Indie gave her a suspicious look, but Lacey just turned away and hung up a shirt.
“Gray is still your favorite color, huh?” Indie asked her, standing up to search through her wardrobe. “At least you don’t have to worry about me borrowing anything. Gray is not my color.”
“It’s business attire.” Lacey bumped her out of the way with her hip.
“Do you know anything about this company?”
“I know a little. But I’ve been so busy packing I haven’t had the time to do much research on them.” Which was completely unlike her. She went into everything fully prepared.
Well, it was time to start doing things differently.
“Are you nervous?” Indie asked.
“A little,” she admitted, feeling her stomach jump. She’d been trying not to think about it too much, knowing she might back out.
You can do this. Just don’t fuck it up.
She wouldn’t. Not again.
Chapter Three
Was it possible for a man to be this perfect?
He sat across the table from her in a beautifully tailored suit. There wasn’t a hair out of place on his head.
He probably dyed it. Or maybe his hair was just naturally that gorgeous shade of black. And perhaps it just sat that way on his head all by itself.
Because some people were just built that way.
His gaze shifted to her, as though he could sense her staring at him. Then he smiled. Yep, and of course, he had perfect damn teeth.
Could life get any shittier?
Okay. Take a deep breath, Lacey. You’re blowing this out of proportion.
So what if he looks like he should be in the middle of a scene from a James Bond movie. That has nothing to do with who he is or your relationship to him.
Besides, he had to have flaws.
She shifted her gaze to her other boss and immediately wished that she hadn’t. Hunter Black would be an intimidating man in the best of circumstances. Having him glower at her across the table made her heart race faster with nerves.
Calm down, Lacey. You have this. You can do this job.
Hunter pushed his chair back, and she jumped as the legs scrapped along the floor. His scowl deepened at her reaction.
“Jumpy, aren’t you? Why is that?”
She gaped at him. Oh, she didn’t know . . . maybe because he was scaring the shit out of her.
“Hunter, stop it.” The woman who sat between the two men was the only reason she hadn’t stood up and walked out. Between Mr. Perfect, who she was way too interested in for her own liking, and Mr. Grumpy, she was beginning to think this job really wasn’t for her. “You’re being an asshole.”
“If she’s going to work here, she’s got to be tougher than this.”
She straightened her shoulders. You’re making a mess of this. Where’s your backbone? Suddenly, she realized she actually wanted this job. While she might have hated working for the FBI, she loved profiling, she loved working with people. This job would allow her to do both.
“Mr. Black, I’ve worked with a variety of criminals, from murderers to child molesters,” and she hoped to God that one day she could rid herself of some of the nightmares they’d given her, “I’m certain I can work with you.”
“She’s got you there, Hunter,” Mr. Perfect said.
Gray. His name was Gray. He didn’t look like a Gray. He looked more like a Pierre.
Pierre? Oh, good God, Lacey. Pull yourself together.
“Don’t mind him, Lacey. His bark is worse than his bite,” Gray told her with a small smile, inviting her to join him.
Oh, no, she wasn’t taking the bait. She didn’t want anything to do with him. Not friendship, not flirtation, nothing. Not that she thought he’d be interested in her. A man like him would have women falling over themselves to get to him.
She turned away from him to look at Cady and saw him frown from the corner of her eye. Probably wasn’t used to someone turning him down. No doubt he thought she’d fall right under his charm. Maybe he even thought he could get her into his bed.
Not happening, buddy.
“I can do this job. I’m flexible, a hard worker, and I have plenty of experience. You won’t regret hiring me.”
Cady smiled at her. “We’d really love to have you here, Lacey.”
They would? She looked over at Hunter, who still frowned at her. Maybe that was just the way he looked. Maybe it had nothing to do with her.
“I’m not sold on hiring her.”
Okay, then, so it was her.
Lacey forced herself to keep calm. She was used to dealing with her cousins, she could deal with this grumpy bear of a man. Just don’t let him see that he intimidates you.
“Hunter. We’ve discussed this,” Cady hissed.
“She’s hiding something.”
Lacey straightened her shoulders. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
She bit back the urge to retaliate with another juvenile response. But, oh, it was a struggle.
Cady sighed and leaned her elbows on the table. “Hunter, you agreed to give her a chance.”
“I have. I’m here, talking to her aren’t I? I’m telling you she’s hiding something.”
She was losing him. Maybe all of them. There was resignation on Cady’s face, and she couldn’t read Gray at all, which was disconcerting.
She couldn’t lose this opportunity. She couldn’t fail again. She might have fooled herself into thinking this didn’t matter, but she wanted this job.
“Anything I am hiding has nothing to do with my ability to handle this position,” she stated calmly. “I can assure you I am a professional. I won’t let my personal life impact my work.”
Hunter just grunted. “If that’s the case, you’ll be the only employee here who doesn’t.” He studied her for a moment. “All right, you’re on trial for a month. And if you can keep your personal life at home then you’ll be employee of the month.”
“Does that come with a bonus?” she bravely asked.
“Don’t push your luck. Why’d you leave the FBI?”
She couldn’t tell them the whole truth—didn’t want to tell them. “I left before I was pushed.”
“That so? What did you do?”
She kept her gaze on him, not looking over at Mr. Perfect. He’d probably never made a mistake in his life. No doubt he was good at everything. She knew she was stereotyping, but she couldn’t help it. He just looked so together, so confident, it was sickening.
“I got an important profile wrong,” she said carefully.
“You were the only person working on the profile?”
“No. But I’m very good at my job, and people listened to me. Especially when I insisted I was right. Turned out I wasn’t. I couldn’t stay after that.”
Most of her colleagues had hated her. They weren’t sad to see her leave. She knew it was her own fault. She hadn’t been there to make friends but she hadn’t exactly been a team player either.
Her own arrogance had been her downfall.
“You know how to work as part of a team?”
“Yes, of course.” No. Not really. If she was going to fail anywhere, it would probably be in this area. She’d never had much of a social life. Her world had revolved around work.
Maybe that was part of the reason Lyle had left her.
That, and he was a class-A asshole and cheating scumbag.
“I don’t like those bastards at the FBI. Arrogant jerks. You’re not an arrogant jerk, are you?”
“Hunter,” Cady whispered, holding her hand up to her head for a moment as though she had a headache. “You can’t say that sort of thing.”
“Don’t see why not. Pretty sure everyone wants to know whether they’re hiring a jerk or not. Should be a compulsory interview question.”
“Sometimes I was,” she said honestly.
He tapped his chin with his finger. “Good. It’s settled then.” He abruptly stood. “Now, I don’t pay you to s
it around and talk, get to work.”
God, he was an asshole.
Hunter leaned down and kissed the top of Cady’s head. “You staying in the office today?”
“Yep. Going to get Lacey settled.”
“Good. You start feeling ill you tell me.”
Cady smiled at him. “It was a cold, Hunter. I’m fine now.”
He grunted again then walked out without a backward glance.
Cady gave her a sympathetic look. “He’s not as much of an ass as he makes out he is.”
“Well, there are times that’s debatable.” Gray sent her a wink.
Lacey felt a flush of warmth. He was just being friendly. He wasn’t flirting with her.
“Come on, Lacey, I’ll show you around and introduce you to everyone. You’ve met the toughest of the lot. The rest are pussycats.”
Chapter Four
Pussycats. Yeah, right.
Lacey watched as Tiny, who was built like a boxer, pumped iron in the gym at Black-Gray, his biceps bigger than her thighs. Working at Black-Gray came with some awesome benefits. An onsite gym, membership to a shooting range, and every new and fancy gadget imaginable. Obviously, being in the security business was very lucrative. And they certainly paid well.
Even if the job fell through at the end of her months’ probation, she’d decided she liked living in Dallas. Plus, she was getting to spend time with Indie. Her friend had helped her find an apartment close to her own, so they could see each other when work allowed. Not that this job was all that demanding. Not at the moment, anyway.
She might only have been here for three weeks, but she now knew that everyone who worked at Black-Gray was slightly crazy. They all had their quirks. Tiny barely spoke unless he was talking about his girlfriend, then he lit up like a candle. Hunter was blunt, a bit rude, and everything he said sounded like an order. Connor barely looked up from his computer screen. She was starting to wonder if he actually lived here and just kept a few changes of clothes around to keep anyone from figuring it out. The others had all been busy on jobs these last few weeks so she hadn’t had much to do with them.
But as insane and weird and strangely protective as they all were, she liked working there. It wasn’t like the FBI, where it was every man for himself. Here, people actually cared. Sometimes a little too much.
Hunter had actually told her that one of them would walk her to her car if it was dark. It made sense that he was kind of paranoid about security. That was something she admired.
The best thing about this whole move was that she felt safe. Safer than she’d felt living in that cheap motel. Definitely safer than she’d felt in her apartment. The nightmares had lessened and she was starting to feel like her old self.
There was just one problem in this happy little scenario—Gray Mathers.
Three weeks ago, in her interview, she’d thought that if she was going to have any problems it would be with Hunter. But Cady was right, underneath his tough exterior he was actually a decent guy. And it was obvious to anyone who saw them together, he absolutely adored Cady. In fact, it was almost amusing the way he softened around her. When she walked into the room, he only had eyes for her.
He was also horribly overprotective. Cady told her he practically broke out in hives every time she went out in the field. So, she only went on jobs that absolutely required a female. Pretty accommodating of her.
Mind you, there was something sweet about how such a big, gruff man could worry so much over his fiancée. And while she’d seen Cady roll her eyes a few times, she never seemed to get really upset at his tendency to bark orders.
Of course, it could be a different story when they got home.
Lacey glanced around the gym as she ran on the treadmill. She preferred to run outside, but everyone at Black-Gray gathered here in the mornings to work out, and she figured she should make an effort to be a team player.
She studied Jaron as he smacked the boxing bag. Josh held it for him then they swapped. Cady was on the rowing machine while Hunter was doing sit-ups. He’d been going for the last five minutes without showing any sign of letting up.
The door to the gym opened, and she turned, her mouth going dry as she watched Gray walk in. Although walking wasn’t quite the right word. The man moved like he was gliding on air. It was just something else to hate about him. Okay, so hate might be a bit of an exaggeration. But there was something about him that aggravated her.
Perhaps it was because everyone else loved him. She’d never really experienced that. Complete acceptance. At school, she’d always been the smart girl. The one who always had her head in a book. At college, she’d always been more focused on her grades than making friends or attending parties.
All she’d ever wanted to be was a success. How well had that worked out for her? Her career was in the toilet. She had no social life to speak of. Other than Indie, she didn’t really have friends.
Everyone called out greetings to Gray, and he waved at them with a smile. Her stomach tightened as she watched him. She admitted that part of the reason she avoided him was because of her attraction to him. It made no sense. He was the opposite of everything she liked in a man. She preferred someone more like herself. Quieter, less showy, and focussed on his career. Who had goals and drive and ambition.
Not a gorgeous playboy, with more charm than substance.
Okay, not fair, Lacey. He couldn’t be all charm and good looks. He owned his own business. A successful business. Gray handled the clients while Hunter took care of the more practical aspects. Probably for the best that Hunter had as little interaction with actual people as possible. Gray charmed them out of their money, and Hunter made certain they actually got what they paid for.
Gray strode over to the mats to stretch. Her breath caught as she watched him move, his muscles rippling beneath his tanned skin. Her mouth went dry as a hot flush filled her body, which had nothing to do with her run.
For God’s sake, Lacey, chill.
With that handsome face, sexy grin, and those sharply intelligent eyes there was no way he didn’t have hundreds of women chasing him. Probably a different one in his bed each night. A guy who looked like that would never look at her. Not that she wanted him to. A relationship was the last thing she needed.
She sighed and glanced over at Gray again. She knew it wasn’t fair to feel such animosity towards him simply because he was so damn perfect. She hadn’t found someone with a bad word to say about him. He always took time to talk to everyone; he knew everyone’s back story. Except hers.
Unless he’d done a background check on her. She frowned slightly. If she were him, she would have.
She knew how dangerous it could be to fall into the trap of thinking that just because someone was handsome and charming they were a good guy.
No, there had to be another side to Gray. Some hidden flaws.
Maybe he was impotent.
She grinned at the thought.
“Something funny?”
She let out a small screech, placing her hand on her chest as she gaped at Gray in shock. He reached over and quickly slammed his hand down on the stop button on her treadmill.
“You okay?” he asked, reaching out to grasp her elbow.
Lacey snatched her arm back, feeling like an idiot as he stared at her incredulously.
Get a grip, Lacey.
“You frightened me!” she snapped at him. “Give someone a warning before you sneak up on them like that.”
“I didn’t think I was sneaking,” he said mildly. “I walked across the room. And I called out to you twice.”
He had? Shit. Well done, Lacey. Well done.
He narrowed his gaze as he studied her.
Lacey resisted the urge to stare down at herself. What was wrong? Had her boob come out of her crop top? Was there sweat pooling at her crotch, making it look like she’d peed her lycra shorts?
Don’t look down. Don’t look down.
“What is it?”
“Do I scar
e you?”
“Of course not. Why would you scare me?” she asked.
“I’m not certain. But you seem to run off every time I come near you.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I’m just busy trying to do a good job. I don’t want to give Hunter an excuse not to keep me on.”
He just stared at her, clearly not buying a word she said.
“I’m going to seize up if I don’t stretch.”
Gray nodded. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked away.
Great. Way to blend in and not draw attention to yourself, Lacey. Awesome job.
Gray turned as he felt someone approach. Hunter wiped his sweating face with a towel as he stared after Lacey.
“What was that all about?”
Gray shook his head. “I don’t know. But that’s the most she’s said to me since she’s been here. Each time I see her, she practically runs the other way. I’m starting to think I smell or something.”
“You do. We’ve all just gotten used to it.”
“Ha-ha. Real mature.” Joking aside, their newest employee’s reaction to him really puzzled him. Gray admitted he was used to people . . . well . . . liking him. Growing up, he’d known part of it had been because of his family and their money. There were a lot of fake people out there who wanted to say they were friends with one of the Mathers kids. But as he’d matured, he’d learned to tell the users from the genuine people. And then he’d found his place here at Black-Gray. Or thought he had.
Lately, things had felt a bit stale. Same old same old. Same old problems at the club, same old issues in his personal life. He knew it was his own fault. He liked to help people. But sometimes it would be nice to have a bit of a break. To unwind.
Maybe you need a vacation.
Yeah, he could just see Hunter’s face if he suggested that. Who would deal with their clients? Hunter? They wouldn’t have any when he returned. Cady? Maybe, although she could be as blunt as Hunter when she got pissed off. Tiny? Right. Because he was so good at getting people to talk.
So, a vacation was out. Perhaps he needed to re-evaluate what he was doing, because it wasn’t working. Here he was inching closer to forty and the only real relationship he’d ever had had ended over three years ago because Liz hadn’t been able to deal with how much time his family and job demanded of him. Now she was married with two kids.
A Taste of Sir (Doms of Decadence Book 6) Page 4