“That must be Goldie. The neighbor watched her while we were out tonight.” Penny stood and smoothed her dress, lips swollen, cheeks rosy as she hurried over. “You stay,” she warned, pointing at me to obey as I followed her to the entrance.
“Happy to.”
The door swung open, and a blur of golden fur shot inside. Goldie barked once, tail wagging like a metronome on steroids.
“Hey, buddy—whoa!” I crouched in time to get a sloppy lick delivered across the chin as Penny thanked the neighbor lady.
She closed the door and then laughed, kneeling beside the dog. “Guesssheapproves of you. You’ve made a fast friend.”
Goldie leaned into her, then turned right back to me for more affection and licks.
“Smart dog. Knows good people when she sees them.” I scratched behind her ears, recalling all the years I begged Dad for a dog. But his billionaire lifestyle hardly left room for us boys, let alone a pet. “Now that she’s home, I’m guessing you don’t need my protection services any longer?”
“It’s getting late.” Penny stood, one hand on the doorknob, the other holding Goldie’s collar, my cue to leave. “Thanks for tonight and for the pie.”
“You’ve had coffee and dessert with me. Why don’t I treat you to an entire meal next time?”
“Great idea.” She said it like a dare, like she wondered if I was capable of one small commitment like that.
I lingered with a kiss on her lips one more time. “You were wrong, though.”
“Oh?”
“Zombie chases aren’t really my thing either.” I grinned. “But chasingyoumight be.”
She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth curved up. “Goodnight, Archer.”
“Night, Penny.”
By the time I hit the street, I grinned like the idiot who’d just survived a zombie apocalypse and fallen headfirst into something worse—a crush I had no business catching.
BOSSHOLES AND JOB OFFERS
Archer
Archer Bellamy: Head Zombie Protector of Zombie Protection Service
Bank Account: Millions.
Heart: Seeing possibilities
Mid-Wednesday morning,I leaned over the boardroom table eyeing every employee with the most serious, menacing face that I could muster.
“We will not have a repeat of what happened last year. Closet-gate is officially behind us.” Thank God.
Bellamy Brothers didn’t need a bad reputation due to a married VP getting caught with his shoulda-known-better cock inside of too-young intern pussy in the supply closet late at night.
Untangling that whole mess had been nothing short of a nightmare. The headache that plagued me all year might finally go away after today, what with the settlement my lawyers reached with the intern’s family. I dealt with the disappointment of the university, too. Not to mention losing onehelluva VP who I once respected and revered for his ethics in business—what a joke.
“As such, our lawyers required us to revise our employee manual. In the update in front of you, please refer to page sixty three and the new policy—a strict one. There should be no intimate fraternization between coworkers, at any level. Period. Read through it now and sign.” I finished and stepped back.
Camille from HR summarized for them exactly what they were reading, and then passed out new branded pens for everyone to use. Today would mark another turning point for Bellamy Brothers Architecture.
Not that Brooks was involved much in our business anymore, since he turned his attention full-time to his professorship at NYU. He left everything to me, taking on only the occasional pet project. It no longer bothered me he wasn’t around much, what with the demands of his new profession and his growing family.
With him otherwise occupied and nothing better to do with my life, I’d doubled down harder on the business. My doctor’s recent warnings to take it easy concerned me. Not sleeping well, up at dawn, working late, and sometimes sleeping in my office were all bad habits I needed to break.
Time for a new bad habit, like chasing Penny.
