Middle school back then meant those girls had to be college age now.And wasn’t that perfect?She was what he’d heard called an empty-nest mom.
“She doesn’t wear a wedding ring—I’d have thought she was single.”
Holt narrowed his steel-gray eyes at Knox.“She’s divorced.Not planning on hitting on my employees, are you?”Holt’s voice suddenly went gravelly and harsh.
“Of course not.I was just curious why a woman would work so late on a Friday night.”
And having phone sex.Although he had to call it one-sided phone sex, because she hadn’t touched herself at all.She just talked—obviously getting the guy off on the other end of the line.Who the hell was he?Did she live with him?
Of course he couldn’t ask those questions—not with Holt bristling over his employee’s virtue.He’d have to do some skillful ferreting on his own.
“Good,” Holt said, his shoulders dropping as if relaxing into the thought that Knox didn’t have designs on Summer Gentry.
He hadn’t lied.Knox didn’t actuallyknowif he’d hit on her.He was merely… interested.“Anyway, since we’re flying out on Thursday—” That would give the test product a few days to arrive at the customer’s facilities.“—I wanted to make sure everything went out on time.I don’t want to show up at one of the manufacturing plants and find out they don’t have the screen.”Not that he wouldn’t have checked ahead.
“No worries there,” Holt said, clasping his hands over his taut belly.The man was no slouch.Holt worked out daily, just as Knox himself did.“I can assure you they’ll be there.We expedited shipping.It should all run smoothly.”
In addition to himself and Rafferty, West Coast’s R&D guy Ward Restin would accompany them as well, along with Court Stevens, SV Displays’ manufacturing VP.The screens had been produced by hand for the test, ensuring every step was performed.Once they worked in the customer’s facilities, they would start manufacturing on the machines.SV Displays’ equipment was ready to go.Of course, they would send out test displays from the manufacturing run as well, because Knox and Court wanted to test every phase.They had to know that nothing had gone wonky with his machines or the process.Not that he’d ever had a problem before, and it didn’t bear thinking about now.
“If everything checks out on-site, we’ll start production.”
Holt gave him a snarky half-smile.“Everything’s fine on this end.I trust it’s all good on yours as well.”
“Absolutely.”Knox had split his time between West Coast and SV Displays over the last few months.He knew the product inside and out.And Court Stevens was on top of training his technicians.There would be no hiccups.“We have it totally under control,” he drawled.
He wondered briefly if there were any other questions he could slyly ask about Summer Gentry—but no, he wouldn’t put himself on Holt’s radar any more than he already had.Besides, he didn’t plan on hitting on Summer—he just wanted to see if she was interested in a little phone sex.Because she had an awesome imagination.
They went over the numbers then, and Holt received a couple of pings letting him know two of the test screens had already arrived.Everything was going well.
“All right, talk later,” Knox said as he rose and headed to the door.They’d discussed nothing confidential, and the door had been open the whole time.Ruby Williams stood behind her desk outside the office like an armed sentinel.
Her gaze raking over him might have been sexual, though with Holt nearby, that couldn’t be possible.He’d heard stories about Ruby Williams and her pre-marriage days.The woman was certainly a wild one—and she was gorgeous to boot, with auburn hair that fell in waves over her shoulders.But she was not only Holt’s administrative aide, she was his wife, and Knox’s gaze had never strayed below her chin.
Even if he had the reputation of being a lady killer, Holt’s wife was off-limits.As was every female employee at West Coast and SV Displays.He didn’t mix business with pleasure.He wouldn’t mix anything with Summer Gentry either—at least not in the physical sense.
Ruby stood straight, despite her diminutive height.It didn’t matter that he towered a good nine inches over her—she was formidable.
“Our employees are off-limits to you, Mr.Turner,” she said, heavy on theMister.
He held up his hands in surrender.“Absolutely.I was only asking because I couldn’t understand why Ms.Gentry didn’t have a Friday night date.”
She glared at him.Ruby’s glare could make a grown man flinch.“If you’re wondering why she’s not out on a Friday night—” She put her hands on her desk and leaned closer, making her even shorter, but no less formidable.“—it means you’relooking.”
He kept his hands raised.“A man can’t help noticing a beautiful woman.”For the first time ever, he let his eyes flick down Ruby’s body and back up to meet her gaze.But he wasn’t blind—he knew the meaning of totally, completely, unequivocally off-limits.Of course, he was referring to Ruby and not Summer Gentry.
“We don’t tolerate hanky-panky here at West Coast,” Ruby said, sitting down again.She smiled then, a warm, sexy smile not meant for him.Because he’d heard the scuttlebutt.Ruby and Holt had definitely engaged in a little hanky-panky at West Coast—or maybe a lot.
There were more examples of hanky-panky, though no one actually acknowledged it.David Farris and the finance manager.Holt’s beautiful daughter Cassandra and Ward Restin.Knox had also heard that Clay Blackwell’s wife, Jessica, had once been his accounting manager, though she now worked at another company.
So there was no shortage of sexual hijinks going on at West Coast Manufacturing.
Knox just didn’t plan for any on-site hijinks.He didn’t even plan on a face-to-face with Summer—her naughty mind was enough.
And the idea of engaging her in a little phone sex?Nowthatdefinitely got him going.
The morning had been grueling.Since they’d been busy invoicing on Friday, the last day of the month, there were preliminary numbers to generate on Monday.Summer hadn’t even had time to think about Knox Turner.There’d only been time for number crunching.She knew he was on-site; she’d heard his voice out in the bullpen, but he hadn’t come by her office—which was a good sign.Maybe he was willing to forget what he’d heard.
And she feared he might have gotten an earful.
