“You mean Valerie?” I go still, not moving a muscle. I can hear my heart beating fast in my chest.
“Right, yeah, the pretty redhead girl. You think she’s… a good fit?”
“I think she’s smart and more than capable.”
He makes a grunting sound. “I don’t know. Carmine didn’t like her.”
“Why not?” I try not to sound too eager or upset. I don’t want him to think this is a big deal. Carmine not liking her could mean any number of things. And I mean, we shuffle agents around all the time. It’s not all that unusual to pull someone from an account and move it to someone else.
Though I normally do that. Darin’s not exactly hands-on when it comes to the day-to-day operations around here.
“I don’t know. Just had a bad vibe or something.” He watches the window carefully. “And plus, maybe you’re a little too close to her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I say it like I’m joking but I start to tense up. I start to feel like I might have to fight my best friend, here and now.
“Aimee told me.”
The words hit me in the gut.
“She… what?”
He looks at me with a huge grin on his face. “Look man, you want to fuck the hot new girl, be my guest. I encourage it, honestly. Go have a fucking blast. But I don’t know if it’s smart, bringing her to meetings and shit.”
“You… fuck. What?” I sit down, feeling unsteady.
He laughs at me. “Don’t act like that, dude. This can’t be the first employee you’ve tasted. I know I’ve gone through the whole damn office at least once.”
I stare at him and laugh. I can’t help it.
He fucking knows about my kiss with Valerie.
I was worried he knew about her being a fed. I was afraid he was going to say we had to get rid of her or that the mafia guys were on to her or some shit. I thought he’d ferreted me out and knew I was trying to set him up, or at least trying to see if he’d set himself up.
But no, he just knows about the kiss.
“Well, fuck,” I say. “I didn’t think she’d talk.”
“Aimee can’t help herself. Girl loves to gossip.” He grins at me and shrugs. “Look, I don’t care if you want to taste the merchandise, so to speak. But don’t let it affect your decisions.”
“Right. Yeah.”
“So we’ll keep her away from this?”
“Look, my own thing with her aside, she’s really good. If you want to show these guys what we can do, she’s the agent for it.”
He frowns a little. “No kidding?”
“I’m serious. Just don’t tell Carmine she’s working it. Trust me, she’s by far the best one here.”
“Well, you always did have good taste.”
“I was born and bred for it.”
He laughs again and shrugs. “All right. Fuck it. Go ahead and put her on it. I’m just not going to say shit to Carmine about it.”
“Sounds good. Trust me, she’s the way to go.”
“Yeah, I bet.” He smirks at me. “So what’s she like? Red all the way down or what?”
“Fuck off.”
He laughs again and walks to the door. I’m so relieved I barely feel a twinge of anger.
“All right, brother. I’m out. I’ll take care of Carmine and get it all set up. You’re the man, you know that?”
“You keep bringing in the big fish.”
“All right, brother.” He laughs and leaves the office, letting the door close behind him.
I lean back in my chair and close my eyes.
Fucking hell. That was close. So fucking close.
And the whole time I just kept worrying about her.
My ass was just as much on the line, but she was the one I was afraid for. She was the one I wanted to make sure would be safe, not my own skin.
And fuck, just sitting here, feeling relieved, I know I need her. I need her fucking bad.15ValJacob shows up at my door just like he said he would. His eyes are dripping with desire and I can’t help but bite my lip.
“You want to come in?” I ask
He nods. “Please.”
I step aside and he goes into my living room. I shut the door and turn to him.
“Nice place.”
“It’s a tiny dump.”
He laughs and takes off his suit jacket. “Not really.”
“Seriously. It’s, like, the size of your office.”
“I have a very large office.”
I roll my eyes. “Want something to drink?”
“Please.”
I go into my little kitchen and open a bottle of wine. I pour two glasses and push one toward him. He takes it and toasts me. “I spoke with Darin.”
“You did?” I sip my wine and try not to let my worry show.
“We’re moving forward with the account.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s his choice. I gave him as many opportunities to back out and he just… didn’t want to. So here we are.”