Protect Me Not ((Un)Professionally Yours 2)

Chapter Ten

Friday passed in a haze, and Saturday wasn’t much better. Vicki felt like a zombie, barely able to focus on work, and incapable of carrying on a coherent conversation for very long. Linda and Josh kept giving her concerned glances. Thankfully, she hadn’t seen much of Hugh since The Incident in the elevator with Ty. She’d spoken briefly with Bella about Teddy—whom, quite frankly, Vicki had forgotten about in the ensuing craziness with Ty. Fortunately Bella had been too distracted with work to notice anything amiss with Vicki.

She finished up her last order of the day, waved goodbye to Linda and Josh, and left Chance to close up the shop behind them. The big, strapping Australian ambled to the back of the store to watch her work. She had promised to deliver the flowers, two dozen delicate posies for a baby shower, to the venue by five-thirty, and she had about three hours to finish the remaining twelve.

“They’re pretty,” Chance observed. He crunched into an apple and he leaned against the workbench.

“They’re a pain in the bum. I’m trying to get them as identical as possible.” The posies consisted of pale pink rosebuds, blue nigella, baby’s breath, along with a fern leaf for some greenery. Each posy was fastened with a silver-spangled organza ribbon. Because Vicki was such a perfectionist, the ribbons had to be uniform in length, with the flowers as identical in size and shape as possible. Linda had prepped everything she’d need beforehand and all that was left was assembling the little nosegays.

“Need some help?” he asked. Vicki liked Chance; he was very different from Ty. The men were similar in build—big and in perfect shape—but Chance had an openness to him that was very engaging. He smiled often and loved to talk. He frequently had them in stitches with tales of his childhood hometown of Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory of Australia. Some of them were blatantly tall tales that Vicki took with a pinch of salt, but he had the gift of the gab, and clearly enjoyed making people laugh.

She smiled at him, appreciating his offer to help. He was a good-looking guy, with floppy brown hair, startling green eyes, and a friendly grin…and he was the absolute worst person to ask for assistance in a situation like this. While Ty was content to sit in his corner and stay out of the way, boredom had driven Chance to offer to help out around the shop a few times in the past. They had very quickly learned that he was all thumbs and useless at most of the tasks they’d assigned him.

“That’s okay, thank you. I think I have a handle on it.”

“You sure? An extra pair of hands will get it done faster.”

That made her raise her brows. First thing this morning he had asked her if she had plans for the evening. He had looked relieved when she’d said no. Vicki hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but the earlier query—combined with this comment—made her wonder if he was the one with big plans for tonight.

“You got somewhere to be later? A big date, maybe?

He had the grace to look shamefaced and even blushed. He put on that aw shucks demeanor that she surmised must have gotten him out of a few hot spots with the ladies in the past.

“I know better than to schedule a date on a night I may have to work.” He seemed affronted that she would assume any differently.

“I know that,” she placated him. Brand’s protection officers were consummate professionals. “But you did seem relieved when I said I didn’t have any plans tonight.”

“It’s Ty’s birthday. I’ve arranged for a few of the guys to pop around his place with drinks and snacks. I figured I’d join them if I was done early enough.”

“It is?” Okay, why was she hurt that Ty hadn’t mentioned that fact to her? It shouldn’t surprise her. Just because they had shared an almost kiss, and off the charts’ chemistry, didn’t mean he owed her anything.

“Ty’s a private guy, keeps himself to himself. He never plans anything for his birthday, so I took it upon myself to spring this on him.”

“You’re sure he won’t have plans?” she asked, skeptical about that.

“Ty?” Chance snorted as if that were an extremely implausible scenario. “Not likely. I doubt he has any friends outside of the company. He’s a loner. Hangs out with us on occasion but enjoys his own company a lot more.”

“Maybe he’s shy?” Even as the words slipped out, she found herself dismissing them. The man was quiet and surly but didn’t strike her as shy at all.

“I doubt he has a shy bone in his body.” Chance confirmed what she already knew. “He just doesn’t like surrounding himself with people. I’ve known him for six years…but I don’t really know him, if you get my meaning? He’s a tough nut to crack. But I like him well enough.”