Hostile Territory (Blackbridge Security 1)

“Get me more.”

I stomp out of his office, only feeling mildly guilty for getting on his ass. Gaige claims to be the best acquisitions guy around, but his half-assed list of materials we need isn’t going to cut it. I don’t care about the recent climate and social issues the world is facing right now, we don’t deal with low-level material.

“What the hell was that about?” Flynn matches my stride as I walk down the hall toward my own office.

The lights are low, and I growl when my friend tries to open the damn blinds. I don’t want sunshine or happiness floating through here. It might actually force me to climb out of the shitty mood I’ve been in since… fuck, I don’t even want to think about the Maldives and how easy it was for Anna to shift right back into her place behind Dani. I say behind because they’ve never been equals. My ex-wife would never allow that.

“He was trying to shove pine down my throat rather than the cedar I asked for,” I mutter.

“Fencing? You’re getting on his ass about fencing?”

“It’s fucking important.” I shouldn’t have to explain this to him.

“There are shortages. Shit is going down in the world. There are many people waiting for things they want that they’re unable to get right now.”

“I don’t want to fucking wait. I want to work on that damn fence this weekend.”

“You sound like a spoiled, entitled brat right now. Get a fucking grip, man.”

I can’t confess that I’ve been waiting for everything else in my life right now, and the damn wood sent me over the edge. That would reveal too much about me, but the look in Flynn’s eyes as he shakes his head in disappointment at me tells me I don’t even need to open my mouth right now for him to know exactly what’s been going on.

I never have to wait for things. My success means most everything I could ask for is right at my fingertips, sometimes before I could even express my need for them, but not Anna. No, she’s across town, living her life. I can’t even consider myself waiting for her because she’s never coming back, and the things I should’ve said back in the Maldives successfully keep me up every damn night.

“I’ll personally kick your ass if I see you talking to another one of the guys like that.”

I cock an eyebrow at him. “Have you forgotten whose name is on the fucking door of this place?”

I don’t often have to pull rank, but there’s no way Flynn is going to force me out of my month-long bad mood. If anything, he’s only making it worse.

“That shit again?” He rolls his eyes, flopping into the chair across from my desk as if he were invited to stay. “Maybe if you let some light in here and do something other than work eighteen hours a day, things would get better.”

“That’s why I need the damn wood. I’ll get plenty of sunshine while building that new paddock.”

“You need to go watch a movie or eat something that doesn’t get delivered in a Styrofoam container. When was the last time you had a steak? Maybe you’re low on iron.”

“Are you fucking kidding me with this shit right now? Low on iron? You sound like Pam.”

“Listen,” he leans forward, and I know this conversation just took a damn turn. It won’t be the first time someone in the office has tried to convince me to stop being a dick. “We care about you.”

I cross my arms over my chest, leaning back in my office chair so I can glare at him better. “And now you’re Dr. Phil? Lay it out for me.”

His head tilts, and I don’t miss the clenching of his jaw. “Lay it out? You really want that?”

“Whatever gets you the fuck out of my office and back to work.”

He rolls his lips as he takes a deep breath, and I’m already regretting tossing the challenge at his feet. It’ll be just my luck that he starts and doesn’t stop for hours.

“Getting your heart broken sucks.”

“I didn’t get my heart broken.”

Obliterated more like it, and I know I’m just as much to blame for the outcome, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

“My ass,” he scoffs. “Dani was no good for you.”

“Dani? She has nothing to do with…” A slow smile spreads across his face, and I’ll kick my own ass later for stepping right into the damn trap he set.

“Anna is an amazing woman.”

“I fucking know that.”

“Then why are you being a brooding asshole here when all you have to do is drive across town and make her yours?”

“Make her mine? Have you ever been in a fucking relationship before? That’s not how it works. A man can’t just show up, throw a woman over his shoulder, and claim her. That caveman shit doesn’t work. That’s how you end up in a jail cell with kidnapping charges.”