Merry and Bright(58)

“Uptight bitch,” Adam griped, sagging back to the chair. “My balls are wet.”

“Adam?”

“Yeah?”

“If you ever pull anything like that again, insinuating that Cami is anything less than a lady, or that I’d accept bribes, you won’t have any balls to worry about.”





Later, Matt worked his way through the stacks upon stacks of work on his desk, trying to prioritize the various fires. When he looked up again, he realized the hallway was dark, the place silent.

It was nearly eight o’clock.

So much for getting a couple of ski runs in before dark. The cons of his new job he knew. His time was not going to be his own for the remaining portion of his term. But after that, when he’d made his mark, when he’d done what he wanted to do for the town, he could happily walk away. Sure, he was only thirty-five, but that was the beauty of retiring young—he’d be able to enjoy it.

He and his brother had had it planned since their wild and crazy and completely uncontrolled childhood. There was much about that time that they didn’t want to ever revisit, but one thing they agreed on—the freedom had been great. Eventually they would get back to that, using their winter days to ski themselves stupid and the summer days to travel, or whatever suited them, but Matt couldn’t get there until he worked out the mess here—

In the utter silence of the building came an odd scraping.

Matt left his office and walked the dark hall, looking for the source of the sound. The receptionist’s desk was shaped like a half circle, with a wall of filing cabinets behind it. The computer was dark, as was the little fake Christmas tree with more lights than faux branches that Alice had in the corner. Everything looked completely normal . . . except that the chair moved slightly, the wheels squeaking against the plastic runner.

Only no one was in the chair.

Matt came around the half circle of the desk and stopped short.

“There’s a good explanation for this,” Cami said from her perch on the floor beneath the desk.

Matt leaned a hip against the wood and casually crossed his arms. “Really.”

“Yeah.” Staring up at him, she bit her lower lip, her mind no doubt whirling.

She wore a black-and-white-checked wool skirt and white silk tank top. Earlier she’d had on the matching checked jacket, but it was gone now. Her skirt had risen high on a pale, smooth thigh, her tank snug to her most lovely curves. He’d noticed the outfit earlier in the day because her black heels had been so sexy he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off them, or her legs. Or any part of her, for that matter. She was such a delicious contradiction, so tense and uptight about work, and yet there were these little hints of a wildly passionate side.

He wanted to see more of it.

“Would you believe I lost an earring?” she asked, coming up to her knees. She wasn’t wearing those sexy heels at the moment.

Was it him, or had her nipples just gotten hard, pressing against the thin material of her tank? “You never lose anything.”

“Well, then . . . I forgot to get my phone messages earlier.”

“You purposely forgot to get your phone messages.”

“Fine.” She blew a strand of hair out of her face.

“I came to leave a message for Alice.”

“Let’s try something new,” he suggested, still leaning casually against the desk. “Like the truth.”

A sigh fluttered out of her lips. “I’m snooping.”

“For?”

“For the same thing you’re interested in—finding out which one of us is trying to screw up Blue Eagle’s reputation beyond repair, and why.”

Pushing away from the desk, he crouched in front of her. On her knees, staring up at him, it struck him how unintentionally erotic her position seemed. “How do I know it’s not you?” he asked.

Her eyes were clear and right on his. “The same way I know it’s not you.”

That surprised him. “I figured I was at the top of your list.”

“I know you better than that,” she said.

“Really? What do you know about me?”

“That you’re incredibly cocky.” She sighed. “But you’re good at what you do, damn it, so you get away with it. And that’s not a compliment,” she said, pointing at him. She sighed again. “I suppose it can also be said that you have a code of honor. You don’t cheat. It’s why you never have just one woman in your life. If you did, you’d have to give up all the others.” She lifted a shoulder. “You can be trusted.”

“Thank you,” he said wryly. “I think.”

She lifted her shoulder again and then began to crawl past him.

He grabbed her ankle. “For the record,” he said when she looked back at him. “It’s not that I can’t deal with only one woman at a time, but that the right woman hasn’t come along.”

She snorted and crawled free of the desk, then stood up and walked off.

Matt took the time to enjoy the sight of her nicely rounded ass before following her. He was struck by how petite she was without her shoes. She barely came to his shoulder.

She didn’t appear to notice the discrepancy when she stopped, turned, and poked him in the chest. “Who are you looking at?”