by Alexa Riley
He leans down, and I turn my head, not willing to step back. “You don’t know much about personal space, do you?”
That stupid smile only gets bigger. I shake my head, thankful for my sunglasses still perched on my face, because I didn’t want him to see the childish eye roll I just gave him.
I walk up to the counter. “It’s been a while,” Sam says, coming back from the kitchen.
“I know, I know.” I lean on the counter. “Miss me?”
“Every damn day.” I see a shadow loom over me, and Royce has his hands folded over his chest.
His smile is gone now, and he looks pissed. I ignore him and go back to talking to Sam. Sam has owned the Taco Hut for as long as I can remember. My mom and dad would bring us up here a lot after school when we were kids. Then Penelope and I started coming on our own. We even studied for some of our finals in here while devouring late-night snacks. Sam always gave us homemade churros that were to die for.
“Don’t mind him,” I say when I see Sam eyeing Royce. “He doesn’t know about boundaries. But I just met him today, so he could just be an asshole.”
Sam smirks but gives Royce a glare. I hear Royce grunt something, but I don’t catch it.
“How am I going to stay in business if your taco addiction is fading?” Sam teases.
“Blame Henry. He’s the one working me to death.”
Sam shakes his head. “Haven’t seen him for a few months either.”
“Because he knows I love this place and he’s avoiding me right now. Do you have any fresh churros?” I ask, giving him my best smile. I want something sweet for later when I’m at work tonight and have nothing to eat. Tacos don’t hold well, but the sugary dessert will.
“I think I may have a few,” Sam says, his eyes softening. “Only for you, though.” He shoots a look at Royce.
“Perfect, and I’ll take my usual,” I add.
“All right, eight tacos with extra cheese and sour cream.”
I hear Royce cough and mutter, “Eight?”
I look at him and shrug. “They aren’t giant. Kinda like mini tacos. They fry the shells, too, so they’re crispy little heaven-sent morsels of pleasure.” I can’t stop the moan that escapes me when I talk about them. God, it’s been too long.
“If they can make you make that sound, I’ll take eight, too,” he says, his smile back in place.
I turn in the other direction. I don’t want to face him because I can feel my cheeks burn. That did not just happen. “I’ll have a Diet Coke, too, and he’s buying.”
Sam chuckles and heads back to the kitchen. I go find a table outside and sit down. Royce follows me, setting my Coke down in front of me while taking a sip of his water.
“So I think our department is being staffed wrong. It’s not that I need more people, I just think that maybe there’s a faster way we can be doing things, something I’m not seeing. More productive, but not as much work—”
“Have you lived in New York long?” he asks, cutting me off.
I take a sip of my soda but ignore his question. “A few years back, a guy by the name of Jordan Chen used to work for us. Crazy good with computers, but he’s retired. Anyway, long story short, we never replaced him. He had contingencies in place, but I think things have become dated and some stuff has changed.”
“I can tell you were born and raised here. You talk fast.”
I take my sunglasses off and study him for a second. “What’s wrong? Can’t keep up?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
He only smiles. Again. Then takes a sip of his water. I inhale slowly and try to stay on track.
“Anyway.” I shift back as Sam comes over and sets our tacos down. “Thanks,” I tell him as he walks away. “I don’t think he’ll want to do it. I mean, I can reach out to him, but he has a daughter. She’s like him.” I think about it for a moment. “Kinda like him.”
“Did you know your lip lifts in the corner a little when you get annoyed?” His eyes are on my mouth.
“If you know you’re annoying me, then why do you keep doing it?”
He shrugs and opens the box with his tacos, but doesn’t move to eat one.
“Echo is—”
“See, your lip did it again. Does she annoy you?” He leans in a little, propping his elbows on the table and studying me. I don’t like it. He’s known me two seconds and already he’s reading me like he’s been doing it his whole life.
“Like I said, Echo is like her dad, but with some quirks. She can be—”
“Annoying?” he finishes. His eyebrows rise to let me know I did the lip thing again, but all I can think about is him watching my mouth now.
I take a breath and sit back, crossing my arms. Echo can be more than annoying. She has to control most things. “She can be unpredictable. If I tell her to do one thing and she thinks I’m wrong, she’ll just do it her way. It’s always her way.”
“Then why would you want her?”
“Because she’s normally right and five steps ahead. She’s in her head a lot of the times and isn’t always vocal. She just does it.”
I knew this from experience. We shared a few classes together in school, and I got stuck on some projects with her. She’d actually skipped a few grades. Her parents are even pretty close with mine, so she was around a lot. But she normally favored hanging out with Penelope over me. She’s damn smart. She’s probably smarter than her father. They’re always on the computer together, and I bet it would be easy for her to pick up where he left off.
“Are you in a relationship?” Royce asks, catching me off guard.
I was sure he was going to ask me more about Echo, but he doesn’t really seem to care about work. All his questions are about me. That reminds me that I need to look into him, too. I did a soft check on him when Henry mentioned him, but I trust Henry. He wouldn’t bring him on if he didn’t think it was for the best. I always trust Henry’s instincts because they’re always spot on. Plus, the Davenport name is known around town. Royce comes from old family money. Probably thinks he can do and say anything he wants. I’ve met a lot of men like him. It’s why, when I first meet new men I’ll be working with, I’m firm so they don’t think they can get something over on me.
Leaning over, I reach out and shut Royce’s taco box. I pick it up and place his box on top of my box, then stack my churros on top of that.
“You just lost your tacos,” I tell him.
I pick up my sunglasses, slide them back onto my face, and then grab the food. He can track me down when he actually wants to talk about work.
He chuckles as I walk away. Then I’m almost sure I hear something about it not being the tacos that he’s after.
Chapter Four
Royce
“You sure you’re up for this tonight?” Ezra asks from the couch.
“Leave him alone. Rolly’s got this. Right?” Donovan gives me a worried look, but I shake both of them off.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were starting to get soft on me.”
“Pffft. After seeing that sweet little redhead you were talking to today, I’ve been nothing but hard,” Ezra chimes in and winks at me.
I throw the remote at his head before he sees it coming, hitting him right between the eyes.
“Dude!” he shouts, and rubs the spot where it connected. “I’m sorry, okay? Don’t mess up the moneymaker.” He takes out his phone and looks into the camera to inspect the damage.
I’d caught Pandora today in the lobby. She’s been avoiding me for the past few days, and I haven’t been able to corner her in her office. From what I’ve heard she’s usually at her desk, but lately she’s been giving me the slip. I knew something was up the last time I was there to see her and they told me she’d gone to the ladies’ room. I waited in her office for two hours and she never came back. Either she has some serious iss
ues, or she was waiting me out. Lucky for her, I’m hardheaded and don’t give up that easy.
She’s been responding to all my emails, even if it’s just a one-word answer. I’ve kept the messages professional and haven’t stepped a toe out of line helping her the best I can with solving some of the problems she’s been having. And I think she’s right about hiring this Echo women. I’ve gone over some of her stuff and she’s impressive. I even thought of reaching out to her myself so Pandora didn’t have to because she seems to get annoyed with her would help. I came up with a plan for Echo to just do spot projects and not fully be on staff. More of a contractor for projects. She’d be more controllable that way. Giving her one task and program at a time then she is done until you need another done. She’d already come up with some amazing ideas that I knew would cut the work load down for Pandora. But somehow I think that’s made her even more skittish.
Today she’d been in the lobby talking to the security guard at the entrance. Ezra and Donovan were there with me meeting Henry to go over the last of the proposal. My job at Osbourne Corporation is ending soon, and I don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll have to visit Pandora’s office. When I saw her in the lobby, I had to take a chance.
She was wearing all black, and her eyes were rimmed with that dark charcoal, making her deep blue eyes pop. I ached to take her long hair down from its tight knot and dive into it with both hands. To smudge the soft lipstick on her lips and make her react to me. I can’t keep this bottled up much longer.
I walked over and tried to say hello but only got her cold shoulder. I’m happy to take anything from her, though, hot or cold. She doesn’t seem to realize the more she plays hard to get, the more I want her. Although if she threw herself at me, I’d still want her pretty goddamn bad, too. I guess that makes me an even bigger idiot.
It took everything I had to let her walk away without crawling on my knees after her. I’ve never had this reaction to a woman before, and it’s unnerving. I need tonight, if for nothing but to help settle my mind.
Once I got home and jerked off to the image of her lips saying my name while I was deep inside her pussy, I was able to get my thoughts together and send her the last of my ideas for restructuring her department and streamlining her data like she asked. About an hour after I sent it, I got an email back. It was only the word thanks, with her email signature below, but I knew that meant something big. She’s not the type of woman to give things easily, and if she even took a second to respond, I knew she liked what I had to say.
I’ve always been a supporter of the don’t shit where you eat policy. I keep it one hundred percent professional with all my clients, but something about Pandora is different. When she looks at me, there’s heat there. If I knew she wasn’t attracted to me, then I wouldn’t come after her so hard. But I caught a hint of something I can’t name, and I intend to find out what it is.
“That big German fucker is moving up,” Donovan says, taking a beer out of my fridge and joining Ezra in the living room. “You sure you want in?”
“You know if you guys get pom-poms you could be my own personal cheerleaders.” I grab a beer myself and lean against the counter. I pull out my phone and text the number I was given and ask for the location.
The three of us all got our own places a couple of years ago after we started making good money. I bought a loft in the Meatpacking District and have been fixing it up. It’s still a work in progress, but I like doing it all with my own hands, so I don’t mind. The kitchen and living space are done, and so are my bedroom and master bathroom. The spare rooms and baths are pretty much just bare bones, but the exposed brick makes it seem trendy instead of like a construction zone. There’s a nice patio outside, but I’ve yet to tackle the jungle out there. Both my thumbs are black, so I’m leaving that for the last possible second.
Although they have their own homes, too, Ezra and Donovan always end up in my living room. I think it’s because I have the biggest television, or maybe because I actually go to the store and buy beer. Either is a success in our book.
“I love wearing short skirts as much as the next guy, but we wouldn’t be your friends if we didn’t at least make sure your head is in the right space.”
“I’m good,” I say, looking at the two of them. They nod, knowing if I wasn’t I’d speak up.
That’s usually the case, at least. But I don’t know if I’m in the same head space right now. Tonight I want to get my hands dirty. I can’t shake my thoughts of Pandora, and it’s driving me crazy. Every other second I’m wondering what she’s doing and who she’s with.
I was able to find out through subtle hints to Henry that she isn’t married. I don’t know if she has a boyfriend, but fuck him if she does. That’s just a bump along the trail, and I’m all too willing to step on a man if it gets me closer to her. And that’s the problem. I’m so consumed with my need for her that I’m willing to break up a relationship to get it.
I tip the bottle back and drain the rest of my beer. When my phone buzzes I check the text and see the name of the place on the screen. I slam it down a little too hard when I’m finished and grab my bag and keys.
“Where to?” Ezra asks, as he and Donovan get up and grab their stuff.
“Lincoln’s.”
Chapter Five
Pandora
“Got you!” my sister, Penelope, screams as she hops out in front of me.
I’m leaving work, and she thought she could sneak up on me. I saw her peeking through the glass door as I was walking out. It’s hard to miss someone who looks exactly like you. Well, except for the little pregnant belly and her green eyes. Oh, and let’s not forget she always has a giant Russian standing near her.
“Don’t hop, krasota,” her husband, Ivan, says, standing a few feet behind her.
Penelope rolls her eyes as her hand goes to her belly. She rubs it in such a sweet, mothering way.
“What are you doing?” I ask, like I don’t know the answer. She knows something is up with me. It’s like some weird twin thing we share. It’s always been there, and it always will be. But sometimes I’d like a little emotional privacy from her.
“Well, what I’m not doing is giving you these.” She holds up a white bag like she has victory in her hands.
I narrow my eyes at her. “Are those what I think they are?”
For a second I contemplate snatching the bag from her, but she turns, tossing the bag to Ivan, who easily catches it. Stupid twin thingy.
“Don’t even think about it.” She narrows her eyes back at me, giving me the exact look I gave her. I know those are her famous homemade brownies that we all fight over at family dinners.
“And I made them with real butter,” she adds.
“What else would you make it with?” I crack a smile. Like she’d use anything but the full fat.
“I don’t know. It sounded like a scary thing to add.” Now I can’t help but laugh.
“You’re a dork.” I walk over and pull her into a hug.
“Something weird is going on with you. I can feel it. Even in our texts you seem off,” she whispers in my ear. I debate what to say to her, because I have been a little on edge.
“If I give you the truth, will you not ask me a million questions right now? I have some stuff to get done, and I have plans tonight.”
“Fine,” she grumbles. Pulling back, I place my hand on her belly. She’s having a gender reveal party this weekend for the family. They haven’t told anyone.
“Boy,” she mouths to me, and winks.
“Same,” I mumble, and her eyes go wide then stare down at my stomach. “No, not that. I mean men. This guy’s... Grrr. Never mind. This weekend we’ll talk,” I tell her.
“Promise?” She studies me.
“Of course.” I lean in, giving her a kiss on her cheek. Penelope can get everyone to do anything she wants. We alwa
ys say she’s our family’s heart. Love just pours from her. She and her husband seem like opposites, but it works for them. He’s a giant Russian who doesn’t talk much and grunts when Penelope gets too far from him. Pretty sure he even has a tracker on her, and not some low-key cell phone one.
“Ivan.” I nod toward him. He walks over and hands me the bag.
“Your mission over, krasota?” Ivan asks her. She gives him a nod and a wink. “Good. I wish to take you home.”
“You always want to take me home,” she laughs.
“Da,” he agrees, like he doesn’t know why she’s giving that a voice. Everyone knows this. But truth is, Penelope is a homebody.
“Love you guys. Kiss my nieces,” I tell them before bending down and kissing her belly. “Love you, too, little man.”
I give my sister one more hug before they head off. I smile as I watch them go. I should have known she was going to pop up on me today after she randomly sent me the devil face emoji three times. I finish running a few errands before heading back to my office for a little while. I have a few hours to kill before I meet up with Delilah for some much-needed beers at Lincoln’s.
I throw myself into work, trying to stay focused. But like it’s been doing for the past few annoying days, my mind bounces back to Royce. I click my emails to see if he sent me anything in the last few hours but don’t see anything. Annoyance once again creeps up my spine. And now I’m pissed at myself.
“What is wrong with me?” I mumble. I think that’s the problem. I don’t even know the answer to that question. For some reason, I’m annoyed that Royce didn’t chase me the other day after I’d walked away from him. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible, yet I was disappointed when he wasn’t there.