Page 15 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
“Did I?” Trixie felt him stand up. He came over to lean his butt against her desk and crossed his arms over his chest. She had to swivel her chair so she could see him. “How do you figure that?”
She glared at him. “First, the deal was that you would break into one of the cars in the showroom. Second, one of my employees handed you the keys. That doesn’t prove you can steal one of my cars.” He raised an eyebrow. “Therefore, you cheated. I want my kiss back.”
He leaned forward, arms still crossed. “Where in our deal did I say I was going to take a car from the showroom?”
She opened her mouth and then closed it. Trixie’s face scrunched as she recalled his exact wording when he’d specified their deal.Fuck!All he’d said was that he’d get into one of her cars. He hadn’t said a car from her showroom. Just one of hers. Technically, she was responsible for the Aston Martin, though she didn’t own it. She’d even admitted that she treated every one of her customer’s cars like they were her own.
“Okay, so you got me there,” she snapped, pissed she hadn’t caught on. What had he said to make her think he’d meant a car from the showroom? Why hadn’t she even considered him taking one from the bay or the parking lot? For that matter, why hadn’t he taken one from the parking lot? It would have been a hell of a lot easier than taking one from the bay. “But you didn’t steal the car. That’s hardly how a thief would do it.”
“Isn’t it?” he retorted. “The best grifts aren’t taken by force, baby. They are prizes that are handed right to you. You expected me to break in, to tamper, to fiddle, and to steal. You did not expect me to walk right up to your employees and con them into handing me the keys.” That cocky grin is back. “Andthat, sweetheart, is why I won that kiss fair and square.”
Her cheeks flushed. “What did you say to them? How did you get them to hand you the keys? And the damn tape measure!”
He glanced over his shoulder at the clock. They had a little more than five minutes before Greg would be by to pick him up. “I told them I was from your customer’s insurance company. It wasn’t hard to get his or the insurance name because you write them on your handy white board just inside the room. A joke and a compliment to distract and they were putty in my hands. Your men are good and loyal, but they also took a stranger at his word without verifying either with the front desk or you. Your so-called secure locks implant a false sense of security. After all, how could I have gotten back there if I wasn’t invited back? Thebay believed the front desk sent me back and the front desk never even saw me enter.”
“How did you get a code?”
“Eight-seven-four-nine.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “That’s my code!”
He nodded smugly. “You entered it to get into the bay the day we met. A four-digit code isn’t very secure, and the fact that yours spells your nickname is even worse. I’m only semi-grateful that it wasn’t your birthday.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know when my birthday is.”
“Oh?” He pointed to a picture of her and herabueloin Times Square, New York City. It was her twenty-first birthday. He’d taken her to see the city she’d always dreamed of going to see, along with center seat tickets to seeWickedon Broadway. To her horror, her birthdate was plastered on the big screen behind her. To make matters worse, she was wearing a birthday tiara.
She loved that picture. Not only was it special because it had been her twenty-first, but it had also been her last with herabuelo. He’d passed away eleven months later.
She dropped her head into her hands. “Damn it! I thought I was so careful! I even hired a security consultant years ago to install everything!”
Trixie felt his hands grip hers. He waited for a second before he gently pulled her hands away from her face. She hated feeling like a failure. He pulled her to her feet and used her hands to drag her to him. Cayden wrapped her arms around his waist, leaving them there, before putting his own around hers. She felt his lips against her neck at the base of her ear. Yeah, he definitely had an ear fetish.
“Don’t feel bad, baby. Your security is good. I’m just better.”
She felt herself snort, pressing her face into his chest. “I was so sure I was going to win the bet.”
She was hoping to get a laugh out of him, but instead she felt him stiffen beneath her. “Trix, I need you to look at me.”
She kept her arms around him as she straightened. There was definite concern in his mismatched eyes.
“What I did here was to prove a point. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to kiss you, and I used this as an excuse to ensure it. I have every intention of kissing you again and again.” His eyes deepened at his promise, and she felt herself flush. She wasn’t sure which she liked better, the blue or the green. “But I also have no intention of going where I’m not wanted.” Why did she suspect there was a dual meaning behind those words? “If you don’t want me to work here, if you feel like you were manipulated into giving me this job, I’ll leave. Mr. Wynn will be here any second, so I need an answer.”
She bit her lower lip. Did she want him here? He’d won the bet, but he was giving her an out. He was definitely a distraction she didn’t need. Could she keep her hands off of him if he was working here? Did she want him working elsewhere?
All week she’d been warring with herself. Her attraction to him aside, he was someone sheshouldn’t trust. While he might not be the stereotypical biker like she saw on Sons of Anarchy, that didn’t change the fact that hewasa biker. Or he had been. He was an ex-con, a car thief. He was on parole.
And yet… Trixie didn’t know if she trusted her judgement of people’s characters. Her lack of romantic history would suggest that she didn’t have enough experience to make such a call, given her intense feelings for this man. He was suave, charming, arrogant, and so fucking sexy that she had a feeling she was going to need multiple panty changes a day if he came to work here.
The Wynns trusted him, though. They wouldn’t have pushed for Cayden to work here if they didn’t. He’d been living with them for two-ish months. That had to count for something.
Fuck it. He’d proven that her security wasn’t as good as she thought it was. He’d proven that her babies weren’t safe. Beyond wanting him, sheneededhim.
“You can stay,” she said finally, the minute hand on the clock snapping to five-thirty. “Be here Monday morning at seven-thirty. You and I need to go over some things before the staff meeting at eight.”
His smile wasn’t cocky this time, but it was brilliant. She’d made him happy, and damn, if she didn’t want to do that again.
He lowered his mouth to hers, giving her a quick peck of his lips. Then he wiggled himself out from between her and the desk, aiming for the door.
