Toasty (Cozy 2)

“You know who I’m talking about.” I turn to Bruce, who’s looking at the woman and his eyes pause on her cleavage. I shake my head at him, not the least bit surprised.

When I glance at Kace, I see he didn’t even notice her.

“Why did you bring him here?” Kace has been giving Bruce death stares all night. I’m pretty sure they almost got into another fist fight an hour ago.

“It’s rather entertaining.” Bruce shifts and leans in closer to me.

His arm goes around my chair and his eyes dance with mischief. He’s terrible. I’m terrible, too, because I lean toward him. I’ve worked with Bruce and gotten to know him during my years working for Kace. I know Bruce is harmless and isn’t going to do something like kiss me. He enjoys fucking with Kace, and for some reason I want to play along. His words have been messing with me all night and I’d like to get under his skin a bit.

“Timber!” I jerk away from Bruce at the sound of my sister’s shout.

Timber is pushing Kace and I see him point a finger at him. “You need to calm down.”

“I’m calm,” Kace says, but I can tell by the tone of his voice he’s anything but.

“Now you’ve done it,” I whisper at Bruce, who only chuckles.

“You did it too.” He leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his head.

I did, damn it. I pop up from my chair as my sister tries to get between Kace and Timber.

“You don’t look fucking calm,” Timber throws back, tucking my sister into his side.

“Not at all.” Pippa’s tone has me pausing for a moment. She’s pissed too? I guess I have to be the voice of reason.

“It’s fine. Mr. Cox was just leaving.” I put my hand on Kace’s chest, and when I push he actually takes a step back. His arm wraps around my waist, taking me with him.

“Don’t manhandle my sister,” Pippa snaps.

Her cheeks are red and I’ve never seen her this worked up before. Everyone looks like they’re about to explode and I glance around the room to see everyone is watching. It looks like two giant men, one being the groom, are about to throw down in the middle of this wedding.

“Pippa,” I say in a soft voice as Kace’s fingers dig into my hip.

I don’t want to tell my sister how much I enjoy Kace’s manhandling because it’s kind of what got me into this situation to begin with.

“Is it him?” She points at Kace. “Is it your asshole boss who made you miserable?”

Kace sucks in a breath like someone punched him. I’m not sure “miserable” is the word I’d use. At first I thought it was a game to Kace. That he gave me impossible tasks to complete so he could fire me. It’s like he was waiting for me to fail, but I never did. His words from the night in the limo, when I quit, flash in my mind.

Fucking finally.

Then he kissed me.

“I made you miserable?” Kace’s eyes meet mine and his face softens to actually show emotion.

“I—” I don’t know what he made me feel.

I was all over the place while I was working there. At first I wanted to play his game, but then other feelings started to grow. It all became too much and I had to get out. The last trip was too long and I’d been away for weeks. Kace was a jerk the entire trip and I was ready to snap.

“Yes! You made her work all the time,” my sister answers for me.

I knew that’s what the job entailed when I was hired and the pay was worth it. At first, losing my time was one thing, but then losing my heart was another.

“I need her,” he responds, and my stupid heart flutters.

“I wasn’t miserable,” I whisper, because the need to tell him that is overwhelming.

“If you were, I’ll fix it.”

“I’m not coming back to work for you.” There’s no way I could, especially now.

He doesn’t know I’m pregnant with his baby. Which is shocking since he seems to know everything else. Like what I did at night when I lay in bed and thought about him. He was so right.

“I wouldn’t hire you. You quit, remember?” He shrugs.

“You just said—”

“I’ll make sure you’re never miserable again.” He smirks and his voice drops so only I can hear him. “I think I can make you feel anything but miserable.”

“Liar. You’d hire her in a second if she came back,” Pippa throws out.

“I’ve been waiting years for her to quit.”

“I knew it,” I hiss, pushing on his chest. He doesn’t move this time when I push him.

“Let her go,” Pippa snaps.

“I made that mistake once and I’m not making it again.” I let out a small scream when he catches me by surprise and lifts me into his arms.