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“Uh…sure…thanks,” I stammered, wondering why she was being nice to me when she was so obviously angry at everyone else. I turned around to look at my desk and then realized that I’d taken all my hard drive and tech shit home when I’d been trying to dodge Eli. If Samantha needed somebody’s computer hacked, I’d have to head home to get started on it.
“Gotta go, angel,” Eli whispered before giving me one more toe-curling kiss. “Will it be okay if I stay over again tonight? I’d really like to wake up with you in my arms again.”
I grinned, loving my secret plan. “We’ll see. Call me when you and Seth finish up. Maybe I’ll be finished with whatever computer torture your sister has sent me.” I started packing up my backpack, shoving things inside haphazardly because I was so excited to begin implementation of my plan. My plan—it was a direct result of the new me. The old me would have never had the courage to even consider what I was about to do. The new me bubbled with excitement and confidence.
He couldn’t mask his disappointment, but it didn’t stay on his face long. In order to not upset me, he quickly replaced it with a smile. “No problems. I’ll call you as soon as I finish up with Sam. Hopefully, we’ll at least be able to go out for dinner—maybe some shopping to find you those fucking hot leather pants?”
“Yeah…maybe,” I answered, totally distracted with the ideas running through my head.
“Sometime today, Eli!” Samantha yelled from her office door. The irritation in her voice was nothing compared to the glare on her face. Seth already waited patiently at the door, looking toward Eli with a grin on his face—not where Sam could see it, but it was there. Baker, having obviously enjoyed his punishment from the satisfied and dreamy look on his face, headed in my direction.
Another kiss from Eli. “See you in a few, angel. Love you.”
“Me too,” I answered softly. “Thank you for loving me the way I am.” After a pat to my ass, he headed toward Sam’s office. When he and Seth were inside, Sam slammed the door, even harder than she had earlier.
Looking at Baker, I said, “I can’t believe you used to let her hit your ass. Her right arm is deadly, dude.”
“Nah, she’s not so bad,” he countered. “She doesn’t like anybody questioning her authority.” He shrugged. “All I can say about that is she probably needs to head back to the home office, because I have a feeling Seth and Eli probably question any and everything, just for the fun of being argumentative.”
He grabbed my Jinx magazine, plopped down at his desk, and started thumbing through the pages. After a few seconds, he propped his feet up on his desk as he studied the picture of Jinx. Finally, he said, “Nope; he doesn’t do a thing for me, and Seth looks so much better in leather than he does. So. Much. Better.” After that, he tossed the magazine back in my direction, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling.
“What are you doing?” I muttered. “Doesn’t it piss you off to be left out of the meeting like that? Please don’t tell me Seth is still acting like your babysitter instead of your partner.”
Baker chuckled softly. “I’m not in the meeting because I get bored with all the talk, talk, talk and plan, plan, plan. When I get bored, I get jittery. When I get jittery, Sam and Seth get irritated. We found it was safer if I waited outside and let Seth fill me in on the details. As for the babysitting me…yeah, he still does that some, but I let it slide because I know he’s trying to do better. Sure, I still get pissed but not nearly as much.”
I looked at my watch. Hell, we hadn’t been at work for two full hours yet, and I was already dying to get away and implement my plan. To hell with work. I knew I could make my part up tonight, sitting at a computer. Turning to Baker, I asked, “How long will they be in there—you know…talk, talk, talking and plan, plan, planning?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. It usually lasts at least an hour, sometimes two. Why?”
If their meeting lasted two hours, it would be lunchtime when they came out. If it was lunch, there might not be too many questions about Baker and me not being around. It was risky but also a chance I was willing to take. “I need your help with something. Think you could sneak away for a few hours?”
Baker’s eyes glittered with excitement when he looked at me. “Are we doing something sneaky and naughty? Something that might earn me some more punishment? I like punishments just fine, for the record.”
