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Of course, he didn’t. The man didn’t seem like he kept up with pop culture at all. I’d have to start throwing in some culinary jokes about Gordon Ramsey or something, to see if that hit the mark.
On my next pass through the kitchen, I topped up my mug and added a dash of cream and sugar. I’d already had five cups in the last two hours, but this kind of break could mean I’d be up all night, so the more caffeine the better.
When Drew had come home, I’d rushed out to greet her like the puppy dog I’d accused Rick of being. Shit, I mean, I was excited and this was for Drew sure, but Dion had tons of dirt on so many of the associates I dealt with on a daily basis.
I could literally feel myself floating up that social ladder, with all the leverage I was currently downloading onto my private cloud. It was a miracle I’d been able to access the data without the machines self-wiping, but I wasn’t going to take a chance on losing the information before I could comb through it all.
Now, Drew was upstairs taking a shower so she didn’t smell like ass. I had told her I was kidding, but that was just to back peddle and not upset the hand that was feeding me. And hopefully stroking me later…
“I thought I cut you off.” Rick snatched the mug out of my hand and dumped it down the sink.
“Hey!” I protested. But I didn’t try to wrestle it out of his grip. One, after the way he reacted to a teensy little comment about his position here, and really, house husband wasn’t even that derogatory of a term, it—and he—hit me that he was a looser cannon than I realized. Two, it was by far the easier route to just take a new cup out of the cabinet and fill it up. I was a lover, not a fighter. All my life I’d also operated under the memorandum,work smarter, not harder.
Just as I got a mug down, Rick snapped that out of my hand too. “Seriously. You aren’t even done washing that one. How did you even see me behind you?”
“I said no more coffee. The coffee I made is for her. Not you.”
“Really?” I asked incredulously. “I could be up all night combing through the data I extracted and you want to cut me off? I’m just going to keep pulling mugs down, so you have to decide if you want to spend the evening washing dishes after I’ve dirtied them up by touching them, or you can let me have a fucking cup of coffee.”
Rick bared his teeth in a feral...grimace? I had no fucking clue what that was but it wasn’t a smile. His fists curled up into tight balls at his side, but true to his word, he didn’t try to hit me. I’d have to thank Drew for that little boon later. Preferably in the form of an orgasm.
My brain was my biggest asset and I couldn’t have Rick scrambling it just because he was a hothead and I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
If he listened so well to Drew, I might not have to watch my words so much. A sly grin curled the edges of my lips as I turned away, safe in the knowledge that he wasn’t going to grab this next mug out of my hand.
After fixing yet another cup of coffee the way I liked it, I gulp down half of it in two swallows. The warmth traveling to my stomach was everything I hoped it would be. Already, I could feel the caffeine working through my blood vessels.
“I’ll make another pot once this one is empty,” I toss out over my shoulder. He was trying, so I couldn’t be a complete dick. I propped myself up against the counter and glared at Rick, and apparently, he was happy to return it with his own intimidating flare.
Drew bounded down the stairs. I turned to see her dressed in a pair of loose gray trainers and a black wife beater. This girl, I swore. She made unsexy workout clothes desirable with the way they hugged her curves in all the right places.
It was a sin how good she looked and didn’t even appear to know it. A cardinal sin, in fact.
We watched her every movement as she refilled her cup with coffee and grabbed a sandwich Rick had prepared for her. Sometimes the weirdo reminded me of Spongebob. He truly did make all her food with love.
“Show me everything.” A trickle of excitement seeped into her eyes. “Rick, you don’t have to stay up, you can go to bed if you want. It’s already late.”
“I’d rather stay with you,” he said quietly as he cut a quick glance toward me.
“Are you sure? I know you took in a lot today.” Her concern melted some of his rigidity.
He nodded. “It’s not too much. I promised I’d tell you when and if it reached that point. Anyway, it’s more efficient to learn everything with you now, rather than having to recount it to me later.”
“True,” she agreed and shrugged.
Well, what a fucking treat. I got to have Drew and Rick all to myself for several hours. Sighing, I flung an arm out for them to lead the way.
Drew smirked over at me, as if she could sense the disappointment I knew she couldn’t see. Whatever, the information I’d gathered was too good to let this bother me.
Inside the study, I pointed at the chair next to mine. “You can sit here. Rick, you can grab a chair from the dining room, just make sure not to trip over any cords when you come back in. That’s one sure fire way to get permanently kicked out of my workspace for life.”
“There are rules in here?” I swore he perked up a little at that. Strange fucker.
“Um yeah, the first rule of the lair is don’t touch anything. The second rule, is revert back to the first rule, unless I explicitly express otherwise.”
He nodded and ducked out to get his chair.
Cracking my knuckles, I grinned at Drew. “Are you ready to have your world rocked?”
