Page 10 of Teasing Her Grumpy Boss

What he’d love to do right now to show her he wasn’t a square.

She must have grasped some hint of what he was thinking because suddenly she looked away and her wiping up the mirror resumed—a little frantically.

‘I thought you had work to do.’

‘Yeah.’

He pushed away from the bar and walked around to the other side, took the last seat at the bar and pulled out the relevant material from his bag. He put his laptop to the side and ignored it, opting for the paper files. Pen in hand, he bent to his reading. Determined to focus on the facts. Not to be distracted by the beach blown beauty doing the Cinderella act in the corner.

* * *

Lucy found cleaning the cooler cabinet a perfect way of working off the extra energy she seemed to have accrued. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. Half aggravated, half attracted.

So definitely not her type.

But so definitely gorgeous.

His head hadn’t lifted from the pages he’d been intensely studying the last forty minutes. Good concentration. She could believe it. When he focused his attention on her she felt the full force of that intensity. He had the kind of look that went right through outer layers and into the heart of the matter. The heart of her. She wouldn’t want to be on the witness stand and on the end of one of those penetrating Golden eyed stares. For a second there he’d had the look of a predator in his eye, out to conquer. Well, no one conquered Lucy, thanks very much. Especially not arrogant suits who made the rules without regard to the feelings and needs of others.

She couldn’t stand the silence anymore. ‘Big case, huh?’

He lifted his head. ‘Reasonably.’

‘Are you going to get him off?’

‘I’m going to do my best.’

He looked back to his pages. Okay. It was like trying to get information out of the Kremlin. Mr closed shop. She had the urge to open him up. What would he be like out of the suit? What would he be like in bed?

Serious. Strong. Intense. Her whole body was on edge just from having him over five feet away. How fierce would her tension be if he were to get even closer — as close as a man and woman can physically get? And how complete would the release be when that tension snapped?

Intuitively she knew it would be incredible.

She finished the area behind the bar and checked and double checked the inventory of stock. She was tired from a long day walking round temp agencies and she was hungry but it looked as if Daniel was settled in for a long night over the books. How late did he expect her to work? She decided to give him a status report and wow him with her efficiency.

‘I’ve organised the staff for Friday — they’re coming in for a meeting tomorrow afternoon. Will you want to be here for that?’

He looked up, his eyes taking a moment to focus on her. When they did it was with deadly accuracy. ‘I might be around—what time?’

‘Three p.m. Meanwhile I’m looking into a replacement bouncer for the Thursday to Saturday shifts. I know someone perfect for the job.’

He didn’t look impressed. He looked sceptical. ‘Is he qualified?’

‘Of course.’ She couldn’t wait to see his face when he saw her bouncer. Her imp of disobedience must’ve been obvious because he stared hard at her but refrained from comment. Lucy was disappointed; she’d wanted to tell him all about the blackbelt and jujitsu and six foot two physique. Instead he started the interrogation about everything else.

‘What about stock?’

‘I’ve done an inventory and cleaned the shelves at the same time. I’ll start contacting the reps first thing in the morning.’

‘DJ?’

‘Looking into it. Again, I thought I’d use my contacts.’

‘What about the fire extinguishers and escape routes—got those sorted?’

She stared at him. ‘Rules and regulations all you can think about?’

‘We’re not talking some small café here. We’re talking about—late licence, heaving dancefloor on the weekend. Health and safety is paramount.’

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