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Sawyer counted slowly backward from ten until the red haze left his eyes. “Maybe you’re not up to this today,” he said.
“Boss, Deidra brought in another mouse!”
J.D. growled as the massage therapist, Priscilla, appeared, wearing a newspaper hat in the shape of a sailboat. She wore jeans and a red shirt with The Gnat logo in the right-hand corner. His mother would call her well put together, even considering her headwear. Sawyer would call her hot in his head.Dark mahogany skin and thick black hair, she wore something around her eyes that made them bigger and bright red lipstick.
“This is not ‘wear your crazy hat to work’ day, Cill. That was last week,” J.D. said.
“Tommy made it, and I promised to wear it all day.”
“Because he’s paying your wages after all,” J.D. drawled.
“I’m not tackling Deidra and prying it from her mouth in my condition, and Lulu isn’t in yet, but she’s going to have a hissy fit when she sees it,” Priscilla said. “Birdie’s good at most things, but she’s too kindhearted to deal with this.”
This Sawyer knew about her. Birdie had once chased a moth around a dog bowl to save it, Ryder said. Then put it on a log to dry in the sun.
“You do it.” J.D. nudged Sawyer. “And while you’re at it, think about making good choices and what you’ve done.”
“You’re the boss, you do it,” Sawyer protested.
J.D. sighed. “Fine.”
“Such a good boss,” Sawyer niggled him.
“Got a date yet, Sawyer? Because I have twenty on you going solo to the wedding.”
“He’s taking Birdie,” J.D. said, still looking pissed.
“Really?” Cill smiled despite the impending loss of money. “That’s an interesting development.”
“It’s not interesting,” J.D. said. “It’s wrong. Birdie is innocent, he’s not.”
“She’s a big girl and can handle herself, boss. Don’t get your CK boxer briefs in a twist. She may come across like she’s just broken out of the cocoon, but trust me, she’s tougher than she looks.”
Sawyer had certainly seen another side of Birdie last night, and it seemed so had Priscilla.
“I need to get out of here early, boss. Tommy has a dental appointment for those retainers that we need to take a second mortgage out to pay for. Jed can’t get off early.”
“If you stopped breeding, this wouldn’t happen,” J.D. said.
“I know, right.” Cill patted her small baby bump. “Number three on the way.”
Sawyer had never understood the hang of wanting children. Just the thought of being provider and support network for a small human made him go cold all over. Okay, maybe a woman would play a part in that too, he conceded.
But then he’d sell a kidney for Ally and his family, so there was a chance he could do it with the right person, not that he was likely to let himself go there again.
“Okay, just make sure you have no clients, or they’ll be getting my hands on them if they come in, and that won’t be good for anyone.”
“Will do. Nice work on the wedding hookup, Sawyer.” Cill saluted him.
“It’s not a hookup!” J.D. roared. “You think about what you’re doing while I catch that mouse.”
“It’s not a date,” Sawyer said as his friend disappeared through the door behind Cill, leaving Sawyer to wonder why he’d woken up today and decided to be impulsive.
He’d just blackmailed Birdie McAllister into being his date. That was a new low, even for him.
Chapter7
Birdie was going with Sawyer Duke to his cousin’s wedding because he was blackmailing her. She had spent the day alternating between anger and excitement. It was closing time, and she was excited again.
