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“Yes, sir,” came both voices. They knew I never asked for anything twice.
It was the nature of our business to have security cameras throughout the building, but our newest hire didn’t need to feel like she was sitting in a fishbowl. All of the men who worked here were decent guys, but Addy was young and beautiful and thus bound to garner attention.
After ensuring everything was running as expected in the hub, I should’ve gone to my office to prep for my meeting. But instead I found myself heading to the freezer and retrieving an ice pack.
I kept them here for when I overdid it with my workouts. But now it could serve to reset my frankly less-than-stellar first and second impressions.
As a man out in the world amongst the masses, I never took active steps in order to speak with people, preferring silence, but as the owner of a company, I had to make an effort with my employees. Even with the ones who were pains in the ass.
But when I walked through the door to reception, I frowned when I didn’t see her. Where the hell had she gone? Wait, she her under her desk. “Addison?”
She jumped, banging her head on the desk before crawling up. Rubbing the top of her scalp, she said, “Yeah, I’m here.”
“You all right?”
She smiled. “Yep, peachy.”
Jesus, was she always so clumsy? “What were you doing?”
“I was plugging in my phone charger.”
“Guess I should’ve brought you two ice packs.”
Her beautiful face lit up. “Careful or I’ll start thinking you’re my personal ice pack delivery guy. Thank you.”
Crap, I could feel my face heating. It was like I was suddenly sixteen and asking a girl out. Not as if I’d ever been good at that, either.
“So what’s the catch?”
My eyes rolled. Here we went again. “Are you always so stubborn? I came out here for a truce.”
She huffed a sigh. “My apologies. How about we start over? My name is Addison Moore, but everyone calls me Addy.”
“I’m Leonardo Chambers, but everyone calls me Leo.”
She stood up and extended her hand. But instead of taking it in the handshake she offered, I turned it over to inspect her palm. Yep, there was the gash from the fall I’d seen in the video feed. “You need a first aid kit.”
When my gaze slid to her face, her eyes went wide. I wasn’t sure if she was surprised by my unexpected words or, perhaps, my extended touch.
Dropping her hand like a stone, I cleared my throat. “There’s a kit under the sink in the kitchen with Band-Aids and such. Welcome to Delta Security. If you need anything, let Nic know.”
“Will do. Uh, I didn’t ask Nic, but I guess I should ask you. Is it okay to keep my hair pink? I know some places have rules.”
“We aren’t the type of place who cares. You should be yourself.” Although I’d embraced the strict rules of the military while I’d been a part of it, now that I was out, I didn’t care what people thought of my look. I certainly wouldn’t enforce a dress code. So long as I didn’t see an ass hanging out, and people were clean, I didn’t care how they expressed themselves.
She flashed a sheepish smile, the action reminding me how innocent and young she must be. “Okay, good.”
“I’ll email you the form I’ll need to do a background check. I’ll expect it completed by the end of the day.” The last part came out as abrupt.
But she merely smiled. “You’ve got it.”
ChapterFive
ADDISON
Leo was totally not my type, with his massive size, tattoos climbing up to his neck, beard, and long hair, not to mention his unappealing personality, and yet I couldn’t stop thinking about him later that night once I was back at my apartment. The man definitely made an impression. Especially after he’d called me a hot mess but then proved thoughtful enough to bring me an ice pack. Again.
My cousin, Malorie, walked into our apartment a few minutes after seven o’clock, still dressed in her black-on-black attire from the spa where she worked. She was an esthetician who did facials and waxing at the Caesars Palace hotel.
