Okay, so maybe she did have an extra minute or so for a pissing contest. And yeah, maybe all the clothes she had tried on earlier that morning had something to do with Kale. So what!
Drawing a fueling breath, Erin stopped mid-stride, twisted around, and questioned in a deceptively mild tone, “Something foolish?”
Deanne came up short and nearly crashed into her. The fake, high-pitched chuckle coming from Deanne’s throat was more irritating than the sound of her neighbor’s tweaked-out import peeling out of the parking lot at the most ungodly hours. It curdled Erin’s blood and raised her pressure from simmer to inferno. As Erin conjured the ways she could put a stop to her neighbor’s antics, her gaze drifted to Barbie’s ample cleavage. She wondered what would happen if she let the air out of those imported inflatables. Would it shut Deanne down too?
Erin slung her briefcase strap over her shoulder and stuck her hands in her coat pockets in an effort to resist the urge to inflict bodily pain on the other woman. She schooled her features into polite interest. “And what exactly is it that you think I would do that was foolish?”
Even though Deanne pouted her full lips and batted her long, thick lashes innocently, she still couldn’t mask the look of disdain. Erin knew the woman had an agenda of her own. She made a mental note to be careful.
“Why Kale, of course,” Deanne said matter-of-factly. “You two seemed pretty cozy at the wedding reception.”
Erin wet her lips as the scandalous image of her doing Kale rushed through her mind.
Deanne’s eyes gleamed dangerously. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that the director frowns on such behavior. Stepping out of line at the center, or breaking protocol, could cost you your job.”
Well, well, a Barbie with a brain. What an unusual, if not dangerous, combination.
Deanne cocked her head as she offered Erin a saccharine smile bright enough to light up the entire research center during a blackout. “You know how I’d hate to see that happen.”
Yeah, about as much as Erin hated to see Barbie pinned under the wheel of her sporty pink camper. Just like the one Erin had purchased last week for her niece’s Christmas present. The visual made her grin.
Deanne pursed her mouth, linked her fingers together, and gave Erin a once-over. “Then again, it’s probably not something you have to worry about. It’s not like a playboy like Kale would want anything from you. I’m sure it was a chore for him to slip that garter over your leg.”
“Yes, and I’m sure it was a chore for him to kiss me with such heated passion when he discovered the mistletoe over our heads as well.”
Deanne’s face turned an odd shade of red, like a cross between a beet and a baked ham. She gasped in outrage. Her saccharine-sweet smile slipped from her face.
Pissing match over. Final score, one to nothing for Erin.
Deanne began mumbling something about the bouquet, an unfair toss, Kale, and mistletoe, but Erin tuned her out and let her gaze drift to the candy-apple red truck that had materialized in the lower lot. Maybe it would run Barbie down and put her out of her misery. No, put them both out of their misery, she corrected herself. Although Erin suspected that Barbie’s plastic limbs would simply snap back into place.
The sound of Deanne’s voice pulled her back. “This isn’t over, Erin.”
Using her tongue, Erin made a slow pass over her bottom lip, adding fuel to Deanne’s slow-burning fire. “It’s been nice chatting with you, Deanne, but I have to run. Kale’s probably anxiously waiting for me.”
Deanne snarled. “I’ll be watching you.”
Erin arched one brow and gifted her with an amused look, the juvenile side of her enjoying their push and pull far too much. “Really? Well, I’ll try to make that as pleasurable for you as possible.”
Shelving their conversation in the recesses of her mind, Erin turned her back to Deanne and rushed inside the lab’s main building. She pushed open the heavy glass doors and stepped into the lobby. The warm air chased the chill from her body as she moved farther into the building.
Ribbons of sunlight followed her inside and gleamed on the cracked but freshly polished tiled floor. The building might have been old and run-down, but the janitorial staff kept it impeccably clean. The familiar, almost comforting scent of pine floor cleaner reached her nostrils as she greeted the front security clerk with a cheery Monday morning smile and flashed her identification card.
“Good morning, Mikey. How was your weekend?”
Michael’s green eyes brightened as she stepped up to the counter. He sat up straighter in his seat as Erin leaned forward and signed herself in.
“Hey, Erin. Good morning to you too. You’re looking beautiful as always.”
Erin grinned and playfully batted her lashes. “Mikey, you say that every morning.”
“That’s because you look beautiful every morning.” One dark brow lifted suggestively. “So what do you say, Erin. Will you go out with me this weekend?”
She dipped her head and chuckled, enjoying their usual innocent flirtation and easy banter. “Are you bringing your wife?” she teased, the same way she teased every other morning. Erin knew Mikey loved his wife more than life itself.
He pressed his hand to his chest. “Erin, you’re breaking my heart.”
She grinned and twisted on the ball of her foot. “Have a good one, Mikey.” As she crossed the wide expanse of marble floor, she eyed the stainless steel doors of the elevator.
Meet me in an elevator sometime.
Her footsteps stilled as a fine tingle stirred her most erogenous zone. Good Lord, she needed to pull herself together. She diligently tried to shrug off his sexual invitation as she resumed her pace. Not only was it frowned upon to intimately consort with a colleague, as Deanne
