He smiled. “You’re here late, Miss St. Clair.”
I jabbed an accusing finger at Jake’s back. “My boss is a ruthless overlord who doesn’t think I deserved the night off.”
Hank, the security guard, blinked rapidly.
Jake held up both hands. “Hey now, that’s not true at all. She volunteered to stay.”
“Otherwise, I knew he’d fire me,” I said.
Hank scowled at Jake. “Goodnight, Miss St. Clair.”
“Goodnight, Hank,” I chimed as Jake held the doors open for me. I breathed in the evening air and twirled to face him as the door swung shut behind him. He shook his head at me. I giggled. “What?”
“Did you really have to throw me under the bus like that?”
“Why not? I like to shake things up. Besides, now you know his name is Hank and you have a reason to make nice with him and prove that you’re not a terrible overlord.”
“You really like this word overlord, don’t you?”
“I might read a little too much science fantasy.”
He gave me that chuckle of his, the one that always accompanied a shake of the head and a smirk. “Let me walk you to your car.”
“I can handle it.”
“I insist. It’s late, and it’s dark, and the city can be unforgiving sometimes.”
I wasn’t going to argue. I let Jake walk me to my car in the lot, and without knowing why, I took my time fumbling for my keys in my purse to make the last minutes of our evening together stretch out a little longer.
When I finally found them and couldn’t delay any longer, I turned to him and leaned against my car, not caring if it left dust on my skirt. “Well, I’m surprised myself to admit this out loud, but I had a good day today.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. You’re not as dismally terrible as I chalked you up to be, Jake Cassidy. You have some redeeming qualities. Not many, but some.”
He laughed. It echoed off all the concrete around us—the ground, the pillars, the surrounding buildings. I basked in it.
“Some is better than none, I suppose.”
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” I cautioned. “Some is a teeny tiny number.”
He laughed again. “Why am I paying you so much money?”
“It’s all part of the package.”
Am I flirting with my boss? My cheeks suddenly burned. Shit. I totally am. I’m standing here like a bimbo throwing stupid jokes at him all because I want to hear him laugh, like I’m some sixteen-year-old, high-strung, boy-obsessed cling-on.
I cleared my throat and unlocked my door. “Well, I should go home.”
“I’ll see you in the morning, Miss St. Clair. Oh, and don’t bother coming in until ten o’clock. We pulled a late one tonight. Catch some extra hours of sleep.”
That was a generous offer that surprised me. I smiled, got into my car, and watched him stride toward his sports car parked in the reserved space. The taillights flashed when he disarmed the alarm, and he slid behind the wheel, placing one long leg in the car at a time. The engine roared to life and hummed while I sat in my driver’s seat like a fool.
Get a grip, Gabi. He’s hot, but he’s not your type. Up until last week he treated you like the gum on the bottom of his shoe.
While I rattled off a list of all the things I’d hated about him just a week ago, I slid my keys into the ignition and turned them.
Nothing happened.