Sophia chuckled, gaze darting to the spot where Blayze had been standing.
Gone, hmm.Not that she needed to knowwherehe’d gone because she wasn’t the one keeping track of him. It was supposed to go the other way around.
“Ah, here it is,” she blurted as she located the item on her list. “I need three-thousand letters sent out by snail mail, not email, which means lots of envelope stuffing. Sounds like the perfect job for a wannabe district attorney, right?”
“Well, if we want the job one day, we’ve got to know the campaigning side of it too,” Jane said.
Sophia smiled. “Absolutely, Jane. What’s your email address? I’ll send you the PDF and you can have these guyshelp you out.” She motioned to the others.
“Perfect!” The girl listed off her email address. Once she was through, Frank blurted his out as well.
“In case you need it,” he joked.
Sophia gave Jane a nod. “I’ll send that out in the next ten minutes. Thanks for your help, guys.” She wasn’t a stranger to the immature behavior displayed by some of the male interns, but that didn’t mean she was a fan of it either. The fact was, she expected college-aged men to act like men. Especially if they were going through law school with hopes of one day becoming a DA.
She highly doubted the two stooges would act nearly as goofy and desperate to help if she weren’t the opposite sex.
The distinct sound of a man clearing his throat caused Sophia to spin on one heel. And there he was. Dressed in gray Dockers and a shirt too close to black to be gray. Yet there was a hint of ash speckled throughout the fabric, reflecting the stormy blue color in his eyes.
“Hi,” she said, attempting a nod as indiscernible as the one he’d given her earlier.
His eyes swept over the room before landing back on her. “I’d like to go over your plans for the week.”
Sophia thought about that for a microsecond, recalling the few hundred things she wanted to cross off her list before lunch. “I’ve got a ton of things that need to be done in the next few hours,” she said. “Mind if we do it over a bite to eat?”
Blayze shook his head. “Not at all.”
There. That wasn’t so bad. Now maybe she could have her headspace back so she could get some work done.
“So,” he said as he glanced down at her list once more. “Where we headed?”
We?How would she ever get used to this? “My office,” she said, and then led the way.
* * *
The woman didn’t like him. That much was clear. Which was stupid because she didn’t even know him.Stop sulking, Blayze, and focus on your job.He sank into a collapsible chair by the window in what he guessed was Sophia’s temporary office.
“You can sit in one of the more comfortable chairs if you’d like.”
He shook his head. “No thanks.” He pulled a small notebook and pen from his pocket and made a list of a few of the people who’d stood out to him at the campaign meeting. Those he didn’t have a name for he mentioned by description. A quick flip of the page had him looking at the list of things he wanted to ask Sophia, something they might not have time for over a simplebite to eat.
His mind drifted back to some of the other Warrior Project jobs he’d taken on for Sutton since receiving that party invite to his mansion, which turned out to be more than a mingling of high society and retired SEALs.
Some jobs required more detective work than others, something Sutton had taken into account, commissioning a team of private investigators as well. But every protection job Blayze accepted had required a lot of brains to go with the brawn. Especially the hostage situations where he’d been called on to perform last-minute negotiations. Something he specialized in out in the field as well. It was different from battling with weapons. Negotiations had more to do with getting in someone’s head.
“Mr. Brockton?”
Blayze spun in his chair to see Nicolas Vasco in the doorway of Sophia’s office. “Mind if I speak to you for a moment?”
Blayze looked at Sophia in time to see her shoot a warning look to her dad. “Not at all,” he said. “Though, Sophia has asked that we not discuss things without her present. You don’t mind if we remain here, do you?”
Nicolas moved his focus from Blayze to Sophia. “It’s just about a few things.”
“Papi, do you really think it’s necessary?” Sophia asked.
The air got thick quick. Obviously, this was a source of tension between them. Blayze kept quiet as Mr. Vasco’s nostrils flared. “Si, bonita. Now, do you want us to talk in here, or would you like me to take this into my office?”
Sophia dropped her pen, flattened her hand on a stack of papers, and nodded. “Here.”
