Page 111 of A Little Moore Action
“Yep.” I’m sure I’m grinning like an idiot, but I’m too happy to care.
Until Thomas remains quiet a little too long.
Shit, maybe I read this wrong.
I unwrap my arm from Bell and move closer to Thomas, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. Uh, you don’t have to. I mean, I thought you’d want to, but if you don’t…” I run my free hand through my hair. “I just thought, with us talking again, that maybe—”
Thomas finally looks up from the file, his smirk throwing me off. “Why do you always have to make things weird?”
“You fucker.” I punch his arm in retaliation for making me squirm. You know, as manly men do.
“Great!” Bell claps her hands, smiling broadly. “Now we can get started.”
Thomas and I share a look. “Get started with what, babe?”
She wags a finger at me, tsking. “I told you, no calling me babe in the office.” She walks over to the door, her pert ass swaying beneath a short, flowy skirt. “Alice,” she calls out. “You can bring it in now.”
I’m pretty sure my brother just choked on air at the mention of the new marketing exec.
I throw him a curious look. “Dude?”
He glares at me, the Golden Boy façade firmly in place.
Interesting.
Alice rolls a large whiteboard into the room. Thomas stalks forward, pulling it out of her grasp. “Did you push this here yourself?” His voice is harsher than usual. “You should’ve called someone.”
Alice flushes, and I’m about to call my brother out for being a douche, when the normally timid marketing exec places her hands on her hips and glares at my brother. “I am perfectly capable, thank you very much.”
“Uhhhh…” I look to Bell for help, but she just continues to smile.
Alice flips the board, revealing blueprints, sketches, and swatches of carpet and fabric.
“Ta-da!” Bell does a weird jazz-hands gesture at the whiteboard.
“Um, what’s this, ba—” I pause at her death stare. “I mean, Ms. King?”
“It’s the plan for your new offices. Alice and I contacted an architecture firm and got all the blueprints made up. We’re taking this boring monstrosity and dividing it into two offices.” She looks between Thomas and me. “One for Chuckles and the other for you. Construction starts on Monday.” More jazz hands. “Surprise!”
God, I love this woman.
I step up to her and cup her cheek with my hand. “As awesome as that sounds, we’ll have to leave the office as is for a while.”
Bell’s smile falls. “But why?”
“Because now that Stan has been dealt with and the Moore brothers are back in action, my brother is going to give me the month off to fully apologize to you for being such an ass hat.” I shoot my brother a look. “Isn’t that right?”
“Typical.” Thomas’s expression remains aloof, but I don’t miss the way his eyes keep glancing at Alice every few seconds. “But, yes, you may go.”
Bell’s lips twitch slightly as she settles her palms against my chest. “And just how are you planning to redeem your past ass hat tendencies?”
I rub my nose against hers. “First I’m taking you to Pittsburgh so we can visit the Andy Warhol Museum.”
A full-blown smile lights up Bell’s face. “Really?”
“Really.” I shift the hand at her jaw into her auburn hair, my other hand wrapping around her waist. “Then we’re off to Memphis, where I’ve scheduled a private tour of Graceland.”
Her mouth drops open. “Graceland?” She whispers the words like it’s some sacred, religious site. Which, I guess to her, it is.
