Page 17 of Crash
“I didn’t know if you were hungry, but I ordered pizza.”
The heat of Julio and Sean’s interested stares bored into the side of his face as he moved to stand up. Wiping his hand on the rag he kept in his back pocket, he tugged down the zipper to his overalls and slid the top off so it hung off of his muscular frame.
A sense of satisfaction filled him as her gaze tracked his movements. When she looked at him again, her cheeks were tinted a delicate pink.
When Sean coughed, Griffin’s attention was pulled away from the alluring blush spreading across her cheeks.
“Did you hire a new secretary, boss?” The fierce scowl he directed at Sean was met with a mischievous smirk. The bastard was not scared of him.
“Yeah, uh, this is…”
“Quynh. Your new temporary secretary.” She offered Julio and Sean a wave before turning back to meet his eyes. “My car broke down, and Griffin’s letting me stay in the apartment upstairs while he’s fixing it.” Her hand dropped back down to her side, and he offered her a sheepish smile, thankful she stepped in.
“Thanks for lunch.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. You boys have been working all morning. I figured you could all use a break.”
“Hellyeah!” Julio’s enthusiasm was infectious.
“Thanks, doll.” Sean flashed a flirtatious smirk at Quynh. His smirk widened into a grin at Griffin’s glare. It was infuriating.
“You boys wash up, and I’ll set this up inside the office for you. I’ll run upstairs and grab some plates and cups.”
True to her words, the pizza boxes were laid out in the main reception area by the time they washed their hands of the grease and grime of motor oil. Quynh was nowhere in sight, but it didn’t stop Julio from pulling a slice out of the pizza box. Julio’s groan of appreciation made his own stomach rumble with hunger. Griffin didn’t have enough time to eat breakfast this morning.
Normally, he’d run back to his house to whip up leftovers from the night before, but they were so behind already. He still needed to look at Quynh’s car. She must be getting eager to get going.
He never asked why she was in town.
Griffin was about to grab a slice when Quynh reentered the room, balancing some paper plates and cups in one hand.
She moved with the fluid grace of a dancer, her footsteps barely disturbing the stillness of the room. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he watched her graceful movements. Each move she made was deliberate and precise. The low, indistinct hum of voices echoed in his ears.
“Griff!”
Startled from his trance, Griffin glanced over at Sean to see he sported a shit-eating grin on his face.
Fuck, did Sean catch me staring at Quynh?
“What?”
Sean was not intimidated by his glower. Instead, his grin became impossibly wider.
“I said, can we keep Quynh?”
Sean waggled his eyebrows over Quynh’s head as she turned to look up at him.
“She’s just helping out while she’s in town.”
“I don’t mind helping. I can’t really do much without my car, and apparently, Uber doesn’t exist around here.” A dramatic gasp escaped her lips.
Quynh handed him a plate with two slices of pizza. He slowly took the plate from her hands and moved to sit on the desk. Griffin watched as Quynh picked out a small slice of veggie pizza and sat down next to Sean.
Sean was a nice guy. He talked too much sometimes, but the ladies found him charming. Griffin had never been threatened by him before, but watching the two of them engage in conversation made his skin itch. He fought the urge to jump up and physically force the two of them apart. He briefly entertained the idea of sitting on Sean’s much lankier frame. Sean wouldn’t be able to flirt if he sat on him.
Griffin wanted to punch Sean in the face at the way he lookedat Quynh. A look he recognized as one of male interest. Punching Sean in the face felt like the appropriate response. He’d have to examine these urges later.
The shrill sound of a phone ringing filled the air. Quynh jumped up to grab the phone she had left sitting by the pizza box. Griffin watched as she unlocked her phone and read whatever was on the screen. Quynh’s facial expression went from unbothered to upset at whatever she saw. Her eyes were pinched in the corners as her lips pursed.
