Mick'sology (The Flynn Family Book 2)

by Kayt Miller

  Mick: ;)

  The rest of the day is filled with phone calls, emails, and meetings. Before I leave for the day, I send Mick the information about the launch party.

  Chapter 17: Mick

  When I arrive at the hotel where the party is being held, I stop in front of a mirror in the lobby to make sure my tie is straight, and my hair isn’t crazy. I rented a penguin suit at a tux shop near my shome. I went with a classic black tux, white shirt, and black bow tie. I used some product in my hair to make it stay put. It’s in a knot at the back of my head right above the collar of my shirt. I considered getting my hair cut off for this, but I decided that was a little too drastic.

  I’m early to this little showdown so I can help Veronica if she needs it. I know about planning parties like this thanks to my time at Chrome. I step into the ballroom, and I’m taken aback. The place is sparkling. Now, generally, I wouldn’t have noticed––or cared––but since I know Roni planned this, I make a point to see all she’s done.

  The room his huge with at least fifteen enormous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There are thirty-five or forty tables all covered in white cloth with accents of black and silver. I recall EnerSport’s logo is black, white, and silver. Clever girl.

  I scan the room looking for her. I’m sure she’s running around making sure everything is perfect. I stride toward the bar and buffet tables to see if she’s there. I see waiters, a bartender, kitchen staff and there… I spot the back of a woman in a long black dress. Her hair is up in a soft twisted bun intertwined with braids on the back of her head. I see tendrils of hair down her back and on the side of her face.

  When she turns around, I see a look of concentration on her face. She doesn’t see me yet, but Holy shit! That dress is… it’s amazing on her. It’s classy and sexy at the same time. The top half is lace. It looks see through, but I know it's lined with a flesh tone fabric. The sleeves go to her elbows, but the part that takes my breath way is the neckline. It’s a deep V-neck. Her breasts. Jesus. They’re perfect.

  The skirt is solid black and starts right below her breasts. There’s an opening sliced up the left side of the dress. As she walks, I get a glimpse of leg. She’s wearing red fuck me heels that match her lips and make me salivate. She looks amazing. I lift my hand giving her a small wave, to get her attention. At first, she looks right past me but her eyes move back, and her jaw drops open. Yeah, I look good too.

  Walking toward me, she gives me a million watt smile. “Mick? Is that you?”

  “In the flesh. You look amazing, Roni,” I say sliding my right hand to her waist. I move my left to her opposite hip and pull her toward me. I lean down and kiss her lightly on her ruby red lips. “Fucking stunning, baby,” I whisper in her ear.

  She blushes. I watch the flush run from between her breasts, up her neck, into her cheeks.

  “You look… good,” she says breathlessly. “You clean up really well, Michael Flynn.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not a complete Neanderthal. I can get myself dressed up from time to time.”

  “And you’re here early.”

  “I thought I’d see if you needed any help.”

  “Aww, thank you so much. I could use your help. Since it’s your area of expertise, could you go over and check on the bar set up. They’ve got a new banquet manager here, and I’m not confident she knows what she’s doing. This party is a big deal to my company. I need it to go off without a hitch.”

  “On it,” I say striding over to the main bar. There are several, smaller bars set up in the other corners of the room but this one is the one that’ll get the most traffic.

  As I’m looking at the wine selection, liquors, mixers, and glassware, a young woman moves into the bar area, “Can I help you? We’re not actually open yet, but I can get you something,” she winks.

  “Nah, my girl over there asked me to come over and make sure you’ve got everything set up over here,” I say pointing to Roni.

  She looks at me, then at Roni, and back to me. “Really? She’s your girl?” She shakes her head and mutters, “I’ll be damned.”

  I ignore the comment. “So, I noticed you don't have any garnishes out. You going to get limes, olives…”

  “Oh, shit. I forgot!”

  Before she runs off, I add, “What about your top shelf liquors. This group is going to ask for those.”

  “Fuck! Oops, sorry,” she blushes. “I didn’t mean to cuss. But, I had those on my list for the new manager. I’ve been so busy setting up I didn’t notice. Thanks, I’ve got this now,” she says stomping off toward the door that will take her behind the scenes.

  I saunter off toward the other three bar areas and check them out as well. Those don’t need the top shelf liquors. People who drink those will know to go to the main bar. But, the three smaller bar stations don't have garnishes either. After I remind them, they scramble around getting what they need before the party starts.

  I make my way over to Roni and see her with a small group of people. I see Bones, the douche bag, Chris and the other woman I met at Chrome. I don’t remember her name. I move up beside Veronica and place my arm around her waist.

  She jumps at my touch. “Mick. You remember Trisha, Chris, and you met Barb at Chrome a few weeks ago.”

  “Sorry I missed your surprise visit on Thursday. I had an appointment,” she winks.

  “Yeah. Me too,” I mutter. What is it with these chicks? Can’t they see I’m with Roni?

  “My, my, my Mick, you look amaaazing,” coos Bones. She walks toward me running her hands up my chest, grasping my jacket lapels, as she looks up at me fluttering her eyes layered with big, fake lashes. Those look stupid. I reach out and pull her hands from my jacket. “Thanks, you too.” I’m lying. She looks like a bag of bones in a burlap sack. Seriously, she’s got on a brown dress. It has some sparkly shit all over it, but it’s brown and shapeless.

  That Barb chick is wearing a deep, red dress. It’s fitted around her waist, and it shows off a decent about of tittage. So, that’s good. But Chris? Oh, my man, Chris looks like a complete douche. He’s wearing a tux just like I had to wear to my brother, David’s, wedding. The jacket is blue and black plaid, the vest is blue, and the pants are black. He’s wearing a plaid bowtie, but it’s red. Not a good look, dude. He’s got gel shit in what’s left of his hair, and it’s slicked back. I think he’s trying to pull off a Don Draper look from Madmen. Fail.

  “Don’t you think Veronica did a fantastic job with this party?” I ask the group. I run my hand up and down her back as I praise her. She blushes.

  Chris scoffs, Bones scowls and Barb nods in agreement. “She has… you have Roni. It’s beautiful,” Barb agrees. “It’s so clever the way you used the company logo throughout.”

  I hadn’t really noticed the logo; it’s subtle. But now I see it projected with hidden lights throughout the room. It’s on the floor, on the wall behind the buffet set up and there are logo cut outs on each table. Nice touch. I lean over and kiss her cheek, “This place looks stellar, babe.”

  She smiles at me and then at the group. Bones is still scowling, and Chris is preoccupied. I turn to see what he’s looking at and whisper in Roni’s ear, “Who’s that?”

  She turns too and sees three men and one woman walk into the ballroom. Chris is already halfway to them, “That’s the owner of my company, Bill Phillips, and his wife, Janice. The other man next to her is the Frank McCormick. C.E.O. of EnerSport. The shoe company and new client we are honoring tonight. I’m not sure who the third man is, though,” she whispers.

  Chris made a beeline for them. He’s shaking hands with each of them. I remember his handshake, it’s moist, weak, and there are too many pumps. They’re smiling at him, but I can tell they aren’t impressed. “You should go over there and welcome them.” I place pressure on her lower back to propel her forward.

  “I hate doing that stuff. It makes my palms sweat,” she laughs.

  “I’ll go with you. Introduce me as Michael.
” I take her hand in mine and lead her over to the people she hopes to impress.

  We stop in front of the group and wait for Chris to stop pandering. When he finally stops talking the three men to turn to Veronica. I can see appreciation in their eyes when they see her dress. They’re subtle about it, but they’re checking her out. Janice, who I’d guess is about fifty years old, has her eyes on me. They’re hungry. I’ve seen it before.

  Before Roni has a chance to speak, the owner of her company raises his hand to hers, “Roni. It’s so nice to see you. Chris was just telling me how hard you two have worked to get this going.”

  “The two of us?” she says, dazed. I feel her back stiffen up beneath my palm.

  “He told me how he re-negotiated the price of the space. Saved me twenty-five percent off the top, didn’t you, Christopher?”

  I turn to Chris. He’s smiling like a fucking idiot. When the three men and the woman turn back to Roni, I see Chris smirk. He’s lying.

  “Now, sweetheart, he did tell us what a good job you did with the decorations,” Frank McCormick from the shoe company says condescendingly.

  Sweetheart?

  “I think the lights you designed are the best part of this whole room,” Janice says turning to Chris.

  He smiles proudly, “What can I say, I’m a genius.”

  The group laughs at his stupid joke. I look down and see Roni’s hands twisting into her black skirt. She’s tugging on it so hard I think it might tear.

  “And who do we have here?” asks the boss’ wife. She’s leering at me now.

  Roni’s not ready to speak, I guess. I raise my hand to take hers, “I’m Veronica’s boyfriend, Michael.”

  “Boyfriend? You? Well, Roni, that’s amazing. How in the world did you make that happen?”

  Roni clears her throat and looks at the woman, “Oh, I don’t know, actually. I keep wondering that myself. Can you excuse me?” she says turning and moving quickly toward the lobby.

  “It was nice meeting you all,” I say following close behind her.

  She’s stomping toward the entrance at a fast clip, but I catch up. I reach out and take her hand in mine. She jerks it away then looks up at me. Her face is red, and there are tears at the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was you.”

  I take her hand again and lead her over to a semi-secluded corner. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  She wipes away a tear and takes a deep breath. “Chris. It’s… he did none of this,” she lifts her hand letting me know she means this whole party.

  “What?”

  “When we got back from lunch on Thursday, I caught him in my office rifling through my papers. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he wanted to leave me a note. He wanted to ask me out.”

  I pull her closer to me so I could wrap my arms around her waist. “And? You don’t think that’s why he was there?”

  “I was suspicious at the time, but I couldn’t figure out what he was looking for. Now I know.”

  “What was it?”

  “The cost––numbers and information about this party. I had a lot of notes––notes that outlined the re-negotiated the price of the venue and food. He also must have seen my sketch for the graphic designer who made the transparencies for me for these light graphics on the walls and on the tables.”

  “So, he did nothing?”

  “Nothing,” she mumbles.

  “That fucker! I should kick his ass. That’s complete bullshit. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “How could I? They’d just think I was trying to take away his thunder. I’m not like that.”

  “Roni. Babe. It’s not right––Chris––taking credit for this.” I use my finger to lift her chin up so I can see her green eyes. There are tears in her lashes.

  “I know it’s not right, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. Honestly, I just want to go home, but there’s a ton of stuff to do after the party.”

  “Like what? I can help.”

  She smiles at me, “Like take down the projectors around the room. There are three of them. I was here at eight in the morning today climbing up a huge ladder getting them set up.

  “Why didn’t you call me? I would have helped you. You shouldn’t be up on a ladder like that anyway.”

  “Don’t you start. I can do anything you can do, Mick Flynn. God, I can’t believe he only gave me credit for the decorations. What a flucking tool.”

  “Flucking?”

  “Yeah, flucking,” she laughs.

  I take the opportunity and lean down and kiss her lips. They’re still cherry red and glossy. She’s got a great mouth. When my lips meet hers, I feel it down my spine. This woman drives me crazy. I turn my head and slide my tongue into hers. It’s probably inappropriate to have my tongue down her throat at this fancy party but who the fuck cares?

  She moans as I reach around her and pull her into me. My dick is getting harder by the second, and I’m sure she can feel it against her. I’d love to grab her ass and lift her up, her legs wrapping around me, but that’s not going to happen here. Not tonight. Probably not ever.

  Chapter 18: Roni

  I know it’s probably unprofessional to be kissing Mick like this in plain sight, but I don’t care. He kisses like it’s his job. I wrap my arms around his neck so I can press closer to him. He moans when my breasts press against his chest. He’s definitely a guy who likes boobs. Lucky for me, I’ve got that in spades.

  A throat clears behind me. The sound pulls me from the private moment that Mick and I were having. I turn and see Barb. I remove my arms from around his neck and slide back from my tiptoes. Even in heels, I had to step up for the kiss. I turn and say, “Hey Barb.”

  “I just heard what he did, Roni. That was a total dick move.”

  “I couldn't agree more,” interrupts Mick.

  “Trisha knew he was going to do it too. She looked like the cat that ate the canary when you were all over there talking. She told me what Chris was doing.”

  “She say why?” asks Mick.

  “Chris is just super ambitious.”

  “I’m ambitious too, but I wouldn’t take credit for someone else’s work,” I snap.

  “Normal people don’t do things like that, Roni. But, Chris isn’t normal,” says Barb.

  “What did I ever see in him?”

  “No idea,” Barb and Mick say in unison.

  I laugh at that. They’re right, of course. “Well, the show must go on. I need to check with the caterers to see if they’re restocking food.”

  “Let Chris do that,” suggests Mick.

  “I can’t. He doesn’t know what’s going on––the timing of things. I won’t let this night get ruined over all of this personal drama. I’d feel terrible.”

  Mick takes my hand and leads me back to the party. The food is well stocked, and people are eating. I look over and see Chris sitting at the main table with Bill and Janice and the shoe company executives. Hells bells, he really is mercenary. He must have switched nametags because the V.P. of sales, Deborah Adams, and her husband were supposed to be at that table.

  I look around the space and Deb sitting at table number eleven, in the back. I make eye contact with her and her expression lets me know that she’s not pleased. I mouth, “I’m sorry.” But, it doesn't seem to appease her. I let go of Mick’s hand, “I’ll be right back. Will you get me a glass of wine or something? I need a drink.”

  I weave through the sea of tables toward Deb. She and I have lunch together once a month. We’ve talked. She knows the kind of person I am. She has to know I’d never diss her like that.

  “Deb, I’m sorry. I had you at the head table. There must have been a glitch.”

  “Does the glitch have a name?”

  “Chris Smith,” I deadpan.

  “I thought so. That fucking asswipe,” she mutters. “I can’t stand that guy. He’s worthless. I’ll get him back, my pretty. Just you wait and see,” she says still scowling. I beli
eve her.

  “He must have done it when he first arrived. I didn’t see the switch. And that’s not all.”

  “Oh, hell. What’d he do?” she groans.

  “He just took credit for this party: the planning, budget, graphics on the walls––everything. Oh, well, he told Bill and Janice that I decorated the place. Like a good little woman.”

  “That fucker!” Deborah is a card-carrying member of N.O.W. the National Organization for Women. She has been since 1973. Seriously, she literally has a card with her name on it.

  “I know. The sad part is he gets the credit, and I still have so much to do tonight. I’ll be here until morning.”

  “Why? What do you need to do?”

  I explain about taking down the projectors, closing out the bill, taking the centerpieces back to the office, things like that.

  Deborah’s face lights up. “Oh, my God. I know what you should do.”

  After hearing her plan, I grimace. “I can’t do that. It would be wrong. He’ll screw it up, anyway.”

  “So. If he wants credit for this spectacular party, he should get the blame if something goes wrong.”

  I sigh, “I’ll think about it.”

  “By the way, dearie. Who’s the arm candy?”

  “His name is Mick. We’re just friends.”

  “It looked like more than friends over there in the corner,” she points to spot near the entrance where Mick kissed me.

  I blush and roll my eyes. “I’m sorry… I don’t know what’s going on with him. It’s confusing. One minute he wants to be best friends, the next he’s kissing me.”

  “Enjoy the ride, Roni. Enjoy the ride,” she says patting my arm. “Then, give me all the details. You know how I love good porn,” she cackles.

  I laugh too and look up to see Mick staring at me. He lifts up a short glass. My man got me an Old Fashioned. My man? Oh crap!