He’d been offering to tech tutor me for ages but I always refused. I knew how to do the basics and that was all I needed. My life was complicated enough already—wherever possible, I liked to keep things simple.
“I’m fine. Thanks, though.”
I couldn’t believe how many alerts had piled up on her phone by the time my meeting was over. The woman had to be part air traffic controller if she could stay on top of everything.
I wasalmostimpressed.
We’d agreed to meet at a midpoint coffee shop, and while I was convinced that she’d keep me waiting, she was actually waiting formein the parking lot when Kingston pulled in.
“Back corner of the lot, please,” I pointed to where she was standing by an ancient silver Toyota. “I’m meeting that woman.”
Why did she have to be so distractingly gorgeous? She was a siren, luring us closer, but there was no way I was going to wind up shipwrecked. Then again … that fuckingbody. Dangerous curves ahead. She had her arms crossed to convey how pissy she was about our little exchange, which pushed her phenomenal breasts to the point of nearly spilling out the top of her white sundress.
How was I going to keep from staring at them? I’d already been up close and personal with her legs, but as we approached her, I felt like I couldreallytake them in. They were strong, with muscular calves that convinced me that she had to be a runner. And then there was that face. It was a mix of adorable and deadly, with a plush, kissable mouth and eyes that could go from alluring to deadly in seconds.
Who was I kidding? I could see that she was fuming at a distance. I locked in for the deadly treatment to come.
“Damn,” Kingston said under his breath as he pulled up next to her.
Exactly.
She raised an eyebrow when I emerged from the back of the car.
“Well, well, aren’t you punctual?” she said. “Shocking.”
“I try.” I pulled the phone from my pocket. “You have the most obnoxious phone I’ve ever encountered, and I pity the people around you who are subjected to noise.”
She reached into her purse and pulled out my phone. “And yours was basically silent, so I guess you’re a man of leisure. Must be nice.”
“Hardly,” I laughed as we made the swap. “I just prefer to communicate via email.”
Her eyes bugged out. “What are you, seventy years old?Email?”
I refused to admit to her that I used email because I understood it. It didn’t matter that I’d basically grown up with cell phones. They’d never felt right to me.
And I would never,everadmit out loud that I hated technology because I couldn’t quite master it.
The exchange was complete but for some reason we stood blinking at one another in the bright sun, like we had unfinished business.
I pointed to her phone. “Someone named Brittany is very eager to reach you. Something about makeup, and flowers, and cat food.”
“Youreadmy texts?” Her voice was shrill.
“How could I not? They came up on your lockscreen when I was trying to figure out how to silence that annoying foghorn sound.”
“Well, if we’re coming clean about snooping, your HR department wants you to figure your crap out before you try to fire that guy. Sounds like you’ve got an ax to grind with him without a reason.” She frowned at me. “That tracks.”
I strode closer to her. “Oh, you think so? I guess it won’t matter to you that he’s been sexually harassing one of our reservation specialists. The only proof we have is her word. I trust her, but judging from the message you must have seen from my legal team, they’re continuing to say we needconcreteproof.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Still want to judge me?”
She snapped her mouth shut. “Oh.”
“Yeah, exactly. Don’t put your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Well, sometimes people need to speak up. Like what happened with that poor old lady and her dogs. She needed an advocate and I was happy to step in.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Those damn dogs have been terrorizing?—”
She scoffed at me. “Oh, come on. Terrorizing? Sure, they’re rowdy, but it’s not like they’referal.They just need more exercise. You work for a high end resort, if you truly wanted to make a longtime guest feel welcomed you could offer her support. I bet the concierge has a dog walking contact that could spend a few hours wearing them out.”
