Page 182 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

SILAS

“I can’t believe you slept with my coffee supplier,” Mav grumbled, dropping his overnight bag on the floor just inside the kitchen of his house. “And in the conference room.”

Scout circled and jumped around him with excitement, his master finally home.

“Dex and Theo were all worried about my dick while I was gone and now you’re upset that I got laid.”

Bridget weaved around Scout’s wriggling body and Mav lifted her up for a kiss that went on and on.

“Enough you two,” I said, taking a pull from my beer.

I was at the kitchen island finishing up a meal of leftovers Bridget had pulled from the fridge.

Bridget called Mav, probably right after I kicked her out of the conference room and gave him the lowdown.

I was sure it wasn’t part of their philanthropy plan to have people turn the money down because of sex with one of the beneficiaries.

Or to have sex with one after she turned the deal down.

I had to wonder if they considered that. I certainly hadn’t.

Of course, Dex, Theo, and Mav had their dicks on lockdown.

It was me. I was the problem. Although I didn’t consider anything Eve and I did on that conference table–or the desk at the bar–a problem.

“You’re one to talk,” Mav said, coming up for air.

I grinned. “Did you come back from Washington so quickly because of my sex life? I’m touched.”

“Fucker. As for me kissing my woman, this is our house,” Mav grumbled, his big hand on Bridget’s ass.

They’d been apart less than two days and he was ready to toss me out on the front steps.

To be honest, I understood how he felt because I wanted Eve, and I wanted her now.

“Not the office.” He gave me a pointed look.

“Do not tell me the two of you haven’t gotten it on at the office,” I countered.

The way Bridget tucked her face into Mav’s neck was all the answer I needed.

“If you don’t want to watch us make out, then go home.” He was all growly and cranky sounding, but I had a feeling it had more to do with me currently cockblocking him than me and my sex life.

After Eve and I pulled ourselves together and she’d walked out of the conference room with her hair mussed and walking a little funny, she headed back to Steaming Hotties.

My afternoon schedule had kept me on a lockdown of calls and meetings so by the time I could meet up with her, Steaming Hotties was closed.

I texted her at the number she gave me before she left.

I want you in my bed. No more table sex. Next you’ll be on top. I can watch your tits bounce as you ride me.

I hadn’t heard back. Yet.

I didn’t have a woman to return to after a business trip like Mav did.

Not really a home either, as he snarled.

I had the little miner’s shack in town and my apartment in Denver.

But I was rarely at either place. When I opened my eyes in the morning, I usually had no idea where I was.

A different bed, different sheets, different showers, different everything almost every day.

“Then don’t be cranky with me about sleeping with your coffee supplier,” I countered. Then I paused. “Wait. How come you’re not pissed because I slept with someone from the office?”

He set Bridget back on her feet, gave her a kiss on the top of her head before she turned to settle into her seat beside me. He got a swat to her ass in before she got far, and she giggled.

Fuck me.

He stared at me. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You’re pissed I slept with your coffee supplier.”

“Yes.”

“Because I’m like Dad?”

He stilled. A guy his size should be like an aircraft carrier and take miles to come to a stop, but he literally froze.

“Like Dad?” he said, barely above a whisper. “Are you crazy?”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Well?”

“You’re not like Dad. Jesus. Not one fucking thing about you is like him.”

“I made you a plate. It’s in the microwave,” Bridget told him, her voice soft, perhaps trying to soothe him.

“Fine.”

“You obviously think you’re like Dad. Is this some kind of trauma bullshit?”

I had to laugh. “Definitely trauma bullshit.”

When I grew up, I wanted to be a mechanic. Fix cars. I spent time with the chauffeur and helped him change the oil. Learned about replacing spark plugs. Simple stuff. My father found out and didn’t go ballistic. Only laughed at me. Shamed me and my interest. Then fired the chauffeur.

After college, when I was working under him at James Corp, I turned a blind eye that he fucked everything with tits. Employee, client, waitress, flight attendant. It didn’t matter. When he died, I vowed to run James Corp with solid leadership and no sexual harassment suits.

“What’s the deal? I mean the loan, not the sex. She really won’t take it?” Mav asked, opening the microwave to peek inside, lifting the lid on the splatter cover. Clearly he thought comparing myself to our father was over.

“Dude. Eve,” he prompted when I didn’t respond. “She wouldn’t take it?”

Oh, she took it, but that wasn’t what he meant.

He shut the door and pressed a few buttons to warm the food some more. Scout was still at his heels, so Mav squatted down to pet him while he waited.

“No. I guess her money source dried up,” Bridget said.

Bridget didn’t have billions in the bank like Mav and I.

Her parents died when she was a kid and her sister, Lindy, had raised her.

There had been some money since they kept the house after the accident, but not tons.

No trust fund. Maybe a little life insurance.

Bridget was frugal. In fact, she was finally coaxed into replacing her old beater car.

It’d taken Mav a few months to gift her such a big present.

“You accepted her for the loan, so I’m not sure why a bank wouldn’t.

I’ll have Bradley look into it,” I said, wanting to know what the hell was up with that.

If her original loan source wouldn’t give her more, why turn down the James Corp loan?

Who turned down a solid, low interest loan, especially when it was needed?

Eve.

“No, you will not,” Bridget said, pointing at me with her fork. “Eve can turn this down if that’s what she wants.”

“Sex or not, I’m not going to mess with the loan,” I said.

“I know that, but she clearly doesn’t trust you,” Bridget added. “Or merging her sex and business lives.”

“I like her coffee shop,” Mav grumbled. “Don’t fuck with her.”

I held up my hands. “As you said, I’m fucking her. Not fucking her over.”

“Still…” she tossed out.

“I didn’t force her, and I don’t like you thinking I’m an asshole. She was right there with me. She made the decision to stay in that conference room with me.”

Why was I explaining myself?

“The first time, at the bar, we didn’t share more than first names. I didn’t know her long enough to get last names or that she ran the coffee shop. Bridge, you saw her earlier. She had no idea who I was either when she came for the meeting.”

“Not long enough? Dude, got staying problems?”

I frowned at Mav. “What? Fuck no. Ever heard of a quickie?”

“She won’t take money from an ex, so she’s a no-go,” Bridget said, ignoring the brotherly barbs.

“I had sex with her seven hours ago. I’m not an ex,” I repeated.

“I didn’t want to get together with Mav because of sex,” Bridge said.

“No, baby.” Mav reached out, took her hand and kissed the knuckles. “You wanted sex, but you didn’t want to fuck your boss.”

“Oh, I wanted to fuck you, but I wasn’t going to put myself in a situation where sex was going to be held over me as a power play. And Eve doesn’t want that either.”

I frowned, shoved a bite of pasta into my face.

I wasn’t an ex. An ex didn’t keep having sex with her, so I would classify myself in the role of…

friend with benefits? Quickie partner? No, that was too thin.

Too simple for what we were. For what we did together.

What we felt. It was complicated because I craved that woman.

Loved her wild ways. Her passion and lack of inhibition.

I wanted more. My dick was getting hard at the possibility alone.

I wanted her in a bed, with her on top.

If she texted back.

When was that going to happen? If she didn’t respond soon, I’d miss her.

Waiting until morning when the coffee shop opened to see her again wasn’t an option because I flew out first thing for San Francisco.

I had my life organized by Bradley down to the minute.

And there were no minutes in Hunter Valley anytime soon. Not beyond tonight.