Pie had a good way of reading people, and right now, he didn’t like what he saw. One of the men hugged Lindsey and moved on, but the other, with the smarmy as fuck smile and beady eyes, kept his arm around her.
Pie noticed that Lindsey was trying to move away and that she even had this smile on that didn’t alert anyone to the fact she was uncomfortable. If he’d not known her this past year, and gotten to know her quirks, he wouldn’t have seen it himself.
Grabbing his beers, he put down a couple of notes, and made his way over. Wrapping his arm around Lindsey’s waist, he pulled her close.
“Hey, man, nice to meet you,” Pie said, breaking all contact that the fucker had with her.
“Pie, I’d like you to meet my boss, Richard. Richard, this is my best friend, Pie.”
He held out his hand, and Richard took it.
The guy had a wimp handshake. Pie squeezed the fucker’s hand tight, letting him know exactly who was the boss here. He’d gladly wipe this fucker’s face off the world without batting a fucking eyelid.
“Wicked party, I think it’s time for me and Lindsey to go and dance now.” He released the man’s hand and sipped from his bottle. Without waiting for any more introductions, he took Lindsey’s hands in his, feeling the slight quiver.
The song changed to a slow one, and he pulled her in against him.
“Do you want me to kill that bastard?” he asked.
“No. It’s nothing I can’t handle. Most of the time he’s harmless.”
“That shit didn’t look harmless to me.”
“It’s nothing, Pie.”
He stared into her eyes, seeing that she was begging him to drop it. “You don’t like him.”
“I need the job.”
“Are you screwing him?”
“What the fuck, Pie? No, I’m not. I know I like sex and I’ve made it pretty clear that I do a lot of stuff, but that doesn’t mean I sleep with every single guy with a dick. He’s my boss. I wouldn’t do that.”
“He wants it.”
“That’s the problem, but I can’t get another job. Not one that pays that well, and I like where I live.”
“I could move in with you. Help pay the rent.”
“No, I’m not doing that, Pie. You’re my best friend, and this is not a problem. Believe me, okay. It’s really not.”
“I don’t like it,” Pie said.
He didn’t want to ruin her job.
Lindsey was independent all the way. She wouldn’t have any man taking care of her, he knew that. She’d told him from the start that she wanted a man who could handle a woman who was an equal in all things.
She cupped his face, forcing him to look at her. “Trust me, Pie. Please. I can do this. It’s nothing. Women go through stuff like this every single day.”
“It doesn’t make it right.”
“Doesn’t make it wrong either.” She sighed. “Stop worrying. Tonight is about fun.”
“He’s not going to dance with you.”
“Then you better make sure you don’t see your Miss Right, and stay dancing with me, don’t you think?”
He kept his hands on her waist, but he knew there was no chance of him finding anyone else. There wasn’t another person he wanted to see. Lindsey was the woman that he cared about, and everyone else paled in comparison. “You want me to play nice?”
“Yes. He’s my boss, Pie. I can handle it and him. Please, don’t worry about it.” She tapped his chest and gave him that sweet as fuck smile, but it wasn’t okay, far from it.
They finished their dance and joined the others at the party. Richard had moved on to different meat, so Pie stayed by Lindsey’s side, wrapping an arm around her waist, keeping her close.
She didn’t argue, and he didn’t let up either, staying by her side until the perfect opportunity arose, and that was when Richard decided to go to the bathroom. Excusing himself, Pie made his way toward the bathroom.
Lindsey clearly didn’t want him to go, but that was fine. He needed to pee.
As luck would have it, there was no one in the room. Pulling out his dick, he stood against the urinals, and cleared his throat.
“I didn’t know anyone was in here,” Richard said, standing right next to him.
“Got to take a pee. You’re going to stay away from Lindsey.”
Richard burst out laughing. “I don’t know if you know Lindsey at all, but she has a tendency to do what she wants and no one controls her.”
“Okay, you’re clearly not hearing me correctly. I wasn’t asking nicely, and I wasn’t asking you for Lindsey. I get that you work with her, but whatever you think is going to happen, it’s not. You and Lindsey are never going to happen.”
He finished his piss and moved to wash his hands, still ready to strike at any minute.