by Amy Noelle
Jen tilted her head. “That’s not at all what I said.”
I smiled at her. “Well, that’s what I heard. Now, are we going to have dinner or what?”
“Something’s going on in that head of yours, and I don’t think I like it.”
“I want a burger. What do you want?”
We were done. Code Red cancelled. My attraction was just a fleeting hormonal imbalance brought on by sexual deprivation. We’d probably studied that in psych as well. I didn’t go to every class, but I was sure I’d read about it.
“I want to know what you’re up to.”
I stared at her and she huffed in annoyance. “I’ll get a chicken sandwich,” she said.
“Awesome, it’s on me.” I shot the high sign to the waitress and when we placed our orders, I switched my drink to iced tea for the ride home on the El. Jen was still staring at me as the waitress walked away. “I’m fine, really. You helped a ton.”
“I think you helped yourself to some advice I didn’t even give,” she mumbled.
I laughed and shook my head. “You gave me some much-needed perspective. I’m overreacting for various reasons, and once I gave it some thought, it all made sense, that’s all.” He’d hardly be the perfect specimen I saw him as once he let down the corporate guy persona and started showing his personality. Plus, he’d be bossing me around, more or less, telling me what to write. It was bound to annoy me, which was an excellent deterrent to wanting him.
“And if you’re still attracted to him?” Jen asked and took her own tea when the waitress reappeared.
“Then we’ll deal with it.” I’ll screw him right out of my system with the first acceptable guy I stumble across. Piece of cake.
“Will you?” she asked, twirling her hair again.
“Of course,” I said. “It’s not like I can run away from the guy, right?” If I could, I probably would have. “We’re partners. I’ll get over my attraction to him.”
“What if he’s attracted to you?”
It didn’t even bear thinking about. The likelihood was slim to none. That’s why I needed to stop worrying about it. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Jen smiled devilishly. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a fun couple of months.”
Nope. It was back to normal for me. This was just a blip. A little something to throw me off track, but I’d get right back on it. Tomorrow was a new day and Operation: Return to Reality was already underway.
Chapter 5
“Are you over your snit now?” I asked Huntington, who was regarding me with suspicious green eyes from the end of the bed. As I’d predicted, he’d been quite put out with me when I finally got home last night. Win had come running and cuddled me all evening, but Hunt gave me the cold shoulder and the swishy tail.
I couldn’t deal with his crap this morning. I had to figure out what in the hell I was going to wear. Now that I was most definitely over my infatuation with my new partner, I wasn’t worried about impressing him any more. I just wanted to look good, because if you look good, you feel good, right? I was pretty sure some football player had claimed as much on one of ESPN’s classic reels. And since he’d been looking rather fancy in a burgundy suit at the time, I figured he knew what he was talking about.
But I didn’t want to give Joshua Daniels the wrong impression either. I didn’t want him to think I was trying to impress him, because I wasn’t. So, comfy pants it was. I’d pair that with my raspberry blouse and black boots and be good to go. I showered, shaved, dried my hair, and pulled it back into a ponytail to show just how very much I didn’t care about my appearance.
When I went into the kitchen, Winchester nearly sent me falling again. “One of these days, I’m going to break a leg and not be able to feed you, which I’m sure would bother you far more than my pain.”
I was rather proud of myself for getting out the door half an hour earlier than I usually did. I needed to get to the office first to be in the position of power in the tiny office we’d be sharing. After all, I was the one who lived and worked here. He was just a visitor. The space was mine, as far as I was concerned. I wished a good morning to my favorite doorman, Henry, and headed off to claim my territory.
When I got to the office, I shot a wave at the couple of people who’d beaten me in and then glanced over at my empty desk. Chris had been true to his word and gotten all my things into the new office. I pushed open the door to Lydia’s old space and nearly screamed in surprise when I ran right into him. He’d gotten here first. His hands were on my shoulders to keep me from falling, and I felt like every nerve ending in my body was being drawn to the heat from his touch. He flashed me that smile and squeezed me before letting me go. I managed not to fall apart when he released me.
One damn smile, one stupid touch, and I was ready to throw him down on the desk and mount him. This was a problem. He’d better hurry up and show me what a jerk he was so I could do as planned and stop being attracted to him. Clearly I’d already failed less than a minute into my resolution. It was a good thing I’d only mentally canceled the Code Red. I still needed it, even if I was the only one following protocol.
“I’m sorry,” he said and moved aside so I could squeeze by and set down my bag. “You’re here early. I was just going to get us some coffee when I realized I don’t know if you drink it.”
I had to hand it to him. He was a considerate jerk. I tried not to sigh and feigned a smile. “I actually don’t. I mostly stick to water or a hot chocolate from the café next door. I’ll get something later if I need it. Thanks, though.” There, I was gracious.
“I’ll be right back, then,” he said, and as he walked out, I noticed what a fine ass he had. Like me, he’d gone more casual today in khakis, dress shoes, and a blue button-down that matched his laser eyes. Clearly he wasn’t trying to impress me either. That was a good thing. He had no interest in me, and we could just work and be done with it. The pang I felt at that thought was obviously just hunger. I should have grabbed a Pop-Tart before leaving this morning.
The desks were set up so Josh would be facing the door while my back would be to it. He could look out the window at the sea of cubicles if we ever were allowed to open the blinds, but the only thing I had to look at was him. Not that this was a hardship, of course, but since the best way not to want him was to not look at him, that was another problem. It was stifling in here already, and he wasn’t even in the room. I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it on the back of my chair before sitting down.
I looked at the picture we’d taken at graduation of the five of us girls. Whoever had moved my things hadn’t put it in the right place, so I shifted it to the right of my computer monitor. I liked to have it where I could see it out of the corner of my eye while I worked. It felt like I had my girls with me, and I had a feeling I’d need them if I was going to make it through this project unscathed with my heart intact.
The door opened behind me, and I resisted the urge to turn around and look at him again. He’d be in my eye line soon enough anyway.
“Hot chocolate it is,” he said as he set a steaming cup in front of me. I moaned as the scent hit me, and he chuckled as he sat down. “It seems the way to your heart is with sweets. I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
He wanted to be in my heart? Well, too bad. I wasn’t letting him. I just smiled and took a sip and held back the moan this time. He’d gotten whipped cream and chocolate shavings on it. The man sucked in all the right ways. He was too good. Too tempting. Too everything.
“Thanks,” I said when I was sure I wouldn’t do or say something inappropriate. “You didn’t have to do that.”
He smiled that smile again. I took a deep breath and told myself to ignore it. It was just a smile, not an invitation to ravish him.
“I know, but I wanted to. I thought . . .”
It was the first time since I’d met him that he looked anything but self-assured, and I wondered what was wrong.
“What is it?”
�
��I’m sorry,” he said and drummed his fingers on the desk. “This is kind of weird, isn’t it?” I tilted my head, confused. “Trying to figure out our dynamic. I’m not your boss, you’re not my boss, and I don’t want to seem like I’m taking over or anything. I know this is your turf.”
I shifted because I’d had a similar thought earlier, and now I felt kind of bad about it. “This office is new to me, too. It’s ours, I guess. Not mine.”
“Ours,” he repeated, smiling again. I couldn’t help it. A thrill moved through me when I thought about anything being ours. “That works. So, partner, how about we get to know one another better?”
Since every image that flashed into my head involved us shedding articles of clothing in our quest to get to know one another better, I bit my lip and tried to focus. “How?” I asked, wishing he was having the same thoughts I was.
He chuckled. “You talk about you, I talk about me, and we talk about things. We have some time to kill. The sample from Starfire won’t be in until later this afternoon, so we can’t get started yet anyway.”
While I was dying to know more about him—like if he had a wife and five kids waiting for him back in New York—I was not dying to talk about myself. I hated talking about myself.
“Why don’t you start?” I asked. That way, I could fake an illness or an emergency rather than boring him with my life story.
Josh’s ridiculously blue eyes seemed even bluer when he laughed. Nobody had eyes that blue. Maybe he wore color contacts.
“All right, since I’m the sales guy, I guess I’ll go first. My name is Joshua Daniels, but don’t call me Joshua unless I’m in trouble. I go by Josh. I’m twenty-nine. I was born and raised in Kansas City, but I’ve lived in New York since college where I attended NYU. I’ve been with Pro-Tech since shortly after graduation, though I waited a few tables before I finally landed my first real job. Initially, I was an assistant who also did research, but within a year I was on the sales staff and, now, here I am.”
I blinked when I realized he was done talking. “That doesn’t tell me much.” I could read his resume and get most of that.
He sat back and grinned. “We’ll get to the good stuff after you tell me something about you.”
Tricky man. “I’m Nicole Magette, age twenty-six. You can call me Nicole or Nic but never Nicky, unless you want to piss me off. I was born and raised in a tiny town in southern Illinois that you’ve never heard of, and I moved to this area to go to Northwestern. I got a degree in journalism and did a year at a small paper before I decided it wasn’t for me. I’ve been here ever since.”
“And you’re the best writer on staff,” he said. I felt my cheeks heating and shrugged. How did I know? “You are. I went through every manual you’ve ever written when they suggested you for the project. We have people in New York who could do it, but we really do need the best.”
His words were making me warm all over. “I’m glad you think so.”
“I do.” He smiled again, and I wondered if my body parts were going to start randomly melting off. I was tingly everywhere.
“Okay, enough of the background stuff. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty,” I said.
He cocked his head and his hair fell forward into his eyes. My fingers itched with the need to brush my hands through it. “What would that be?”
“Mets or Yankees?” I asked, and he laughed.
“Neither. I’m a hometown boy, even if my team hasn’t sniffed the series since I was three.”
Well, he got points for not being a New York fan, but he got minus points because the Royals only won that World Series because my Cardinals got robbed by a blind umpire. I may have been a baby at the time, but I still felt the slight. My dad saw to it that I was suitably outraged. I didn’t say anything to Josh, though. It wasn’t his fault his team had a fake championship.
“So, are you a Cubs girl?”
And just like that, he was no longer attractive to me. “Do I look like I root for losers?”
He seemed taken aback and, had I not been annoyed at being accused of being a Cubs fan, I might have felt bad.
“Uh, no?” he said, staring at me as if he was afraid I was going to attack him, and not in the way Kim had suggested.
Down girl, I reminded myself. Maybe I didn’t want to like him, but I didn’t need him scared off or hating me. We did have to work together.
“Sorry.” I held up my hands in surrender. “You just inadvertently tapped into my hatred for the Cubs. I’m a Cardinals fan. I went to a lot of games as a kid.” I couldn’t help myself. “Your team was gifted that World Series win, you know. He was out at first.”
Josh let loose a loud, long laugh, and I stared at him, wondering if I’d pushed him over the edge already. That would be fast even by my standards.
When he finally calmed down, he said, “So far I know you’re passionate about chocolate and baseball. If I concede that he was out at first, will you tell me more? What else gets you worked up?”
Sex was the word on the tip of my tongue, but we weren’t going there.
“Hmm, well, my favorite TV show. Football, but I’m less likely to fly off the handle over that one. And, of course, religion and politics can set anybody off, but I hate talking about either one.”
“What show?” he asked.
Oh man, I shouldn’t have brought it up. “Supernatural. It’s about—”
“I know that show. My sister, Kelly, loves it. I watch it with her when we visit one another.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Two,” he said. “Kelly’s twenty-one, and Robbie’s your age.”
He said “your age” like we were worlds apart. “So you’re the oldest.”
“Yep.”
“Why’d you go to NYU?” I asked.
“I wanted to see New York. It always seemed so glamorous and out-there to me. I went, fell in love with it, and never looked back.” He smiled. “Well, that’s not true, I go back and visit my family a lot, but New York is home now. What about you? Any siblings?”
I shook my head. “Not by blood, anyway.” I looked away from his beautiful face and at my grad picture. “My friends are my family here. My parents still live in my hometown, but we don’t see each other often. We talk weekly, though.”
“It’s good you’re that close. I’m thrilled to be staying with Ryan while I’m in town. We grew up together, and he’s my best friend.”
His grin was contagious, and I could tell he really loved his friend, which of course was endearing. I was already over the Cubs thing, and he was back to being dangerously hot.
“So, what do you do for fun?” he asked.
“Ah, you know, I hit the bars now and then, and I see the Cards whenever they’re in town. I’m kind of a homebody, though, to be honest.”
He chuckled. “I’m kind of the same. I did the high life in New York my first couple of years there, but now I mostly hang out at home alone.”
“Alone?” It came out before I could stop myself. At least I refrained from hopping up and doing a victory dance around my desk. That would have been embarrassing.
Josh nodded. “Yeah, just me, myself, and I. What about you?” His piercing gaze bore into me.
“Well, I live with two males . . .” I waited for his reaction. There was something there, a clenching of his jaw and a tightening of his hands on the desk. “They’re both of the feline variety, but they keep me busy.”
And just like that, his smile came back. “You have two male cats?”
Was he a cat hater? Because that would take the shine right off his rose. “Yes.”
He grinned. “That’s great.” Damn. He wasn’t going to insult them. “What are their names?”
I couldn’t believe he cared. “Huntington Peabody the Third and Winchester.”
He laughed, but I couldn’t get mad. Hunt’s name was meant to be funny.
“We had all sorts of pets growing up,” he said. “I had a cat named Rooster and a gerbil n
amed Snake.”
“You’re weird,” I said, also laughing. “Did you want a rooster and a snake instead?”
“Well, they seemed like more exciting pets, but Mom was afraid a snake might get loose and eat her little dog, Peanut. And a rooster honestly would have been annoying. I’m glad she put her foot down.”
“Me, too. If you’d let your snake eat a cat, there’d be no way I could work with you.”
He smiled. “Well, lucky for me, that didn’t happen. I guess it was fate I didn’t get my snake.”
Fate? Scary thought. A scary, sort of delicious, thought. “Yeah, I guess you’ll do.”
“I hope so,” he said. “When do the Cardinals come to town next?”
“They’re due in about two weeks. I can’t wait.”
“Do you go with anybody?” he asked, looking somewhere over my shoulder.
I furrowed my brow. “I usually drag one of my friends, but they wear the wrong gear.” I rolled my eyes. “Being seen with a Cubs fan is the sacrifice I make to see my boys, though.”
He laughed, and the rich sound made me shiver. “Well, maybe we could go to one. I promise not to wear anything Cubs. I’ll even find a Cardinals T-shirt.”
“That sounds good,” I said before I could stop myself. What had I just agreed to?
“Yeah, it does.”
I was in direct violation of the Code Red, and it had only been instituted for about twenty-four hours.
Chapter 6
“It’s a date,” Kim said after I’d recounted my conversation with Josh. Since the gang wasn’t about to come running to the city today, we all teleconferenced in. I was curled up on my couch with Winchester on my lap and Hunt behind my head. Since I’d returned on schedule tonight, he’d decided to forgive me my transgressions. I truly wondered who called the shots around this place. It didn’t seem to be me.
“No, it’s not,” I said. I may not be big on dating, but I certainly knew when I’d been asked on one. Derek from across the hall asked me out at least once a month. He was cute, too, which was why I made up an excuse each time. “He just suggested we go to a game together. That’s hanging out. Not dating.”
