Betting on You (Danvers #4.5)(13)

She saw a cup of coffee sitting on her desk and alarm bells went off. Hank always brought food or drink with him when he had any kind of bad news to impart. Shit, had someone on her team quit? Giving him a wary look, she dropped down into her chair saying, “Er . . . something wrong?” He looked surprised before she gave a pointed look at the cup of coffee.

“You young people have me all figured out, don’t you? I feel like a grandpa trying to handle a pack of evil geniuses.”

Mia smirked. “Yeah, that’s a conversation for another day. By the way, you’re only in your forties, right? I don’t think you could qualify for my grandpa yet. So . . . what’s up?” He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and was that . . . my God, was he blushing? What in the hell?

“Um . . . kid . . . this is,” he stuttered before finally blurting out, “well, Suzy Merimon saw you and Seth Jackson going at it like rabbits at some restaurant last night. God damn, that was awkward as ass to say!”

Mia felt as if someone had just punched her in the gut. She knew she looked just as stunned as she felt. She couldn’t remember exactly what had happened during dinner last night. Things were a little hazy thanks to all of the wine that they had consumed. She did know that there had been some very hands-on moments, none of which would probably look innocent to a spectator. Hank was waiting on her to respond with what looked like equal parts curiosity and embarrassment. Denial wasn’t even an option here and they both knew it. She absently lifted a hand to massage the now pounding headache beating against her temple. Sighing she said, “This totally sucks. I color outside of the lines at work for the first time ever and get busted by my freaking idol, Suzy. By the way, how did she make the connection? It’s not like we are drinking buddies or anything.”

For the first time since he entered her office, he had a genuine smile on his face. “Those crazy-ass shoes of yours finally got you in trouble. I have been telling you that would happen. To be fair though I just thought you would fall on your face or down a set of stairs. I never thought of them getting you cold-busted in an, um . . . well, you know.”

Confused, she said, “I still don’t follow you. What have my shoes got to do with it?”

“Well, that’s just it, kid. Suzy called down this morning and said that she was dining at the Ivy last night with her husband, Gray, and a few friends. Gray saw Seth but did not know you. Suzy said that she recognized you. She always admired your ‘funky shoes’ when she saw you at the office. Gray knew that Danvers was in the middle of an installation at the Oceanix so he was going to go over and speak to Seth. Suzy managed to convince him that he shouldn’t disturb you two since you were obviously on a date. I guess she asked around and came up with your name and traced you to this department. She said that she intends to mind her own business even though she now knows that you were out with a customer you are currently working with. She hopes that you will keep things with Seth under wraps until the job is complete. She is kind of a nosy broad, isn’t she?”

She waited for Hank to add some comments of his own, but the silence in her office continued to lengthen until she knew he was waiting for her reaction. She looked him in the eyes and said, “It’s true, of course, you know that. It came about in a rather different manner from what you would think, but I was out with Seth socially last night.”

She really hoped he didn’t ask for clarification on exactly how the date had happened. Somehow, it seemed a little strange to tell your boss that your mommy had bought you a date for $18,000. “I know that this is a very bad lapse in judgment on my part. I . . . I didn’t mean for anything to happen with him until after my work was finished there.”

Hank ran a hand through his hair, looking like he wished he were anywhere else. “Kid, I don’t need any details here, either. I’m not your daddy or your girlfriend. You are a grown woman and damn good at your job. I know this situation bends the rules all to hell, but I’m just going to pretend that I don’t know anything about this. As far as I’m concerned, I’m taking Suzy’s line and minding my own business. Just please make sure this doesn’t come back to bite both of us in the ass, okay? If you and Jackson can’t keep your . . . whatever . . . off each other, then be discreet about it until we finish up there. We sure don’t need him getting pissed and letting everyone, including Jason Danvers, know about our lapse of policy, so be careful.”

Trying to lighten the mood because Hank looked so miserable, she smirked. “Be careful? You aren’t talking about . . . ?”

He wadded a piece of paper off her desk and threw it at her. “No, you smartass, I’m not giving you a condom speech!” Even though she still had the urge to crawl under her desk and pretend this whole conversation had not happened, she could tell that he appreciated her attempt at humor.

***

Seth jerked out of bed as his phone shrilled from the nightstand. The clock beside it showed 8:20. Shit! When was the last time he had failed to set his alarm or even needed the alert? His internal clock usually had him up long before he needed to be. He grabbed the phone and saw the office number on the caller ID. “Jackson,” he barked.

“Well, well,” drawled Margie, “are we sleeping in this morning? Your eight o’clock is here. Should I send him down for a free breakfast while you finish up . . . whatever it is you’re doing?” It was times like this when he wasn’t sure if he loved or hated her.