Page 7 of Nothing to This (Nothing to… #8)

It hadn’t taken long to figure out she wouldn’t be good at her new job.

At that moment, she was supposed to be taking notes, and she was…

when someone spoke to her directly. Keeping track of the technical stuff wasn’t easy, which taught her something new and important: JD was way more intelligent than she’d given him credit for.

In addition to her, three others were present: JD, Greg, and a third guy, Jim, a little older than the formers. Respect, professionalism, the conversation was subdued but purposeful. Their familiar rapport betrayed they had history. Whatever that was or wasn’t, the men seemed in no rush.

Listening to the boys’ club wasn’t the highlight of her week.

When the alarm on her dainty watch beeped, she almost whooped. “Ah,” she said, turning it off and rising from her seat ready to make a beeline out of there.

“Uh, where are you going?” JD asked.

She pivoted to face him while gesturing at the door. “Lunch. It’s five minutes to one.”

“We go to lunch when I call lunch.”

She smiled. “Not me. I go to lunch at twelve fifty-five every day and return at two p.m.”

Though focused on the perplexed and affronted JD, it was impossible to miss the smirks of the other two men at the table darting between them.

“You take over an hour?”

She nodded. “If I need to,” she said. “I do try to be back sooner; sometimes it’s not possible.”

His frown matched his impatience. “It will be possible now you work for me. You’ll eat when I tell you to.”

“And I would be completely fine with that, Overlord, except I have a date. It would be rude not to honor it.”

“A date?” he said, flattening his hands on the table. “You’re kidding.” With a shake of her head, she widened her smile. “You’re walking out on your job to get laid, and you expect us to accept that? Me to accept that?”

The assumption offended her more than it angered her. “Laid? No, Overlord, not laid.”

Greg laughed, though he tried to mask it as a cough. That only inflamed JD’s irritation; he started shuffling papers around the desk.

“Your boyfriend will have to go without his happy ending today. Unless you want to give up your position.”

“If it’s a deal breaker, I’m happy to return to my previous job downstairs.” Please say yes. “They accepted the arrangement. I make up the extra time in the morning or at the end of the day.”

“You have a responsibility to—”

“My children,” she said, silencing him immediately.

Her smile grew smug. “Yes, I have two beautiful children who go to daycare in this building. I eat lunch with them every day. Five days a week. They’re expecting me…

Would you like to see a picture? They really are adorable.

They take after me more than their father, thank goodness. ”

After a fake laugh and no response from him, she continued her departure. Dealing with his objections put her behind schedule and she didn’t want the kids getting antsy waiting for her.

Halfway across the executive bullpen, JD caught up to her. “You eat lunch with them every day?”

“Yes,” she said, checking her phone for messages.

“I’ll come with you.”

Shaking her head, she pressed the elevator call button and tucked her phone away. “No way,” she said. “There’s no way to explain that. Besides, we’re meeting someone.”

“Wait, what? I thought—”

The elevator came and she stepped inside, prompting him to follow. “Go back to the office, JD,” she said, but he didn’t. “I told you, if the kids see you, they’ll react to you.”

“Good. I want them to react to me.”

“We talked about this.”

Others tried to join them.

JD put up a hand to halt them. “Get the next one.”

They all backed out, leaving them alone. He stabbed at the door close button with a straight digit.

She selected the lobby. “Makes you feel clever to do that, huh?”

“Who are you meeting?” he asked. “Is it him? You said he hasn’t met the twins.”

“ He hasn’t and it’s not him,” she said, facing him to straighten his tie. “You shouldn’t care who I’m meeting for lunch.”

“I know.”

What was that tone? Their eyes met and the air changed. Somehow, it got hotter and thicker, like it weighed more than before. Why were they standing so close? She hadn’t even noticed until—did he have to be right there?

She shivered. “Did it just get weird in here?” Rolling her shoulders, the discomfort held on. “Why did it just get weird?”

His fingertip ascended to her temple and slid back into her hair, tucking an errant strand behind her ear.

“We were in an elevator just like this the first time I kissed you.”

Obviously, their past was on his mind. That moment. The first touch of their lips. The combustion. The power of… them.

A strange sort of calm settled over her. The pull of his gaze, of having his complete attention, plucked at her barriers.

“We were.”

“In the hotel and—”

“I was there, JD.” Giving herself a mental slap, she pulled it together. “I don’t need a play-by-play.”

“You were pretty drunk.”

Relaxing, her fingers curled around his tie. “So drunk that what you did to me was probably on the cusp of assault.”

His lips curved until he laughed. “Just how I like my women.”

Straightening her arms, she rested them on his shoulders. “It terrifies me that my son will look to you as an example of how to romance women.”

His hands slid onto her hips and down to her ass. “He won’t need any education on that. He’s a Dawes, it’s in his blood.”

“To assault women? I hope not.”

Leaning down, his lips warmed her ear. “You can try to claim assault the first time, but the second? The third…? You were definitely sober when I woke up to you riding me in the morning.”

Though her hand splayed to pressure his chest, he didn’t budge. The elevator doors opened, and she had to look, had to turn her attention to the lobby.

“Oh, Miss Hampton,” the woman standing just outside the door drawled. Brenna. Exactly the woman she needed. “You’re getting fresh in the elevator…” Her friend’s smile faded when JD straightened up. “With my brother? Uh, what’s going on here?”

Though confused, Brenna glittered with optimistic mischief.

“Hey, Nana,” JD said.

When he started toward his sister, she stopped him with a shove.

“Brenna is my children’s aunt,” she said and leaned closer to whisper, “people at daycare know that.”

Leaving the elevator, they let others in, keeping the cogs moving.

Brenna squinted at her, puzzled. “Yeah, and he should too. Do I have to introduce myself? I know it’s been a while, but you remember I’m your little sister, right? You probably forgot. That would be why Mom and I didn’t get a call about you being in town.”

“In town?” she said. “He bought the damn building.”

“Oh my God!” Brenna grabbed her hand to pull her closer. “And I stood you up last night? I’m a bitch. Damn, I missed the gossip.”

“No, you missed Daddy enduring The Little Mermaid ,” she said on a laugh Brenna got in on.

JD didn’t appreciate being the butt of the joke.

“He came over?” Brenna asked and linked their arms. “Does Baxter know? Oh, we have so much to talk about!”

“Did you make up with Lotta?”

Whispering, Brenna’s embrace tightened on her arm. “Like I said, lots to talk about. Let’s go get our dates.”

JD caught her arm. “Ry…”

Brenna looked between them, then let her go. “Want me to go grab ‘em?”

“Please,” she said. Brenna faded from their side. “She’ll be back with the kids in a minute. What is it, JD?”

“They let just anyone pick up our children?” he asked. “Security needs to be updated.”

She picked lint from his sleeve. “Not just anyone. You wouldn’t be allowed to pick them up,” she said. “I have to list approved persons. Only me, Brenna, and your mom are on there.”

Keeping one eye out, the twins could appear any second. He better spit out whatever was on his mind fast.

“Do you want to get dinner tonight?”

“Last night didn’t scare you off,” she stated.

“I’ll take you all out. Anywhere you want. I’ll fire up the jet, we can get out of state. No one will know us—”

“Dinner would be great, except I already have plans.”

“Brenna can come, I don’t see enough of my sister. And the kids think she’s okay, right? They tolerate her?”

She laughed. “They adore their aunt, but my plans are not with Brenna,” she said. He just kept looking at her, waiting for an explanation. The truth might not amuse him. “This is your weekend, JD. I drop the kids off at your mom’s after work.”

“After work, right,” he said and took a step back. “I can’t just pick them up from daycare?”

“You’re not on the list,” she said and laughed. “Bet you don’t hear that much… I have to talk to my lawyer before we think about changing routines.” Dejection settled over him. Damn, it didn’t feel good to be the source. “Will you think about it before we make any decisions?”

“Think about what?”

“Do you want the world to know you sired your assistant’s children?”

Pleasure replaced his negativity with a smile. “Sired? Damn, we should use that word more often. It’s a turn on.”

She smoothed his tie. “Did you explain that expression to your daughter? She’ll be walking around the corner any second. You can take the chance now if you haven’t.”

“My daughter will never understand that expression. I’m having a tower built for her.”

Grinning, she rested some of her weight on her palm. “Will there be a dragon on the stairs to kill any suitors who get too close?”

“Dragons? Try a security team, lethal laser nets and motion activated automatic weapons.” Something about her smile in the silence that followed intrigued him enough to tilt his head in question. “What?”

“I’ve never seen you play protective daddy before.”

The swagger that brought him closer was stopped by her backing up to press the button for the elevator.

Or, at least, it should’ve stopped him.

JD said what he wanted to say anyway, “It’s a turn on, isn’t it?”

“Shh,” she said, unable to stop a whisper of a laugh seeping out. “Jeez, JD.” The elevator doors opened. “Go back to work before the babies see you.”

“Be back by two,” he said, taking his swagger into the elevator.

“Sure,” she said. “And if the babies get upset, I’ll make sure they know who to blame.”

The doors began to close; JD winked just before they met. A moment later, her children came running around the corner with their aunt on their heels. The kids ran a circle around her and then headed for the door, giggling and joyously amped.

Brenna came to loop their arms together and they followed in the kids’ path. “So…” her friend said. “What’s going on with you and my brother?”