His eyes crinkled. “Yup. Kind of catchy, right?”
“What’s the story? How do you know them?”
He shook his head. “It’s best to get into all that in person. I’ll drive us down. You can meet them and get whatever you need.”
My eyes narrowed. “Together?”
“Yup. On a very professional business trip.” If it wasn’t for the slight twinkle in his eye, I’d almost believe him. The way he leaned back in his chair, so relaxed in his tailored suit, his hands resting on his stomach and his leg crossed at the knee, felt very dangerous in the most innocent way possible.
“Is Tenisha able to come?”
He blinked. He clearly hadn’t been expecting that. “I’ll ask her,” he said.
I wasn’t disappointed by that in the least. I needed professionalism. I needed to get this job.
“You sure Saturday will work? You don’t have a hot date or something?”
He gave me a pointed look. “I wouldn’t say that.”
A thrill raced up my spine, but I tamped it down, determined to re-establish our barriers. Anita’s threat to go to HR still weighed heavily on my mind. I knew Duke was the boss, but I’m sure he could still get into some sort of trouble and I certainly didn’t want to do anything that might put my chance at this position in jeopardy.
“Duke. Stop it.”
To my relief, a hint of chagrin crossed his face. I mean, it wasn’tthatmuch, but it was something. “Sorry.”
“Does that day work for you?” he asked again.
I was still getting used to the idea of having Saturdays off, since I was no longer picking up shifts at the cafe and my cleaning job was only Monday through Friday.
“Yeah.”
“Great. What’s your address? I’ll come pick you up.”
I swallowed. “I can meet you there. Where do they live?”
“Malad.”
My eyebrows raised in surprise. “Malad? Malad, Idaho?”
“We’d better carpool. Better for the environment and all.”
“Duke…” I began, slowly putting a few puzzle pieces on the board. “Is this your family?”
“Nora. They’re new clients. It’s a business trip. If you promise you’ll be on your best behavior, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
That brought on a little smile. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that I really don’t trust you.” Not verbally, anyway. Though my heart was beginning to think otherwise. My brain, however, was a different story.
He only grinned and slid a piece of paper my way. “Address please.”
* * *
I openedthe door on Saturday morning to a Duke wearing very attractive jeans, a gray shirt, and a gray baseball hat on his head. His earthy cologne trickled into my nose, the scent of sweet pine warm and inviting. A flood of swear words entered my mind at the physical attractiveness that was Duke Webber.
Before I could back out of ourbusiness trip,citing irreconcilable differences, he brushed past me and entered my apartment, committing a humongous breach of our rules. Maybe we hadn’t specifically spelled them out, but obviously the apartment was a safe space. A no-boss space. Everyone knew that.
“Is your hot boss here ye—“ Mira rounded the corner of our apartment, stopping suddenly as her eyes grew wide as saucers. “Whoa.”
Duke seemed to enjoy that, but before he could say anything, I glared daggers at my friend while attempting to push Duke back toward the front door. “Nope, he’s not here yet.”
