Chapter One
Wednesday was myfavorite day of the week.
Monday had come and gone and Friday was right around the corner. It was a day of possibilities. I still had two days to handle my responsibilities at work before the weekend, but I could also look forward to my plans for Saturday and Sunday. This weekend my plans included Lucy’s wedding, something I’d been looking forward to for months. As one of my best friends, I was incredibly happy for her.
It was also the day for a new episode ofHomicide Hunter. Lt. Joe Kenda was my kind of guy. Tenacity and intelligence were two traits I admired in a man and he had them in spades.
Yes, I loved Wednesday.
Usually.
Today was not a typical Wednesday. To start, my alarm didn’t go off. Or if it did, I didn’t hear it. So I barely made it to work on time and on zero coffee and no breakfast. The coffee maker at the office crapped out in a shower of sparks and tendrils of smoke. Thank God no one was there to witness my squeal of surprise or see the weird flailing dance I performed.
My boss, Chris Barden, had meetings all morning and needed me at my desk, so there was no hope of running downstairs to the little coffee shop in the lobby of the building. Chris didn’t need caffeine. Sometimes I wondered if the man was a cyborg. Or advanced AI. He was like a machine, working long hours with almost no sign of fatigue. I don’t think I’d ever seen him break a sweat either. It was downright irritating.
Despite all of this, I tried to focus on getting Chris’ schedule in order for the day. I glanced at his appointments and managed to overlook one. Or maybe I was just in denial. This particular client had never been my favorite and I think my caffeine-deprived brain blocked out his name to protect me from acknowledging his existence before I had the appropriate amount of legal stimulants in my bloodstream.
Either way, when he walked into the office, it caught me off guard. It was ten a.m., I was frazzled and in serious need of a caffeinated beverage. Even weak coffee would do, though a triple espresso would be better.
Instead, I was faced with arrogance personified.
“I’m here to see Chris,” he stated, leaning a hip on my desk and staring down at me.
Landen Weber was the worst part of my job, which was saying something. Chris was a fair boss but he was also demanding and he could be harsh. Until he hired my friend, Lucy, he hadn’t been able to keep an assistant for longer than a year. His stern exterior and workaholic tendencies didn’t bother me at all. Unlike my previous job, I always got credit for my work and he paid me extremely well. I preferred his stoic demeanor to the whiny, melodramatic supervisor I’d had before.
I bit back a sigh as I stared at where Landen parked his ass. Didn’t he know it was rude as hell to sit on someone’s workspace? Plus, he was rubbing his butt cooties all over my desk.
I lifted my gaze, preparing to tell him to haul his ass off my papers but the sight of the disposable coffee cup in his hand distracted me. As soon as I saw it, the rich scent of espresso hit my nose and my mouth watered.
Then Landen spoke again, bringing my attention to his face. “Is he free?”
I swallowed as he lifted the cup to his lips and sipped, wondering if I would get fired for kicking him off my desk and stealing his coffee. A short fantasy of doing just that filled my mind and I smiled at the images.
I gave myself a firm mental shake and focused on his question. “He’s on a conference call right now, but he’ll be finished in a few minutes.”
Landen scowled at me as he set the coffee cup on the desk. “Our appointment is at ten sharp.”
Glancing pointedly at the clock, I replied, “Well, it’s 9:55, so he’s not late yet.”
His frown deepened. “Do you argue with all his clients?”
I swear the man lived to give me crap. I knew that he didn’t care that Chris wasn’t free. He might say something about running behind to my boss, but he never seemed angry when he did. It seemed more like friendly banter than actual offense.
It took all my willpower not to sneer at him. I hated sneering. Hell, I even despised the word sneer. It was such an odd word to spell and even say. Still, that was the only way to describe what I wanted to do.
“Only the ones who don’t listen,” I replied primly, folding my hands in front of me. The more he tried to rile me, the more I tried to remain unruffled. Though he wasn’t easy to read, I knew my lack of reaction got under his skin as much as his nitpicking did to me.
He lifted the coffee cup to his lips again and my gaze strayed to his mouth. I ignored the small flutter in my belly when I noticed the defined curve of his bottom lip and focused on where the plastic lid touched his skin.
When he lowered his hand, my eyes lifted back to his and narrowed at the devilish gleam in his irises. That was never a good sign.
Just as Landen leaned forward, likely to say something provoking, my computer made a loud beeping sound. I looked at the monitor and put my hand on the mouse. The pointer didn’t move. I tried clicking on the tabs to close them out but nothing happened. The screen remained frozen.
I bit back a frustrated scream. Great, this was exactly what I needed to top off my shitastic morning.
“Computer issues?” Landen drawled, bringing my attention back to him.
He arched one brow at me and I once again ignored the flutter in my belly. He might have an attractive exterior, but his personality frustrated the hell out of me.
