Page 81 of Shark’s Pride

“Roll with what?” I retorted. “Honestly, man. Do you know how foolish that sounds to a guy like me? ‘Fate’? And ‘being okay’ with it? I mean, do you hear yourself right now?”

“Of course I do. I don’t even like the sound of it, and I’m about thirty percent more in touch with my feminine side than you.”

“Thirty?” I chuffed. “More like sixty-two.”

“Which isn’t a random number or anything.”

“I don’t do random, Grant.”

“Of course you don’t.”

We both grinned as if we were in the alley of our childhood neighborhood instead of easing back on sofas in my penthouse office suite. But our easy silence only continued for a beat. I sat back up at the sound of someone moving around outside my office door.

During the workday, when the office was bustling with people, I wouldn’t hear or care about such a sound. But because Grant and I were probably the only two people on the entire floor and security hadn’t called to say Elijah was in the building, the sound instantly raised my hackles.

Grant jumped to his feet at the same time I did. We shoved at each other, battling to be the first out the door to investigate.

Grant rounded the doorway first. He skidded to a halt at the sight of a feminine behind, bent over at a complete ninety-degree angle to the floor.

“Terryn?” he guessed by the view offered.

I stepped around him, homing a baffled stare down at the curvy brunette still crouched next to her desk. “Why are you here already?”

The words definitely weren’t a sunshiny greeting and likely teetered on the edge of asshole, given that the woman was always here a few minutes after six in the morning—but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Even weirder, I was less irritated by Elijah’s lateness than by Terryn’s very presence. In my head, I told myself to be grateful for having such a dedicated employee.

But my gut was saying something else.

“Oh! Hello, Mr. Twombley.” She stood up, straightening the red button-front blouse that had come untucked from her black pencil skirt. Though she’d already glimpsed me, she took care to peer around Grant’s frame while “smoothing” the blouse over her bosom. “And Mr. Shark…good morning. I wanted to come in a little early in case you needed me. I’ve been noticing how early you come in, and I thought…well, I just thought…you know…” She dropped her hands and wrung them. “Well, since you’re getting your days started earlier, maybe I—I can help you.”

She finished by plastering on a smile that made me want to crawl out of my skin. Instead, I turned on my heel and went back into my office. There was something off about my “sweet” little secretary, other than the fact that she had no life to speak of. Between dealing with “minor” life issues like a dead shark on my patio, a dead woman in my pool, and a crazy little thing called love, I hadn’t yet had a chance to ask Elijah about looking deeper into Terryn—so for now, the greater the distance I could put between my location and hers, the better.

I sat back at my desk. From there, I could hear Grant making small talk with Terryn for a few more minutes before he casually strode back into my office.

“Close the door,” I said without looking up from the email I was responding to.

“Dude, you are so rude to her. What’s your deal?” He folded his arms while leaning against the back of the sofa nearest my desk.

“You do remember the shit she pulled at Club Delilah?” I prompted. “Tracking my phone?”

“Yeah, but you said you took care of that. It seems like she’s really trying to make it up to you.”

“Tip of the iceberg,” I mumbled, hitting Send on the email.

“Huh? I’m not following you,” Grant answered. “Surprise.”

Ignoring his derision, I continued with my explanation, “That stunt was just the locomotive of her crazy train, mark my words.” I sat back in my chair and met Grant’s steady gaze. “I’ll bet you twenty large that once I have Elijah look into her, he comes back with way more on that little nut burger.”

He held up his hands, palms out. “Ah, no way. I’m not taking that bet. Your instincts are much too sharp when it comes to reading people. But you’ve definitely been keeping Banks busy, haven’t you?”

“When it rains, it pours, my man.”

“Meaning?”

“That the closer a man gets to becoming King of the Hill, the more people line up to knock him down.”

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

“I’m aware.”