"Well, Mr. Charles, there’s a lady here who wants to thank you for saving her last Friday night. Says she was part of the windshield breaking that you did?"
The curiosity is so strong in Jennifer’s voice, she’s practically begging me to tell her the "real" story behind my weekend stint in the slammer, but I ignore that.
My mystery girl is here. I didn’t even have to stalk the nightclub to see her again. Excitement buzzes through my veins. "Send her up!" I call out.
I head to my own office casually, as if it’s normal for me to have a girl come up to my office to meet with me…who isn’t also a client of Kaden Charles Associates.
Perfectly normal.
"Golfing is a very fine hobby!" Gweny calls out as I close the office door behind me and head for my desk. I ignore her and instead focus on sitting down and looking casual. Relaxed. As if I couldn’t care less who walked through my door next.
Just breathe, Kaden. Just breathe.
Brittney
A severe-looking woman escorts me inside of Kaden’s office, and pointedly says to Kaden, "Don’t forget the meeting at eleven," before closing the door behind her. I’m thinking she doesn’t approve of me, although I’m not sure why. Does she blame me for Kaden spending the weekend in jail? It wasn’t exactly like I asked him to break the cop’s windshield or something.
Speaking of, I really have no idea why he did that. Turning to Kaden, who is relaxing in his chair behind his desk, I decide I’m going to ask him point blank. There’s no point in me beating around the bush. Right? Right. Before I can start in on my interrogation, though, he preempts me.
"Hi, I’m Kaden Charles," he says, coming around the corner of the desk, his tall, muscular form towering over me as he reaches out to shake my hand.
"Hi…hi," I stutter. "Britt…Brittney Bartlett." I sound like an idiot, but being up close and personal to Kaden, I am pretty much completely incapable of speaking. We clasp hands and jolts run up my arm, setting me on fire.
Holy shit!
I stare, open-mouthed, up at him. I probably resemble some sort of goldfish, my mouth gaping and then closing rhythmically, but hot damn if I can do a thing about it.
He pulls his hand back, tucking them into his slacks as he leans against the desk, and I find that I can breathe a little easier now. Note to self: Don’t touch him and also expect to be able to talk.
"So what brings you to my office?" he asks casually. How can he be so cool? So casual? Is this a one-sided electrical storm that I’m experiencing here?!
"I just wanted to thank you…I just wanted to know…I need to ask – did you break that cop’s windshield to help me out?" I finally sputter out.
I know it sounds awfully prideful of me to think that someone would break the law just to help me out, but nothing else makes sense. Kaden Charles wasn’t exactly the kind of guy to hop in and out of the clink on a regular basis.
"Eh," he says, shrugging. "I was bored. His windshield was right there. I didn’t have anything better to do, so I just picked up a rock and shucked it. The waving and blowing a kiss was just for fun." He grins mischievously at me.
"Really?" I just stare at him, totally perplexed. Okay, so maybe I am starting to get a little big for my britches, because I really thought that he’d done it on purpose. Well, on purpose to help me out.
To know that he’s the kind of person who goes around smashing windshields because they’re bored? Like, what kind of a loser does that? I know, I know, I was peeing on a pile of napkins in a back alley at four in the morning, and thus, I really shouldn’t be judging anyone right now, but c’mon. That was the most law-breaky thing that I think I’ve ever done in my life. For fuck’s sakes, I even turn in my library books on time!
Bottomline? As drop-dead sexy as Kaden Charles is, we don’t have a damn thing in common with each other. Which sucks ass, ‘cause if I feel that many sparks just by shaking his hand, imagine what I’d feel if his hand was on my pussy…
But, whatevs. I’m not about to start hanging around a criminal, no matter what he does to my ability to breathe.
Stiffly, I say, "Well, thanks for the inadvertent help, then. Good day." I turn away and head for the door.
"Wait! Stop!" he calls out.
"You’ve got an 11 o’clock appointment," I remind him without turning around. I can’t bear to look at him again. How could my hormones be that off? If I look at him, I just might give in and say, "Okay, blowjobs for everyone!"
"Brittney, I’m sorry!" He reaches out and touches my shoulder, sending shocks down my arm and back.
Dammit! Why oh why do I have to feel this way about a common criminal?! At least on my side, the sparks are so huge, we’re in imminent danger of starting a wildfire in Oklahoma. I cannot believe that my body would betray me like this.
Bad Brittney, bad!
"I was trying to play it cool," he says, his hand still on my shoulder. He’s stroking it lightly with his thumb, sending jolts through my body. "I just didn’t want to seem too eager. The truth is, I was kind of stalking you."