Working It Out

by Nikki Winter

  Working It Out

  Working It Out

  by

  Nikki Winter

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. This is a work of fiction. All references to real places, people, or events are coincidental, and if not coincidental, are used fictitiously. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. eBooks are NOT transferable. Re-selling, sharing or giving eBooks is a copyright infringement.

  Copyright © 2011 Nikki Winter

  Editor: Novellette Whyte

  Proof Reader: Stephanie Parent

  Cover Art: Shara Azod

  Unexpected Visits

  Carlo Santiago hummed while threading through various equipment as he headed to his office. When he flicked on the light to his office, the sight that greeted him, in any other situation, probably would’ve been a beautiful one—but right now it just had his heart about to burst through his chest. Aubrey Richards sat at his desk. In fact, she didn’t simply sit there; she sat there as if she owned it.

  “What in all hell are you doing in my office?” he asked her after taking a deep breath.

  Ignoring his obvious annoyance, she simply relaxed back in his leather chair and tapped her manicured fingers against the armrest. Her pretty, hazel-green eyes shone with pure mischief. “Firstly, whatever cat you were just killing, stop it before I call PETA on you. Secondly, I need you to train me.”

  Setting his duffle bag down, Carlo crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. “Firstly, it’s called humming, something happy people do. Secondly, while you call PETA I’ll call the cops so you can explain why you’re breaking and entering. Thirdly, you want me to train you for what?”

  “You call it humming while I call it foreign torture. Secondly, the cops and I are like this, “she said as she crossed two fingers, “as I’m the one who takes them doughnuts on the regular. Thirdly, as you well know, there’s a wedding that I’m being forced to attend. I’ve got a certain dress I’ll probably be forced to wear, and there’s some unnecessary ass that I’m being forced to get rid of.”

  “There’s a lot of forcing being done here. Who, pray tell, is the forcer?”

  “While the training was my idea because I want to look good, the forcer is a very scary best friend who thinks that hair remover and water balloons mix when you don’t do what she says and how she says it. Need I say more?” Aubrey questioned, raising a brow.

  Carlo chuckled. “Gwen has it out for all of us. I gotta wear a torture suit.”

  A bright smile lit her gorgeous cinnamon-toned face. “I’ve got sympathy for yah, Mr. Brazil. Training with you will be fun.”

  “I didn’t agree to that.”

  “And this matters because…?” She actually looked confused.

  “It matters because I’m not an action figure that you can pose to do what you want.”

  “This is true, but you’re built like one, so that counts for something.” Aubrey uncrossed her mile-long legs, stood and walked over to him. It seemed more like a glide the way her five-foot-nine body moved with the lazy grace of a panther.

  “Couldn’t you have simply called and asked?”

  Her brows furrowed. “Where’s the fun in that? I had a choice between picking up a device and dialing numbers to get an answer or being badass and picking a lock, all while in four-inch stilettos. You tell me which one wins in Aubrey’s world.”

  This woman never failed to make him smile. “Usually it’s the one that involves something illegal along with expensive shoes.”

  She clapped her hands together. “That’s right, amigo. Now when does my training start?”

  “We could start next week.”

  She shook her head. “Nope, today at seven works better for me.” Leaning up, she kissed his cheek. “Obrigado senhor.” Then as easily as she slipped in, she was slipping out.

  “You’re welcome, Queen of Demanding,” he called after her.

  “You love me!”

  “Not without many shots of Jack!”

  She chuckled as she left, making his smile widen. Carlo shook his head and tried to ignore the smell of vanilla that she’d left behind as he sat behind his desk. “That woman, that woman,” he muttered. After three years of a very strange friendship, he should’ve been used to stuff like this. When your first meeting with a woman occurs while she’s fighting her best friend over a bag of Skittles...well, you should be prepared for the weird.

  Carlo and Aubrey had been introduced through their soon-to-be wedded friends Gwen and Tony. He’d found himself thoroughly enjoying the crazy package that was Aubrey Richards after she shook his hand and said, “You’re gorgeous, Mr. Brazil, and I’d probably do you in a hot minute if that wouldn’t make things awkward once I was done with you and you got all stalky because of my good loving.”

  There were a lot of reactions he could’ve given, but he was sure that replying, “That’d probably be best, since I’m already stalking enough people, and adding you to my list would just make things complicated,” was not what she expected at all. Still, the rest of the night had been fun regardless.

  Somehow being mutual friends of friends suddenly made it okay for Aubrey to drive his truck, pick the locks to his condo, and spend the night in his bed whenever the mood struck her. Apparently his pillow-top king size was more comfortable than her queen. He’d had more than enough days of coming home to find her either cooking in his kitchen or soaking in his hot tub. It got so bad that eventually he just gave her the extra keys to his condo and his truck, since he didn’t want her being mistaken for a criminal by a neighbor and getting arrested.

  With Aubrey being gorgeous, sweet and clearly insane, his attachment to her wasn’t much of a surprise. His family always said he was a weird little boy. Glancing down at his watch, Carlo was surprised to see it was already opening time. Somehow the thought of working with Aubrey that night made him move that much faster.

  ***

  Okay, so she’d railroaded Carlo, but really he didn’t seem to mind. Firstly, he knew she wouldn’t care if he did and secondly, despite his insistence that she was annoying, he still adored her. Aubrey did a little shimmy as she got out of Carlo’s truck—which she had taken without him knowing, but figured he’d just shrug about it later if he knew what was good for him—and practically skipped into work. The thought of having six feet six inches of toffee-hued, Brazilian, sculpted hotness sweating with her made Aubrey almost stop just to take in the fantasy.

  Carlo Santiago, in a word, was beautiful, and she’d admitted it once and only once since his ego didn’t need to get any bigger. From breaking into his condo to sleeping in his bed just for fun, Aubrey thoroughly enjoyed every moment she spent with him. How could she not when he was so entertaining. Carlo was so very cute when trying to tell her “no” or giving her demands that he knew she’d never follow. After three years he should’ve realized that she, Aubrey Marie Richards, was not to be controlled. She was like a tidal wave. Either prepare to swim hard or get the hell out of the way.

  “You seem...perky this morning,” her legal assistant Kirsten observed as Aubrey pepped past her desk, headed for her office.

  “Ah...my protégé, today is a good day and will turn out to be a better night.”

  Making any sudden moves on Carlo could result in damaging the delicate line between friends, so she never did. That didn’t mean she wasn’t open to him making one, although he seemed to be just as wary. All of that Alpha had yet to be unleashed, but when it was... A cackle almost escaped when she sat in her leather chai
r and spun around.

  “You’re scaring me. Normally you come in and grunt ‘coffee,’ then disappear into the bat cave to come out after a caffeine metamorphosis takes place,” Kirsten said, following after her with a stack of files in her hands.

  “This is true, but I ate my cereal today.”

  “Along with some instant crazy?”

  “Oh, you’re so cute when you’re making jokes, like I won’t give you extra work.”

  “You wouldn’t do that to me since I’m your most beloved of all employees,” her assistant replied, widening already wide brown eyes.

  Aubrey snorted. “Cute. You are, kid, but don’t forget that even my most beloved of protégés can still catch my wrath.”

  Kirtsen placed the folders on her desk and gave a sharp salute. “Sir yes sir! I mean ma’am!”

  Chuckling, Aubrey shook her head. Having a younger cousin work for you was as fun as it was aggravating. A master’s degree in estate planning along with the opportunity to intern under a very successful law firm had given her the edge she needed to be a successful CEO. Now she had her own firm and a great staff. Sighing she sat back. Life, right in this moment, was good.

  ***

  Of course Carlo had much lip to give about her taking his truck. “Why is it that you can’t at least give a simple warning? Can’t just say, ‘Hey, Carlo, I’m stealing your truck now’? Hmm?”

  “Maybe because I like the way your eye ticks when I do it this way,” Aubrey answered calmly while climbing down from the driver’s side.

  “I forgot whom I was dealing with,” he muttered. “I was stranded here all day with no way to get lunch.”

  “You could’ve called me.”

  “So you could make me bargain for my truck and food?”

  She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a pre-packed duffle bag and headed for the empty gym’s entrance. “You can be so dramatic sometimes. After torturing you I would’ve bought you something to eat.”

  “Why does that sound normal to you?” he questioned, locking the door after them.

  “Because this is me you’re talking to.” She patted his stomach. “Poor baby, I’ll make you some good eats later. For now I need to get my sweat on.”. Without preamble she went into the locker room, stripped and changed into a sports bra and shorts along with sneakers, and swept her hair up into a ponytail.

  “All right, I need ten pounds off. I just wanna lose the unnecessary ass. Not the ass I already had. That ass is important.” Looking back up at Carlo, she stopped dead at the look in his black irises. “What?”

  He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Nothing—sometimes I just wonder why getting naked or close to it always seems easy for you to do around me.”

  She grinned. “Because you’ve already seen my shining glory, and we both know I’d bust your ass if you tried anything unwarranted.”

  Carlo nodded. “This is true, so let’s get moving. You’ve got to stretch first, then we can get to the real workout. You’ll hate me during this, but once you get into that dress I’ll be back in your good graces.”

  “I would hope so. Being in my bad graces doesn’t bode well for you, Mr. Brazil.”

  “I gathered that after ‘the incident’ Gwen told me about.”

  “Hey, hey, hey, take all that judgment outta your tone. She had it coming.”

  “Just tell me what kind of best friend takes their best friend out to the country side of Florida and leaves her in a field?” he asked, staring at her.

  “The kind of best friend whose best friend thought it’d be funny to wake her up with a bikini wax,” she answered without blinking.

  His eyes went wide. “No way.”

  Aubrey nodded. “Yes way. Our prank wars last year got a bit outta hand, and it all started with her putting feed in my pockets, leading me into a false sense of security, and taking me to the petting zoo.”

  That first snort slipped out, and then he just couldn’t seem to stop. Eventually while he was rolling around on the floor she had to kick him. “It wasn’t funny! I was sexually harassed by a goat!” If she thought that was gonna stop the laughter, well, she was just wrong.

  I Just Wanna Make You Sweat

  “I see imminent doom in your future, Santiago.” Aubrey let her breath out hard and plopped down on the mat.

  “No waxing and no sexually active goats. Those are my terms,” he retorted while fixing her limbs to lie straight before taking one long leg and bending it toward her chest. “If you don’t stretch after a workout, you’ll wake up with a full-body Charley Horse the next morning.”

  “I feel like that now.” She groaned, closing her eyes.

  “No pain, no gain. Suck it up, Richards.”

  “I thought we talked about this, Santiago. I suck anything of yours and...”

  “I get all stalky. Yeah, yeah, so says you. I’ve yet to witness any of these addictive cravings.”

  She snorted. “Worse reverse psychology moment ever, dude.”

  He chuckled and stretched her other leg. “I had to at least try.”

  “Well, cut it out and get to work.”

  “Am I being paid for this?”

  “Touching me with my explicit permission for an hour a day is payment enough.”

  “Could you’ve sounded more haughty when you said that?”

  “Yes I could’ve, but sometimes you just gotta know when to not lay it on thick.” She waved a hand regally.

  Speaking of thick, if Carlo spent one more second touching her luscious thighs, she would in fact notice the tent in the front of his sweats. As it was, staring down at her sweat-dampened body with her lying prone on the floor and taking in shallow breaths, her ample chest rising and falling with slow breaths, had him two seconds away from acting stupid.

  Aubrey peered up at him. “Are we done? Because I’m hungry, and your pillow top and Jacuzzi are calling my name.”

  He sighed. “I might as well prepare to sit in the passenger seat of my truck too, right?”

  “You’re always complaining that my Coupe is too small, so...”

  “Speaking of the very expensive car you drive...why exactly don’t you drive it?”

  “Because I like driving your truck.”

  “No, you like taking it because you know it grates on my nerves.” He stood, giving her a hand up.

  “Okay, so that’s a selling point also.” She smacked him on the ass. “Let’s get a move on, Mr. Brazil. I have a soak to take.”

  Carlo watched her saunter out and wondered if their relationship could get any stranger.

  ***

  Okay, so apparently their relationship could get stranger, way stranger. Arguing over bubble bath—because apparently he didn’t have the right scents in his bathroom—was definitely strange, but what really took the cake was the way she damn near wrestled him down for the last orange in his fruit bowl.

  “Give me the fruit and nobody gets hurt, Santiago,” Aubrey said softly, stalking him around the kitchen island where he’d run.

  He shook his head. “Forget it, Richards. This is mine.”

  “You eat that and it’ll be the last thing you do.”

  “Find something else!”

  “I can’t eat anything else, you jackass! I’m trying to lose weight! Now hand it over!”

  “No!”

  “I swear on your nads that if you don’t give me that orange, you’re waking up hairless tomorrow!”

  “I need a haircut anyway!”

  She smirked. “Not that hair, baby. I mean way lower.”

  His mouth dropped open and he tossed the fruit to her, which she caught with ease. “Sick, just sick.”

  Giggling like the nutcase she so clearly was, Aubrey simply peeled the skin away and stuffed a slice in her mouth “Ah, orangey goodness.”

  “You’re a horrible person.”

  She shook her head. “Nope, all goodness and all light is what I am.”

  “Do you chant that to yourself every morning?”

  “
Yep, right before I dedicate a song to myself and then talk about how beautiful I am,” she answered, finishing off the piece of fruit.

  “You take crazy to a whole other level,” he muttered, heading for the stairs.

  She followed and obviously had no fear of tumbling to her death, because on the first stair she jumped on his back and demanded, “Carry me like the queen that I am.”

  “I should carry you down to the mental ward.”

  “Would I get a pair of walkie-talkies?”

  He stopped. “Why would you want walkie-talkies?” Shaking his head, Carlo continued walking, deciding that asking questions wasn’t a good idea.

  “Well I figure if I’m gonna be deemed insane, then I’d have to go all out. Trying to communicate with life on other planets through a walkie-talkie might be just the way to do that.”

  Sighing, he listened to her description of what specifics she needed for said walkie-talkies, then dumped her off his back and onto his bed. “Aubrey, can you be weird tomorrow morning after I’ve had some sleep?”

  She looked as if she were thinking about that for a minute before nodding and sliding under his covers. “I guess so.” Patting the space next to her, she turned over on her side. “C’mon and spoon me. I don’t have Mr. Bear here, so I need something to hold.”

  Carlo stood there for a moment, mentally screaming his erection down, and when it got manageable he climbed into bed. He smiled at the thought of Aubrey keeping the three-foot bear he’d won for her at a carnival that she’d made him go to and demanded that he play games and win her something cute. Lying down behind her, he put an arm over her waist and kept his lower half as far back as he could. Sadly he forgot that this was Aubrey Richards in his bed and that she was the queen of no tact. She pushed her ass back into his groin, wrapped his arm tighter around her and sighed, then snorted.

  “Is that a cucumber in your pocket, Santiago, or are you happy to see me?”

  Gritting his teeth, he answered, “Go to sleep, Aubrey.”