Page 14 of S.O.S. Perk

After ten minutes of frustratingly listening to the man bitch, the guy finally revealed to Perk that his “youngster” was twenty years old. That’s when Perk not-so-patiently told him that his daughter was no longer a minor, and that it was illegal to track someone who was over eighteen without their permission or a warrant.

The man had cursed and belittled Perk, who’d taken it because…he knew that’s what Mizzay would want him to do; maintain his professional aplomb. Still, it was damned hard not to tell the guy to fuck off before the asshole eventually figured out he wasn’t going to get anywhere, and disconnected.

Yup.Now awholelot of reps were in order.

Perk rose to his feet, went back to his locker, and quickly pulled out a t-shirt and shorts. He shed his work clothes and threw his gym-stuff on right then and there. He was alone, after all, and nobody was around to bitch him out about not using the private bathroom.

Once Perk put his weight’s worth of load onto the barbell, his back hit the bench and he proceeded to lift. He didn’t go for his normal, higher amount of weight because there was nobody around to spot him. But the lesser burden allowed him to do rapid lifts, which had him building up a sweat in no time.

It felt damned good.

His phone rang a few more times, but in each instance, after pausing to put the bar on the rests, mop his face, and look at his screen, it was easy to tell they were spam calls, so he ignored them and kept taxing his body.

Once Perk finished with his bench-work, he proceeded to do pushups on the mat, then sit-ups; happy when his musclesstarted complaining, knowing he’d labored the shitty part of the day right out of his body.

Feeling so much better, Perk went to the cooler and filled a cup with water, twice. He downed both in just a few gulps before heading to the bathroom to hit the shower.

Turning the water on inside the stall, Perk stripped down, then put his work-out clothes in the air-tight hamper that was collected by a service every few days. He felt sorry for whoever had to deal with the bin. It was bad enough, the smell that wafted out when you had to add to what was already in there, but with everybody’s sweaty stuff combined…No.Just no.

With the hot water finally sluicing over his body, Perk felt immensely better, and he let his mind drift back to the good part of his day; when Sloane had called to set up a date.

His hand lowered toward his cock, feeling a twinge of interest there, but he quickly moved it away. There was no need to get ahead of himself.

Did he want Sloane?Absolutely. Was he going to jerk off to her, not knowing where their first date would take them?Hell, no.He wanted to save his fire, acknowledging his libido only after he felt that sure they’d eventually end up in bed together. Then he’d let his fantasies run riot as he fisted his cock.

Ordering his dick to calm down for the time being, Perk turned the water to scalding and steamed away the rest of his lust and the remains of his day. It felt damned good. He’d have to remember this purge for tomorrow, because Mizzay was right. He’d be on desk-duty again. No way would Rory be ready to go back to school so soon.

Perk checked the clock once he was dressed and back in his civvies.

It was just about time to close down and send all late calls to the answering service; something Mizzay had shown everyone in the office how to do.

He strode toward the front of the office to set it up, when his phone rang.

Dammit.

Groaning and reaching into his pocket for his device, he hoped it wasn’t another long-winded person. He was hungry again, and ready to hit the local deli for the largest cold-cut sandwich they offered before heading home.

Perk glanced at the screen, and…all thoughts of food flew right out of his brain.

Sloane.

“Hey. Did you miss me today?” he asked jauntily, his chest filling with a joy that was so much more than what he normally experienced. “I knowIhad a hard time keeping you out of my mind,” he admitted. “It’s going to feel like a long time until—"

Sloane cut him off.

“I’m cancelling Monday.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Letting Perk down wasn’t how Sloane had seen things playing out, but after the frantic phone call she’d earlier received, and the subsequent meeting she’d had with her superiors, there was really no choice.

As she waited for Perk to respond, she reviewed how her late afternoon had played out…

Three twenty PM:

Sloane was headed back to her office after a routine wellness check on a witness in an upcoming case, when her phone chimed withRaising Hell, her special ring tone for Melissa.

“Hey, babe. What’s happening?” she chirped

---