by Jill Sanders
Her dark eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”
“Sure, I can drive you by the place during lunch break, if you want to look at it.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Any clue what rent is?”
“What’s your price range?” he asked.
She sighed. “Well, with just my paycheck, I was hoping to stay under half of my monthly income.”
“Not calculating your brother’s in?” he asked.
She frowned. “Not that I don’t believe he’ll stick, but I’ve learned to not rely on him forking over anything himself.”
“Nice brother,” he said sarcastically.
She shrugged. “He was there when no one else was. My father’s parents, my grandparents, couldn’t be bothered during their own grief of losing their son to deal with two teenage grandchildren.” She rolled her shoulders. “Sorry, still a little bitter.”
“No, it’s totally understandable.” He moved over and sat on the edge of the desk, next to her. “After my father passed away, we had family members we had never heard of coming out of the woodwork asking for handouts or demanding they were due something.”
She nodded. “It was the opposite for us. My grandparents didn’t want to be responsible for us. We’ve been on our own since then.”
“What did you do?” he asked.
She leaned back in the chair, looking very relaxed behind his desk. Something clicked in his mind that she belonged there, in a position of power. Even with her jet-black hair, her cropped bangs, and the many colorful tattoos showing, she was the smartest woman he’d ever met.
“I went out and worked two jobs while I finished school. I took accelerated classes my senior year. Then I worked three full-time jobs to support us.”
He frowned. “What about your brother?”
“Oh, he had a few jobs here and there. He couldn’t keep any one for too long. There were a few DUIs. At one point, he ended up staying at a halfway house. It was the best three months of my life.” When she talked, he could tell she’d lost herself and spoke her mind. Upon her last words, she shook free of the spell and sat up a little.
“Sounds like you could use a break from your brother.” he hinted.
She cleared her throat. “Yeah, well, we can’t choose family.” She stood up slowly. He followed her, their bodies close. She blinked as she looked up at him. “We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.” She almost whispered it.
He nodded in agreement. “Gandhi?”
She smiled, and her entire face changed. Her eyes sparkled in the daylight streaming in through the window behind him, and he felt like he could lose himself in her eyes. He could spend the rest of the day, happily standing there, discovering every curve, every freckle, every inch of her skin.
“Eleanor Roosevelt,” she corrected. “One of my favorites. Did you know that both of her parents died when she was young? She went on to attend one of the best academies in London and she has done more for human rights than most. Not to mention that she singlehandedly changed the role of First Lady.” She took a deep breath and he was pretty sure she could have gone on further, but something changed in her and she once again bit her bottom lip.
“Why do you do that?” he asked, curiously.
“What?” Her eyes dipped to her own hands in front of her.
Using his finger, he nudged her chin up, until their eyes met again. “Stop yourself, hold yourself back?” He shook his head.
She was silent for a moment. “It’s just… people aren’t always happy around smart people. I tend to have a lot of useless knowledge moving around in my head. Sometimes it spills out and I have to catch myself from boring people too much.”
“You don’t have to worry about that with me. I find your knowledge, and you, extremely fascinating.” His fingers spread out and, suddenly, he was cupping her face. He didn’t know who leaned in first, but slowly, the gap between them closed. Just before their lips touched, his office door opened.
“I thought you said you hired…” Trent walked in and stopped dead in his tracks. His confused look turned instantly to humor. “Oh, now I see…” He chuckled as he backed out of the room.
Dylan, for her part, jumped away from him, almost tipping over his chair. He’d reached out to steady her, but she’d pushed him away and quickly rushed from the room while making some excuses about filing something.
“You have great timing,” he said sarcastically to his brother.
“How was I supposed to know you’d be in here making out with our new secretary?” Trent joked after tactfully shutting the door behind him, gaining him a glare from Trey.
“What are you doing back so early? I thought you were coming in tomorrow.”
“Well, I wound things up early so I could get home.” Trent and sat down on the sofa across from Trey’s desk.
“You were just missing Addy.” He sat down and glanced at his computer screen, still impressed at Dylan’s abilities. “I bet you stopped off at the house for a quickie before coming in here.”
His brother sighed heavily and looked mighty pleased with himself. “You’re just jealous I have someone to go home to tonight and all you have is Dopey.”
“Don’t knock Dopey.” Trey came to the defense of his almost year-old puppy, brother to his mother’s dog Doc, Tyler and Kristen’s dog Bashful, and Trent and Abby’s dog, Happy. “Dopey is a hell of a lot smarter than any of his siblings.” Trey smiled. “Kind of like me.”
Trent laughed. “In your dreams.”
“Speaking of smart siblings.” Trey shifted the conversation. “You’ll have to let me know your take on Dylan.”
Trent nodded towards the door. “The new secretary?”
“Office Manager,” he corrected. “Yeah, there’s a lot of unused hidden talent. She’s blown me…” His brother’s chuckle stopped him and glared in his direction as he continued. “She’s blown me away with her knowledge of everything science-y that dad would have easily picked up.”
“Science-y?” Trent laughed.
“Sure, I mean, hell, we grew up around this shit, and half of it we still don’t understand.”
“That’s what Tyler’s good for.” Trent crossed his legs as he leaned back on the sofa, looking like he was going to use his sofa for a nap.
Trey stood up, getting his brother’s attention. “You know those figures I sent you for our order?”
“Sure.” Trent shrugged. “You saved our butt with those new numbers.”
“I had nothing to do with it.” He nodded towards the door.
Trent’s eyebrows shot up. “The secretary?”
“Office Manager,” he corrected again. “And her name is Dylan.”
Trent chuckled. “Geeze don’t get your panties in a bind.” His brother stood up and stretched his arms above his head. “It was a long drive back, I’m heading home. I just came to get a few things.”
“Yeah.” Trey followed him out of his office. “I’ll introduce you, officially.”
Trent smiled and wrapped his arm around him. “Then come on and make it official.”
He playfully slugged his brother in the gut, who faked being hurt. In truth, the three brothers were physically almost identical. The only exception was that Tyler and Trent had their mother’s straight dark hair and brown eyes, while Trey took after their father with curly blonde hair and blueish-silver eyes.
It had taken him years to catch up to Tyler in the weight department. He’d spent countless hours in the garage using his father’s old weight set to gain the extra inches on his biceps. In the end, he’d finally caught up with the other two. Now, most people in town had a hard time telling them apart if they were bundled up for winter. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d been mistaken for one of his brothers.
“Dylan, this is my brother Trent,” Trey said when they entered the front area.
“Sorry about barging in.” Trent offered her his hand.
“Nothing happened,” Dylan added q
uickly. She blushed slightly.
“No, of course not.” Trent cleared his throat. “Trey was telling me that you’re the one who saved our butts on that last pipe order.”
Dylan nodded. “Math comes easy for me.”
Trent laughed and slapped Trey on the back. “Not for my little brother here. Did you know Trey failed algebra, twice?”
“Shut up,” Trey said under his breath as Trent wrapped an arm around him playfully.
Chapter 6
A wave of jealousy spread through Dylan at seeing how the brothers interacted with one another. Here was the family dynamic she’d desired her entire life. There had been a point, long ago, when Brent had acted like a big brother. That was long before her parents had stopped acting like parents and started acting like older siblings.
The last trip to Mexico had been one of many trips their parents had gone on in a four-year span, and the only time they’d taken her and Brent along.
“Trent is leaving now,” Trey said clearly, disengaging himself from his brother. “I’ve got a meeting to prepare for.”
“Right.” Trent straightened his brother’s tie. He was wearing worn jeans and a sweater so she had figured he wouldn’t be sticking around for the rest of the day. “I’ll leave you two alone.” Trent smiled and winked at her as he walked towards the front door.
“See, that’s something else we have in common,” Trey said, clearly.
“What?” she asked.
“My brother can be an ass too.” He made sure to say it before Trent had left the building. His brother just chuckled as he walked out. “I need to apologize to you,” Trey said once they were alone.
“You’ve nothing to apologize for.” She tried to keep her mind off what had almost happened in his office moments ago. “Your conference call isn’t—”
“Dylan.” Trey’s tone of voice stopped her. “Not about my brother. Everyone in town knows he’s an idiot. Once you’ve worked here for a few days you’ll understand there will be plenty more instances like that.” He nodded towards the doorway. “I’m sorry about earlier. In my office. I shouldn’t have pushed… things.”
“You didn’t push,” she corrected, trying not to fidget under his gaze. Even after four boyfriends, she still wasn’t any good at this sort of thing. Who was she kidding? She could have had a million boyfriends and Trey McGowan would still make her feel nervous when he looked at her like he was now.
Over the past few days working with him, she’d tried to tell herself that she was being overly dramatic, that she was reading more into what was there between them than really was. Until what had happened in his office, that almost kiss. Now, she was wondering when they would kiss, not if.
He moved closer to her desk, and she was thankful she was sitting down. She didn’t think her knees would hold her up at this point.
“You two are great together.” She decided avoidance was the best way to deal with her embarrassment. “I bet you never fought with your brothers.”
Trey walked over behind her desk and leaned against the side of it. The desk was raised so she was eye to eye with anyone who came in, so his hip rested against the edge of the desk.
“We fought like a group of baboons, or so my mother always said.” His eyes ran over her face slowly. She held perfectly still when he reached up and slid the pen she’d pushed behind her ear out. “Do you wear glasses?” he asked, frowning down at the pen. It was an old habit, one kids in school had always made fun of her for. She’d slide a pen behind her ear and forget it was there, then spend five minutes looking for it.
“Contacts,” she said, frowning slightly at how breathless she sounded. The fact was, she’d been wearing the same disposable contacts for more than two weeks. The things itched and irritated her eyes. But she couldn’t afford new ones and hated wearing her glasses, so she kept refreshing them with drops all day long. Small price for beauty, or so her mother used to tell her all the time.
Of course, her mother had had more than a dozen plastic surgeries that Dylan could remember. In the end, none of the price or pain had been worth it, none of it had really mattered.
“Hmmm.” Trey nodded. “Eye care is included in our health package. There’s a good eye doctor about half an hour from here.”
“Included…” She frowned. She’d forgotten all about the health insurance, even though she’d been the one to fill out and fax the forms in for her and Brent. She’d been too excited about the idea of a real paycheck to look over the health packet. “Right.” She nodded slowly. “I’ll make sure to set something up.”
He tilted his head a little, and she wondered what it would be like to have him watch her as he slowly undressed her. Which reminder her that her undergarments were not… top of the line. Who was she kidding? She was lucky she had one bra and the underwear she was wearing. The elastic had gone out on both and she was dying to spend some of her first check at the little boutique she’d driven by downtown.
“Are they colored?” Trey asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“What?” She almost choked out the question. She had thought at first he was asking about her panties and her cheeks flushed.
When he smiled, she guessed he’d understood where her thoughts were.
“Your contacts?” he said slowly.
“Oh.” She took a deep breath. “No, just disposable.” He nodded. “Why all the questions about my vision?” she asked, suddenly curious.
He chuckled. “Just curious. I guess it’s my way of saying you have nice eyes.” He stood up when the front door opened and glanced over his shoulder. “Looks like my next meeting is early.”
For the hour Trey was in the meeting, her entire body vibrated from his compliment. She tried to focus on her work, but each time she thought about his words, her body would react again. What was going on? The guy wasn’t even her type.
Sure, he was tall, sexy, and full of lean muscles. Those blue eyes of his seemed to bore directly into her soul, and she was pretty sure that if he ever touched her, she would melt or combust.
By the time he walked out of the office again, she was back under full control. That was, until she got a call from her brother. She was a little surprised that he knew the office number, but after hearing where he was, she realized what had happened.
“I’m at the police station. You’ll have to—”
“What did you do now?” she hissed into the phone, hoping Trey couldn’t hear her from down the hallway. His door was open, so she spoke quietly.
“Nothing, it’s just a misunderstanding. Can you come? They impounded my truck.”
“What?” She knew it had come out louder and glanced down the hallway.
“I’ll explain when you get here.” Her brother hung up the phone quickly, leaving no choice but to make an excuse as to why she couldn’t see the rental house during her lunch break.
Straightening her shoulders, she pulled out her purse and the keys to the company sedan she’d enjoyed having all to herself and made her way down the hallway.
Knocking on the open door, she waited for Trey to look up from his computer screen. Her breath stuck in her throat when she noticed the black wired frames sitting on the bridge of his nose.
He turned towards her and she felt her heart actually skip a beat. She’d never fallen for a man in glasses, but wow. Trey McGowan wasn’t your normal man in reading glasses.
“Yes?” he asked, pulling off the glasses and giving her a slight frown when he noticed her bag.
“I… something has come up and I need to go check on my brother during my break. I really wanted to see the rental, but…”
“It’s okay.” He set the glasses on the table and waved her inside the office. She moved automatically. “Is everything alright?” he asked.
“Yes, no.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure. But he needs me and…”
“I understand.” He smiled. “If you want, we can swing by the place after work.”
Instantly, she cheered up. “That woul
d be great.” She’d been dreaming of getting out of the hotel and having a real house again since he’d mentioned it earlier. At least when she wasn’t fantasizing about his hands running all over her body.
“Great.” He turned back to the screen. “Can you lock the front door behind you? I’m going to work through lunch.”
“Oh, sure.” She instantly felt guilty. Maybe he’d been looking forward to taking off for lunch. There wasn’t anything to eat at the office, and she thought about stopping at Frankie’s Deli on the way back and picking something up for him. Turning back towards him, she watched him slip on the glasses again and held in a sigh. “Mustard?” she blurted out. His eyebrows shot up with humor.
“I’m sorry?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “My mouth just acts on its own sometimes.” She sighed. “I can stop and get you a sandwich at Frankie’s on my way back. Do you like mustard?”
He chuckled. “That would be great. Yes, the works. If you tell Frankie it’s for me, he’ll know how I like it.”
“Great.” She smiled. “Thanks, again.” She rushed from the room before she could blurt out anything else stupid.
Why was it that the week his brothers decide to leave him alone at the office, it was so busy he didn’t have time to breath, let alone give the attention he wanted to Dylan. Still, he made his way through the rest of the day with the help of his favorite sandwich from Frankie’s Deli. When Gary knocked on his office door, he waved him in.
“I’ve got that special order you were asking after.” Gary held up the box.
“Great.” Trey stood up and met the man halfway across the room. He signed for the box and tried to avoid small talk, but with Gary, it wasn’t likely to work. He nodded towards his computer. “Sorry, can’t chat now, I’ve got to get back at it.”
“Oh, sure, I bet you’re swamped with Tyler and Trent out this week.”
“Yeah.” He waited until he heard the guy leave the building before making his way down the hallway to where Dylan sat behind the desk.