Page 41 of Heat & Deceit
“Before you go.” Javier glowers at his friend. “Lycus will be mostly out of your way. He’s here if you need a manager’s key, but he’ll be busy finishing up the posting for the management position.”
“And where will you be?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Javier grimaces. “The results of the forensic audit came back.”
I’m dying to know what they found, but it’s not my place, and it’s not my business. I’m just an employee. Which reminds me.
“Excuse me,” I say to the two of them and then squeeze between their hard bodies, ignoring the sweep of amber and vetiver that chases after me. The two of them immediately begin whispering, but I don’t stick around to eavesdrop.
Amara points to a coffee cup. “That’s yours.”
“Thanks.”
She nods and finishes counting the cash drawer. She didn’t ask me which job I wanted to do, but maybe it’s a good thing I’ll be stuck behind the noisy machine all morning. It’ll be a good excuse to drown out whatever Lycus has to say, which, from experience, is a lot.
* * *
That plan worked for all of three hours. Morning rush is over, and Amara and I have restocked the front and cleaned everything there is to clean. Lycus emerges from the back as soon as I set a rag down, as though he’s been lingering there, waiting for the first moment I had nothing to do.
“I need your help.”
I look around, and dread settles into my gut when I realize he is, in fact, speaking to me. “Okay.”
He glances at Amara. “Cover the front?”
She simply lifts a hand and continues scrolling through whatever social media app she’s on. Maybe I’m not trying hard enough to be aloof. Maybe I should be more like her.
Lycus pushes open the door to the office but steps aside to let me pass. I avoid looking in his direction and wait for him to tell me what he needs. He joins me and closes us in a very private room together. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he watches me.
“You needed help?” I prompt.
His dimple makes an appearance. “Ah, all business today, I see.” He rocks back on his heels and sucks in his cheeks. “I need you to read something for me.”
I breathe through my mouth to keep from inhaling too much of his amber scent. Today, he’s wearing a fitted black tee and jeans that hug his strong thighs. I glance at his tattoo sleeves, noting that one side depicts a stormy sea with an octopus type creature with its tentacles wrapped around a boat. On his other forearm is a forest line, and the top half of his arm, I can’t make out because he turns around. My eyes jump to his and he grins, having caught me ogling his ink.
“Do you like them?”
“They’re tattoos.” There. Noncommittal. Unfazed.
“Hmm.” He bites back a smirk and scrunches his face. “You’re different at work.”
I blink, but refuse to delve back into the person I was at dinner. That was Nova, and she knows better than to come out to play. From now on, all he’ll get is Carmine.
A displeased growl rumbles in his chest, but at the sudden sound, he shakes himself and scowls. “I need your help.”
I’m not sure if he’s repeating it to remind me or himself.
“Okay.”
His frown deepens. “Can you read what I’ve written up and give me feedback? I hate this sort of thing, and I need to know if the description sounds appealing to someone who might be looking for a job like this.”
Moving behind the desk, he clicks the mouse a few times before gesturing for me to take a seat. With as little emotion as possible, I sit and look at the screen, attempting to focus on the words and not the way he leans over the back of the chair, his cheek mere inches from mine. If I turn, my lips might brush his face.
I swallow and start over. A hard line forms between my eyebrows when he shifts and more of that heady scent slips past my defenses. He smells wonderful. He smells dangerous. Clearing my throat, I curl my lips in and slowly read each word, struggling to bring it all together with him so close.
“Can you move back?” I ask, voice choked and strained.
He tips his head toward me, but I don’t look. He’s too close; he’ll see too much. Instead, I focus on the screen.
