. He was nibbling.
I bit my lip to keep from groaning out loud. As if he sensed my battle, he swept his tongue against my earlobe and whispered, “If this is how you dress going to these things, I don’t think you can keep me away.”
I grinned. Our eyes met and held for a sizzling moment where he was close enough to kiss. Then he moved away, but not before he skimmed a tender hand from my hair down my back to rest on my waist. He pulled me closer to him as he turned to Noah. “Karaoke?”
A grunt, followed by a curse was his response.
Theresa and Amanda were both wide-eyed as they witnessed the exchange.
They’d been around Carter, but I knew both were still frightened from conversing with him. Theresa had gotten over her disdain for him long ago. She seemed tongue-tied around him, even after Ben’s death and staying at his safehouse until Amanda was ready to move out. They murmured quiet hellos to him but conversed with each other after that. The drunken loud state Theresa had been in was shot down, way down.
I frowned. They should’ve been comfortable enough to say more than hello to him, but that wasn’t the case. When Carter showed up, he talked to me or Noah. Amanda confessed she was still scared of him, and Theresa confided that she didn’t know how to talk to him.
Theresa said something now and Noah looked over. As he was pulled into their conversation, Carter moved his hand up and down my back again. He murmured, “I hope I don’t have to sing because I came. I don’t think that’d be good.”
I sucked in my breath. Too many lustful temptations were going through me as his hand continued his caresses. “No.” Sneaking a glance around the room, it was how I thought. Most everyone was watching our table, but the attention was no longer on their boss. It was on Carter.
I couldn’t blame them. I couldn’t even blame the media. Their obsession wasn’t dying down.
“So,” Theresa spoke up. The brave one. Her smile teetered as she caught my gaze, but she pushed forward, “Carter, I hope you’re not trying to be incognito with that get-up.”
He stiffened but glanced down.
I burst out laughing. “He was.”
He grimaced at me. “Didn’t work?”
Theresa was building more confidence. She laughed with me, shaking her head. “I don’t think you can go anywhere in this city with that face and be invisible.”
I sucked in my breath.
Carter threw me a look from the corner of his eye, but he shrugged. “I thought I’d try to fit in with The Richmond work force.”
“Good luck. That’s not going to happen,” Theresa teased him. “Too mysterious and too gorgeous.”
Noah frowned at her. “I thought you were my date.”
“We’re not on a date. I work for you.”
“Because I’m stuck with you,” he shot back, but the grin that appeared took away any negative connotation.
She gasped and hit his arm.
And the two went back to their pseudo-flirting/bickering again.
Amanda shook her head as she watched them. She caught my gaze and pretended to roll her eyes upwards in annoyance. We both knew better. She only wanted Theresa to be happy. I did too, but it was more for Amanda. She’d been brought in from the cold. Theresa and Amanda would be attached at the hip from now on. I wasn’t worried because no one understood how cold it was on the outside like I did. I’d been there, right alongside her.
My chest lifted as I took a deep breath.
Things were better.
They were going to stay that way.
There was no reason to think of the past. It wasn’t going to happen again.
“You okay?” Carter asked, touching my arm.
I nodded. “Yeah.” Managing a tentative grin, I meant to reassure him. It didn’t work. His eyes sharpened and he knew something was wrong. “I mean it. I’m fine. Just thinking of past demons.”
An hour later, the karaoke was in full effect. So was the drinking. Even Noah seemed a little friendlier than normal. And because of that, the rest of the coworkers sensed it and grew brave. A few approached the table. We moved to a back corner and Carter was positioned at one end. Noah was on the other end so the coworkers approached his side, but they couldn’t stop from glancing at Carter.
They all noticed the hand he held over mine on the table. None spoke to him. I didn’t think they dared, not yet, but they were curious. Correction, they were fascinated. After the seventh person, this time she was openly staring at Carter, I grew restless. Nudging him in the leg, I gestured to the aisle. “I’m going to refill the pitcher.”
His eyes narrowed. He knew what was going on but folded out from the table. The girl squeaked and scrambled away. She must’ve not have been expecting that he would move.
He’s not a statue, you moron. My inner bitch was raring to go, but as I started to move past him, he took my arm. Holding me close, he murmured in my ear, “It’s okay. You don’t have to protect me.”
I bristled, “I know, but you’re not a goddamn animal from a zoo that got loose.”
He chuckled, the sound brushing against me. It warmed me and a surge of desire flooded inside. Just like that, one laugh and I wanted him.
“If that’s the case, they should be running in the other direction.”
I snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m worried a few will go into heat and start throwing themselves at you.”
He laughed again. “And you have nothing to worry about in that case either.”
I sighed. I knew he was right, but at that moment some of the girls I used to consider casual friends came over. The interest was in their eyes, along with their own desire. I bit back a growl.
Grabbing the empty pitcher, I gestured to the bar and slipped from his hold. As I did, I glanced back once I got to the bar. A sneer came over me. Carter was watching me, amused as he folded back into the seat. My eyes darted to the two girls that stood next to Noah. They were talking to their boss, laughing with him and even Theresa, who thought everything was hilarious by then, but their gazes never left Carter for long.
“Hey.”
I turned. The bartender was gazing at me with frank approval. He lingered on my cleavage before catching my eye. Gesturing to the pitcher I had placed on the counter, he asked, “Refill?”
“Yeah,” I murmured, distracted as I looked back to the table again.
“Here you go.”
I reached for my wallet and handed a ten dollar bill to him, but it wasn’t until his hand covered mine that all my attention snapped into focus. The bartender ran a finger over my wrist and palm before he closed my hand over the money. He winked. “It’s on me.”
He was hitting on me.
I couldn’t believe it.
Mistaking my shock for interest, he continued to run his hand over my arm. He went up and down before I jerked it away.
“Do you need anything else?” His eyes were saying something else. Do you want anything else?
I sucked in my breath before a calm settled over me. Leaning close, I gave him a sultry grin and saw him light up. He leaned closer as well and I whispered, “You see the guy behind me?”
His grin grew. “There are lots of guys behind you. Is one of them your boyfriend?”
I nodded. My smile stretched. “You see the head honcho at the back booth?”
Wariness started to filter in. His grin lessened, only a bit. “Yeah?”
“You see the guy across from him? In the black hoodie.”
His grin vanished and he straightened.
“You recognize him?”
His Adam’s apple jerked up and down. Panic came over him. Oh yes, he did.
I patted his arm. “Don’t worry. I don’t think he’ll kill you for hitting on me.”
The bartender moved his hand away and slammed against the counter behind him as if he’d been burned.
I didn’t look over my shoulder, but I knew Carter was watching. He’d been watching the whole time. This guy seemed ready to piss himself as he stuttered out, “Uh-I-I have more customers.” And he hurried to the farthest end of the bar.
“Did you enjoy that?”
Two arms came around me and rested on the bar. Turning in his arms, Carter smirked at me. His eyes full of humor and something more. They were dark, a primal stirring underneath. My body reacted before I comprehended what he said. Then my heart slammed against my chest and I drew in a deep breath. He leaned closer.
I knew so many were watching this. Sliding a hand up his arm and encircling his neck, I ceased to care. I pulled him closer.
His lips lingered over mine, brushing against them. “Are you ready to go home?”
Nodding, I wound my arms tighter and surged upwards. My chest was pressed against his and he wound an arm around my back. Lifting me in the air, he carried me out of the bar. We must’ve looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care. The need for him would never lessen. It grew with each day and as soon as we were outside, Carter placed me into the car. He was right behind. I was barely aware of anything else. His lips covered mine and that was all I needed.
The world melted away.
A week later we were back in that car, but instead of leaving a work event we were heading towards one. It was The Richmond’s Christmas party. Noah had opened three more Richmonds across the nation so each hotel across the nation and a few internationally were sending employees to our corporate headquarters. In short, this party was a big deal.
Carter was dressed in a tuxedo and I wore the white dress Theresa had once forced me to wear. The fabric was sheer and shimmery. It was layered so nothing could see through, and the two lengths were tied around my neck again. The ends were long enough so they were draped over my shoulders and decorated with diamonds. My hair was another matter. I had tackled the dress on my own without difficulty, but Amanda insisted on doing my hair. So we had all been picked up from their apartment. Noah was already at the party, but my friends were dressed to impress.
Their eyes got big when Carter came to the front lobby. Even Amanda seemed to have held her breath for a second.
I couldn’t blame them. He was dashing.
I wasn’t sure if it was the rich lines from the tuxedo that molded over his lean physique or it was his eyes. An extra amount of chill was in them that evening. They seemed ready to tear into anyone, which emphasized the aura of danger that always clung to Carter.
I patted his hand once in the car and asked in soft voice, “Are you okay?”
A soft kiss to my cheek was my reward. He patted my hand back. “I am fine. You look ravishing.”
His answer didn’t appease me, but I sighed. This would have to wait. I knew Carter well enough to know when he was lying to me. No one else would be able to tell, but I also knew that he wasn’t going to confide in me with my friends in the same car. And I couldn’t stop remembering a phone conversation that he had. He’d been in his office at home, but the door was open. I hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but when Franco’s name had been said, every alarm went on full alert in me. I hadn’t heard much, but I knew enough to know that Carter was keeping something from me and that it was related to Franco.
After the night when he was supposed to have been killed, I never heard actual confirmation. I didn’t know if I should’ve. Carter pulled most of the guards around me so I assumed everything was fine, but I couldn’t ignore the knot in my stomach. Maybe things hadn’t ended as well as I had assumed?
“Emma, did you hear about Tamra?”
I lifted my head and turned to Theresa. She was even more beautiful than normal. Her dark blonde hair had been swept up into multiple tiny braids. Amanda worked miracles with them as well. The same diamonds that had been added to my dress were also in Theresa’s braids. They matched the shimmery gold dress she wore.
Giving her a smile, I forced those nagging thoughts to the back of my mind. They’d have to be dealt with on another night. “What about Tamra?”
“She got promoted. She’s going to a branch in Minnesota to head it up.” Theresa giggled, her cheeks were flushed from the wine we had in their apartment. “I think she’s pissed. She wanted your old job, under Mr. Hudson, but her supervisor booted her ass. Can you believe that?”
I grinned. It was karma. Tamra had been one of the queen bitches who froze me out awhile ago. I wondered what she had done to piss off her supervisor. A transfer to Minnesota wasn’t really a promotion. Everyone would’ve preferred to work their way up the ladder in our corporate headquarters. That was here, not there.
Amanda frowned. “Weren’t you friends with her, Emma? Didn’t she come out once with us...” And she faded because this was the awkward moment. Tamra had gone bowling with us. Ben, Mallory, and the current boyfriend had been there as well.
Theresa grimaced. “Speaking of the dead…”
“Theresa!”