“Damn close to it.”
“She has a lot of baggage,” he said mildly as they moved over to the weight machines.
Hunter snorted. “Since when did that stop us from hiring anyone? Fuck, if the criteria for working here is you can’t have baggage then we’ll all be jobless by the end of the day.”
He wasn’t just talking about whatever had gone on at the FBI. Gray had done a thorough background check on her. It didn’t matter that she was Travis Andrews’s cousin, and that, despite the animosity between Hunter and Travis, he kind of liked the guy. He wasn’t going to hire anyone he didn’t think was a good fit. He’d found a newspaper article from twenty-seven years ago about her brother’s death. It didn’t say much, just that he’d been under the influence of alcohol when he’d crossed the centre line and crashed into another car.
Lacey had only been seven at the time. She’d gone on to ace everything she’d put her hand to. She’d graduated high school early, excelled at college, her boss from when she’d worked as a counselor had nothing but good things to say about her. Her superior at the FBI had been a bit more guarded, but then those bastards never were forthcoming.
On paper, she’d seemed a pretty sure bet as an employee. But in reality, she appeared to be a scared, defensive woman, and he wasn’t certain she was a good fit.
“She was right when she said she was a hard-worker. You can’t dispute that.”
“She’s not a team-player.”
“And I am? Cady wasn’t either when she first came here.”
But that was different. Hunter was his partner. And Cady was a team player now.
“You really want to keep her on?” Gray couldn’t believe they’d both done a one eighty on the subject.
Hunter eyed him. “I’m not sure why you don’t. Just because she hasn’t fallen under your spell doesn’t mean she’s not good at her job. Sure, she’s wound tighter than a jack-in-the-box, but a few sessions at the club will fix that.”
“She’d never step foot in the club.” She probably had no idea that most of the employees of Black-Gray were members of The Twisted Thorn, the BDSM club he owned with Hunter and Simon, a friend of theirs who managed the club. “She’d probably run a mile if she knew we were Dominants.”
“I’m not sure. If anyone could use a session over a spanking bench, it’s her. Anyone with eyes can see how tense she is, how much she carries. She needs to let go for a while. You could offer to give her a good spanking.”
Gray snorted. “Yeah, that’s never going to happen.” Not in a million years.
Chapter Five
“We’re going out for celebratory drinks.” Cady stuck her head into Lacey’s office. At least she’d been given her own space. It was her little sanctuary. A place to hide.
From Gray.
She grimaced at that thought. She should be more together than this. Mature. It was kind of getting embarrassing, the way she ran in the other direction whenever she saw him. And obvious. He had to have noticed. Had to have wondered why she barely spoke more than a few words to him.
You’re a smart, educated woman. You can handle talking to one man. He’s got flaws just like everyone else. She knew the real problem was with her. She was attracted to him and she shouldn’t be. He was way out of her league. He was confident, gorgeous, perfect. And she was, well, screwed-up. She didn’t want to want him. But for some reason, her damn body wasn’t listening to her brain.
“You have to come. It’s you we’re celebrating.”
“Me? Why?” She rubbed at her temples. She’d just finished talking to one of their clients whose ex-husband was stalking her, and it had brought up a lot of bad memories for her.
He’d just been so damn charming.
She let out a long breath. The last thing she felt like was socializing right now. She wanted to slink home, crawl under the covers of her bed and forget this day had happened. Maybe she’d be able to find some cheesy chick flick to watch. Something to take her mind off everything.
“Duh! Your four weeks are up. We’re celebrating your new job.”
She looked up in surprise. “But I haven’t been given the job yet.”
Cady frowned slightly. “The guys didn’t tell you? You know, I’ve come to expect this from Hunter, but Gray is usuall
y much more communicative. I honestly don’t know how he’s worked with Hunter all these years without strangling him. The job is yours if you want it. You want it, right?”
She did. Much as she wished she didn’t have to work so closely with Gray, she liked the job.
“I do.”