It was a nice try. "I suppose that's why they welcomed you into the B-Squad."
"I'm just an office manager, easily replaceable."
That she believed that nonsense was as obvious as her wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am curves. He didn't know who'd worked a number on her head, but someone had scrambled it up but good.
"Uh-huh." Like anyone got upstairs without the full blessing of the B-Squad. "Do you agree or not?"
"Just dinner?"
If there was a God in heaven, no was the answer to that.
"Whatever else is up to you and that little voice inside you telling you to jump my bones like a trampoline, darlin'."
This time she did roll her eyes. "How charming."
"Trust me, my charm isn't what the ladies love most about me." He winked at her, loving the way it put a little pink back in her cheeks. "I'll pick you up after work."
"I'll meet you," she said hurriedly.
More like she'd find a way to ditch him.
"Oh no, darlin'. This is Texas. We have manners. I'll be at your desk to pick you up at five sharp." He tipped an imaginary cowboy hat at her. "Until tomorrow."
As much as he loved watching her walk away—the view was astounding—that's what she expected. With a woman like Tamara, going the expected route was the worst thing possible. It's what made that ice queen facade so easy for her to maintain. What she needed were hurdles and challenges and someone to shake her expectations. He wasn't sure when it had happened—maybe when he'd offered her that glass of wine at the engagement party and she'd looked at him like he was her own white knight—but somewhere along the line he'd decided to become that someone she needed. Now he just had to show her exactly how good it could be if she let herself melt.
Chapter 6
Tamara
The sun blazed in through Tamara's westward-facing office window. The countdown had begun.
Ten minutes to go before she went to hell...or heaven...or a little bit of both. She didn't fucking know. All she did know was that she was done with the gathering out in the hallway. It had been going on all day. People dropping in for random bits of this or that throughout the day, eyeballing her. Asking her about Isaac. Wondering if she had plans tonight. No doubt gauging whether she was going to go through with the date. As the clock ticked down to five o'clock, most of the B-Squad had taken up observation points outside her office like vultures along the highway eyeing a particularly juicy piece of roadkill. Subtle, they were not.
As she had done all day, she kept her attention focused on her laptop and the billing system software open in front of her. She'd been finishing everything up, leaving lists of what needed to be done in her absence and writing explanations about how to carry on her tasks when she was gone. The numbers and words had all started to blend together an hour ago. She wasn't hiding. She just....she just didn't know what else to do with the anticipation bubbling up inside her with every inch the sun took toward the western horizon.
"Can someone explain to me why every agent I have is glued to the closed-circuit video monitors?" Bianca Sutherland's voice cleared through the quiet buzzing in the hallway. "Are we under attack?"
Not that she welcomed a full-out assault on the B-Squad headquarters, but it would give her an out. One she wanted to take. Didn't she?
"Camacho is in the gym." Keir said, his voice louder than it needed to be.
Was he giving her a heads up in case she wanted to flee or busting her chops? Either was a strong possibility.
"So?" The B-Squad's founder responded.
"He's coming up here next," Vivi said.
Tamara jerked and hit the wrong key, adding an extra set of zeroes to the invoice for the Galligan case as she eavesdropped on the conversation outside her office.
"Again, so?" Bianca asked.
Elisa sighed. "She finally said yes."
"Who?" Taz asked.
"Tamara," Duke replied.
"English please," Bianca ordered.