by Jenny Rarden
Normally I’d correct someone to call me Sully, but for some reason, hearing my first name coming from Bailey sounded good, sounded sexy.
“I survived,” I told her, pocketing my phone again. I’d call my mother when I got back to my brownstone. “The printer work okay?”
She laughed, and it was adorable and light as she rolled her eyes up to me. “Oh, it’s fine.”
“Hmm,” I hummed, leaning a shoulder against the wall of the building. “Does Andrea do that a lot?”
Grinning, she blushed, turning her cheeks a pretty light pink. “Well…she might not now. If only because she won’t know who’s coming up.”
“I figured.” I chuckled. “I’m sorry to have thrown a wrench in her evil plans.”
Bailey grinned, looking at her phone, and shook her head. “I’m not.”
I wanted to tell her I wasn’t really sorry either, but she glanced over her shoulder when another girl called her name.
“I gotta go. Violet and I ride the bus together. See you ’round, Ryan…and um, welcome to Turcotte.”
I wanted to groan at the sight of her walking away. The woman was just as stunning from the back as she was from the front—tight skirt and all. With a hand through my hair, I shook my head. The girl was killing me, and it was only my first day. I couldn’t imagine what was to come.
Chapter Four
Bailey
AS I WAITED for my laptop to load the file I needed, I thought about the past month since Ryan first walked into the fourth-floor offices. I’d seen him at least a couple of times a week since then, for one problem or another—some legitimate, some…not so much, although since Andi and Chase were now officially a couple, if I wanted to see Ryan, I now had to be the one to “accidentally” break something. He was pretty quiet, but sometimes I caught hints of a much more open Ryan, like he was hiding behind a work persona that slipped when he flirted with me, which had been happening more and more often.
We’d never even shaken hands, let alone held them, but I’d watched them plenty as he worked to fix whatever problem he’d been called up to the fourth floor for. His fingers were long, and many times I’d imagined him wrapping them around my waist or his big hand spanning my entire lower back as his fingers curled over the curve of my ass. I wanted him, clearly, and from what I could tell, he wanted me too. I hoped he wasn’t too shy to make a move, or I’d have to make the first one and just hope that it worked out as well as it had for Andi when she’d finally given in and asked Chase to go out with her. Although really, I would make mine an actual question, unlike Andi’s… Hers had been more of a command or a declaration, much to Chase’s—and Judy’s and my—amusement, when she cornered him in the hall on our way out to lunch one day and said he was going to take her out that night and to pick her up at seven.
Bratty Patty’s sharp bark of my name brought me out of my daydreams. When I looked over to her office door, she said, “I’m still waiting for your article. You have an hour till deadline. I expect it before then.”
“Of course, Ms. Turcotte,” I said, putting extra saccharine into my voice before turning back to my laptop, only to feel my eyes widen when I saw the error message in the pop-up in the middle of my screen.
FILE NOT FOUND
“Shit!” I hissed, frantically searching once more for the file I needed.
Nothing.
“What’s wrong?” Judy asked when I choked back a sob.
“I can’t find my file. My article’s gone.” I groaned, fighting back tears.
“Call downstairs,” Andi piped up sympathetically. “Maybe Chase, Sully, or Gene can find it.”
Subdued, I nodded, reaching out for the handset.
“IT,” Ryan’s smooth voice answered on the second ring.
“R-Ryan?”
“Bailey? What’s wrong?”
My words rushed, I explained my problem, feeling immediate relief when he said, “Hold tight, okay? I’ll be right there.”
“’Kay,” I sighed, hanging up the phone and looking down to glare at my laptop. I didn’t touch it, for fear I’d screw it up even worse than it already was.
I stared at the machine, hoping that my thoughts alone would suddenly make my file appear, until the elevator dinged, and then I whipped my head around to see Ryan striding out into the alcove, with Chase steps behind him. They made their way into the office and over to our cluster of desks, nodding at a few people as they passed. Chase walked over to lean against Andi’s desk, while Ryan came directly to me.
When I started to get up, he put his hand on my shoulder and gently pushed until I sat back in my chair. “No, stay. I can work around you,” he said, smiling.
“O-Okay,” I stuttered, stunned at the effect just that simple touch had elicited, even through my thin blouse. Goose bumps erupted all over my skin, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
He stepped up behind me and leaned in, caging me in with his arms as he propped himself on the desk with his left hand and reached for my mouse with his right. “Tell me again what happened?” he murmured low in my ear.
The reminder of my problem sent a frisson of worry shooting down my spine. My breath quickened, and I fought the panic that threatened to overwhelm me.
“Breathe, Bailey,” Ryan commanded. “I’m here to help, but you need to talk to me, okay?”
Nodding, I said, “I went to open up my article, and it can’t find it. I searched, but it didn’t pull anything up. I know I saved it. I did. I swear! P-Patty is… My deadline’s in forty-five minutes, and I don’t know wh—”
“Okay, okay,” he soothed. “I’ll find it, pretty girl.”
His words and the low, sexy tone of his voice calmed me, giving me something other than my missing file to think about.
He asked me for the name of the file, and once I gave it to him, he began clicking the mouse. I watched his long, lean fingers as they typed, bringing up a small black box, where he typed some more. He shifted once, putting me closer to his neck, and I couldn’t help but inhale deeply. He smelled really fucking good, like the soap he’d used in his shower with a hint of cologne or aftershave. It made me want to lean in and lick the underside of his jaw to see if he tasted as good as he smelled.
“Voilà,” he said, chuckling when I swung my head to gaze at the laptop and then up at him when I saw my article up on the screen.
When he stepped back, I couldn’t help but jump up and into his arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I clung to him tightly, closing my eyes as he wrapped his arm around me, rubbing my back through my blouse.
Only my girls clearing their throats, coughing and laughing softly under their breath, reminded me of where we were, and I reluctantly stepped back, feeling my cheeks heat. “Sorry,” I mumbled toward the floor when I refused to look at him.
He chuckled, reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Don’t apologize for thanking me, beautiful—especially with a hug.” Then he leaned in, his breath ghosting across my cheek as he said softly just for me, “Love the silver… Your legs look amazing.”
I grinned, stretching out a leg to show off the shoe. “Thanks. Heels are my weakness.”
He looked like he wanted to say something more, but before he could speak, Chase stepped up to us, shooting me a wink.
“Yo, Sully, we’d better go,” he said, not sounding sorry at all that he’d interrupted our conversation.
“Yeah, I need to get this in to Patty before she yells at me again.” I sighed, rolling my eyes and grinning when Ryan chuckled. “See you after work?” I asked him.
He smiled, nodding. “Same time, same place?”
I laughed softly. “Same time, same place,” I agreed. Ever since his first day, we’d met each other just outside the building, where he waited with me until Violet made her way out, which sometimes was a good ten or fifteen minutes later, depending on Bratty’s schedule. Then he went one way for the subway, while Violet and I went the other to catch the bus.
/> He winked and then turned to follow Chase out of the office, looking back once more with a smile before stepping into the elevator.
It took me ten minutes to get through the article and make sure it was clean, and then I sent it off to Patty before finally relaxing back against my chair. “Holy shit. That was too close,” I groaned softly.
“You need to go out,” Andi said, her voice chipper. “Come out to the bar tonight. Both of you. Jude, bring Miles. Chase will be there. We’ll have some drinks, relax, bitch about Bratty Patty, and enjoy the fact that it’s the weekend. You could invite Violet and her boyfriend.”
“We’re in,” Judy said. “Miles was talking about wanting to go out, so that’s perfect.”
I nodded, already forming a plan in my mind but unwilling to voice it in case I jinxed it. “Violet and Warren are heading upstate to visit her family, but I’m in.”
After work, I stepped out into the sunshine to wait for Violet. She had texted just before I left that she would be stuck in a meeting with Patty for an extra half hour, assuming all went well, so I’d told her I would wait. That just meant more time to spend chatting with Ryan. A few minutes later, I took a peek at the clock on my phone, frowning. He hadn’t come out yet. It was possible he’d gotten hung up on something. It happened occasionally. Since I still had time to kill before meeting up with Violet, I decided to head down to the basement and see if I could catch him to ask about meeting us at the bar that night.
When I stepped into the cool atrium, I blinked to let my eyes adjust and then looked around the lobby. Ryan was behind the receptionist’s desk, bent over to look at something on the computer screen. His face was relaxed, even though his brow was furrowed like it got when he was trying to figure out a computer problem.
Terri was standing beside him, laughing at something he must have said. As I watched, she reached out and ran a hand across his shoulder and down his arm, only to pull his shirt sleeve up enough to trace his tattoo with a finger. Ryan smiled up at her, nodding at whatever she’d said to him, and then he reached up and took her hand.
I choked back a gasp as tears stung my eyes, and silently, I slipped back through the building’s front doors. I didn’t have any claim on him, I knew, and what did I really know about him? Maybe the way he flirted and interacted with me up on the fourth floor and whenever we saw each other in front of the building was how he acted with other women as well. Maybe I’d read too much into our time together.
After pulling out my phone, I quickly texted Violet and said I wasn’t feeling well, that I was going to head on home. Then, before Ryan could come outside and see me crying over him, I began making my way to the bus stop.
I stepped into the bar just at nine o’clock that night, feeling the cool air rush over me from the air-conditioner, which was a nice change from the heat that still lingered outside. I’d considered calling the girls and letting them know I couldn’t make it, but I’d decided I deserved the night out, and since I hadn’t gotten a chance to invite Ryan after work, I knew I wouldn’t have to see him so soon after the scene I’d witnessed. Unfortunately, that meant I’d definitely be a fifth wheel tonight, but it wouldn’t be the first time, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
“Bails!” Miles swooped out of nowhere and picked me up in a bear hug, as if I hadn’t seen him just that morning when I got to work.
Laughing, I smacked his chest lightly. “Put me down, you big oaf,” I teased, giving his cheek a smacking kiss before he set me on my feet. I’d known Andi, Miles, and Judy since college and considered them more my brother and sisters than friends. He was a year older than the three of us, so he was truly the big brother I’d never had.
“The girls are at the bar. I’m heading back to play pool with Chase,” he said and then winked as he turned away.
Making my way through the crowd of people, I finally stepped up beside Andi and Judy, who slid a dirty martini my way.
Andi held up her cosmo, waiting until Judy held up her bottle of beer and I added my martini. “To Friday nights, good friends, and not seeing Bratty Patty for—” she looked at the dainty watch on her little wrist “—sixty hours.”
Judy and I laughed, clinked our drinks with hers, and then put them to our lips.
I’d just taken a sip when a low, super-sexy voice purred in my ear, “A dirty martini, Bailey? Does that make you a dirty girl?”
Chapter Five
Sully
I PICKED UP MY BAG, giving the computer screen a scathing look. I wasn’t so sure the cougars weren’t breaking that shit on purpose this late in the day on a Friday. I was ready to go home.
The oldest of them all came over, grinning widely, just as I shouldered my bag.
“Hot damn,” Cora cheered, giving my ass a ridiculously hard slap, which caused me to just about jump out of my skin. “Thanks again, Sully.”
“Mmhmm,” I hummed, rolling my eyes as I turned away from her toward the elevators. “No problem.”
I couldn’t punch the button for the lobby quickly enough. I was ready to be off the clock and out front. I was itching to see Bailey. The poor thing had been almost in a frantic state when her file got lost. However, it was the hug she’d tackled me with that had me lost to thoughts of her all damn day. Images of how she’d feel wrapped around me like that while naked flickered through my head. I couldn’t say I didn’t want it. I did. Badly.
Stepping gratefully out into the lobby, I started for the side corridor, stopping with a silent groan when my name was called.
“Sully! Thank God,” Terri said, waving me over. “I know you’re ready to go home, but I can’t… I can’t print a damn thing, and I need to have next week’s appointment schedule finished before I go.”
“All right. Let me take a look.” I set my tool bag down on the floor, and she rolled back so I could take a look at her screen. “It seems every printer has lost its mind today,” I said with a sigh, ignoring her rather fake laugh.
Bracing a hand on the desk, I checked the settings, the printer’s connection, and then the document she was trying to print. I was pulling up the IP address for the lobby printer when I felt her hand touch my shoulder.
“Thanks for this. I really appreciate it.”
I smiled politely, glancing back to the screen, only to look back over my shoulder when she shifted the sleeve of my polo shirt. She was eyeing me, my ink, and my arm like I was her next meal.
She traced the ink on my arm, asking, “Did this hurt?”
“No problem, and yeah, a bit.”
As much as I could appreciate a flirting, beautiful woman—and Terri was pretty in her own very made-up, very perfumed way—I really wasn’t looking for attention from her. There was a pretty, petite girl with eyes of bluish-green who I was hoping to see before the long, boring weekend stretched out before me.
I reinstalled the driver for the front-desk printer, then stood up and took her hand from my arm. “You’re all set, Terri,” I told her, gently setting her hand on the mouse and away from my skin. “Try printing now.”
She eyed me with disappointment, clicking the print button, and the printer whirred into life, spitting out a handful of pages.
“Thanks, Sully.”
“Yep,” I said, nodding once and grabbing my bag. “Have a good weekend.” I glanced out the glass front doors just in time to see Bailey walking away up the street toward her bus stop. “Well, damn it.”
Adjusting the bag hanging from my shoulder, I turned and made my way back to the stairs for the basement to clock out.
“She really slapped your ass?” Chase guffawed as we made our way down the sidewalk to the bar.
“Shut up, Chase,” I grumbled as I rubbed my left cheek through my jeans. “That shit’s gonna leave a mark. And I swear to fucking God, the old lady is stronger than she looks.”
Chase stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, bracing his hands on his thighs as he truly lost his shit. “I told you payroll was dangerous!”
I couldn�
�t help but snort in derision. Cora Meechum had cornered me well after it was time to go home when her spreadsheet had gone haywire. Not only had the old woman waited until the last minute to call down to IT, but she’d flirted in the most pitiful way. Adding to all that humiliation was Terri’s futile flirting as I fixed her printer.
“Yeah, well…the front desk is no better.”
“Terri?” Chase gasped, only to break back into his loud laugh. “Careful with that one. She’s…shameless.”
I nodded. Both women had caused me to miss Bailey before my train ride home. That alone had put me in a foul mood, especially since I wasn’t quite sure I was welcomed on this night out.
Bailey and I may have flirted and shared smiles, but I was still the new guy, still the rookie. I wasn’t sure that would be well-received outside the workplace. Hell, I didn’t even know if she was dating someone—or dated at all, for that matter.
That last thought caused me to hesitate just before we reached the bar everyone had raved about—apparently this was something they all did occasionally. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if Bailey was there was someone else…some other guy. I’d become truly attached to her.
Chase’s laugh settled down to a chuckle, and he slapped my shoulder. “C’mon, man. You’ll like this place—good beer, the music’s okay, and killer pool tables.” He paused for a second, smiling crookedly. “And Bailey’s here.”
He was still amused when he yanked open the door, releasing the music out into the night air. The place was small but busy. With dark-wood walls, the bar had an Irish pub feel to it, which gave off a welcoming neighborhood vibe. Someone called Chase’s name, and he glanced to his right, breaking into a smile.
The sight before me washed away the bad day. Not only was Bailey there, but she was sitting with the girls from her department…and just the girls from her department. No guy, though a few were eyeing them like they were juicy steaks—not that I blamed them.