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He nods. “You let me know if that changes,” he says, moving on down the hall to his office. That’s Owen for you. He’s the quiet, stoic one. But I have no doubt that if Jase were to treat me wrong, and Owen found out about it, he wouldn’t hesitate to throw a punch or two if necessary. It’s the quiet ones you have to worry about.
Grant, Marshall, and Conrad all arrive for the day while I’m pulling voice mails off my phone. I’ve barely got the receiver back in the cradle when Royce appears before me. “Sam,” he greets me.
“Mr. Riggins.” I give him a big cheesy smile, and the corner of his lips twitch. “What can I do for you this morning?”
“The punch list for the Idaho location was supposed to be completed yesterday. Can you follow up with the contractor and get a status for me?”
“They called late last night. He said it’s all complete and told you to call if you have any questions.” I hand him the slip of paper with the details from the voice mail. “Your ten o’clock canceled and they didn’t have a reason other than they were not ready, so I pushed them off to next month for a reschedule date.”
“Thank you.” He nods, going through the other messages I handed him. “You like that ogre of mine best friend?” he inquires.
“Yeah, Royce, I really do.” He mumbles something under his breath and walks off to his office. Not that I expected anything less from Royce Riggins. He’s broody pretty much all the time. When I first started at Riggins Enterprises, he was different. Still broody at the office, but not so serious, or sad. His ex-wife really did a number on him. He needs to put himself out there and find love again, but he’s stubborn as hell and convinced himself that a woman in his life is the last thing he needs.
“Hey, Sammy.” Marshall grins, leaning against my desk. “I sent you an email with the marketing campaign for Idaho. Do you mind printing and binding ten copies?” he asks.
“Not at all. I’ll get it done for you today.”
“I don’t need it until later in the week, so there’s no rush.” He stands to his full height. “Thank you.” He waves as he walks toward the elevator. No doubt he’s headed downstairs to the marketing department to touch base with his staff. That’s one thing I will say about the Riggins brothers. None of them have to work, but they do, and they give it one hundred and ten percent.
I’ve worked all morning on a staffing report for Grant. Finally, it’s finished, so I print it out and take it to his office. “Here you go,” I say, stepping inside and placing it in his inbox. “Numbers look good this month.” I smile at him.
“Thanks for doing that, Sam. I’ve been a little nuts with Idaho opening.”
“That’s my job, Grant. You don’t have to thank me.”
“Yes, I do.” He grabs the report and thumbs through it. “You saved me some late nights. I appreciate you so much.”
“Just remember that when it comes time for the broody one to give me my annual evaluation,” I joke.
“I got your back, Wilson.” His laughter follows me out of his office.
“There she is,” a voice I would now recognize anywhere says as I come around the corner approaching my desk.
“Jase.” I can hear the smile in my voice. “What are you doing here?”
He snakes an arm around my waist and kisses my cheek. “I came to take my girl to lunch.”
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Royce grumbles, stepping out of his office. “Sam, I’m heading out for lunch then going to my meeting across town. I’ll be back later this afternoon.”
“Sure thing.”
He glares at Jase. “Remember what I said,” he warns, stepping past us.
“Good to see you too, sweetheart,” Jase calls after him.
“Stop.” I laugh, smacking lightly at his chest.
He shrugs. “You ready to go grab something to eat?”
“I packed my lunch today.”
“It’ll keep. We’re going out.”
“I only have an hour.”
“I have an in with the boss man.” He winks.
“Oh, no. He’s pissy enough as it is. I’m not taking advantage of the fact that you’re his best friend. If we can’t go and be back in an hour, I’m not going.” I step out of his hold and cross my arms over my chest.
“Fine, ball buster.” He grins. “I’ll have you back in an hour.”
“Thank you, player.” I smile sweetly at him before setting the alarm that won’t allow anyone on the floor unless they have the code until I get back. There are only a handful of people who have the code, and the majority of them have the last name Riggins.
“So, where are we going?” I ask as we step outside of the building onto the busy sidewalk.
