Page 131 of The Fixer

She yanked it open, and Charlie sprang to his feet, shoving his hands in his front pockets. Framed by the doorway was none other than Sterling Fucking Calloway.

Joy motioned him out, and they stepped into the hallway within punching distance of Calloway. With her hand held out Vanna White-style, Joy made the awkward introductions—again. Well, awkward for Calloway, but Charlie enjoyed a smug sort of amusement.

Yeah, buddy. Every nasty thing you’re imagining right now was happening on the other side of this door. And there’s going to be a helluva lot more of it too.

Calloway didn’t extend his hand, instead sputtering, “Welcome to Chicago, Mr. Hunnicutt.”

“Thank you. I’m enjoying a very warm welcome so far.” He slid Joy a side-eye, but she wouldn’t look at him.

Joy closed the conference room door while Calloway muttered something about a meeting. She turned pleading eyes to Charlie.

“I’ll see you later tonight, princess.” With a discreet wink, he wheeled and headed through the reception area, throwing Estelle and the receptionist a cheerful wave. He whistled the entire way back to Joy’s condo.

Chapter 37

Acting Out

Charlie stepped into ashower the size of his living room and tried to figure out how to coax water from the complicated spray system—which should have been a cakewalk for a contractor.

On his way back from Joy’s office, he had ducked into a pub to escape the crowds. Now his belly was full as he scrubbed off the city’s grit and the pub’s grease.

When he finished cleaning up, he noticed a text from her blinking on his screen. She apologized, saying she was going to be later than she had originally planned. Ignoring the unsettling feeling evoked by her being out with Calloway and a bunch of drunk leches, he stretched out on her butter-soft leather couch and puzzled out a drop-down TV with a dizzying array of remotes.

He must have dozed because he went from a baseball game to soft, silky hair brushing his face. He blinked and looked up at Joy’s bright red lips thinned into a firm line.

“Hey. There you are.” He pulled her down on top of him, but she pulled away, and he ended up kissing the top of her ear.

She untangled herself from his grasp. “That was quite the trick you pulled in my office today. Was that a caveman claim kind of act? Were you beating your chest?”

“Well, hello to you too.” He wasn’t surewhyhe’d behaved the way he had. Primal shit, apparently. “I don’t recall doing anything tomychest, but I do recall doing a few things toyours. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it.”

She glared at him, but he couldn’t tell if it was real. “I didn’t. Not with Sterling and everyone else in the office on the other side of the door.”

“Liar. I’ve read your books.”

Her lips curved in a half-smile, and relief sped through him. “Let me take off this makeup so I don’t get it all over your nice white T-shirt. Mmm, you smell good.”

“So do you.” He sat up. “Anything else you need to take off? I’m pretty handy that way.”

“Handsy, you mean. No, I’m good.” She sashayed down her long hallway to the master. The TV was still on, but the ball game wasn’t. He checked his phone: 10:22 p.m.

Unsure what to do, he sat on the couch and played with his phone for fifteen minutes until she returned, sans makeup, in faded jeans and a dark long-sleeved T-shirt that did a crisscross peekaboo thing over her chest. Modest, but the flash of bare skin made it sexy. She sat sideways on his lap, looped her arms around his neck, and kissed him stupid.

“I missed you,” she purred when they came up for air.

“Yeah, I missed you too. I kinda forgot what that was like this past week. How about another refresh?”

She lowered her mouth to his and refreshed the hell out of him. Then she slid off his lap and motioned toward a butler’s pantry while he adjusted himself. There she poured him a double Jameson and filled a wineglass for herself.

Next, she crooked a finger and led him to the kitchen. “Hungry?”

“No, I had a big juicy steak sandwich down at the local pub. How about you? How was your business dinner?”

She crinkled her nose. “Ugh. Long and boring. A lot of blah, blah, blah. I’m sorry I was so late.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re here now.” He sidled up beside her and slid an arm around her shoulders.

She stiffened. “Could you please do me a favor and not call me ‘sweetheart’?”

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