Page 26 of Three Bossy Boyfriends
She’s always loved to argue.
I approach the group of three guys and Finley, who is standing precariously in her heels in the gravel. “Hey Finley. I sincerely apologize for them.” I jerk a thumb behind me at my crew. “That was really uncool.”
Her eyebrows raise.
Then I turn to Joe. “Your turn to apologize to the lady for being disgusting and making her feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m not apologizing to her!” Joe protests. “It was a compliment!”
I doubt most women think, “Hey sexy mama,” is flattering. My blood pressure jacks up. Joe’s bullshit justification pisses me off.
“You’re fired,” I tell him flatly. “Turn in your gear.” I eyeball the other two. “I didn’t hear you saying anything, but you didn’t stick up for her either. Don’t make my worksite a fucking cliche and don’t youeverdisrespect a woman where I can hear you. Now get back to work.”
The other two guys look appropriately shamefaced. They murmur apologies and get the hell out of there.
“You can’t fire me!” Joe glares at me.
“I can, and I did. Now get the fuck off my site.”
Joe throws his hard hat on the ground and says, “Fuck you.” As he’s stomping away, he says, “Stupid bitch,” to Finley.
That’s all it takes. I get right in his face. “If you ever talk to her like that again, I will knock you the fuck out.” I move past him, bumping him with my shoulder. He stumbles backward.
“Let’s go inside my trailer, Finley.” I put my hand on the small of her back to guide her away from a sputtering Joe.
He’s grumbling and doesn’t seem like he’s going to come at me, but I still want her tucked away inside in case he changes his mind.
“Threatening an employee doesn’t seem wise when you’re already being sued,” Finley comments casually as we pause in front of the trailer.
I open the door and gesture for her to go in. I assume she’s here to see me about the case. I try not to wince when I realize that she might be—hell, is—right.
“He was way out of line.”
“I can take care of myself.” Finley climbs the two steps into the trailer.
Suddenly, her ass is at my eye level. It’s covered by her coat, but I’m still very aware of how close I am to her. These newfound sexual fantasies involving the former goth girl are really starting to get under my skin. The last few years, I haven’t dated much. Nothing serious. I’ve hooked up here and there when it was convenient and not likely to get messy but apparently not frequently enough.
I’m getting hard just watching Finley’s hips swaying and her toned legs in those heels climb the stairs.
“No one thinks I can take care of myself,” she adds, entering the trailer and turning to give me a hard stare. “And yet…I always have. I even found myself my own prom date.”
I don’t want to talk about prom. It makes me feel shitty. I spent the whole night dodging Finley, because after I tried to apologize to her after she overheard me, she had put her so-called curse on me. It took the fun out of being crowned prom king that night, and I wound up drunk, puking off the side of the dock at the waterfront venue.
My date, the very blonde and bubbly cheerleader, Hyacinth Waters, had stormed off in tears that I had embarrassed her and ruined prom.
Finley’s date had been a painfully shy genius named Bart, who we are all pretty sure had been bullied—by her—into taking her. He’d spent the whole night looking terrified in his tux.
“I hear Bart is a tech guru who has a million-dollar yacht now,” I tell her. “You should have locked that in.”
She waves her hand. “I gave Bart the confidence he was lacking and then I set him free to succeed.”
That makes me laugh. “You’re responsible for Bart’s career success?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes, I played a part.”
I can’t help it. I’m intrigued. “What did you do to him?”
Her eyes narrow. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
