He laughed as he stood and tugged her skirt back down. “No, I stamped you. All the parts are mine through tomorrow night. Now stop dawdling and get to work, Ms. McAllen. I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow.”
She shook her head and stuck the sticky note with her address and phone number to the lapel of his jacket. If he got to brand her, then she got to brand him back. “A chill just went down the spine of every HR manager within a fifty mile radius.”
He laughed and lifted the signed document from his desk, holding it up. “Not true. I have no power over you, remember? At least not when it comes to work.”
“And outside of work?”
With an expression she couldn’t quite pin down, he turned back toward his desk. “See you soon, Tessa.”
NINE
“Hold up, you hired someone to head up the fundraiser without even consulting me? Dude, not cool.”
Kade turned the volume down on his car’s speakerphone, deserving any wrath his younger stepbrother, Gibson, wanted to throw his way but not needing to hear it in full stereo. “Look, I know, but I have good reason. And yes, she’s inexperienced but I know she’s going to work her ass off.”
There was a long pause. “I’m waiting for this good reason. I don’t have time to babysit someone.”
Kade sighed and turned into the driveway. “Hey, I’m here, we’ll finish this inside. Do I need to wear a hazmat suit?”
“Nah, I’m not contagious anymore. But you may want to wear a helmet ’cause I’m kind of feeling like I want to punch you right now.”
Kade sniffed and cut off the ignition, ending the call. He grabbed a paper sack from the passenger seat and climbed out of his car. Gibson’s golden lab, Sasha, gave a happy bark from the front window when she saw Kade striding up the walk. He gave her a little wave and pulled out his key, but Gibso
n opened the door before Kade could get it into the lock. Sasha charged past Gib with excited whines and greeted Kade, stopping just shy of tackling him to the ground.
Kade grinned and gave her head a scratch. “Hey, pretty girl.”
The dog bounced on her front legs and appeared ready to launch herself at him again, but Gibson grabbed her collar. “Sorry. I haven’t been able to take her on her walks the last few days. She’s stir crazy and sick of me.”
“Can’t blame her there,” Kade said, giving his brother a once-over. Gibson’s normal uniform of Armani suits sans neckties had been replaced with wrinkled pajama bottoms and an old Pearl Jam T-shirt. And his dark curly hair was going in three different directions. “You look like you’ve been at an all-night kegger then passed out in the yard.”
“I wish,” he said, heading into the kitchen. “At least then I would’ve probably gotten drunk and laid. Strep throat was much less fun. Want a beer?”
“You got Diet Coke?”
Gib gave him that look that said diet soda was a chick’s drink, but pulled one from the fridge and tossed it Kade’s way. Kade caught it with his free hand and set the bag he’d been carrying on the counter.
“What’s that?”
“I brought you Avgolemono soup from that place by the office, figured that’d be better than chicken noodle from a can.”
Gib’s face brightened as he leaned over and opened up the bag, peering in. “Aw, hell yeah. That’s the good stuff right there. I’m telling you, you need to buy that concept. There are far too few Greek places around here.”
“Don’t worry, a Mediterranean concept is next on my list.” He slid onto one of the barstools on the other side of the counter. Sasha settled at his feet as if waiting for her own takeout to be handed over. “And go ahead and eat. It’s still hot.”
Gib looked up, eyes narrowing as he pulled out the container of egg-lemon soup. “Don’t think this absolves you from hiring someone in my department while I was out. Start talking.”
Kade shook his head, amused by this hard-ass version of his little brother. Growing up, Gibson had always been the meek one. Hell, the poor kid hadn’t had much choice. After Kade had left home, Gib’s father—Kade’s stepfather—had moved on to Gibson as the next easy target and had escalated from verbal beat-downs to real ones. The thought still made Kade’s blood go cold. He’d never thought that bastard would rail on one of his own kids.
Kade opened his soda and took a swig as Gib hopped up on the opposite counter and eyeballed him. “The woman I hired is the founder of the charity we’ll be sponsoring. She’s very dedicated to the cause.”
“Okay . . .” Gibson said, then took a bite of soup, keeping his eyes on Kade.
“And I told her the position was only temporary at this point. Though, obviously, if she does a great job and Evelyn is unable to come back, feel free to keep her on.”
“Sounds like a big if on the great job part,” he mumbled between bites. “So why her? What’s with this rush to hire? I’m going to be back in the office tomorrow. You could’ve waited for me to interview her.”
Kade blew out a breath, figuring he just needed to lay it out there and deal with the consequences. “Because it’s Tessa McAllen.”