She let her mind continue to drift while she waited. What would it be like to have the attention of those men? In the few minutes she had been with them she had felt her body flush with heat, and parts she didn’t know she possessed had been starting to wake up. She let herself imagine what they would be like in bed. Her mind was still wandering and when she heard the door open again, she felt herself flush. Stop it, she told herself, they can’t read your mind and have no idea what you were thinking. Smile, be professional. You need this job. Don’t screw it up. Mental talk completed, Lena stood awkwardly in front of the couch, not comfortable sitting down.
“It was good seeing you again, R.J. Call me soon and I’ll bring you the numbers on that deal, but I think I can get my guys to go for it.” The man Lena had been talking to, Hal, slapped Mr. Blackmore on the back and let himself out the door. Just before he stepped out the door, he turned to Lena and winked.
Mr. Blackmore then turned to Lena. “Ms. Scott, follow me.”
Lena glanced once more toward the door Hal had just walked out and followed R.J. into the office. She felt a little like Alice sliding down the rabbit hole, but she wasn’t sure why.
“Have a seat, Ms. Scott.” He indicated a leather chair placed in front of the massive desk, and Lena perched on the edge.
He started to ask the standard interview questions and Lena relaxed. At the end of the interview he offered Lena the job.
She gladly accepted and stood to shake his hand and leave.
“Ms. Scott…” he started.
“I think since we’re going to be working together you can call me Lena, Mr. Blackmore,” she stopped him with a smile.
“Lena, call me R.J. I was wondering if you would be willing to join Hal and me for a drink, to celebrate, and I can fill you in more on what we’ll expect from you around here. I’d like to tell you more about the business. What do you say?” he asked, a boyish grin on his face.
Oh, this is so not a good idea, Lena thought, as she nodded her head. What could one drink with two gorgeous hunks hurt?
R.J. led Lena to a waiting car. Hal was already in the backseat. This shocked Lena a little. Had they planned this? She was beginning to doubt her decision. She slid in the middle of the seat, and R.J. slid in beside her. She felt a little trapped, squished between the two large men.
“I see you talked her into it,” Hal said as she slid in.
“Yep, but I promised to talk business, so behave,” R.J. answered with a chuckle. “Lena, Hal, Mel, and I were in the Navy together. We were all Navy SEALs and Hal was my dive partner. We’ve known each other for a long time. My meeting with Hal today was to firm up some business dealings. He’s buying into the firm and you’ll be working with him as much as you will be with me. You still need to meet with Melvin Ashcroft, the owner, who is out of state right now checking into some contracts. He’ll be back sometime tomorrow. Don’t worry, I have the authority to hire you. The job is yours. Mel respects my decision.”
R.J. and Hal proceeded to tell her about the business and give her a hint of what her duties might be. Hal’s arm rested along the back of the seat and his hand drifted down to cup her shoulder. Lena felt a shiver run through her body as Hal started casually rubbing his thumb back and forth over her collarbone. She glanced at that thumb out of the corner of her eye and wondered if the rumors were true, the size of a man’s thumb was an indicator of the size of… She mentally shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She didn’t need to be going down that path.
R.J.’s hand was lying on his leg, very close to her thigh.
A little too close for comfort. All he needed to do was to move that hand an inch and he would be touching her. This was way too close to her fantasy.
She wondered what Melvin Ashcroft would look like and if he would be as gorgeous as the two men she was sitting between. Could she handle working with three of the most incredible men she had ever seen? Even though she hadn’t seen Melvin Ashcroft, she knew he would be just as hunky as his friends.
Sitting in the backseat, Lena couldn’t tell where they were going, but it didn’t take long to get there. The car stopped and R.J. opened his door before the driver could get out and open it for him.
“I’ve told you not to do that,” Hal said, shaking his head. “Thurston gets upset if he doesn’t get to do his duties.”
“Sir,” Thurston said as he held out an umbrella for R.J.
R.J. winked at the man and grabbed the umbrella with a muttered, “Thank you,” as he reached back into the car to help Lena out. The clouds had been dark when they left the office, but Lena hadn’t expected this. R.J. held the umbrella and pulled Lena close to his side, using his body to protect her from the wind-driven rain. Before they got to the door, Hal was close to her other side and she was again sandwiched between the two men.
Lena still couldn’t tell where they were until they got into the building. She looked up and found herself in the lobby of a very posh-looking hotel.
Hal and R.J. led her to the elevators, keeping her sandwiched between them, and pushing her in the first available one. She felt and looked like a drowned cat. They were all three soaked despite the umbrellas and short walk to the doors of the building.
Lena again had the feeling she was falling down the rabbit hole and looked up to find herself crowded into the corner of the elevator, her back to the wall. Hal and R.J. were both facing her and she had the feeling that maybe she was going to get kissed when the doors opened and an older couple walked in. “Klein, Blackmore,” the older man said, greeting the men, then seeing Lena, “Miss,” and nodding to her before the door opened again and he escorted his companion off of the elevator.
Lena assumed they were going to a rooftop bar or something like that. Though she had never been in one of them she knew that many of the posh downtown Denver hotels had restaurants on the upper floors.
The ride was over fairly quickly and the men had turned around and were talking softly to each other. It was as if they had forgotten Lena was there. When the doors opened, instead of being in a bar or restaurant or hallway, they opened into a large living space.
Hal turned to her. “This is our penthouse apartment. You have to have the code to get to this floor so no one will bother us. I thought you might want to freshen up and get out of those wet clothes.” He gently took her by the elbow and led her down a long hallway and through a large bedroom, to the largest bathroom she had ever seen. Her entire apartment would fit in the space. There was a glass-enclosed shower that her entire family would fit in. The sunken tub was just as large. All of the furnishings were marble and the fixtures were, Lena assumed, gold plated. The room looked more masculine than feminine and Lena wondered if the men’s wives used this room or had one of their own.
“Feel free to use the tub or shower. I’ll put towels on the bar to warm and see if I can find a robe or something for you to wear. Leave your clothes on the floor and I’ll pick them up and have them cleaned when I bring the robe.”
Lena thanked him and he left the room, closing the door behind him. She hadn’t realized how wet and cold she was until she was left standing in middle of the large room. Afternoon storms were not rare in the Denver area and she should have been better prepared. Even with the umbrella and the protection of the men’s bodies she was still soaked. She felt a blast of warmth and realize that Hal must have turned the heat on, since he and R.J. were soaked also.