morning instead of Listerine. “Rosie said you two got in an argument last night, but we both know she was lying. From the way her hair was all mussed up, I figure you put some moves on her.” He paused as if waiting for Sam to defend himself.
Sam didn’t.
“But see, I don’t think you got to finish what you started, whatever it was, because you were still sporting one helluva boner when you came chasing after her. And since Rosie refuses to say anything, I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. This time. But I’m warnin’ you here and now, whether you’re my boss or not, if you ever touch that little lady when she’s not willing, I will rip off your balls and shove ’em down your throat. We clear?”
Kris grabbed Scott’s arm. “Hey, back off-”
Shaking his head, Sam left his two operatives to bicker in his foyer and stalked down the hallway. Just what he needed, some whackjob was stalking him, his lead op wanted a transfer or else she’d file a sexual harassment suit-justifiably so after the way he’d behaved the night before, and his two secondary CPOs who were supposed to be guarding him were threatening to a) feed his dick to the lions, and b) let him choke on his gonads. Goddamn, why didn’t he just stand out front with a target on his chest and hope whoever was gunning for him put him out of his misery?
He stifled a sigh and punched the button on the elevator, concentrating on watching the numbers over the elevator light up on their slow journey to the top floor. Until he heard the lock to 1202 snick open. He didn’t have to turn to know she was there, the air got lighter while the band around his chest tightened.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Despite his resolve not to look her way, his head turned as he walked toward the elevator. His steps faltered when he saw her in a pair of red plaid flannel pants, and a well-worn pink T-shirt. Dark smudges under her eyes revealed that she’d not slept any better than he had. But he’d bet she hadn’t lost sleep fantasizing about him the way he’d been about her.
“Good morning, Ms. Ramos. Will you be coming into the office this morning?” Where we can talk this out? Because I sure as hell don’t want you movin’ all the way to Miami.
“Good morning, Mr. Watson. I’ll be in later-I’ve a meeting with Chad.” Her voice was cool and collected. And far too distant for his liking. Hands off, it said with no room for misinterpretation. Trouble was, his dick didn’t want to listen. Maybe he’d ask to be driven straight to the zoo after all.
“Make sure you stop into my office-I’ll tell Sandy to interrupt whatever I’m doin’.”
Before she could respond, Kris stepped in front of Rosie, blocking Sam’s view. Kris was trying to protect Rosie, just like he would have-should have last night. “Let’s go.”
Phillips stepped into the elevator and punched the button for the garage. There was an uncomfortable silence on the ride down. Kris got into the driver’s seat of the limo while Phillips sat upfront and raised the barrier between front and back, leaving Sam isolated. Twenty minutes and innumerable turns later, Kris’s driving becoming more aggressive with each corner, they finally pulled into the visitor’s parking by Hauberk’s front door.
When he walked into the outer office, Sandy greeted him with a cup of coffee. “You look tired. You’ve got bags under your eyes.”
I might have slept better if you hadn’t told a few tales out of school, sugar. “Why don’t you come into my office?”
She trailed him into his office and sat down, flipping her notebook open, ready to take notes.
He closed the door behind her and sat at his desk.
“You’ve got a meeting at-”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll get to that in a minute. Right now I’d like to discuss what you said to Ms. Ramos last night.” The blood drained from Sandy’s face and her eyes went wide, making him feel like he was about to shoot Bambi.
“Thanks to your little jaw session last night, you nearly cost me a damned good CPO, and you exposed me- and Hauberk-to a potential sexual discrimination case.”
Sandy stared at the cleft in his chin but didn’t say anything.
He jammed his elbows on his desk as he leaned forward. “When I hired you last year, I told you that I expected that what was said in my office, anything that crossed my desk, was not to be discussed with anyone. Yet last night when you came to my place, you felt it necessary to mention a discussion-a private discussion-I had with Chad. A discussion that you had no right to mention to Miss Ramos or anyone else.”
Sandy’s bottom lip started to quiver, then her eyes flashed and she straightened, her head held high. “I’m sorry, Sam. But Rosie’s a friend of mine and she had a right to know she was being discriminated against based on her gender.”
He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. Focus, damn it. Although she may have been looking out for a friend-a loyalty Sam couldn’t fault-Sandy had disclosed a private discussion with someone she shouldn’t have and that could be fatal to one of his employees if she talked to the wrong person in the future. Which meant he still had to make his point, even though he’d been just as much to blame for what happened last night.
“I wasn’t asking for a replacement because Ms. Ramos is a woman. If you had a problem with a decision of mine, I expect you to talk to me first. So if I discover you’ve ever discussed what is said in this office with anyone again, I will be forced to terminate your employment. Is that clear enough for you?”
Her backbone rigid, she nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now let’s get back to today’s schedule. I know I’ve got the meeting with Chad and that Parman fella this mornin’, but what else is on the agenda?”
The rest of the morning fell back into its normal routine, Sandy confirming his appointments, discussing what needed to be done with the mail, and a thousand other pieces of paper she’d piled on his desk.
She was back at her desk, and Sam was plowing through his email when Chad walked in and shut the door.
“Sandy doesn’t look too happy.”
“Had to pull the big bad boss routine on her about what she said to Rosie last night.”
Chad made a noise in the back of his throat. “About last night…”
“I appreciate you convincin’ Rosie to stay. You think she might sue?”
Chad pursed his lips. “Hard to tell. Depends upon how you behave from here on in, I suppose. You let your dick lead you down the garden path last night, didn’t you, Sam?”
Oh, God, another lecture. What body part would be threatened this time?
“I know you’re attracted to her, but are you deliberately trying to scare her off?”
“Aw, hell, Chad, I wasn’t trying to frighten her. I’m attracted to her like the proverbial moth to the flame.”
“You fly into that flame and we’ll all go up. And last night you got more than a little singed. You want to tell me exactly what happened?”
“Nope.” He curled his fingers around his ballpoint, bending its stem. “We’d been talking-everything was cool between us. Then Sandy shot her mouth off and suddenly Rosie was all riled up. Damn, Chad, she’s so fuckin’ hot when she gets angry, so beautiful and I…” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to block the memories of dragging her against him, kissing her, tasting her, trying not to remember the soft moans and pants she’d made as she’d come around his fingers. “Yeah, I fucked up big time.”
“I wouldn’t apologize to her quite that way, if I were you.”
“I’m hoping the couple dozen lilies I just asked Sandy to send might help. I don’t want to put her in a position of feeling like her job’s in jeopardy.” Or her life.
A raised eyebrow gave him Chad’s reply. “Sam, Rosie’s a smart, intuitive woman. Half the guys here have wet dreams fantasizing about her. But you can’t jump her bones like she’s one of your subs at the club. Cook her dinner. Put on some soft romantic music, watch a movie on that movie theatre you call a TV-and not Die Hard 4, all right? A chick flick like Sleepless in Seattle or some tearjerker like that. Underneath that prickly exterior she deserves to be pampered.”
“What are you now-a damned matchmaker? And by the way, right back at you-I haven’t seen you dating much since Lauren left.”
A muscle in Chad’s jaw twitched telling Sam he’d hit his target. “That brings me to my next point. Thalia asked me to remind you about the club’s board meeting at Cooper Davis’s party next month.”
“Aw, hell. I’d forgotten about that.” The headache that had been a shadow behind his eyes now felt like he’d been hit with a fifty pound anvil. One the blacksmith was still pounding with a sledgehammer.
