Page 125 of Night and Day

“Tessa.” Piper strode over to me on her skyscraper high heels. “Which one of these do you like better?” She held up two paint swatches. “For the restaurant feature wall.”

I pointed to the one on the left. “That one.”

Her lips quirked. “That’s my choice too.”

I’d gotten to know Piper better over the last two months. She was driven, a workaholic, but smart as hell. She’d come to our last cocktail night, and we’d all had fun. There was a good chance we’d become friends.

Everett strolled up. “Hey there, City.”

Piper sniffed and glared at his flannel shirt. “Don’t you have a hammer to wield?”

“Don’t you have some papers to push?”

I hid my smile. The two of them were like wild cats circling each other.

Piper’s cellphone rang. “I’ve got to take this.”

“She’s going to break an ankle,” Everett muttered.

I noted he wasn’t watching her ankles, he was looking at the sway of her hips in her tight skirt.

“Is it her ankles you’re worried about?”

He shot me a grin.

With a shake of my head, I continued on to check in with reception. “Everything running smoothly, ladies?”

Lara nodded and Coral scowled.

“You look happy even though that man you’re shacked up with is gone,” Coral said.

“I’m hoping he’ll be home soon, Coral.”

She harrumphed. “He’s not as bad as I’d imagined. For a good-looking charmer.”

“I think so too.”

Coral made a sound. “I know. I see you making eyes at him all the time.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “I’m off to my office if anyone needs me.”

I held my card to the reader and walked into the staff area.

And spotted Caden and Allie having what looked like an intense discussion at the end of the hall.

Caden was busy doing his massive overhaul of the hotel’s security. If he had his way, there’d be cameras in every room of the hotel.

He grabbed Allie’s arm, and she snapped something at him. I raised my brows. He yanked her closer.

My breath hitched. It looked like he wanted to strangle her…or kiss her.

Allie pulled back, said something else, then stalked off with a flounce.

What the —?Allie Ford never flounced.

She still called him Broody, and thought he was paranoid, intense, and over-protective.

Caden strode down the hall, his face hard, something working behind his eyes. He spotted me and his stride hitched, then his face smoothed out.