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“Technically, we don’t.” His small smile is a bit sheepish. “I hate to just show up like this, but I was hoping he and I could discuss a few things this morning. And this darn cell phone of mine only works half the time.” He pulls from the pocket of his shirt what has to be the original Nokia cell phone.
“Well, since Noah brought that thing over on the Ark, I have no doubt it doesn’t work when it should.” We share a laugh and now that my limbs have thawed and my shivering has stopped, I figure it’s a good idea for me to phone Jake and let him know we’re coming up.
“Give me just a second. I’m going to call Jake and let him know you’re here so he’ll be decent.” Fuck! “I mean dressed.” Shit. “I mean…yeah.” I scramble out of my seat and across the room but not before hearing Jim’s chuckle or seeing the glint of amusement in his eyes.
I grab Alfred’s desk phone and hit the button labeled with a big P. It rings eight times. I know because I counted the damn things and cursed Jake on every ring he didn’t answer.
“Penelope.” My knees shake at his deep tone laced with the promise of so many orgasms.
“Jake…” I breathe, gripping the phone so tight I’m surprised it doesn’t crack under my hold.
“Whose fucking jacket are you wearing?”
“What? How did you know—”
“I can see you. The surveillance cameras are linked to my phone. Now. Whose fucking jacket are you wearing?”
I look directly into the little black dome above my head and smile. “Are you jealous?”
“Yes. I won’t ask you again, gorgeous.”
Have mercy.
He’s jealous.
Of me.
Kryptonite.
“Jim Canton is here. Just thought I’d let you know before we came up and caught you…busy.”
“You didn’t answer my question, Penelope.”
I smile to myself and sway back and forth while I write Mrs. Swagger with my finger on the desk like a sixth grader. “It’s Jim’s. The Uber driver wouldn’t bring the stuff inside. I had to go out and get it. In the blizzard. About froze to death.” I poke my lip out and look up at the camera. “It was awful, Jake.”
“That son-of-a-bitch.”
I bat my lashes at him. “What are you going to do?”
There’s a beat of silence as the rustle of fabric brushes over the phone. He must be getting dressed. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” he growls. My blood heats at the imminent promise of torture he’ll deliver to defend my honor. “I’m going to leave that motherfucker a bad review.”
Wait.
What?
“A bad review?”
“That’s right.”
“Okay, stop with the Batman voice. Now you just sound ridiculous. We’re coming up.” I hang up before my desire for him ebbs even more.
Jim, who has been listening to only one side of the conversation, fights his laughter as he joins me. “Sounds like the weather isn’t the only thing you’re not used to. City boys are a lot different.”
“I know, right? Whatever happened to the kind of good ol’ chivalry where a man beat the shit out of another man? Don’t they know it’s way hotter than fighting someone with lawyers or…bad reviews?” I have to choke the last word out.
His strong laughter fills the room. “I’ve no doubt Jake would handle business physically if it came down to that.” He brushes his shoulder against mine and winks. “Don’t be too hard on him. It isn’t his fault he’s a city slicker. I’m sure he more than makes up for it in other departments.”
Is he talking about…
No.
He’s not.
There is nothing suggestive about what he says. He probably means he’s intelligent. Powerful. Rich…
“You’re right. I mean, he does have a Rolex.”
“One of those real fancy watches?”
“Yep. I think the cheapest ones are like twenty grand. So I’m sure his cost well over a hundred.”
“For a watch?”
“Mmhm.”
“Does he know that it just…tells time?”
I look up at him and smile. “Jim. I think we’re soul mates. Excuse me.”
He chuckles, but it dies when I face the corner and start humming. I can feel him looking. Like they all look. Not that I care.
“That was…strange,” he says, once we make it to Jake’s floor.
“I am a strange girl, Jim.”
I look up and Jake is standing in the doorway to greet us. Wearing a white Henley. And jeans. And he’s barefoot. And I just died and went to heaven.
His smile is wide. Eyes fixated on me. And I’m positive he’s about to say something sexy and sweet and swoony. Like maybe I’m his perfect kind of strange.
“Batshit crazy is more like it.”
Or not.Chapter EighteenJake and Jim have been in Jake’s office for forever.
I’ve eaten my pancake breakfast platter.
Took a shower.
Dug through Miss Sims’s wardrobe.
Found nothing as awesome as that Chanel pants suit.
Put the pants suit back on.
Straightened the guest bathroom.
Made Jake’s bed.
Run out of lives on Toy Blast.
