Page 36 of 40 and (No Longer) Fighting It
“Iappreciate the interview,” Joey was saying as Claire escorted him out of her office, his soft, polite Southern accent just loud enough for her to hear. It fit his polite personality, but she’d seen enough to know that he was more than able to take charge of the store at the resort without any problems. He certainly had enough experience supervising shifts and running the bakery at one of Dollywood’s resort locations for the past decade.
“You’re more than welcome, Joey.” She escorted him through the kitchen toward the back door. “I’ll get back to you when I get the schedule finalized, and we can get you in here to start working in the bakery and kitchen with me.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Joey gave Lincoln, who stood at the stove, glaring their way, a courteous nod before walking out the door. Claire waited until the lock caught before turning to frown at her…
Wait, he’s my boyfriend, isn’t he?
That wouldn’t save him from the dressing down she was fixin’ to give him.
“Why are you looking at my new employee like that?”
“You hired him? You can’t be serious.”
She noticed he didn’t askhowhe’d been looking at Joey; he knew exactly what she was talking about. She glanced toward the closed door, back toward Lincoln, and arched a brow. “I totally am.”
“But he is…he’s…”
After the episode with Brandon last week, she knew exactly where this was going. She kinda even thought it was cute, but no way would she let Lincoln in on that little secret. “He’s…handsome? Is that what you have a problem with?” And Lincoln was right, Joey was handsome—early thirties but already going a little bit gray at the temples and in the beard, following in Lincoln’s footsteps, so to speak. He had pretty green eyes that any woman who wasn’t already attached would swoon over. And that Southern accent…
Lincoln sputtered some more, obviously trying to find a more flattering way to express what he found objectionable. “He’s… Yes, damn it, he’s good-looking. If you’re into that kind of thing.”
“What I’m into is a jealous older man who has a problem with his girlfriend”—let’s test out that word for a reaction—“working with men. Even when she’s in charge.”
Lincoln got a deer-in-headlights look that told her he understood exactly how far he’d overstepped. His lips shut firmly.
“That’s what I thought.” She sauntered toward him, her hips swaying deliberately, and Lincoln’s gaze dropped to her breasts, firmly outlined behind her sleeveless T-shirt. “Lucky for you I actually have a thing for, well, one man who is jealous and makes the mistake of admitting it out loud.”
“Ha-ha.” Lincoln’s blue-gray eyes darkened like smoke, his gaze intent enough to harden my nipples. “Right. Whatev— Wait, girlfriend?”
She stilled. Her heart thumped with a mixture of panic and fear. “Uh, yeah.”
The tension in Lincoln’s body melted away, and his smile lit her up from the inside. “Okay, yeah, I think I can do that.” He crossed the last couple of steps to her, his hands reaching as if drawn to a magnet she’d hidden inside her bra cups. “Definitely ‘girlfriend.’”
Claire couldn’t hold back a snicker, earning a dark look from Lincoln before his concentration went back to more pleasant—and certainly more pleasurable for her—things. His hands on her breasts, even through a couple of layers of clothes, melted her down to her bones. Although being called his girlfriend certainly sent a tingle down to her core.
That didn’t mean she could ignore his reaction to her employees. She covered his hands with hers. “I want to get everyone in the bakery for shifts even if we don’t have the second store up and running yet. Joey has a lot of experience. I’m lucky to have him, so don’t be glaring at him and ruining my chance at a great employee.”
Lincoln’s nod was absent, his attention wholly on the nipples he was circling with lazy fingers despite her half-hearted attempt to stop him. Claire barely refrained from rolling her eyes. She couldn’t refrain from arching her back into his touch.
“If it makes you feel any better”—Lord, was that her voice, all low and sexy?—“we will be working at different locations once the resort opens.”
“That’s months of working together before then.”
Well, yeah. She was the boss, after all. “If the two women I interviewed this morning work out, we won’t be working alone.” She smirked at him. “Much.”
Lincoln growled, stepping farther into her space until her back met the counter behind her. “When’s lunch break?”
“If I don’t get someone hired in, I don’t get lunch,” she pointed out.
He growled again, hands becoming more aggressive.
She laughed, then nodded toward whatever he’d been playing with at the stove. “Maybe I can bribe DeeDee to come take over the front counter depending on what you’ve got going over there.”
“I’ve got something good, I think. Come see.”
When it came to his food, Lincoln was like a little boy showing off his toys. She’d never seen that side of him, and even if he’d manipulated all of them to get himself into her kitchen, close to her, she was glad because it allowed her to see him in a whole new light.
