My raised eyebrow offered Marley an opportunity to backtrack and revise. Sensitive I was not—but assuming every Middle Easterner was a terrorist wasn’t a matter of sensitivity. It came as no surprise that she continued gaping at me, waiting for my response to a question she considered reasonable. I’d prefer a scowly conversation with Patrick to another round of ‘so how many virgins did your dad get for being a suicide bomber?’
“No,” I responded, the word sharpened to a point. “He was not a terrorist.”
“Oh.” Before she could continue, Jess wedged between us and wrapped her arms around our necks.
“Where my ladies at?”
“Woohoo!” Marley replied. “I am going to be so hungover tomorrow!”
Jess stood and pulled us with her, smiling. “Then we better enjoy it!”
We occupied the center of the dance floor, and I redirected every guy who approached me to Marley. The attention thrilled her, and I couldn’t risk another Patrick Walsh daydream at the hands of Tight T-Shirt.
Chapter Four
PATRICK
It wasn’t possiblefor my arms to cause me any more distress than they were causing right now.
I leaned against the mantel above the fireplace in Shannon’s office while she walked Andy through paperwork and handed her an armful of documents, equipment, and a fleece vest embroidered with our logo while I wrestled with my limbs like a newborn giraffe.
I crossed them over my chest, and Shannon stopped her explanation of our underground garage access system to tell me I looked ‘angry’ and ‘intimidating.’
I shoved my hands in my pockets, and then clasped them behind my back. Both seemed wrong.
I was trying Matt’s ‘one arm across the chest, chin on the fist’ thing and feeling like a moron when Shannon turned to me.
“Patrick, why don’t you take Andy upstairs? Get her settled before the meeting?”
Shannon glared at me, her eyes fiery and lips pursed, silently willing me to get my act together. I held her stare as long as possible to avoid eye contact with Andy. If I didn’t look at her, I wouldn’t think about her hair, and how I wanted it in my hands. Or her eyes, and how I wanted them wide and hungry. Or her mouth, and how I wanted it on my cock.
I glanced at the ground, my eyes landing on her feet. Steel-toed boots. Seemed appropriate for the girl with the spine of steel.
And I wanted them over my shoulders.
“Now?” When I didn’t move, she pivoted to face Andy. “I’m sorry, Andy, my brother is a bit of a bear in the morning. Especially when he hasn’t had his happy pills or a swift kick in the ass. I’ll make sure he gets an extra dose of both today. If there’s anything you need, please feel free to ask Patrick’s assistant, Marisa. She’s right upstairs.”
Marisa.It was probably too late to worry about all the times I called her Melissa.
“No worries,” Andy replied, effortlessly juggling the laptop, tablet, cell phone, keycard, and vest. She was the picture of composure while I struggled with the existence of my arms. By all accounts, a fantastic way to start a Monday.
In the week since her interview, I never stopped to consider where she would spend the majority of her time or how we’d work together.
I spent a fair amount of time thinking about her naked in every conceivable position, and if this morning’s erection from hell was any indication, I was enthusiastic about all of them.
She’d be a meter away from me all day, every day. What happened with that case of gin in Sam’s office? Was it too early to start asking?
“This way,” I grumbled, striding out of Shannon’s office and up the stairs to my office.
I took the stairs two at a time and she was on my heels with her lavender scent. We stood in the middle of my office for a long moment while I crossed my arms, uncrossed them, tucked my hands into my pockets, and then propped my fists on my hips. She stared at me, that tiny smile tugging at the corner of her lips as if she knew exactly how she shredded me.
There were tons of stunning women out there, but it wasn’t her beauty that tipped the axis for me.
Andy was exotic and mesmerizing, but she revealed nothing. She moved with aloof confidence and it was clear she gave not a single fuck about anyone’s thoughts of her. Since the moment I met Andy, I wanted to know what she was thinking under that unapproachable shell.
I gestured to the redwood conference table and drafting desk. “All yours.”
I also wanted to see how quickly I could destroy that cool reserve when my head was between her legs.
