Page 33 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

Her glare sharpened. “Leave now, Owings. Learn to live without your latest whim being fulfilled and go away.”

It was my turn to narrow my eyes at her. She wasn’t a whim to me, and I wouldn’t waste my time for a whim. “I always get what I want, Jill. You might as well accept it now.”

She growled, spun, and left the room. Cody golf-clapped, May hooted, and Mrs. Reynolds shook her head. “If you want to win over my daughter, Mr. Owings, you’re going to have to try a lot harder.”

“Would you help me?” I asked. I didn’t get to where I was in life without learning to ask for help when I needed it.

She studied me for a long moment. “I’m not sure, yet, that you deserve it. Sit. Have breakfast with the family, and we’ll talk after.”

“Don’t you think he should go after Jill?” May asked. “Talk her down?”

“I like my man parts where they are, thank you.” I knew Jill well enough to know she wouldn’t want to see me until she’d calmed down and had a chance to put her mask back on.

“Smart man,” Cody said, piling some hash browns on a plate and handing the plate to one of the kids sitting next to him.

“Very smart man,” Mrs. Reynolds said, smiling.

“I’m Carrie,” the small woman said. She reached across the table and offered her hand. “Cody’s wife.”

I shook her hand. “The woman who was given the shotgun wedding?”

“Hey, now,” Cody said, not looking up from piling spinach and eggs onto another plant. “No weapons were involved.”

“This is Kayla, Jenny, Lilly, and Simon.”

“It’s very nice to meet you all,” I said. “Maybe later you can show me where to go around here to have some fun.”

“Sure,” the younger girl said. “We know all the best places.”

The teenager, Kayla, rolled her eyes, but smiled at her younger sister. “We know all the best kid places, sweetie. I’m sure he’s looking for grown-up fun.”

“Why would I?” I asked, putting on a shocked and aggrieved face. “Kids have way more fun than adults.”

“We do,” Simon said.

“Great,” Cody said. “You can show Mr. Owings all the fun stuff while Mommy and I have that date night we’ve had to keep putting off.”

I widened my eyes at Cody, but he just smirked.

May patted my shoulder and scooped some eggs on my plate. “Don’t worry. I’ll help with the kids, but you’re on your own for the dishes.”

“Dishes?”

“If you want to be family,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “You need to pull your weight around here.”

I’d never said anything about becoming family, and I figured what I’d paid for my room more than carried my weight, but I knew better than to argue.

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