“Not this time.Wish I’d thought of it, though.”
He seemed genuinely amused by the prospect.
“Know anyone who might?”Slade prompted.“Or heard anything?Rumors?”
“Nope.Whoever did it’s keepin’ it on the DL.That or it was the rival team and they towed that bad boy out of town.”
“Know anyone who’s missing a forklift?”
“Can’t say that I do.But you can get one pretty much anywhere.”
Also what Archer said.
Atticus glanced between Ethan and Slade, hoping one of them would add more.Something that would solve this case here and now so he could get on with his life.
When nothing else came from either man, Atticus cleared his throat.“Well, thanks for your help.”He looked at Slade.“I guess we’ll be knockin’ on doors.”
“Lemme talk to Braydon,” Ethan said.“See if he has any ideas.I’m sure he thought of it back in the day, so he might know a way to get one on the DL.”
It wasn’t a resolution, but it was more than they had.Atticus would take it.
“Perfect,” Slade said.“Thanks.”
“Nice to meet you,” Atticus said before following Slade to the door.“Who’s Braydon?”
“One of Ethan’s brothers.He’s a job foreman for Walker Demo.”
Atticus wasn’t sure how that benefited them, but he was at a loss, so he figured it couldn’t hurt.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Archer arrived at HQ an hour earlyfor the meeting.Not because he was an overachiever or wanted to impress the bosses—although that certainly wouldn’t hurt.No, it wasn’t so much eagerness as it was a text from Darius letting him know he had some paperwork that needed to be taken care of so they could get him on the payroll immediately.
For a brief moment after reading that text, he considered telling Darius he had changed his mind.He hadn’t changed his mind, but his mood had deteriorated after the incident at Spencer’s last night.While he wasn’t one to dwell on things for long, Archer had spent a good portion of the night thinking about where he went wrong.
It wasn’t until the light of day that he realized he wasn’t at fault for that debacle.It was Spencer who was putting up the roadblocks.And last night, Archer realized that Spencer wasn’t on the same page as he was when it came to what they were looking for in a romantic encounter.Hell, he wasn’t sure they were even reading from the same book.
At twenty-nine, Archer wasn’t interested in playing games, and he damn sure wasn’t looking to be manipulated.He was ready to settle down.He wanted to find what Simon had found with Violet, what Brantley and Reese had found with each other.He was no longer interested in the casual routine.
Sure, he was all for some sweaty, naked fun with a hot guy.Who wasn’t?But he wasn’t interested in being shown the door afterward.After last night, he was convinced that was the path Spencer was on.He wasn’t sure they’d had a single conversation that didn’t involve Spencer bringing up sex.Or the lack thereof.
For fucks sake, they’d only been on three dates.
Well, two and a half since last night’s was a bust.
So, after his momentary pity party, Archer decided he would keep putting one foot in front of the other.Sooner or later, he would find the guy he was meant to spend his life with.The one who would open up about himself and let Archer in.Or perhaps he was looking for something impossible, and he would be back on the casual sex bandwagon in a few months.Either way, he wasn’t interested in having another mental debate.
Now, as he stood at the door of HQ and waited for someone to let him in, he shoved all thoughts of his romantic life—or lack thereof—to the back of his mind.
Finally, the door panel chirped, and the lock disengaged.
Not sure what to expect, he pulled the door open and stepped inside.
Archer was surprised to see people sitting at their desks, heads down, fingers flying over keyboards.The couple of times he’d been there, he’d found more personal interactions taking place.For some reason, he liked the idea of them having enough work to keep them busy like this, while at the same time, they could take a break to chat.Having worked for Simon for so long, Archer spent most of his time on the road, rolling solo.He was looking forward to having a team.
“Mornin’,” someone muttered.
“Look who it is,” another said.
