Page 476 of Small Town Firsts
Kai pushed Milton away. “Stay away from her. Period. Or I’ll do much worse.”
“You’ll never find another job. I know everyone around here, and I won’t be giving you a reference.”
Sullivan moved between Kai and Milton. “Handily, we happen to need a manager.” He turned his attention to Lexi. “If you can run this place, bet you can handle us. How about it?”
Lexi’s eyes widened. “What? Just like that?”
“Just like that. Sound good to you, Kai?”
“Definitely.”
A throat cleared behind me as we all glanced at the door. “What is going on here?”
Milton started stammering again. “Uh, hi, Jim.”
Lexi shrank back and my eyebrows lifted when I saw Kai settle his hands on her shoulders gently.
Hmm.
History there?
“We finished the two coats of paint on the back office. Unfortunately, we won’t be returning for the front of the building.”
“Why not?” Jim asked. He was wearing a well-cut navy suit, his eyes narrowed as he glanced from Milton to Sullivan. “What the hell happened while I was on lunch?”
“No, Sully, it’s okay.” Lexi tried to rush forward, but Kai held her calmly in place.
“I’m sorry, the Murdock Brothers don’t work with men who treat women that way.”
Jim’s eyes flashed. “Who?”
Milton. “They’re exaggerating. It was nothing.”
Jim sighed and closed his eyes. “Milton, we’ll be discussing this later.”
Kai growled. “You should be firing him.”
“He can’t fire me.” Milton’s voice lost the stammer.
“Unfortunately, I can’t. I’ll make sure you have a healthy severance package, Lexi. We will miss you.”
“Not enough to get rid of trash,” Kai muttered.
“I’ll make sure people know that Sullivan Murdock doesn’t finish jobs he’s been hired to do.” Milton sneered.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Jim said sternly, turning to Sullivan. “I’ll make sure your invoice is paid in full.”
Sully glanced at me. “I’ll meet you outside.” He walked to the back with Jim while Milton aimed for his desk with a smirk.
I nodded.
“Asshole,” Lexi muttered.
Kai walked over to me, his hand at Lexi’s lower back. “Hey, Nora, this is Alyx Howard.”
“Lexi,” she corrected with a shy smile. “Friends call me Lexi.”
“Can you wait with her while we clean up?”
