As I stalked past him, Max shook his head and turned to follow me. “Your friend… uh, seemed extraordinarily single-minded when he went after you.” Max’s eyebrows hitched when I glanced over my shoulder at him. He was fishing, and I wasn’t about to offer myself up to be caught—not again, and never over something that could affect my career. My bad feelings about getting in trouble for screwing around at work congealed into anger. What had Camden been thinking? Invading my workspace with his… game? Although, calling the heart-pounding sex I’d just experienceda gamewas a little like calling nuclear war an international spat. I walked through the door into our office with Max hot on my trail.
When we were inside in front of my desk—after I checked around to make sure we didn’t have an audience—I bent closer to Max and whispered, “Why did you come looking for me?”
Hurt rippled across his features, then the smile that had been there before was replaced with a cool neutral expression. “I was worried. You’ve never mentioned a boyfriend. You’re not the type to disappear when we’re in the middle of a discussion like you did.”
Setting our team unity back was the last thing I wanted, so I grabbed Max’s shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze. His hair flopped onto his forehead as he dropped his chin and a smile kindled back to life on his lips. It wasn’t Max’s fault I couldn’t control myself. If I had said the safeword andthenCamden had forced the issue, it would have been a different story, but I’d wanted what happened. I didn’t… fuck, why didn’t I just say the safeword?
Max was quiet, and while I didn’t think he knew what was going on with me, he was at least empathetic to the fact I wasn’t acting like myself. He’d said as much. “Thank you for your concern.”
He nodded.
“I’m fine. Thank you.” I still wanted to be angry at Max just because he was a convenient target, but it had taken him a while to warm up to everyone. “I mean it.”
He gave me a hesitant smile. “Of course.” Something sparked in his gaze, a small mischievousness that had only been popping up recently, but it was the worst time for it. I groaned preemptively. “But really. He was”—Max lifted his hands over his head to demonstrate Cam’s incredible size—“so what is a guy that big even like? What did youdowith him?” Max bit his lip and checked over his shoulder as if JP might wander in and berate him for asking inappropriate questions. He sent a quick glance at the empty couches in the waiting area as well.
Embarrassment ate at me and I stepped away to rub at the back of my neck. Pain skittered down my spine—a decadent reminder of everything Camden had done, and made my body do for him. “Nothing.”
He walked over to the desk and shuffled around a stack of papers, and I was fairly sure it was only an excuse not to look at me. I let out a long breath as his shoulders shook. For a moment I was certain I’d upset him somehow, but then he peeked at me and said, “That’s my favorite thing to do with JP.Nothing.Whatevernothinghedecides.” He glanced back at me and his cheeks glowed rosy.
I had to chuckle because embarrassment was a good look on him. While it still worried me that he knew what I’d been up to in the bathroom, and God knew there was more than a chance whoever else had come in to piss probably had been aware something was happening, it was interesting to think we might have more in common than I’d first suspected.
A minute later I was still considering the mystery of Maxwell Kalinski and what JP might do to him, when the outer door of the office opened and Jaxson, JP’s assistant, breezed through. His Cupid’s bow lips twisted down in a frown. I liked him, and I especially enjoyed that he didn’t tower over me like a certain someone I was trying not to think about. His chestnut curls were tamed and sleek with whatever product he used, and I allowed myself a second to wish mine would ever do the same thing.
Max opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “Do not say a word to him about it.”
He sent a hurt pout my way. “I wouldn’t.”
“We’ll come back to whatever this is,” Jaxson said, twitching his pointer finger between me and Max with a laugh as he squinted at my face, which had reheated to the temperature of the sun. “But, for now, we need to go pull one of our big campaign signs that we just put up from in front of the beer distributor on Franklin Avenue near that little bong shop.” He unbuttoned the cuffs of his long-sleeved shirt and rolled them to his elbows as he talked.
Jaxson glanced up, and his sad expression hit me in a bad way.
My stomach dropped. “Why?”
His nostrils flared and he cleared his throat. “There was a shooting. The owner killed his wife. It’s going to be all over the news for weeks, or longer, and we don’t want the sign we just placed on their lawn for Vane and JP to be seen every single time this story is aired. It’ll give the campaign a bad association.”
Fear sliced through me. Talk about shit timing. “Damn it. Yeah, there is such a thing as bad publicity.” I sighed. “You know what? I wasn’t in the frame of mind to sit down at my desk and work anyway. I’ll go. I have tools in my trunk. I can pull the sign down and trash it.” And having some physical work to do might burn some of my energy and take my dick off Cam Watch. Electricity zipped through me and warmth sizzled along my spine at the mere thought of Camden.
Jaxson blew out a long breath and winced. “Thanks. I don’t really want to do it because when people see me they kind of tie me together with Vane, you know?”
“I can go, too. Make it happen quicker.” Max smiled around at us.
“Fine. Come on.” I’d wanted some alone time, but the grateful relief on Max’s face made me glad I’d agreed. He was trying to be a team player, and I didn’t want to stifle his efforts.
Valuable minutes ticked by as we rushed out to my car. I drove to the east side, fighting the last of the lunch-hour traffic the whole way, and it was a pain in the ass to get near the beer distributor with all the cops puttering around. I had to park at the bong shop, and one of the employees glared at me as they stood outside smoking while watching the police circus. The reporters were arriving, and I worked faster, rushing to the trunk to open the toolbox I kept there. I grabbed out the hammer and raced toward the beer distributor, very aware that time was of the essence.
It took several quiet and then rather rude words to the detective in charge of the scene before he would let Max and me underneath their yellow crime-scene tape so I could go over to the lawn outside the rundown, boxy gray-block building with my hammer. The sign for the campaign was tacked to a solidly built wooden backing and faced the street. I groaned, and Max nodded in agreement because this was a quality sign that had probably cost about a hundred and forty bucks. It could weather whatever Mother Nature threw at it, so it sucked to rip the plastic off the wood. We could come back later to pick up the base, but we’d need a truck for that.
As I used the claw of the hammer under the edge of the sturdy sign, Max picked up all the nails that popped out. When the plastic was free of the wood, we squashed it until the material was in a small enough mess to fit in the back of my car, then dragged it over. We’d finished just in time because the reporters were already everywhere, thicker on the ground than flies on dogshit. I took a moment to hate them—just really fucking despise them. If it hadn’t been for the press, Ross might still be mayor, and I’d never fucking forgive this town for the way it treated people. Ross had been… okay, well, pretty much useless at his job, but I’d put him on the hot seat and would have kept the office going without his help.
All he fucking needed to do was smile and look pretty, but no…. I growled under my breath, pissed off all over again. My pride was injured, plain and simple. So I glared at the reporters, and Max did his best not to look at them at all. Avery Wysocki gave me a wave, and I sent him a smile because there was no use in actually antagonizing him.
“I see city hall is concerned about the community.” He wasn’t confused as to what we were here to do, and I saw no use in pretending otherwise.
“Oh, Avery.” I sent him a winning smile that had him rolling his eyes. “We’re always concerned. City hall deeply regrets this violence and sends condolences to the family,” I called as a policeman I didn’t know held up the yellow tape for us, which Max and I then ducked underneath on our way back to my car.
Wysocki laughed, and I seriously doubted what I’d said would make it into the paper. Anything good always got lost with him. He smirked at Max, though, and I realized Max was doing his best to pretend Wysocki didn’t exist. That made me mad, too, because at the end of the day Max had been used by the machine that ground down everyone who worked at city hall, and Wysocki had been part of the problem. I sincerely hoped he got whatever was coming to him one day. Maybe I’d sic Cam’s daughter on him.
Smiling at that and the way she’d shaken her little fist, it made me not mind the work of wrestling the sign, which wanted to unfold, into the back of my car. Triumphantly I slammed the back door shut a few minutes later. Max and I gave each other very serious nods, then laughed away some of our stress.
