Page 57 of The Wrong Boss

We took a turn a little quickly, and my body slid across the seat to crash into his. Shuffling away, I grabbed one of the support posts holding the golf cart’s roof on and turned slightly to look at my boss. “So?” I asked.

He shook his head, exhaling sharply through his nose. “You keep surprising me, Woods.”

“I just don’t appreciate it when people underestimate me.”

“Fair enough. How about we make this more interesting? You down for a bit of a wager?”

A spark of interest went off in my gut. This felt dangerous, especially when I saw the curl at the corner of Cole’s lips. Being in his presence was bad enough, but having fun with him? Disastrous.

My mouth obviously had other ideas, because I heard myself say, “What have you got in mind?”

“Whoever ends up with more playable shots by the end of the round wins.”

My heart thumped. “Seems fair enough to me. What are we playing for?”

“You win, I’ll get you tickets to the Broadway show of your choice. Best seats in the house.”

My heart thumped. “I’m interested,” I hedged, which was the understatement of the century.Bee Good,a musical coming-of-age story about a beekeeper, was about to start a run on Broadway. Taking Evie would be a dream. I glanced over. “And if you win? Not that it’s going to happen.”

His smile was wicked. It reminded me of?—

Nothing. It reminded me of nothing that mattered anymore.

“If I win, you give up your contact who organized the charter flights.”

A thrill went through me at the playfulness in his tone, and I affected a careless shrug. “Didn’t know you had a thing for losing.”

“I’m not losing anything, sweetheart.” As soon as the pet name slipped through his lips, Cole cleared his throat. I liked it more than I should’ve. “Here’s the clubhouse,” he added. “Pick out whatever you need in the pro shop and tell them that I’ll handle it.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, you’re doing me a favor,” he noted, parking the cart next to the one Chuck and Ted had used to drive over.

“And don’t you forget it,” I told him. I slung my purse overmy shoulder, flashed a smile at the two older men, then entered the air-conditioned, pristine space in the clubhouse.

Ten minutes later, I was wearing a coordinated golf outfit that consisted of a cherry-red skort and a sleeveless, collared shirt. My feet had been stuffed into a brand-new pair of golf shoes. My hair was up in a high ponytail with a matching red visor shading my eyes. I had a set of rental clubs that would do just fine for our purposes today and a will to win my wager with Cole that probably shouldn’t have been as strong as it was.

I walked out of the pro shop and into the sunshine to meet the waiting men. I should’ve been protecting myself from him. Planning my next steps.

Instead, I was doing the worst possible thing: I was having fun.

TWENTY-TWO

COLE

I don’t knowwhy I was surprised by Carrie at this point, but I was. The flash in her eyes when I challenged her had sent a fork of lightning through my veins, and for the first time since my father had coaxed me into picking up a golf club the second time we’d met, I found myself actually looking forward to getting on the course.

There was no way Carrie was as good as she said she was. She had to be bluffing. It was that same stubborn streak I’d spied when we first met, the impulse that had her wanting to fight the thief who’d stolen her things, the part of her that sharpened her tongue and made her so damn irresistible.

“Looked at last quarter’s numbers,” my father said, drawing my thoughts away from the woman who dominated them. “You’ve done well this year, Cole.”

I loaded my set of clubs into the back of my golf cart and turned toward my father. Even though I was a grown man, thenote of pride in my father’s voice still made me want to stand up taller. “The expansion into the entertainment sector has worked out well. If I manage to land Trews in LA, things will look good for next quarter.”

“Proud of you, son,” he said, clapping me on the back. “Didn’t I tell you hiring this kid was the right call, Ted?”

“Proved me wrong,” Ted agreed, grinning. “Never should have doubted you.” The vice chairman of the board nodded at me. “You’re your father’s son. That’s for sure.”

A rush of warmth went through my chest, and I gave both men a nod. “Next year will be even better.”

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