Page 38 of Room One Hundred & Twenty-One: Kiss of Fire

“You okay?” he whispers, but I tense when I feel Stan’s glare on me.

I paste on a fake smile. “Of course, Mr. Smith. How are you this morning?”

He gives me a puzzled look until he notices Stan behind me. He glances back at me with a nod of understanding.

“We weren’t expecting you today.” Noah’s tone is curt as he addresses their attorney.

Stan extends a palm, but Noah doesn’t move to accept it. So Chance steps forward, shaking Stan’s hand instead. “What brings you by?” he asks with a diplomatic smile.

“I’m your attorney. Can’t I drop by every once in a while?”

“And as such, you should know we have very busy schedules. In the future, make an appointment if you want to get on our calendars.”

Stan falters at Noah’s reprimand but quickly recovers. “Of course. My sincerest apologies. But since I’m here, perhaps thethree of you are free to discuss the proposal for Aspen Creative that I sent you. It’s been a few weeks and I haven’t heard from you.”

“We can give you twenty minutes,” Noah concedes, then walks to his office without waiting for a response. Chance steps back and gestures for Stan to follow. He’s always the peacemaker of the group.

I turn to Brody before he steps away. “Should I bring you all some coffee or water?”

He smiles warmly at me. “Don’t worry about it. This won’t take long.” He offers me a wink before joining the other men.

They enter Noah’s office, and I finally take a seat at my desk, turning on my computer. Why do I get such an off feeling from that man? Just thinking about the way he looks at me makes me uncomfortable.

Exhaling a huff, I’m processing the peculiar interaction, when Ms. Abernathy speaks up. “Ignore him, dear. He’s relatively harmless.”

“He’s… interesting.” That’s a nice way of putting it when I really want to say he’s a sleaze.

“They used to work primarily with his father until he recently retired. He’s a wonderful man and I think you would’ve liked him. Stan has always been around, but we never had to deal with him since Stanley Sr. preferred to personally handle this account.”

“I see. Well, thanks for the background. Explains why Noah didn’t seem to care for him much.”

“Noah doesn’t care for anyone except Chance and Brody,” she clarifies before muttering under her breath, “And apparently you.”

It’s faint and I barely hear her. “Pardon?” I know what she said, but I’m curious if she’ll repeat it.

“It’s nothing. I’m going to get some coffee,” Ms. Abernathy announces and strolls to the kitchen. I’m grateful for the reprieve so she doesn’t notice my embarrassment.

I open my email and prepare to get the workday started when I hear Brody call out, “Selena, would you come in, please?”

“Yes, sir.” I stand and grab my pen and notepad before shuffling over to him. When I brush past him at the threshold of the door, his fingers graze my bare arm and send a zip of electricity running through me. It’s like this whenever one of them touches me, but I push away those thoughts in an attempt to remain professional in front of our guest.

“Take these.” Noah’s authoritative tone has me crossing the room to retrieve a packet of papers from his hand. A smile teases his lips as I get closer to him, but he otherwise manages to keep his expression passive. “Look these over and get back to me.”

My forehead creases and I tilt my head.

“Let me know your initial thoughts.”

Stan scoffs from his seat in front of the desk. “With all due respect, this is a financially important matter. I don’t think the opinion of your personal assistant has any relevance.”

“I didn’t ask what you think,” Noah sneers, and Stan pinches his lips closed. I tuck my chin to my chest to hide my grin. Serves him right for being a jackass. “Your twenty minutes are up, Stan. If there’s anything else, then book a call or a meeting with myassistant.”

“Right.” Stan rises from his chair and tugs on his lapel, straightening out his designer suit. “Good day, gentleman. I’ll be in touch soon.”

I can see from his tight expression that he wants to press the matter further, but he at least has the good sense to know when he’s been dismissed.

I’m about to leave when Chance asks me, “Selena, would you mind escorting Mr. Bradley out, please?”

“Not at all.” I actually do mind because something about this man just doesn’t sit right with me. But I’d never say that to my bosses.

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