“JP, can I see you in my office? Right now.” There was an order in his tone, and JP gave me a small smile before he walked toward the office. I watched him go, unable to look away from how relaxed he seemed, even though he was essentially walking into the lion’s den. The pants he wore did wonders for his ass, and my gaze strayed there before it jerked back up to Mr. Elwood, who’d clearly seen me staring. His eyes narrowed before he promptly shut the door.
I groaned and ran my hand over my face. There was nothing I could do but work until JP came back out again, so I went over to my section of the curved desk and started my stapling. Jaxson came in five minutes later and took his coffee from the tray, but he didn’t bother saying a word to me before he started walking toward Mr. Elwood’s office. I cleared my throat, making him stop before he knocked.
“He’s in a meeting with JP right now. You’ll have to wait.”
Jaxson acted like an arrogant ass sometimes, but even I could admit he wasn’t a total jerk, especially when it came to Mr. Elwood’s job. He nodded sharply. “Tell him I’ll meet him for lunch.”
“Yes,sir,” I said as politely as I could.
He snorted before he left again, abandoning me to the silence of the room. The stapler was exceptionally loud without JP beside me doing his own work, but the sound also kept me concentrating until the door to Mr. Elwood’s office opened again.
JP stepped out and didn’t appear to have been reprimanded as he closed the door behind himself and walked over to the desk where his laptop was set up.
“Is everything okay?” I whispered, fearing the worst.
He smiled tightly at me. “It’s fine. Vane asked what was going on between us, and I told him you were doing a good job and that you were staying with me right now due to issues at home. It’s best to tell the boss the truth.”
“You didn’t tell him—”
“No,” he answered bluntly. Leaning forward, he lowered his voice. “It’s none of his business that we had sex once, just like it was none of mine when he started his thing with Jax. Now go back to work. I’ll take Vane’s coffee to him.”
I nodded and focused on the job again, managing to staple through three piles of papers before lunchtime came flying around and Jaxson returned, his coat already on and a grin firmly on his face. JP greeted him with a short incline of his head and called into Mr. Elwood’s office by phone. A few minutes later, Mr. Elwood walked out with his trench coat hooked over his arm.
“Mexican again?” he asked with a smile.
“Absolutely,” Jaxson answered as he plopped a kiss on Mr. Elwood’s lips. A craving settled in my chest as I watched them, open with their relationship andhappy. I wanted that so much that it hurt. My gaze slid to JP, to see if he was staring as well, but his eyes were on me with an expression I couldn’t decipher.
I smiled gently at him, which made him jerk himself out of his thoughts and to his feet to grab his coat. He strode around the desk and cleared his throat to break up the small make-out session happening between Mr. Elwood and Jaxson. It was then that I noticed Mr. Elwood’s hand on Jaxson’s stomach, rubbing in circles in an odd way that had me frowning. I’d never seen anyone do that to another person before.
“Yes, let’s go to the Mexican place. Kalinski should come with us, too,” JP said. That managed to get Mr. Elwood and Jaxson to jump away from each other and turn wide-eyed looks on him.
Mr. Elwood spun fully to JP, brows hiking higher on his forehead. “Since when do we invite extortionists to lunch with us?”
JP raised his chin and leaned in to whisper something to Mr. Elwood. They argued so quietly I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Jaxson obviously did because he made faces that changed between understanding, irritation, and reluctance. Finally, they all sighed and turned to me.
“Come on, Kalinski,” Mr. Elwood grumbled, spinning on his heel and dragging Jaxson out into the hallway.
I stood awkwardly and then placed the stapler on the desk and walked around to where JP still stood. Leaning in, I lowered my voice. “I don’t think this is a good idea. They don’t like me.”
JP shrugged. “Not everyone in this world is going to like you, Max. You just need to take life by the balls.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s by thehorns.”
He sent me an amused smirk before he waved at me to follow. Apparently he’d already had a sign printed out saying the office was currently unoccupied for a lunch break, and he stuck it on the back of the glass door while I got on my coat, then guided me out and locked the office behind us. We took the elevator in silence, and I couldn’t help but fiddle with the buttons of my suit. He grabbed my hands, and I threw a surprised look in his direction.
“Enough.” His firm voice was filled with an order I couldn’t ignore. Even though he hadn’t called meboy, it was there, lingering in the background of that one word that had my spine straightening.
“I want to make a good impression,” I whispered, my cheeks growing hot.
“Your clothing is fine. It’s perfect, actually.” He touched his hand to mine for a too-short second before he snapped it back to his side. “You’ve been working here for a few months now, Max. They know how you dress.”
“I know.” I dropped my chin and licked my dry lips. “This is different. I’ve never had lunch with them before.” I frowned up at him. “Why did you invite me?”
“Because you’ve done a good job.”
The doors opened on the ground floor and JP stepped out, walking with purpose. I hurried to follow him across the lobby and toward the front door, which he held open for me in a strange but adorable move. I thanked him with a smile, and we headed along the street toward the Mexican restaurant a lot of people from city hall frequented. I’d never been there before because it was the kind of place you took groups of people—and I never had one person who wanted to go anywhere with me, let alone a bunch of them.
We walked inside and I took in the overfilled tables of workers from all different departments, from the office of finance to building and safety to city planning. I thought I even saw the mayor in the corner with a young man, but when I stepped forward to get a better look, JP hooked his hand in my elbow and dragged me in the opposite direction.
