Page 5 of The Saint

Camden tamped down his grin. “Nope.”

“Because I’m telling you about an assignment that could leave you in a body bag if you don’t listen.”

“Understood, Boss Man.”

Another growl came from under the table. Most of the men on Camden’s team tried not to laugh as Thelma, Jared’s bulldog, attacked the rawhide. The puppy had doubled in size since the summer, but Thelma didn’t know it and still thought she was a little dog with oversized toys as she attacked her treasure underneath Titan Group’s conference table.

Camden nudged the dinosaur femur away from his boot. Thelma returned the toy to where it had been after leveraging the side of his foot to get the best hold. She barked at the bone and did her best to wrestle it into submission. Boss Man glowered.

Across from Camden, Chance and Sawyer threatened to laugh. If they broke, Camden would fall apart. Their boss wouldn’t give anyone else grief if they did. Camden was the sole focus of Jared’s growing irritation. He ran a hand over his face and cupped his mouth, catching a glance at Liam, their team leader. Liam was going to laugh but not before he silently warned Camden to keep his act together.

Jared’s phone vibrated on the table. His glare narrowed on Camden as he swiped the phone and stood. “Your ass has been saved by the bell.”

Thelma nabbed her bone and fought through boots and chair legs to trot after Jared. Tough-guy Boss Man waited until his dog had walked through the door with the dinosaur leg before pulling it shut behind himself.

Hagan let out a long whistle. “You are going to get him on your bad side before nine in the morning.” He snickered. “That takes a special talent, you know that, Cam?”

Camden crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair. “Jared loves me.”

“Like a hole in the head,” Liam muttered.

Liam had tried to mentor Camden over the years. It had worked, more or less. Camden’s arrival in Abu Dhabi had been coupled with Titan’s very nice paycheck and benefit package. He’d been a little wild. Jared hadn’t been all that amused even if Camden thought his boss was a wild man too. Liam had pushed Camden to have fun but focus on their assignments so that he didn’t die on the job. That wouldn’t happen. He listened when it mattered.

The heavy door swung open again. Jared’s scowl had deepened. After a sweeping glance at the team, his storming eyes landed on Camden again.

Shit.

“Everyone out.” Boss Man didn’t have to say “except for you”—every man in the room read that loud and clear.

Sawyer and Chance gave Camden a pitying glance.

Liam slapped him on the shoulder. “Nice knowing you, buddy.”

“Shut the hell up, and go do something productive.” Jared stalked to the head of the war-room table. His dark brows furrowed as the door shut soundly. As though he didn’t knowwhere to start, Jared glared and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Look, Camden…”

But nothing else came. Jared wasn’t one to mince words. He sure as shit wasn’t one to be without them.

“Yeah?”

Boss Man said nothing.

Well, hell.What had Camden done to get canned? His stomach sank. The last straw had apparently been laughing at his damn dog. That didn’t sound like Jared Westin, but part of his maverick nature was doing the unexpected.

“If you’re going to fire me, then fire me. You don’t need to sugarcoat it.”

Boss Man hadn’t sugarcoated a thing in his life. Camden wasn’t sure why he was starting then.

The corners of Jared’s mouth twitched. “Why am I firing you?”

Camden lifted his shoulders. “No idea.”

“You know, everyone thinks you’re happy-go-lucky, have a good time, party a little too hard, laugh a little too much. But I see through that bullshit, you know that?”

He raised his shoulders again.

“No, I’m not firing you, dipshit.”

Camden didn’t relax. “Then what are you doing?”

---