Recluse (Wolfes of Manhattan 2)

And behind me, the middle brother. Roy Wolfe. Quiet. Creative. A reclusive genius. An old soul.

Nothing like either of his brothers.

A truly magnificent work of art in himself. The gods had definitely smiled on him when he was born.

“They’ll be arguing about this for a while,” Roy said quietly. “Let’s go.”

We left the conference room and Roy closed the door behind us.

Silence as we walked to the elevator.

Silence as Roy pressed L for lobby.

Silence as we descended. Roy seemed…rigid.

Silence when the door opened, and we walked across the tiled floor.

The thought-provoking painting again drew my gaze, and I slowed my pace. Then I turned to Roy. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

“Because I wanted you to see me as the artist, not as Roy Wolfe.”

“I don’t even know Roy Wolfe. Why would it have mattered?”

“Because I wanted your honest opinion. Not the opinion you’d give an heir to the Wolfe fortune.”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t have been honest?”

He chuckled. “No one wants to criticize a Wolfe, silver.”

Silver? “Uh…what?”

“You heard me.”

“My name’s Charlie.”

“I know that.”

“Then why did you call me silver?”

“Your eyes. They’re silver. Sparkling silver. I’ve never seen eyes like yours.”

Wow. Double Wow. My eyes were gray, maybe a hint of blue. Honestly, my most mundane feature. Sparkling silver? Not even close.

“I’d like to paint those eyes,” he continued.

Wow again.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“Looks like lunch is here.” Roy strode toward a young guy carrying two bags with a nearby Indian restaurant logo on them.

For a few seconds, I stood dumbly, unable to make my feet follow him. I simply gaped at him, his suit fitting so perfectly on his body, his nearly black hair hanging in a silky tail over the dark gray wool.

He took the two bags, mumbled some words to the delivery guy, and then he turned back to me.

“I guess I could’ve handled this myself,” I said.

“These are actually pretty heavy,” he said. “I got them.”

“Then you don’t need me.”

“You got plans or something?”

“Well…no.” Could I be any more stupid? “I mean, just lunch upstairs with the rest of you.”

He laughed softly. “That’s what I thought.”

A tiny sliver of anger poked at me. He was making fun of me. I walked silently behind him as we headed toward the elevators. Roy’s hands were full, so I pressed the button. Again, silence as we rode up to the fiftieth floor. I’d learned this morning that the forty-ninth and fiftieth floors were the main offices of Wolfe Enterprises. The fifty-first and fifty-second were the Wolfe family residences. Rock’s penthouse on floor fifty-two was still roped off by the police.

My body was hyperaware of the man standing next to me. I’d never had sex in an elevator, and oh my God, right now would be a perfect time to remedy that. Roy Wolfe in an elevator? Already I was getting wet thinking about it.

But Roy Wolfe was silent, staring at the elevator doors, probably wishing they’d open so we could get out of this awkward silence.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the bell dinged, indicating we’d reached our floor. The doors began to glide open—

Roy set the two bags of food on the floor of the editor and quickly pushed the “doors close” button. He turned to me, his dark gaze unreadable.

“Will you have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.

My mouth dropped open.

“Please, silver?”

Please? Hell, he didn’t have to say please. Still, he was a Wolfe, and I worked for the company. “Are you sure that’s…appropriate?”

“Appropriate? You do eat, don’t you?” His eyes were still unreadable. Gorgeous and long-lashed, but still unreadable.

I squinted slightly, trying—and failing—to analyze his enigmatic expression. “Well…yeah. I mean, I work for you.”

“You work for Lacey.”

“I work for the company. Your company.”

“I’m not a part of the company, silver. Rock and Reid run it—Rock under duress, I might add. I’m a silent partner if there ever was one.”

“Still…”

“Never mind.” He pushed the “door open” button. “I get it.” He walked out of the elevator carrying the bags.

Good job, Charlie. You just let the most interesting man you ever met walk out of your life. He calls you silver, for God’s sake. Silver!

What a moron I was.

I followed Roy numbly back to the conference room. As Roy suspected, Reid and Rock were still arguing over whether they’d continue working through lunch.

“Don’t make me play the CEO card,” Rock said.

Reid rolled his eyes. “CEO in name only. That’s what you like to tell me. Until it suits your purpose.”

“Hell, yeah. And right now it suits my purpose. We’re not working through lunch.” He directed Jarrod, Terrence, and me to get the food set out while the rest of them cleared their work stuff off the table.

Jarrod and Terrence were great, and I liked them both immediately. The two of them were actually best friends, a bromance if I ever saw one, though physically they couldn’t have been more different. Jarrod was tall, dark-skinned, and rugged sexy with short dreadlocks, and Terrence was shorter but more buff, fair-skinned, and sported a shaved head. Both were incredibly good-looking.