The Whole Package, page 26
“Shoot. Really?”
“Yeah, but I can’t say for certain.”
Reid frowned. “He passed his criminal check. I don’t know. Let’s keep an eye on him.”
“Problem is we need him, and I don’t have time to babysit the guy. Stan, Heidi, and Funny Rob—who’s not that funny, actually—are good to go. Lafayette and Hector gave Funny Rob a thumbs-up. Finley okayed Stan.” Cash grinned. “Heidi’s my personal fave. You know she watches Real Housewives? Bro, she adds value to our team.”
Reid sighed. “Great. How about we call that big guy, Smith Ramsey, and put him on standby?”
Cash frowned. “I didn’t like him.”
“I did. He called today to check in. He’s a Marine, and he’s responsible. At least on paper. His background check and references checked out. All had good things to say about him.” Aside from the fact that he was a sarcastic prick.
“We don’t have the space.”
“We—”
Jordan knocked on the door. “Can I talk to you guys?”
“Sure.” Reid glanced at Cash and saw his brother checking her out, subtly, but it was there all the same. Reid cleared his throat, and Cash glanced down at some papers on the desk.
Jordan entered and closed the door behind her. “We have a problem.”
“What did Mannie do?” Cash asked.
She blinked. “Ah, how do you know I’m here about Mannie?”
Now it was Cash’s turn to look surprised. “What? No way Heidi made a move on you!”
Jordan frowned, then blushed. “No, you idiot. I’m here about Mannie.”
“Which is what I asked in the first place,” Cash grumbled.
Reid hid a smile. “Jordan, what’s this about Mannie?”
She sighed. “I saw him take something today, and when I called him on it, he said it happened to fall into a box he was moving. Reid, I know what I saw. He was stealing Mrs. Early’s jewelry.”
Cash straightened in his seat, his gaze intent. “What did Mannie say when you called him on it?”
She shrugged. “Said if I was smart, I’d forget about it. That I hadn’t seen what I thought I had, and if I made trouble, he’d make trouble back.” A mean look came over Jordan’s cute face. “Excuse my French, but fuck him. I’m not going to get fired because he has sticky fingers. I won’t work with him again, and if you’re smart, you won’t either.” She glared at Cash, as if daring him to contradict her.
Cash nodded, and her ire seemed to fade. “Thanks, Jordan. Good work. We’ll take care of him.”
She took a step back. “Oh, well. Okay then.” She looked to Reid for confirmation.
“We don’t tolerate thievery or bullshit. And threatening a fellow vet over an accusation instead of coming to us about it? That’s not cool.”
She gave a relieved smile. “Good. Because I really need this job.”
“You got it,” Cash said gruffly, then playfully added in a teasing voice, “unless you start stealing too.”
Jordan didn’t find him amusing. She poked him in the chest, right over the spot healing on his sternum.
Cash winced.
“Suck it up, you big baby. And don’t ever tease me about stealing anything. I don’t do that shit. Ever.”
“Sorry, sorry.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Jesus. I was kidding.”
Jordan just laughed. “You’re in for it, Griffith. Just you wait.” She cackled like a witch and hissed at Cash, then left.
“Damn, I like her.” Cash beamed. “Now let’s can Mannie before I rip his arms off.”
Reid sighed. “Bring him here and let me do it. You just stand around looking threatening. I’m not getting sued for wrongful termination because you beat him to death with his own arm.”
“Hey, if he’s dead, he can’t sue.”
“His wife can,” Reid snapped, out of patience.
Cash, the bastard, chuckled and left to fetch Mannie.
Naomi called.
“Hello?”
“Just wanted to say hi, Reid. And to remind you about Chris Jennings’s party on Saturday.”
“I’ll be there.” He paused. “Are we going as a couple or as work friends?”
She took a moment to answer. “Work friends, I think. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to hide us, but this account with Jennings is huge for me. And it’s bad enough I have to work with Tanner, even though I know you hate it. I hate it too.”
He refused to be that guy, the one who couldn’t handle his girlfriend alongside her ex. He trusted her, damn it. But he didn’t trust Tanner. “I’m cool. Like I said, he touches you, I’ll gut him.”
She laughed. She obviously had no idea he was serious. Good thing she hadn’t seen him fight at the gym. She still thought him mostly a gentleman. He planned to keep it that way.
He’d seen her all week. The sex, as usual, was fantastic, their connection deepening. At least, on his part.
Reid hated being this way, hated that just hearing her voice made everything better. Since when had he ever depended on anyone or anything for his happiness?
“Sure, Reid,” she was saying. “Sounds good. Are you doing okay?”
“I’m good.” He coughed. “Great. Looking forward to the party.”
“I wish I was.” She sighed. “I know this will turn out okay in the end. I just hope Tanner doesn’t think he can dictate how we approach our advertising strategy.”
Reid heard voices coming closer. “Hey, sweetheart. I’m sorry, but I have to go. Work calls.”
“Oh, I’m rambling. Sorry. See you soon.” She disconnected, and he immediately felt depressed.
Sack up, he told himself.
Cash walked in with Mannie, both of them looking a little tense.
“You wanted to see me, Reid?” Mannie shot Cash a wary look.
“Come on in, and shut the door.”
Mannie took a seat across from Reid’s desk. Cash stood by the exit, leaning against the wall.
“What’s up?” Mannie tried to act tough, but Reid thought he looked nervous.
Reid watched him, letting the silence build, wondering if Mannie would say anything.
“Hey, look, if this is about what Jordan thinks she saw, she’s wrong.” He tried to laugh it off. “Damn. I was moving shit from one room to the van. I swear, she thinks I was stealing. If I was stealing, why would I wrap the stuff in a moving box and put it on the damn truck?”
“Why would you move the customer’s personal jewelry without her okay?”
“What? Hell, man. I don’t remember all the rules. That’s why I’m still a trainee, right?”
Cash snorted. “Bullshit. We went over that the first day. I remember because I told you. Get out.”
Reid held up a hand. “Hold on. Mannie, you were seen taking jewelry from the customer’s bedroom. When Jordan spotted you, you then suddenly turned to the van, as if to place it there. Then, after you were caught, you threatened Jordan not to tell.”
“That’s crap. I didn’t do any of that.”
“Really?” Cash opened the door and yelled for Jordan, who had insisted on being there to confront Mannie. Subtle his brother was not.
“Keep it down, son,” Dan snapped. “I told you earlier I’d get her when you asked.”
“Oh, sorry, Dan.” Cash smiled at the older guy, then waited for Jordan to enter before closing the door again.
Jordan scowled at Mannie.
Mannie scowled back and stood to face his accuser.
Reid wished it to all be over. “Jordan, can you please tell us what Mannie said to you?”
“He said he wasn’t stealing but—”
“No,” Reid interrupted. “The part about where he threatened you.”
She planted her hands on her hips and stared Mannie down. “He said if I was a smart bitch, I’d keep my mouth shut. Because he needed this job. And if I ratted him out, I’d pay.”
“So he threatened you?” Reid said, cutting off Cash. “That’s workplace harassment.”
Everyone who came on to Vets on the Go! signed a harassment disclaimer, agreeing to immediate termination if found guilty.
Jordan’s eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah, I was harassed. And Heidi heard it, if you need more proof.”
Mannie didn’t seem to like hearing that. His eyes narrowed, but he looked worried.
“As we have a non-harassment policy, one that you, Mannie, signed, what do you have to say?”
Mannie swore. “They’re lying. They don’t like me outworking them is all. Not my fault I’m a go-getter.”
Jordan scoffed. “Please. The only thing you’re likely to get is jail time for petty theft.”
“Fuck you, Jordan. It’s your word against mine.”
“Don’t forget Heidi,” Reid reminded him.
“The big lesbo?” Mannie snorted. “Whatever. You ask me, she’s not that bright. She barely talks and doesn’t really know what she’s doing anyway. She’ll say whatever Jordan wants her to say because she hates men.”
Cash blinked. “Now you have a problem with Heidi?”
Reid had heard enough. “Manuel Lorenzo, you’re fired. Your final paycheck will be mailed to you by the end of the week. Cash will escort you from the premises.”
Mannie looked ready to explode. “This is bullshit! I didn’t do nothing!” He started going off in Spanish, and Reid caught a few words that weren’t so good.
Then Jordan fired back at him in Spanish, the two of them engaging in a lethal battle of swearing and insults, if Reid was a good judge of facial expressions.
“Do it, puta. I’ll make you wish you had the balls to.” Mannie grinned.
The poor bastard didn’t realize Cash understood a lot more than he’d let on. Cash said something in a low voice that had Mannie, and Jordan, staring in surprise. “Yeah, fucker, I know what you’re saying. You and me, we’re gonna have a nice long chat once you’re off our property. You come near her, even to say hello, I’ll rip off your dick and shove it up your ass. Just for fun.” Cash took a few steps toward Mannie, who backed away, his eyes wide.
“Try it, cabrón. You might be bigger than me, but you’re not bigger than a bullet.” Mannie pretended to shoot him with his fingers. Cash grabbed those fingers and bent them backward.
Mannie shrieked in pain.
“Come on, bitch. Let’s take your finger gun outside.”
“Easy, Cash.” Reid knew better than to say anything, but Mannie had to know threatening Jordan wouldn’t go over well. “Take him outside, then break his hand.”
Cash let him go. “Okay.” He opened the door and shoved Mannie out of it.
Before Reid could join them, Jordan said, “I’ll go with them, as a witness. Oh, there’s Hector. I’ll grab him too.” She raced after Cash.
Reid worked another hour until he heard his phone alarm. Time to visit the lawyer to wrap up their mother’s will. She’d kept most of her things at the old house, only a few personal items and her clothing at the assisted living home, which one of the nurses had boxed up for them.
Reid still thought it odd their mother had been lucid enough to arrange for her passing with such thorough attention to detail.
But after he and Cash left the lawyer’s office a few hours later, he realized he’d never really known her at all.
Chapter 22
Naomi sat at her house, watching Reid pace. She wanted to cradle him to her, the way she had after his mother had passed. But not now. He seemed seriously freaked out.
“I’m telling you. Something’s not right about all this. My mother lived in the damn clouds for most of her life. Now suddenly she’s organized enough to divvy up her assets? Shit. I mean, shoot. It’s not like I want her money. But Naomi, she left me out of everything.” He blinked, swore, and kept pacing.
“That makes no sense. I’m so sorry, Reid.” She felt for him. From everything he’d told her before, his mother had loved him. She’d all but ignored Cash. “You know she loved you. Maybe this is her way of righting the wrong she did your brother.”
“Maybe.” He abruptly sat next to her on the couch. “Why do I even care? Why does she have the power to hurt me? She’s dead. There’s nothing of hers I want.” He paused. “Well, maybe a few pictures of me and Cash as kids. But her and my dad? It’s hard to love them. Even now.”
Yet he did. And that was why she loved him so much.
God, she had to keep repressing that emotion. Loving a man she’d met just a few weeks ago wasn’t smart.
If she could live off sex alone, she’d keep him. But there had to be more than a physical attraction between them. She liked Reid. A lot. He appealed to her on every level. And his sense of humor and intelligence met her on an equal playing field. But they had their differences. They’d fought on occasion. And they both loved making up.
This relationship felt too soon because she felt too much. Did he feel it too? Had he really been joking when he’d told her sister he loved her?
Reid reached for her hand. He liked touching her, and that need for connection warmed her.
“I’m sorry. I hate unloading on you. You’re just so easy to talk to.” He leaned his head back. “Why don’t you tell me about your day?”
“God, stop being so sensitive listening to me. Quit being nice.” Great, now she sounded like a shrew. “I mean, you can have a bad day. You can be angry at your mom. It’s okay, Reid.”
“I know it’s okay.” He took the “quit being nice” to heart. “I was trying to not be so selfish with our time.”
“Oh?”
He scowled. “I haven’t seen you much this week. I guess that doesn’t bother you.”
“Oh, now we’re bitchy. Okay. Run with that.” She knew she was pulling a tiger’s tail, but she liked this side of Reid.
“I’m being bitchy?” He yanked her to him and kissed the breath out of her. “Maybe you’re being bratty.”
“So what? You won’t do anything about it.” She nipped his lower lip.
Reid’s breathing grew shallow. “Is there something you want me to do about it?” He squeezed her breast, then dropped his hand to her leg, sliding it up under her skirt and over her panties, stopping right where she wanted him.
“Oh, I see. You’re wet for me. Why didn’t you say so?” He unzipped his pants and pulled himself out, stroking his hardening cock. He returned his fingers to her panties, nudging them aside. “You hungry, baby?”
She widened her legs, and his nostrils flared. He knew exactly what she wanted. He shoved first one finger then a second into her, pumping in and out. She ground against him, needy.
It wasn’t enough.
Abruptly, he withdrew his hand.
“Suck me off and I might give you what you want.” He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her over him.
The forcefulness turned her on, this little game they played.
She did what he wanted, opening her mouth wide to take him in.
“Fuck yeah.” Reid guided her head, using her hair like reins. “That’s it. Take me deeper.” He moaned as she cupped his balls, then snaked her tongue around him.
He tensed, gasping, and she knew he was close.
“Put yourself over me. Now, Naomi.”
She pulled away, ripped off her skirt and panties, and sat on him.
Reid moaned and sank into her, riding his bliss as he fingered her to her own climax.
Coming with Reid inside her felt like perfection. Naomi owned him like this, and they both knew it. She could watch him take his pleasure, knowing she’d given it to him. And she took him inside her body, accepting all of him.
She shifted over him, and he groaned.
“No, baby. Don’t move.” He arched up into her. “God, you feel good. I swear, if I could bottle you and keep you close all the time, I would.”
“For sex?” she teased.
He frowned at her. “For this.” He just stared, then brushed a hand over her hair, a finger over her cheek. The kiss that came gentled, drawing her closer. He was hugging her, still inside her as he softened. She felt his sigh against her neck, heard him inhale her.
“You smell like spring.” He smiled against her. “My favorite season.”
“I love spring too,” she said back, stroking his hair. I love you. But could she really love him so soon after meeting him? Her mother seemed to think so, but then Kim Starr wanted Naomi settled down. And she liked Reid.
“Reid?”
“Whatever you want,” he muttered.
She grinned, loving how sated they made each other.
“I want you to always be honest with me.” Unlike Tanner, Reid needed to put her first.
He opened his eyes. “Always? What if that dress really does make you look fat? You want me to say that?”
“What? No.” She huffed. “I meant about important things.”
“Okay.”
She studied him. “Just okay?”
“Sure. What do you want to know? Give me a test.”
Do you love me? “Do you like me?”
He scowled. “What the hell do you think? I’m making love to you.”
“You know, you only curse when you get really angry or really turned on.”
“Stop.” He flushed.
She found him adorable. “You are so cute when you’re embarrassed.”
“Cut it out.” He tried to hide a grin by shoving his face in her neck.
“Why do you do that?”
“I get your scent that way. And you really do smell amazing. You’re sweet, and you make me smile.”
“Reid.” He thought her sweet?
“It’s true.” He lifted his head to look at her, then cupped her cheeks. “Naomi, I see you, and I see everything I’ve ever wanted. You’re so smart, so quick and funny. And you get me hard, no question.”
