Page 61 of Kissing the Boss (Fairy Tale Quartet 2)

Another disgusted sound exited Brick’s lungs. “Down-low? Yes, because this here is so stealthy.” When he waved his hand between me and Ezra, Ezra growled out his displeasure.

“Hey, stop attacking her. I’m the one who walked in the room, and I’m not even here to see her, anyway. I’m here to talk business with you, Carmichael.”

Brick didn’t seem convinced. He lifted a single eyebrows. “Is this a business question you could’ve asked me via email?”

Ezra’s return stare darkened as he refused to answer.

Making a humming, knew-it sound in the back of his throat, Brick nodded. “Then you’re here to see her. Not me.”

“I just needed to know if you ever heard word back from the leather company or not?” Ezra demanded, forcing the conversation to business and refusing to answer to my stepbrother about such a personal matter.

After a moment to pause, Brick said, “I don’t know. I gave the task to my new assistant to take care of.”

Both he and Ezra swung simultaneously my way.

I jumped, realizing I needed to enter the conversation.

Okay, then.

“Actually, not completely,” I answered. Clearing my throat, I hurried to my desk to bring up some email correspondence to better respond to Ezra’s question. “I made contact with our representative yesterday, and we’re still going back and forth on prices. Also, I wasn’t sure if we wanted goatskin or calfskin, because both are perfectly durable for… Handbags.” I glanced at Brick, making sure to use the word he preferred.

“The lambskin they kept trying to sell me made a smooth finish, but it tore and scratched way too easily for anything of good quality, not good enough for any purse over the size of a wallet. And I didn’t even consider the pigskin, because we’re not selling footballs here. So…” My fingers flashed over my keyboard as I called up the email I wanted. “Ah… Here. They just sent a new quote.”

I opened the file and lifted my eyebrows. “Wow, they must really want our business. After only just a little haggling, they’d already dropped their offer thirty percent.”

Ezra set his hand on the back of my chair and leaned over my shoulder to read the figures on my computer screen. “Holy shit,” he blurted a moment later, unable to hold in his surprise. “That’s not a bad price.”

I grinned up at him. “I know, right? All I did was talk a little about how important purses are to the people who use them and how this was for such a worthy cause. I mean, my entire life can be found in my purse. I swear, they’re like little treasure chests into a person’s soul, and they should be protected like such. So I gushed a little about how awesome and important their leather was going to be for providing the very fabric of people’s lives, and boom…” I splayed a hand toward the screen. “Thirty percent off their original quote.”

When I looked up at Ezra again, he looked down into my eyes, and something glittered in his expression. “You’re good at this,” he murmured, seeming impressed.

Heat stole up my face. I was torn between the urge to kiss him and burst into tears over such a heartfelt compliment.

“I just…” Motioning with vague, indiscernible gestures, I sucked in a sharp breath. “I just wanted them to know we actually care about the satisfaction of our customers; we’re not just, you know, looking at price tags.”

He nodded. “Well, that was a smart move.” When his gaze dropped to my lips, I couldn’t help it… My tongue darted out of its own accord, wetting in preparation for—

“Seriously,” Brick groaned, snapping me out of my Ezra trance. “Cut it out already. I swear, you two just got me pregnant with that little eye-fuck from merely being in the same room as it. You both are going to have to learn a little restraint, or—”

“Shit!” At the beginning of Brick’s rant, Ezra had jerked his attention from me to scowl moodily at my stepbrother, but now his eyes were going wide as he glanced past Brick and out the windowed wall of the office. “Get down.”

Suddenly, his hand was palming the top of my head as he shoved me toward the floor behind my desk.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I yelped my surprise, while across the room, Brick stood up from his chair, growling, “What the hell, man?”

Another second passed, and then Ezra let go of my hair only to grasp my arm and help me back to my feet. “Sorry, sorry,” he gushed, his eyes full of contrite apology. “I just saw Elton walk by. I’m not sure what he was doing on the third floor. Are you okay? I can’t believe I just pushed you down without any warning. I’m such an ass.”

Brick nudged him aside so he could get a look at me and check me over.

I was fine. Totally fine, just surprised. To settle my nerves, I brushed at my knees and said to Ezra, “You t

hink he was looking for me?”

He didn’t have a chance to answer because Brick was too busy butting in. “Wait. We’re hiding from Elton now? Christopher Elton? Why?”

I let out a sigh. Both men were a good head taller than me, and with them crowded so close, looking concerned, I felt a little overwhelmed. I took a step back, and focused on Brick. “Ezra and I decided he’s one of Lana’s spies.”

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