Page 67 of Handsome Devil
“Linebacker.”
“Hmmm.” Katie eyed the hot men across the room. And I could imagine what she was thinking.
She was thinking they were hot.
Seriously, back in high school, I would’ve run the other way from a couple of guys like that. I mean, I did. By the time I crossed paths with those two in senior year, I was used to being overlooked. Or worse. Guys like Dane Davenport and his popular crew always overlooked me for something better.
But being used to it didn’t make it sting any less.
I had confidence, to a point. I had it going on, but also, only to a point. And that point was usually my hideous facial scar. Or my loud mouth. Or my confidence. It was always something about me that rubbed guys like that the wrong way.
Okay, let’s be honest here. It was usually the scar.
I’d come a long way, though, as one does growing up. It wasn’t just the scar reduction surgery that did it. I’d spent the last decade working day in and day out with beautiful people, negotiating with wealthy clients, and investing in my own self-worth. I’d built up my confidence, brick by brick. Nowadays, there wasn’t much that could topple my defenses, or deter me from approaching whoever I wanted to at a bar.
Scoping out guys while hiding across the room was not my style anymore.
Katie turned her curiosity on me. Like she was reading my body language and everything I wasn’t actually telling her. “So, what is it about this guy that’s got you so unnerved?”
Yup. It was that obvious.
“Uh, you’d be unnerved too if the devil himself walked into your office out of the blue and bought your entire life.”
“He didn’t buy your life.”
“No, the incredibly deep pockets of his family corporate conglomerate bought my agency, and did I mention his more charming specialty within the family business?”
“The welcome wagon?” Katie grinned at her own cleverness.
“He’s their corporate fixer. Which means he fixesproblems. You know, like my agency.”
Katie’s pretty face scrunched up. “Fixer? Isn’t that what they call a hitman in the mafia?”
“See? This is what I’m talking about. He scythes jobs, Katie. His staff call him Grim Reaper behind his back. I mean, he already fired Janelle and Claire. We could all be ‘downsized’ by tomorrow.”
“But aren’t you great at your job?” she said simply.
“Of course.”
“Do you add value to the agency?” She blinked her big, beautiful eyes at me. I knew what she was doing, and I didn’t like it.
“Yes.”
“Then just show him that.”
“I feel like if I show him anything tonight it’s going to be my hand, flying at his face.”
Katie snort-laughed. “Okay, as much as some primal part of me I wasn’t even sure existed until you just said that would kinda love to see that… um, I don’t think that would be constructive, career wise.”
“No, it would not.”
She sipped her daiquiri and considered. “So, if you didn’t come here to slap him or to go talk to him, what are we doing here?”
“We’re drinking. And eating.”
“Yeah. But is there a reason you chosethisbar tonight? And he happens to be here, too?”
“Yeah. So. I kinda thought he might be here,” I confessed.
