Cocky Prince

by Jules Barnard

  I scurry back to the desk and jot a quick note for the manager to come see me. I’ll think of a reason later. Lunging for the door, I freeze midway.

  The key.

  Spinning around, I run back to return the key to the pirate bobblehead’s treasure chest, but my heel catches on the carpet. I fly forward, and the key launches from my palm. I catch myself on the edge of the desk before I take a nosedive, but the key is nowhere in sight.

  Shit, shit.

  I drop to the ground and crawl, searching beneath the desk. After a moment of frantic patting of the carpet and not having much luck at finding the key, cold prickles race down my spine.

  The sound of the door closing comes from behind and I suck in a breath, holding it.

  “Hayden? What are you doing?”

  Only Adam. I can talk my way out of this.

  I let out my breath and scoot back from under the desk. As I do, I spot the key leaning against the leg post. I look over my shoulder and capture his gaze. “How did you know it was me?” I reach for the key while he’s staring at my face.

  He looks pointedly at my ass and grins lazily.

  “That’s sexual harassment, you know.” I hobble to my feet in my four-inch spiked heels—wishing I’d chosen a more practical pair for today—the key snugly in my palm.

  He walks over and peers around the desk, and I slide the key back into Mr. Pirate’s treasure chest when he’s not looking. “Oh please. It’s not sexual harassment to recognize someone from…behind.” His gaze flickers suggestively.

  My mouth twists. “Very funny.”

  He tips his head at the floor. “What were you doing down there? And don’t tell me you dropped something. That look of guilt you’re sporting tells me everything I need to know.”

  “Fine, I won’t tell you I dropped something.” I move to walk away. “Goodbye, Adam.”

  He grabs my hand and tugs me toward him, my shoulder lightly bumping his chest. “Don’t do this.” His eyes are sincere, for once.

  My smug grin fades. “Do what?”

  “Don’t get involved, Hayden.”

  “Why would an iceman like you care?” There’s only one reason I can think of, and it must be because he doesn’t want to get caught, along with the rest of the casino execs, after I figure out what they’re up to.

  “I prefer caveman.” He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear and his eyes drop to my mouth, his expression filled with concern that slowly shifts into something more…heated. Lots of heat behind those eyes.

  My head swims. His hand is warm and wrapped around mine, his chest large and protective, brushing my left breast. Suddenly his actions don’t seem selfish.

  I exhale on a shaky breath. I hate the physical effect he has on me. It’s screwing with my head. Adam is guilty. He’s in with Blackwell and the others. I know it, but I can’t look away from his mouth.

  His lips are a shade darker than his lightly tanned skin, the bottom one fuller than the top. I want him to press his mouth to mine and hold me—tell me it’s going to be okay. Because Adam is the ice king. Nothing gets to him. And even though he’s working with the enemy, I could stand to have his strength. You’d have to be a rock to keep it together and never show weakness. I wish I were that strong. I’m not sure whether to admire him or despise him, but my body says admire. Definitely admire.

  He swallows and takes a step back. His eyes have changed, the intensity burning behind them no longer filled with desire. “Dammit, Hayden, stop getting involved.” He brushes past me, and strides out the door.

  My chest slumps, whatever string he was holding that kept me suspended in place snapped.

  I don’t want Adam to be anything other than what I pegged him for on his first day of work when he didn’t remember me. He’s supposed to be shallow and self-serving.

  But shallow, self-serving assholes don’t bother to warn girls of danger. And right now, I can’t tell if he’s more worried about his own skin, or mine.

  Chapter Fifteen

  My dad ladles jasmine rice on his plate, followed a moment later by yellow chicken curry and pad Thai noodles. We decided on our favorite Thai restaurant after he picked me up from work for our dinner date.

  “So my tour with Adam was short.” He gives me a disgruntled look, as though it’s my fault.

  “I’m sure he was busy,” I say distractedly. I haven’t gotten over the anger on Adam’s face when he left me this afternoon. It should bother me that for a moment he looked like he was going to kiss me, but nope. It was the angry part I didn’t like.

  My dad passes the noodles. “I got the impression there was tension between you two.”

  Understatement. “Adam and I are always at each other’s throats. We don’t get along.” No need for him to know every source of my and Adam’s frustrations.

  Dad shovels in a forkful of food, his forehead scrunched in thought. He chews for a moment. “That’s not what I picked up. During the tour it seemed like he wanted to get back to you. Just be careful. Workplace relationships can get complicated.”

  “Dad, there’s no relationship.” How do I explain Adam to my father? “If Adam wanted to get back to me, it was to give me a hard time.”

  “Did he? Go back and give you a lecture?”

  Adam caught me snooping and warned me off, so… “Yes.”

  My dad pours tea into the tiny restaurant teacup. “He’s not your boss, is he?”

  “No.” I swallow the food in my mouth. “Though I’m sure he wishes he were, so he could control me.”

  He sets his cup down. “I don’t like the sound of that. He came across as a good guy when we spoke in the hallway and during the tour. I must have read him wrong.”

  I could allow my father to believe that, and a few weeks ago, I would have. But I can’t ignore the glimpses of Adam that have me thinking differently. “You read him fine. He’s not a bad guy. We just…disagree.”

  My father takes another bite and studies my face. “And that’s it? Nothing else is bothering you? You seemed distracted the last time you called home. Your mother sent me down to make sure everything was all right. You’re making friends in town?”

  Doesn’t matter how old I am. My parents will always worry.

  “Yes. I’m fine. It’s just work stuff.”

  “Anything you want to talk about?”

  My father would freak out if I told him what I suspected went on behind closed doors at Blue Casino. Which is why I won’t. “Nope.” The look in his eyes tells me he’s still concerned. “Dad, I’m twenty-seven. I can take care of myself.”

  He tries for a smile and pats my hand. “Age doesn’t change anything. You’re still my daughter.”

  “Got it. Once a parent, always a parent. Now eat your food. We wouldn’t want Mom to have to wait too long to find out how our dinner date went.”

  Ever since my mom became vice principal at a junior high school in Reno, she’s been working long hours. She doesn’t get down here as often as my father, but it doesn’t mean she’s out of the loop.

  He grins. “Good point. I’m sure she’ll call me on the way home. So I had better get some information, or I’ll never hear the end of it.” He takes a sip of hot tea. “So, about this Adam fellow. Why don’t you guys get along?”

  “Dad, really?” He raises his eyebrow, challenging me to deny there’s anything unusual about my relationship with Adam. “It’s complicated.”

  “Adam appears to be a professional, good-looking guy, and he seems interested. Still not sure it’s a wise choice to date a coworker, but if you say he’s a decent person, then…” He shrugs, a questioning look on his face.

  “What? No. That’s not going to happen.” I shake my head. “Adam—” I’m about to say hates me, when I catch myself. Because that’s not true. I’ve learned enough these last couple of weeks to know he doesn’t hate me. He drives me crazy, but he doesn’t hate me.

  “He isn’t interested in anything serious,” I finally say. Not that Adam has expressed int
erest in me, but at least that will put my father off without me having to explain the complicated past I share with Adam.

  “Hmm,” my father says, his mouth twisted.

  I don’t like the pensive look on his face. “What does hmm mean?”

  “Well, it’s just that most of us guys aren’t the settling-down types—until we do.”

  “Is that some kind of crazy man-logic? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He tosses me a mint and pulls the bill to his side of the table. “Only that we never know which one of you is going to knock us off our game. Permanently.”

  “So, you’re saying there aren’t nice guys out there. Every guy is a player until he finds the right girl?”

  “There are nice guys. But even they’ll get the daylights knocked out of them when they find the one.”

  My face heats. “Good talk, Dad. Glad to know you were a player before you met Mom. I’ll have to scour that image out of my head later. For now, you think you can come to the house and clean out the gutters?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Adam has avoided me this entire week. How do I know? Because I haven’t seen him. Which just goes to show all those times we ran into each other or were forced into close proximity in conference rooms were orchestrated for maximum annoying Hayden purposes. But I don’t like the alternative. Because I need to be close to Adam. The facility manager’s office was a huge step in the right direction. I know where I’m looking now. But if I want to learn more about Bliss, I still need someone on the inside.

  I tried to return to the facility manager’s office, armed with my phone to gain photo evidence, but the office was locked. Which wasn’t a complete deterrent. However, by the time I got the door unlocked with the help of my trusty assistant Mira the locksmith, I discovered the cabinet that housed those interesting Bliss files was gone. Completely removed from the dang office.

  It’s all Adam’s fault. He’s on to me, and he must have given the facility manager the order to remove the cabinet. But I’m not letting that stop me. I know about Bliss now—know where it’s located. And would bet money that’s where Blackwell moved his illegal suite.

  Bridget packs up her folder after the marketing meeting we just finished for the burlesque show. “Do you have a minute?” I ask her.

  “Sure.” She smiles, then bites the corner of her lip. “Do you mind following me back to my office, though? I’ve got a quick email to shoot off.”

  I tell her that’s fine, and we make our way down the hall. Adam and Blackwell may have warned me away from Adam’s new assistant as the HR director, but that doesn’t mean I can’t talk to her as a coworker, right?

  Bridget and I chat about the meeting, and Mark from IT scuffles by, his face shiny and a tad red. “Hi, Bridget,” he says quietly.

  I’m impressed. Mark usually avoids eye contact.

  Bridget greets him and I nod hello, and we resume our discussion about the promo for the big event.

  Not two seconds later, another employee passes, an equally smitten look on his face.

  “Good afternoon, Bridget.” This time, it’s one of the building engineers. An insanely shy man. The only reason he’s said two words to me is because I sign his paychecks.

  What the hell? I do a double take. “Looks like you’ve got fans.” I smile. If Bridget is pulling people out of their shells, that’s great.

  “Oh yes. Everyone has been so nice.” Her expression is unassuming, and I realize I actually like Bridget. She’s pretty, so I can see why the guys like her, but she’s just as friendly with the women, from what I’ve witnessed. And Adam hasn’t said a single bad thing about her performance. I’m going to assume that’s because he’s happy with her and not because he’s hiding something just to win our bet.

  Damn. I can’t believe Adam is going to win. I was certain he wouldn’t be able to hire a suitable candidate. This is going to make learning about the other people he’s hiring more complicated. I promised to keep my nose out of things if he wins. Of course, I’ll still stick my nose in his business, but now I’ll have to be stealthier about it.

  We enter Bridget’s office, and I close the door. “We haven’t had an opportunity to sit and talk, and I wanted to make sure you’ve settled in okay. See if you need anything from human resources?”

  I’m totally breaking the rule about not talking to Bridget on official human resources business, but I need an excuse to talk to her, and it’s a silly rule anyway. Bridget may need something from my department, and how’s she supposed to get help if we’re banned from speaking to one another? Besides, I need a reason to ask probing questions about Adam. He’s avoiding me. Desperate times and all that.

  She shrugs happily. “All settled. Though I do have a question about health benefits. Can you wait one sec while I shoot off that message I mentioned?”

  “Of course. Unless you’d rather come to my office when you’re finished?”

  “Oh no. This will just take me a moment.” Bridget pulls up her email and clicks quickly through the screens.

  She glances over and smiles nervously. I realize I’m staring, so I glance around the room to give her privacy.

  “There,” she says, and minimizes the screen. “All set.”

  Bridget asks me a few questions about company health benefits. All things Mira and I would have gone over had Adam let me brief Bridget when she started, but I’m happy to help her now.

  “Thank you so much for the information,” she says. “That really cleared things up.”

  “Oh, good.” I stand to leave. Maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I want to be available to every employee—screw Adam and Blackwell. “Come by anytime if you have more questions.”

  Bridget smiles broadly, and I know meeting with her was the right move. Yes, I had ulterior motives, but she’s still an employee and deserves what her human resources department has to offer.

  It’s going to suck once Bridget’s two weeks are up. Adam and I will need to establish boundaries around this no-questioning-my-new-hires rule, because it’s obvious the employees he hires will have questions he can’t answer. At least, I think they will, unless Blackwell contracts them out. Bridget isn’t a contract employee, but I don’t know what Blackwell has planned for the others.

  I stop near the door. “Before I go, how is Adam? I haven’t seen him at the meetings lately.” Hopefully my light probing isn’t too obvious, but darn it, Adam’s been MIA, and I’m so close to figuring out this Bliss thing.

  “He’s been busy with the new suites. Blackwell has him working late to make sure everything is up and running in time for the burlesque show. It’s all hush-hush, but just to reassure you, everything is going really well. You should see what I bought for the rooms. Those suites are going to be amazing.”

  I haven’t heard anything special about the suite remodel, other than that it was taking place. Nor did I realize Blackwell wanted them ready for the burlesque show. Bridget’s comments confirm that the suites under construction are more than the casino is letting on to the public and the rest of the employees, and that both she and Adam are involved. No wonder he doesn’t want me near her.

  “What sorts of things did you buy—”

  “Interrogating my employees?”

  I spin around, my heart hammering. Adam is standing in the doorway, and he looks pissed. “Just getting to know your new assistant.” No way am I letting him intimidate me. “She had a few questions about benefits.” I glance back. “Bridget, I’ll let you return to work. Remember what I said about coming to see me anytime.”

  She smiles, and I walk toward Adam, stopping in front of him. “Can I talk to you in my office?”

  He steps aside and I pass him. Once we’re out of the office, and out of earshot of Bridget, he catches up to me. “Blackwell gave you specific orders not to interfere with the hiring of my assistant.” His voice is not his normal elegant cadence, but hard with a steely edge.

  True, I’m guilty, because I asked Bridget questions I knew
Adam wouldn’t want me knowing the answers to, but there’s something going on in this place and I’m going to find out what it is.

  I shoot him a look. “Blackwell didn’t say anything about not talking to new people once they’re hired. Your employee had specific questions about her benefits. I highly doubt you would have been able to answer them without coming to me.”

  “You were asking her about my work.”

  I walk into my office, and Adam closes the door behind us. “That’s not a crime. Whatever projects hospitality has going on should be known to every member of management,” I say sweetly.

  He lets out a breath of frustration. “Hayden, there’s what, one—two days left until Bridget’s been here two weeks? Our bet is nearly up. And I didn’t take you for someone who reneges on a bet. Admit you lost, so that we can move on from this.”

  “No. But even if I lose the bet, we need to establish terms. The deal was for me to stay out of the hiring process. You can’t expect me to never talk to new employees. I’ll need to be accessible to them for benefits and other HR needs.”

  Instead of sitting in the guest chair, Adam walks to the side of my desk, hand tucked in his pant pocket. He stares out the window. “The others are being hired as contractors. No benefits. They can come to me with any questions they have.”

  Blackwell said in our last meeting that the burlesque dancers would be hired as subcontractors through a special account. I’m not surprised Adam is hiring employees through a similar process. But it pisses me off. This is wrong. Human resources is designed to protect the company and its employees. But we can’t do that if they don’t use us—if they go outside the walls of our jurisdiction.

  And I don’t know how to stop them.

  I cross my arms over my chest. “That is a ridiculous waste of everyone’s time. You seriously want to be the go-between?”

  He looks at me as though frustrated. “If I must.”

  Okay, I’m not making things easy, but it’s for a good reason.

  I study the hard edges of his handsome face. “Why is everything here so secretive?” My voice is filled with judgment. I want Mr. Iceberg to admit what we both know. That Blue Casino is doing something illegal.