Page 12 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

“Good,” I said. “You making sure he stays away?”

His cheeks pinked a bit. “Yeah, man. I’m doing my best.”

“You asked her out, yet?”

His eyes popped wide. “Who?”

I slapped his shoulder. “You’re a horrible actor, man. If you’ve got a thing for my sister, I won’t stand in your way. You’re a good guy and she could use that.”

He scuffed his feet against the sidewalk and dropped his gaze from mine. “She’d never go out with me. She deserves better.”

“Which is exactly why you’d be a good guy for her. Just ask her out. Maybe she’ll say yes.”

He looked up at me. “She say something to you?”

I laughed. “She doesn’t talk to me about that sort of stuff, but I do know the last guy she was with really hurt her. I don’t want to see her dating any other assholes, and I know you’d treat her right.”

He nodded, thinking it over. “I thought you’d kick my ass if I made a play for your sister.”

“Oh, I’ll kick your ass alright. But would it be worth it?”

A smile tickled his lips. “Hell, yeah.”

I slapped his shoulder and he headed back to the car. He stopped halfway there. “You should come around more. The guys rag on you, but they’re proud of you. We all are.”

I knew Lee was happy for me, but the other guys…People changed. We’d never be as close as we once were. “I’ll talk to you later, Lee.”

He waved two fingers and got in the car. Fin threw up his middle finger and sped off, him and Bert cackling as they went. I smiled and headed inside. I had to be up in two hours.

***

“Jill is at her desk,” Agatha said, poking her head into my office. She could have just buzzed me the message over the intercom, but she preferred face-to-face interaction. Her nosiness couldn’t be fully satisfied unless she saw my reaction to her news.

I stood from my desk. I had a conference call I should be preparing for, but I needed to see Jill. I needed to know she was okay.

I forced myself not to hurry to her office.

I had to play it cool, because I knew she wouldn’t handle it well if she thought I was checking up on her.

I pulled in a deep breath, I checked my worry and my anger at the douche who’d hurt her, and I forced my pace to a stroll as I made my way down the short hall to her office.

She was bent over as she dug through a drawer, only the crown of her blond head visible. I knocked on the door frame with two knuckles, and she looked up.

I clenched my jaw tight at the sight of her gorgeous face, her hair pulled back as usual in a neat French braid. She’d plastered on make-up to cover the bruise, but she couldn’t hide that her eye was blood shot, couldn’t hide the wince of pain when her eyes widened at the sight of me.

I wanted to go back to that douche’s house and pummel his face in. That’s what the old Alex, the Alex who spent a year in juvie, would have done. I wasn’t that guy anymore and I’d be damned if I did anything to add to the pain that asshole had caused her.

I forced a smile, walked into her office, and sat on the edge of her desk. I knew it annoyed her, but it was what I always did. Acting any differently would only piss her off.

“Morning, beautiful.”

She almost smiled. I saw it in her eyes, saw it in the twitch of her lips. “That’s sexual harassment.” She grabbed a notepad and jotted something down. “I’m keeping track.”

I grinned, relieved that she seemed like her usual self. “I’m just stating a fact.” I gestured to the window and the gray day outside. “Looks like it might snow. Later, I might offer you a ride home just in case the roads are slick. No ulterior motives.”

She rolled her eyes and winced, and my anger returned. I held my body loose and let the anger pool in my gut where I could ignore it.

“It’s not going to snow and, even if it did, my car would handle it better than your mid-life crisis mobile.”

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