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“Hi,” I whisper, and the frown on his face slowly slips away.

  “You always look sexy,” he says, so quietly that I know it’s only for me to hear. I bite my lip as my cheeks burn. My heart does a flutter and I want to wrap my arms around his neck and have him brush his lips against mine again. I thought about it all night and want it again. Heck, I want more.

  “My feet aren’t on the ground,” I finally say to him, becoming more and more aware of his tight grip on me. I like being in his arms. He makes me feel sexy and wanted. That he doesn’t want to let me go.

  Jordan lets out a deep breath, and I slide down his body until my feet touch the tile floor but his arms don’t release me.

  “Two o’clock, Jay,” I hear Mark say, and then I realize I’d forgotten where I was for a moment. Mark’s words snap me out of my daze, and I look to my right.

  “Stein.” My eyes narrow. I wiggle from Jordan’s hold, and he reluctantly lets me go with a grunt.

  “Get ’em,” Mark says with a chuckle in his voice.

  “She’s not getting anyone.”

  This time, Jordan’s words are loud enough for anyone around us to hear, but I don’t pay them any attention. I’ve been trying to get ahold of this man for weeks now. He’s not getting away.

  “Mr. Stein!” I yell, not caring that we’re on the lobby floor with people coming and going. Nope, not this time. He is going to talk to me.

  He freezes at my voice, looks over at me, shakes his head, and begins to walk faster. I bet you anything he came in early to grab something off his desk, hoping to avoid running into me.

  “Mr. Stein!” I yell again, chasing after him. I hear a muffled curse from behind me. I walk even faster, but these heels are slowing me down. I trip once again, almost falling over my feet, but like the last time, Jordan catches me as Mr. Stein slips from the building.

  “I need that man.” I point to him as if Jordan is going to chase him down for me and tackle him. I go to stomp my foot, but it seems I’m not standing on the floor again.

  “I think maybe you should rephrase that.”

  It’s then I realize what I said. “I need that man to do his job,” I correct. Jordan places me on my feet, and smiles. “He’s ignoring me, and it’s driving me crazy. I need the Lannister report.” I try to plead my case to Jordan, as if he even knows what the Lannister report is.

  “I don’t think anyone could ignore you.” His words make all the anger and frustration I was feeling melt away so easily. He’s so sweet. I don’t think anyone can tell it by looking at him. He looks like he’d be rough around the edges, but he’s not. At least not with me. He’s the sweetest man I’ve ever met in my life.

  “Do you think I look sexy?” I’m surprised at myself for what I just blurted out, and I drop my face into his chest, trying to hide what I’m sure is a cherry-red face.

  “Do you really need me to answer that, little bird?”

  “Little bird?” I ask, wondering what that means.

  “You flit around from place to place. You remind me of a little blue jay. So smart and beautiful.”

  It takes me a moment to get myself together. Jordan just stands there, rubbing my back with a gentle hand. I thought he was going to laugh at me or something for being so crazy, but I pull back and finally get the courage to look at him. He’s still wearing his soft smile, but he firms his hand on my back, pressing me further into him, and I nudge against what has to be a lead pipe in his pants. Either that or a very, very large erection.

  “I’ll get you your report, so don’t worry about it. Why don’t you think of what you want to do on our date tonight?”

  “It can be anything?” I ask, feeling both nervous and excited. But maybe that has to do with the anaconda going down his leg.

  “As long as the people around us aren’t getting naked,” he teases, and it makes me smile. I notice he didn’t say we can’t get naked, but I keep that thought to myself, having already almost died from embarrassment this morning.

  He leans back a little and puts a few inches of space between us. I’m irritated by it, but then I realize he’s probably got to tame that monster in his slacks or my libido is going to start salsa dancing all over him.

  “I’ve always wanted to do one of the carriage rides in Central Park,” I admit. I see people on them looking so happy and in love. I don’t care if it’s cheesy, I still want to do it.

  “Then that’s what we’ll do,” he replies easily.

  Jordan takes my hand and leads me to the elevator, sliding his key card in. I know all the higher-security people have a fancy card that makes the elevator come directly to them, so it’s nice I don’t have to wait.

  I eye the card for a minute. “You want one?” He holds up the little black card.

  “Am I that easy to read?” I lick my lips and wonder what else he reads so easily about me. For some reason I kind of like it. When it comes to him I can be shy at times. Something I’m not used to with people. I speak my mind but with him I care what he thinks.

  “To me, yes. But I also watch you more than anyone else.” He shrugs like it’s normal to watch me. Then I wonder how often he does it. His security floor monitors the entire building, and they can see everything up there, even what we do on our computers, if they want to go looking.

  The elevator doors open, and we both step in. He hits the button to my floor, and the doors close. I lean into him, wanting to be close. Something about him calms me. The chaos that often invades my mind, reminding me of things I need to do, people I need to talk to, slips away, and I’m left with a feeling of warmth and happiness. I think I could stand next to him and forget the rest of the world.

  When the elevator dings, he puts his hand to my back and leads me to my desk.

  “Have a good day, Jay,” he tells me as I sit down in my chair. I look up at him, but he doesn’t move, and I think maybe he’s thinking about kissing me or something. He rests his hands on my desk, and leans down. I love how his big frame always makes me feel so small.

  “No more asking men if you’re sexy. You want someone to tell you that, you come find me.” With that, he turns and leaves, heading back to the elevator, and I watch as he hits the button.

  I see he left his key card on my desk. “Jordan,” I say, picking it up as the elevator dings and he gets on.

  “Keep it. In case you ever need to get to me faster. You know, if you need someone to tell you how sexy you look,” he teases. With that, the elevator doors slide closed.

  I don’t know how long I sit there with butterflies dancing in my stomach, but eventually Skyler snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Jay.”

  “Sorry,” I say, looking up at her. I take the card in my hand and slide it under my keyboard. I don’t think I’ll ever use the thing, but I find his giving it to me oddly sweet.

  “I’ve never seen you sit still.” She leans in a little. “Good sex will do that to you.” She taps my desk before turning and leaving me alone. I’ve barely kissed him and I’m already this far gone. Sex could possibly put me in a coma.

  I shake my head and turn on my computer, knowing I need to get to work. I glance at the clock and see Miles still hasn’t made it in yet. He’s prone to lateness sometimes now that he has Mallory in his life.

  I fall into my work, but the time still seems to drag by. I’m usually focused at work, but this morning all I can think about is Jordan. He thinks I’m sexy. I smile thinking about it.

  “Miss Rose.” I look up to see Bryson standing before me with a box in his hand. He’s worked in the mail room for as long as I’ve been around. We have an ongoing deal. He always brings me my mail first, and I always give him the special fudge I make at home once a month.

  “Special delivery.” He sets the box down on my desk. My name—and nothing else—is written on the top of the box.

  “Thanks, Bryson.” I smile at
him, getting up from my chair to open the box. My mouth falls open when I see what’s inside—a pair of flats with little bluebirds all over them. I pull them out and see a note at the bottom of the box. I pick it up and read it.

  Wear these before you give me a heart attack. You almost tripped getting up from your desk when you went to get a drink.

  -J

  I slide on the flats and moan at not having on the heels anymore. They fit perfectly. Sitting back down in my chair, I pull up my emails to try to come up with what to write to him. How do I say thank you for such a great gift?

  From: [email protected]

  Subject: Thank You

  I love them. Our date hasn’t even started and it’s already wonderful. Lunch?

  I hit send, and wait. A few moments later I get my reply.

  From: [email protected]

  Subject: RE: Thank You

  I can’t today, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.

  J

  I smile at the email and wonder if he’s watching me right now.

  Chapter Seven

  Jordan

  I sit back in my chair and mentally pat myself on the back. The smile on her face as she opened the gift was worth every penny of tracking down the shoes for her. Not that I don’t have money to burn. It’s not like I have much to spend it on other than myself, and it felt good to do something special for her. I’ll buy her a thousand more if it keeps that smile on her face.

  Hating that I have to miss lunch with her, I give myself one more minute of watching her before I get back to what’s keeping me from her.

  I watch as she tucks the box under her desk and straightens her paperwork. I can’t sit here and watch her all day, even though I’d like to. So I close out the screen and go back to the one I really need.

  “You want his files? You got it, little bird,” I say to myself as I click away.

  She wants a Lannister report from a Mr. Stein. That’s not a lot to go on, but lucky for her, I’ve got plenty of ways to get what I want and what I want more than anything is to make sure she’s happy. She doesn’t need to be stressing about some dick not doing his job. I’m happy there’s something I can handle for her.

  I start by accessing her work computer and sorting through her documents with a keyword search on both. When I get the information on what Lannister is and what she needs, I set that off to the side to go through later. I don’t need to know what’s in there, just that Stein has something on it she needs. Then I run a file mirroring her emails so that when she receives one, I will on my end, too. The program I installed creates a carbon copy of all the information pertaining to this, which will come to her as well as my laptop. I copy all the codes to my personal drive and mark it on my desktop as Bluebird. Right now, it’s not important, but if I have trouble sorting it out later, I can reference it here.

  Next, I pull up the file on our employee Stein. After minimal searching, I gather all the human resource records and see that he’s on an extended leave of absence due to continued medical issues. It makes me pause and wonder how Jay didn’t know this. From all of our conversations, she’s usually the first to know this kind of information on an employee. Especially one she’s keeping close tabs on.

  I scroll through several other documents and notice that his medical leave was due to his sick wife, and the file has been sealed. In my department, we have access to it all, so that may be why Jay wasn’t able to find this.

  It seems strange, though. Why wouldn’t he just hand over the file she needs? Why all the sneaking around to avoid her? Jay can be a little bulldog when she wants, but for the most part she’s harmless. Just give her what she asks for and she leaves you alone.

  “Hey, Chen,” McCoy says from the desk near me, getting my attention. “You coming over to Grant’s tonight to watch the Knicks?”

  “He’s out. He’s got a hot date,” Paige says, not looking up from her computer. She stuffs half a sandwich in her mouth as she keeps working, not missing a beat. I didn’t know it was possible for someone to eat so much until I met her.

  “A what? With who?” Sheppard pops up, and suddenly all eyes in the room are on me.

  “And on that note, I’ve got a house call to make,” I say, standing up from my desk. For some reason I don’t want to talk about Jay to them. She’s mine and I don’t like others even thinking about her. If it was up to me they’d all believe she is a nun.

  “He’s going out with Jay,” Paige says, with her mouth still full of food. “But he’ll probably fuck it up. The friend zone is strong with that one.” I grit my teeth. The friend zone might be there now but I’m going to bust though it. I don’t care how hard and long it will take me but it will be happening.

  “I’ve got a fifty that says different. Chicks love a friends-to-lovers story,” McCoy says as if he knows everything about women.

  “I’ll take that bet,” Sheppard agrees as Grant walks into the room.

  “What bet?” he asks and looks around, wanting in on the gossip.

  I roll my eyes as Paige chimes in again. “We’re placing bets to see if Jordan can get out of the friend zone. Captain says a girl can’t resist a scarred hero. I think Jay is smart enough to stay away.”

  Paige looks over at me and gives me the same smile a bratty sister would. We all think of her that way, so I’m not surprised. But I can tell by the teasing smile she doesn’t really mean her words.

  “I’ve got work to do. But you gossips can sit around and talk about my love life all you want. Just let me know when to collect my winnings.”

  I pull out my wallet and take out the stack of cash inside, tossing it on Grant’s desk as I walk out. I’ll be getting my woman.

  The jeers and ribbing continue even as the elevator doors close behind me. Let them think what they want. Jay has been mine from day one. Nothing is going to stop that.

  * * *

  The street outside the townhome is pristine. I walk up to the front door and ring the bell. It takes a moment, but I finally hear someone walking to the door. After a moment, a small elderly woman peeks through the glass then cracks the door slightly, clearly not wanting to let me in or even talk to me.

  “May I help you?” Her tone is annoyed.

  “Yes, I’m looking to speak with Martin Stein. It will only take a moment.” I try to keep my tone easy trying to get her to open the door a little more.

  “Mr. Stein is unavailable,” she says, eyes narrowing.

  “I apologize for the interruption, but I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Detective Chen with the homicide division of the New York Police Department. I just need him for a few questions, but if you prefer, I can come back with a uniformed officer.” I press, seeing my first way of trying this isn’t going to work.

  Her eyes widen, and she looks around outside to see if the neighbors are watching, clearly not wanting a scene or to draw attention.

  “Come in. Stand here,” she says in a rush, trying to get me off her stoop.

  I don’t normally lie to grandmotherly types, but she seems like a mean one who wouldn’t have given me cookies. So it’s all fair game. Even more fair game when it comes to getting Jay something she wants.

  I stand in the foyer as the little woman shuffles off. She didn’t even ask for credentials. Not that it would have mattered. I could have talked my way through it. I’ve seen enough CSI shows to fake it.

  The townhome is lavish. Much too expensive for the salary we’re paying him. I should have dug a little deeper into his financials before getting here. I make a mental note to do that as soon as I get back. Wanting to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. Maybe he comes from money.

  Looking around, I see a portrait of the guy I saw earlier this morning and a young blonde beside him. Seems like as young as she is in the painting, she should be in pristine health.

  The so
und of footsteps draws my attention, and I see Mr. Stein come around the corner. His face is blank, with no sign of emotion.

  “What do you want?”

  No greeting, no beating around the bush. I have to admit I like his style.

  “I’m here on behalf of Osbourne Corporation to pick up the Lannister documents you still have.”

  I can see a tic in his jaw, betraying his irritation. For a fraction of a second he looks me over. I wonder if he’s thinking he can take me in a fight. He must do some quick math and see that not only am I younger, stronger, and taller than him, but I’m also willing to fight. He’s probably used his wallet to get out of scrapes since the time he could sign a check.

  “Did that nosy little—”

  “You don’t want to finish that sentence,” I cut him off, taking a step forward and widening my stance. “But if you’d like me to replace your tonsils with your nuts, go right ahead.”

  He shuts his mouth and flexes his jaw again. No one talks about Jay like that and thinks they can get away with it. “Fine. But it’s not finished. I’ve spoken to personnel. My wife is sick, and I’m her full-time caregiver. I don’t have time for this.”

  He walks over to a room just off the foyer, and I follow his path, not wanting him out of my sight until I get what I came for. He moves to the desk, closes an open file, and grabs the stack. He doesn’t hesitate with his choice, letting me know he’s looked at them recently.

  “You know, as nice as this neighborhood is, I’d really hate to come back for another visit,” I say, taking the stack from him. I’m not playing games with him.

  I watch as his fists clench, and he goes to the other side of the desk and opens a drawer, pulling out another file folder and handing it over. I was calling his bluff, and it looks like it paid off. He doesn’t know that I have no clue what this shit is, but I had a feeling a smug bastard like him would try to pull one over on Jay and that’s not something I’ll let happen.

  “Tell that—” He stops himself and rethinks what he wants to say. “That’s all of it. And if you need anything else, you can contact my lawyer. I’m speaking to the company about this kind of harassment.”