Page 15 of Embers of Torment

Adam rolled his eyes. "I can't believe Della has you trained already."

I wrinkled my nose at Adam and gave him a mock glare. "He's being polite. You should follow his example." I snatched the offered drink from Jace and took an overly long sip, looking pointedly at Adam.

"Okay, you two. Settle down. I didn't come here to play referee." Jace laughed, shaking his head as he retrieved the cup from me.

"It's all right. I'll ignore Della." Adam turned to Sofie. "This is an old friend of mine, Jace Welch. He and I met as teenagers and later went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill together. He recently relocated here from Colorado." Adam peered at Jace, who stood with his hand on the back of my chair. "Jace. This is Della's boss, Sofie Morgan. She's the company's marketing manager. She was the assistant manager until her predecessor moved to another division." Adam leaned forward and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "He's cleaning up the sales department because the guy he replaced lacked talent."

"Excuse me?" Sofie cleared her throat and looked at Adam reprovingly. "That last part wasn't necessary."

"I suppose not." Adam gazed down at the table, looking contrite. He immediately brightened. "Oh, I should mention Sofie also owns Morgan Systems. She joined the company as an entry-level temp to hire around six years ago before she started dating the owner's son, Reid Morgan. Now they have two kids and run the business together, with Sofie taking over some of the tasks his mother, Virginia Morgan, used to do."

"Adam! When I said the last part wasn't necessary, it didn't mean for you to add more personal details to the conversation."

"Sorry," Adam pouted. "I can't help bragging about how far you've come in the company. If you weren't proficient at it, I wouldn't brag."

"Fine." Sofie let out a resigned sigh and dropped her shoulders. "I appreciate how you feel about me, but sometimes you go too far and give more information than necessary, particularly private data."

"I know. I can't help it. I've always been this way. I like to share."

"I can confirm that," Jace laughed. "Adam did it in college. Several of my dates knew more about me than I preferred."

Adam narrowed his gaze at Jace, looking slighted. "Hey, there was nothing wrong with what I told people. You've always been an honorable guy, and my comments about your kind-hearted and humble personality helped you out back then. So don't complain."

"You're right. It did help since it had the ladies fawning over me and treating me like I was some cuddly teddy bear. So, yeah, I probably shouldn't have brought it up. Well…enough of this fun conversation. The clock's ticking away, and I need to get back to work."

"Wait a minute." Adam paused and shot a glance my way. He turned back to Jace. "Della and I are hanging out at my apartment tonight. I'm making a beef stir-fry with steamed rice and egg drop soup. After dinner, we're watching an old thriller, the 1980 classicThe Shining. You're welcome to join us."

"Oh, boy." Sofie hung her head while her fingers massaged her temple.

Jace scrunched an eye at her. "That doesn't sound encouraging. Is there something I should be aware of?"

"Only that Della doesn't do well with thrillers or horror movies," Sofie said, the corner of her mouth twitching.

"Now that you mention it, I remember hearing something about that." Jace grinned at me, looking thoroughly amused. "Weren't you banned from watching them or something?"

"Not exactly. I can watch them. Just not alone, and I won't be."

Sofie smiled, a devilish glint in her eyes. "I think Jace should go to Adam's tonight. Della will need someone to hold her hand and convince her no boogie man is hiding in the closet or the shower stall waiting to get her. Adam's usually too engrossed in the movie to notice she's a hair away from a panic attack."

"I am not!" Adam's expression turned sullen. "Okay, I suppose I am. But I can't help it."

"I have to confess. Della told me you guys did a movie night on occasion, which sounded inviting. Now that Sofie's confirmed Della's reaction is worse than I imagined, I'll have to go. After all, someone needs to take care of her." Jace smirked at me, appearing far too amused at my expense, which made me want to kick him.

Inwardly, I felt cornered.

Wonderful! The last thing I need is Jace Welch babysitting me, especially with the way he makes me feel whenever he's near. It's bad enough having his hand on my chair with his fingers scorching my back and making me wish he was doing a lot more than that. Oh, lordy. I must be losing it to let something so freaking innocent affect me like this. Why does he have to be so darn hot?

"Terrific!" Adam said, perking up. "I'll have dinner ready about seven o'clock, and we'll put the movie on afterward. I learned not to allow Della to eat while watching a thriller. The last time she did it, Theo found a piece of pizza stuck to the wall because she threw it so hard when she screamed."

Jace lost it, laughing so zealously his eyes were watering when he looked at me. "So you're a pizza tosser? I can't wait for this."

"Oh, shut up," I snapped. "You'll be there to watch the flick, not to make fun of my little quirk."

"I'm sure I'll be amused nonetheless. Anyway, I have to go. I'll be working late, so I might miss dinner. But I will be there for all or most of the film."

"Wonderful," I grumbled under my breath.

Adam frowned at me before getting up from his seat. "I'll walk out with you. I came here a little early to beat the café crowd, so I have to get back to work."

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