by Madison, Mia
But it was just too hot for heavier clothes. Besides, Tyler wouldn’t be distracted by my attire. He only had eyes for Kait.
That thought made me smile as I slipped on some sandals and headed downstairs. I’d never seen my friend so happy. She deserved it.
Gabi had made coffee, thank god. I needed the caffeine—otherwise, I wouldn’t make sense until early afternoon.
Wondering where everyone was, I walked to the front door and opened it, squealing in surprise when I saw a tall figure standing there, his hand poised to knock.
Holy shit—it was Ian Callahan.
“Mr. Callahan,” I said, taking a rapid step backwards. “You scared me.”
“But at least I didn’t make you fall over this time,” he observed, amusement in his voice.
Still surprised, I stared at him. How did he know where I lived? What was he even doing here? And why did he look so damn good?
Because even though my mind was stuck in morning-mode, I still had eyes. And he looked super hot. He was wearing blue jeans that hugged his powerful legs in all the right places. As did the olive-green t-shirt he wore. It brought out the green in his hazel eyes and while showcasing extremely impressive biceps and pecs. How the hell did the CEO of a communications firm get that kind of body? And he had to be in mid-thirties, too—ten or twelve years older than me. Yet he showed no visible signs of aging except a few crinkles around his eyes.
Speaking of bodies, I looked down self-consciously at mine. The firm skin of my belly was showing as well as most of my legs. When I glanced back up, I caught him looking at the same spots I just had. His eyes met mine again, and I could tell he knew he’d been caught, but instead of looking apologetic, he just grinned. Didn’t this man ever get embarrassed about anything?
“Is that coffee?” he asked.
“Yes. Do you want some?” I prided myself on asking that instead of asking why the hell he was here.
“I’d love some.”
I left the door open and walked to the kitchen, hearing him following me. I still didn’t understand why he was here, but I recognized the universal need for coffee when I saw it. When he had a cup of Gabi’s special brew, I decided it was time for some answers. “What are you doing here?”
“Tyler asked me to come over. He said you ladies were having problems with your air conditioner.”
“And he thought the appropriate solution was to call in the CEO of a communications firm?”
Ian chuckled. “True, it doesn’t seem like the usual first step. But when I was in high school, I worked on them from time to time.”
“Your high school had some strange extracurricular activities.”
He chuckled. “It was during weekends and summer break. My, um, father used to make me help out with his repair business.”
Oh. That was a nice thing for him to do. “I actually just got up, so I don’t know where anyone is.”
“If they’re working on the A/C, they’re probably outside.”
Right. Duh. “I’ll show you where the unit is.” I led him out the back door, almost certain his gaze was on the backs of my legs. Instead of making me self-conscious, like it should have, it somehow put an extra sway to my step.
We found the others huddled around the A/C unit. Tyler had it open and was bent over it as if he somewhat knew what he was doing. He straightened up when we approached and held a hand out to Ian.
They shook hands and did that one-armed man hug thing, clapping each other on the back. Shit, why did that make my heart rate quicken? Even in my half-asleep state, I wasn’t immune to the site of two tall, hot men right in front of me. If they’d only take their shirts off, I could probably die happy.
“You okay?” Kait whispered to me after Tyler introduced Ian to my roommates.
“Fine,” I whispered back, except I wasn’t sure if I was. The last few weeks had contained such extremes. The breakup with Joe had caused both sadness and an extreme sense of relief. Starting the new job had been exciting and scary as hell. And then there was meeting Ian, which had been humiliating and exhilarating.
Why couldn’t anything just produce one, simple emotion instead of a string of opposing ones?
The two men were engaged in a conversation about tools, strategies, and something called HVAC systems. Gabi, Kait, and I retreated to the kitchen where it was cooler. Well, not much cooler, but at least there was a ceiling fan.
The moment Gabi closed the sliding glass door behind us, I turned to Kait.
“Why on earth did Tyler invite my boss here?”
“Ian? Tyler says he knows about air conditioners.”
“But why him?” I pleaded.
“Because he knows about air conditioners,” Kait repeated, looking at me strangely. “Why, what’s wrong with him? He seems nice.”
“And hot,” Gabi said, delivering two glasses of lemonade.
“He’s not either of those things,” I said, frustrated that they didn’t understand. “Well, except the hot part. But he’s been such a jerk! You said he wouldn’t mention the phone call at work, and he did. He’s taken great delight in reminding me of it and making me blush.”
Gabi and Kait exchanged a look I couldn’t interpret. “I just assumed that since he was a friend of Tyler’s, that he was a good guy. Is he really that bad?” Kait asked.
I thought about that. “I don’t know if he’s good or bad, but he’s certainly not a gentleman.”
Gabi cocked her head to the side. “Do you want someone who’s a gentleman?”
“God no,” I said without thinking, and then I paused. They were getting me confused. “I mean, like for my personal life, I don’t want a guy who’s a doormat. But this guy is my boss.”
“So you want your boss to be a doormat?” Kait said.
“No,” I said automatically, and then I swore under my breath. “This is entrapment. You guys know my brain doesn’t wake up this early on weekends.”
“Just think about the question. What kind of qualities should a CEO have?” Kait persisted.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as I considered the question. “Ambition. Strong leadership. Confidence. And a certain amount of balls.”
“Do you think Ian’s like that?” Gabi asked.
“How come you two are on a first name basis with my boss when I’m not?” I complained. But that wasn’t really what I was annoyed with. I sighed. “Yes, he has those qualities.”
“Wait, even that last one? Does that mean you two have. . .” Gabi trailed off suggestively.
“No! Of course not. We don’t even know each other.” Yet I knew that wasn’t true. We hadn’t had many conversations, but we’d definitely shared a few things. Like, for example, the most embarrassing moment of my life when I thought I was talking to Joe. Or the electricity that had sizzled between us when he pulled me to my feet in the copy room. And now we were sharing new secrets, like the map and the flashlight and the locker downstairs.
Gabi was grinning, but Kait looked more concerned. “Maybe you’re right, maybe he is being inappropriate.”
“There’s no doubt about that,” I agreed.
“He has no right to tease you like that—especially not about what you went through with Joe.”
“Yeah, that was really uncouth of him.” Though every time I thought of the wicked gleam he’d had in his eye when he’d teased me about the term needle, it made my pulse quicken.
“I’ll get Tyler to talk to him,” Kait continued. “Ian should be sensitive to your situation. After all you’ve been through, the last thing you need is a man giving you a hard time.”
Wait a second. She was going to send Tyler to speak to Ian on my behalf? “You make me sound like a damsel in distress who needs rescuing.”
“No one’s saying that,” Gabi said.
“Of course not,” Kait assured me. “But Ian’s being insensitive. Someone needs to tell him to back off.”
“You’re right, they do,” I said. “And that someone is me.”
6
Sierra
“Scalpel,” Ian snapped, holding his hand out, palm up.
I rolled my eyes as I kneeled next to him in the grass, his toolbox open in front of me. “For the last time, you’re not a doctor.” I’d fully intended to tell him off, but when I returned, I’d found him alone, surrounded by random mechanical parts, and in dire need of an assistant. Apparently, Tyler had made a run to the hardware store.
Ian turned his head, very nearly catching me in the act of checking out his jeans-covered ass. “Haven’t you ever heard of role playing? It can be quite fun.”
I rolled my eyes again since he hadn’t seen me do it before. Actions spoke louder than words sometimes.
He sighed. “Okay, forget the scalpel.” He held out his hand again. “Wrench, wench.”
A chuckle escaped my lips even as I slapped a wrench into his hand a bit harder than necessary. “Wench?”
“That’s a different role play altogether. More of a pirate thing, really. You could be the serving girl wearing some sort of corset—”
“I get the picture,” I said, cutting him off.
“Yeah? Could you show me?” He winked before focusing on the A/C again. Half of its inner workings were spread out on the ground next to us. I sure hoped he knew what he was doing. Then again, it’s not like it had been working well to begin with. The way I figured, the odds were fifty-fifty whether he’d fix it or break something else. All in all, it wasn’t a bad gamble.
Unable to help myself, I watched the way his muscles moved as he worked. His shirt was damp, and I held onto the slim hope that he’d take it off. That, I was sure, would be a sight to see. The man was ripped. He was also an arrogant ass, but wow, did he have muscles. Every time he moved, his biceps flexed, and the clingy fabric of his t-shirt showcased the array of muscles underneath. “You don’t really seem much like a CEO.”
He looked at me over his shoulder, the sunlight revealing gold specks in his hazel eyes. “As a breed, we’re not known for crawling around on the grass covered in grease and oil.”
Involuntarily, my mind went to dirty places that somehow involved him and me, covered in massage oil, wrestling each other on the bed. The delicious snippet of fantasy ended with me on my back, my hands pinned above my head, Ian’s mouth descending—
“Sierra?”
“What?” Reality returned to reveal that we were both fully clothed under the hot July sun.
“Just checking to see if you’d gotten heat stroke or something.”
“I won’t as long as you can get this fixed,” I said, sounding bitchier than I’d meant to.
“Actually, I think I’ve got it or at least as much as I can do until Tyler returns. Not that it’s a magic cure-all. This unit needs to be replaced as soon as possible. But it should work better.” He leaned back, picking up pieces and panels from the grass and fitting them back together. It was like watching someone assemble a greasy, 3D jigsaw puzzle. “Wouldn’t want you and your friends to melt this summer.”
The thought entered my mind to say something risqué, perhaps something about what happened to certain body parts when the air was chillier. But then Ian wiped his brow, accidentally making a black smudge on his cheek. For some reason, that detail made me take a closer look at him. He’d been working in the heat for hours and had given up his Saturday morning for this.
“Thank you,” I said, meaning it. He’d worked hard. “My roommates and I are very grateful.”
“How grateful?” He raised one eyebrow, and just like that, the feelings of gratitude vanished and were replaced by a combination of annoyance—and arousal. The man was impossible.
I gave him my most innocent smile. “Very. If you want me to show my appreciation, I could get you a chocolate bar. I had a very good one the other day—it was Swiss. Some jerk at work gave it to me.”
He grinned. “I don’t know, he sounds like a stand-up guy to me.” He stood and reached a hand out to me. I finished putting his tools in the tool box, snapped it shut, and took his hand. Just like the first time he’d pulled me up, the touch electrified me. He held my hand an extra heartbeat or two before letting go. “No, Sierra, I don’t want chocolate as a thank you.”
God, the smirk on his full lips made my thighs clench. How could someone be so arrogant and sexy at the same time? I found myself flirting back against my better judgment. “So what would you like?”
“Surprise me. Put something in that locker in the basement by the end of the day on Monday.” His smug grin made me want to either strangle him or kiss him.
“Like what?” I studied the gleam in his vivid eyes and tried to decipher if what he wanted was something I was willing to give.
“It’s up to you. That’s what a surprise is. Why… afraid you won’t be able to think of anything?”
The challenge in his expression got under my skin. “Not at all. My only fear is that you won’t be able to handle it when I do.”
He grinned, his eyes gleaming. “You’d be surprised what I can handle… and how well I handle it. No map required, remember?”
I had to laugh at that. The man was the most arrogant human being ever to walk the face of the earth. He laughed, too, as aware as I was that we’d been treading on dangerous ground. But as long as we could both laugh and smile about it, then things were okay in my opinion.
“See you on Monday, Sierra.
“You too, Ian. Don’t forget to check the locker by the end of the day.”
“Oh, I won’t.”
He flashed me a very direct look, and I grinned as he walked away. After my last crappy job, I’d hoped that my new one would be challenging. It was turning out to be a two-for-one kind of deal. The jury was still out on the kind of work I’d be doing, but my new boss was challenging as hell.
Still smiling, I went to find my roommates.
7
Ian
Through brute force of will, I managed to refrain from checking the locker in the basement throughout the day on Monday. I didn’t see Sierra, either. I’d been stuck on the phone half the morning, putting out fires, striking deals, and I even spent a few minutes talking to my mother.
None of which stopped me from thinking about Sierra. She’d popped up quite a few times in my thoughts over the weekend. The short shorts and cropped top she’d worn had made quite an impression. I ached to learn more about her. I ached to touch her. I actually couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent that much time thinking about a woman.
But now that the work week had started, I also needed to be her boss. It was in that capacity that I checked with an assistant about her schedule. The team that she’d been put on was meeting with clients today. That would be good experience for her. She seemed sharp, but it would take her a while to get up to speed. Few people in the outside world knew what a company that focused on communications did—even people like her who’d majored in it.
By five, I couldn’t wait any longer even though I still had another hour of work to do. As I jogged down the stairwell, I wondered what she might have left for me—if anything. She might have chickened out. A small, rational corner of my brain reminded me that I was pushing her a bit. It would be natural for a new employee to be intimidated by the boss. It was the same deal with a younger woman being pursued by an older man.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was up to the challenge. And that I might actually end up being the one struggling to keep up. Any woman who could tell off her ex like the way she did on the phone was a tough-as-hell lady in my book.
Guess I’ll find out, I thought as I rounded the corner and flipped the switch in the old locker room. A small piece of paper was the only thing inside locker seventeen. I held it up to the light, half expecting the words on it to tell me to fuck off. But there weren’t any words on it, only numbers.
A telephone number.
Her telephone number, I realized.
But that didn’t make sense. I already had her number in my phone from when I
’d called her to offer her the job and gotten such an earful from her. Even if I hadn’t had it from that, I could’ve gotten it from her personnel record.
Then it hit me. She was a smart young woman, she knew I already had her number. This was her way of telling me it was okay for me to contact her. That she was in this, too.
Grinning, I took the stair two at a time. I needed to plan my next move. So many possibilities, most of them dirty. I’d have to take care not to overwhelm her. When I absolutely had to, I could be patient. Ish. There was no rush, other than the fact that I couldn’t get her out of my head. I could afford to take a little time and figure out the next step.
Knowing she was willing to play the game made all the difference in the world.
* * *
I managed to resist texting Sierra until the next afternoon. Then I couldn’t wait any longer. What are you doing?
Her response was quick: Working. As the CEO, shouldn’t you already know that?
Me: Probably.
Sierra: Gotta be on top of these things, boss man. Otherwise, your employees might get away with murder.
Me: I trust them not to murder anyone. But let’s go back to the “gotta be on top” part.
Sierra: Oops, I walked right into that one.
I laughed. She really had.
Me: Or, you could say you left yourself open for that one.
There was a pause, and then I wondered if I’d gone too far. No, strike that, I’d definitely gone too far. But I wondered if she liked chatting this way with me.
Sierra: Is this kind of communication your standard way to talk to new employees?
Me: Definitely not.
Sierra: That’s probably a good thing. You could get sued and have to repair air conditionings for a living. Though maybe that’s not such a good thing—you did a good job on Saturday.
