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She sniffed and started forward–straight toward me. I held my position. When her shoulder jammed into mine, I didn’t move an inch. She tottered on skinny heels, spinning her arms until she found her balance. I kept a straight face as snickers sounded around her.
She kept walking.
Turning, I followed, releasing a pent-up sigh.
“She’s delightful,” Maximus murmured. “You dealt with her wonderfully, though. Looking for a job?”
“No.” The word came out sharper than I’d intended.
Ihada job. I had my own damned business and no intention of becoming a permanent bouncer at wedding rehearsal dinners.
* * *
After two hours,I could finally slow down.
Maximus had left shortly after the ordeal with Mary Jo Henderson.
To my delight, she left not long after too.
After the bitter ex-wife’s departure, it was like everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief. The food and booze started flowing much more quickly. I had just taken out the last empty tray and thrown it in the sink to be rinsed, and now I was leaning against the wall in the hall, my feet so sore that It wouldn’t surprise me to find blood on my shoes. The rest of me was only in slightly better condition.
How was it I could run a half-marathon, and yet working a catering event left me feeling run down to the bone?
“Have youseenhim?”
I looked up, but the woman who’d just spoken wasn’t looking at me. She had her eyes on her companion, a statuesque woman who grinned at the comment and pretended to wipe sweat from the back of her ebony forehead.
“Have I ever…although not the parts Iwantto see.” She patted her chest and shook her head. “Have mercy.”
They passed by me, each offering a friendly smile as they headed toward the kitchen.
“I can’t decide if I hope to see him around here all the time or not at all.” The other girl pushed the door open but paused when it was barely ajar. “Imagine getting called up to the boss’s office…andMaximuswas the one waiting.”
“Honey, you’ve heard what they say about him. Do you think he’s got a playroom up there?”
Her laugh, rich and full, echoed down the hall. “I hadn’t thought about it, Daisy, and now I won’t be thinking about anything else, you bitch.”
As I stood there, listening far too close for my own good, they disappeared into the kitchen.
A playroom.
My cheeks heated even as I considered the scene. That wasn’t anything even remotely up my alley. But the idea of a blindfold, a pair of handcuffs, maybe a few other toys, and James Maximus?
“Your heart can’t take it, girl.” Pushing away from the wall, I started back toward the banquet hall. I needed to finish the clean-up, go home and pull out the vibrator I rarely used. Otherwise, I might not sleep at all, fantasizing about a sexy boss with knowing eyes and a too-beautiful mouth.
Then again, a sleepless night because of pent-up sexual frustration was an improvement over a sleepless night spent worrying about my struggling business.
Five
Maximus
When I left the Garcia/Hendersonevent, it wasn’t to continue on my walk-through. Instead, I headed to my office and sat at my desk.
The floor-to-ceiling windows had automatic shades that would close so the glare from the sun wouldn’t affect my computer screen, but at night, they retracted. The sprawl of the Houston skyline spread out, lights twinkling like jewels against the velvety backdrop of night.
The blue made me think of Tina’s eyes, and I shook my head, amused at myself for the poetic turn of thought. I didn’t get philosophical about women.
I enjoy women…a lot. And despite the bad memories from high school, I respect them. It hadn’t always been that way, a fact I couldn’t lie about because I demanded honesty, even from myself.