Real Men Knit(54)

“I bet you did,” Kerry mumbled.

Jesse held tight to his smile. That was surprising.

Still, he didn’t have time, and he thought he had been clear with Erika when she’d left the other morning. Why was she back here now? “I understand, Erika, but now is not a good time. Kerry and I still have a lot of work to do.”

Erika looked down at the bags in his hands, the soda, chips and sandwiches easily visible through the cheap plastic of the deli bags. “Work?” she questioned, her eyes going from the bags and back up to him. “Looks to me like the two of you are settling in for a nice evening.” She eyed Jesse, then let her glance slide over to Kerry. The look she gave her before her gaze went back to Jesse could be described as dismissive at best. He felt his blood start to heat. “Come on. Enough with the work. It’s quitting time. I’m sure your assistant here would understand.”

“Kerry is not my assistant.”

“No,” Kerry chimed up. She reached out her hand past Erika toward the bags in Jesse’s hand. “Not his assistant at all. But I am hungry.” She looked at Jesse as she lifted the bags from his fingers. “I’ll let you take care of this while I set up the food upstairs. It’s getting late and I am ready to eat.”

She didn’t look twice at Erika as she took the bags and peeked in, giving the sandwiches a sniff. “Oh, they smell terrific,” she said, her smile bright and her brown eyes sparkling behind her glasses. “And you got me honey barbecue chips. My favorite!” She was laying it on thick as hell, which spoke to what must have been going on before he’d gotten there.

“I know,” Jesse said, knowing he was further exasperating the situation, but he’d thought he’d been clear with Erika when he’d seen her off. Besides, he didn’t like her stance over Kerry, or the way she was talking as well as just so happening to show up at the shop lately. It all felt off and, he didn’t know, slightly predatory. Like she was pouncing on his feelings of not wanting to be alone. He hated feeling like he may have let his guard down that much and shown himself to be so vulnerable, especially to someone like her, who clearly didn’t have any true feelings for him.

Kerry looked from him to Erika, then cleared her throat. “Well, I’ll head upstairs and get this set up.”

Erika’s exhalation of breath was practically enough to knock down a less formidable person, but Kerry only walked away without a backward glance. He could almost describe her exit as savage, but he never thought he’d describe anything Kerry did with such a word. She was always so sweet, calm and steady. No, “savage” was not a word he’d use for her.

Before Kerry was completely out of earshot, Erika turned back to him. “Your assistant really is uppity in her opinion of herself.”

He frowned. “‘Uppity’? Hmm. What a strange word to use. But if you say so, she just may be.” He smiled, looking back into the shop toward where Kerry had gone, then returned his attention to Erika, more serious now. “And I told you, she’s not my assistant.”

Erika crossed her arms over her ample chest. The bag with the bottle of whatever she’d brought to ease them both into a sexual trance rustled as she did so. “Well, if she’s not your assistant, then what’s her position?”

He smiled, suddenly thinking of multiple positions he’d happily like to see Kerry in, some professional and some personal, all probably not feasible if he had any hope of keeping her as his friend. He felt Erika’s gaze intensify even further, practically boring through him. Why he had fallen for her easygoing, friends-with-benefits, no-strings-attached line was beyond him.

Yeah, he knew she wasn’t seeing him exclusively. It wasn’t like Erika hid that fact. But she was pressing him on his relationship with Kerry like she was ready to change that. Her thinning lips and narrowed eyes showed a side of her that he was embarrassed to say he was never interested in seeing. They were both sleeping with other people and exclusivity was never their deal, but yeah, he knew he probably should have seen the signs with Erika and maybe should have been stronger with warding her off when she was getting too close. “I don’t think you’re in a position to ask that question,” Jesse said. Erika’s eyes hardened further, and he got the distinct feeling his answer could bring on more problems than solutions—not for him, but possibly for Kerry. He let out a sigh. “She’s my coworker and longtime friend, but that isn’t any business of yours.”

Erika stared at him for a few beats. He could practically hear the clicking of the wheels of calculation turning behind her eyes before she blinked and smiled. “Okay, I get it. You’re busy, and she’s helping you out.” She reached out her hand and brought it around to the back of his neck. She rubbed at it, the action meant to be sensual but, right now, feeling like a vise threatening to turn into a tight clamp. “I just came because I thought you might need some relaxation. You don’t want to work too hard. You know what they say about ‘all work’ and all that.”

Jesse ducked his head and removed himself from her grip. “Right now, all work is what it is for me. Listen, thanks, but maybe next time a text first?”

She fixed her mouth into a pout. It had worked the other night but wouldn’t tonight. “I did text,” she said. “You didn’t answer.”

Jesse looked at her. His eyes softened and an apology was on the tip of his lips. Erika licked her lips and suddenly for some reason his mind went to his chopped cheese with the works waiting for him inside. He was damned hungry. He tilted his head. “Maybe next time you wait until you get an answer.”