Page 26 of Boss On Notice
I can’t help but shamelessly look Lynx Grove over while he laughs. He’s wearing tan pants with a matching vest over a crisp white shirt. His five o’clock shadow, curly hair, and the slight dimple on his chin and cheeks gives him male model features. But he’s built like one of the athletes on the baseball team he owns. The man is the mere definition of perfection.
“What floor do you live on?” he asks.
He doesn’t know. One point lost for me. He hadn’t been curious enough about me to find out. “I live on the twenty-eighth floor.”
He looks surprised. “The top floor?”
“Yep.” We both know that it costs a pretty penny to live that high in our building. “It’s an LTI apartment. I’ll have to move out when I…quit.” My eyes grow wide. I can’t believe I revealed that to him. I’m really off my game this morning. I need to get myself together and do it quickly.
He nods as if he’s processing what I just said. “I remember you said you work for Orion.”
“Yes. I haven’t given him notice yet. But I will on Monday.”
Lynx smirks and I think my panties melt. “Is that your way of asking me to keep your intentions between us?” Oh my goodness, and he’s quick. That makes him even sexier.
“Yes,” I sigh with relief.
He winks. “Done.”
“Here’s my date,” Orion says as if we hadn’t locked gazes not too long ago. He positions himself between Lynx and me.
I’m struggling to breathe evenly as the tiny hairs stand up on my arm. I cannot be having this acute reaction to Orion Lord. It’s as if my body remembers something that my brain cannot.
“Can I get in over here?” Heather says in a tiny childlike voice as she squeezes in between Orion and me.
Oddly, and it seems without giving it much thought, Orion shifts position and moves in between Heather and me.
“How are you doing this morning?” he asks, head tilted to one side and attention trained solely on me.
My mouth opens. I want to ask him why is he asking me that question. But I have to get a grip. It’s not like he asked me to solve a Rubik’s Cube. I mean, his question is a rational question, the natural one.
“I’m fine.” My voice is too tight. I clear my throat. “And you?”
The twins have joined us, stealing the attention of everybody in our little circle.
“You’re Lynx Grove?” one of the twins asks, batting her eyelashes at him. She’s shaking his hand before he confirms that he’s indeed Lynx Grove.
“I’m Lina and I’m your biggest fan.” Her eye contact is so unshakable that I wonder if Lynx feels as uncomfortable as I am watching her flirt with him. “I mean, of your ball team of course.”
Oh my God, was that her roundabout way of saying she’s a fan of his balls?
The other twin rolls her eyes at her sister’s shameless come-on.
“Thank you,” Lynx graciously says. Either he didn’t get that she was coming on to him or he very much doesn’t care. Women must shoot their shot at him all the time. I bet he’s a pro in letting them, us, down easy.
“So, where did you two wander off to last night?” The non-flirting twin asks as she slips her e-cigarette between her lips.
Mina. That’s her name.
I’m watching Mina, trying to figure out who she’s talking to, praying that she’s not speaking to me. Suddenly her eyes become giddy. “Oh, fuck, you don’t remember leaving together, Orion and Delilah.”
“I remember,” Orion says. “We got some air.”
“Is that all the two of you got?” she says, grinning as she blows smoke out of the side of her mouth.
Right…she smokes like a gangster.
“I heard there was a lot of wine-bibbing last night,” Lynx says with a laugh. “Half the people here are hungover, including my parents.”
