Blade chuckled. “Be careful, Jackson. I’m convinced Grace sold her soul to the devil to play chess as well as she does.”
Candice walked up and wrapped an arm around Blade’s waist, which resulted in Blade hauling Candice off to the side of the house and behind some bushes. Lucky bastard. Merrick wanted to haul Chloe off. He would have too had his mother not suckered him into manning the grill.
Jackson’s disgruntled tone as he remarked about a blonde devil in blue jeans pulled Merrick away from Blade and Candice’s naughty rendezvous. As his gaze caught on Grace, he realized she was a breath away from killing his V.P of Operations. For some infernal reason, Jackson and Grace had never gotten along. Which made what he was about to propose just this side of insane.
“Before you two disintegrate into another of your fascinating arguments, I have something to say.”
Jackson narrowed his eyes. “To both of us?”
Merrick pulled Chloe to his side. Needing to feel her seemed as necessary as breathing. When she melted against him, peace stole through him. “Yeah, it concerns you both.” His gaze rested on Grace. “I want Jackson to interview you for the position as marketing rep.”
“Merrick, I don’t—”
He cut Grace off with a hard look. “You said yourself you wanted to work for me. With your schooling, you’re the most qualified person for the position.”
“I figured you’d hire me to work for you. I didn’t plan to be this dweeb’s glorified gofer.”
Merrick clenched his jaw as a headache started to come on. “You won’t be a gofer. Jackson’s solid. He’ll show you the ropes and treat you right.”
Grace stepped closer and planted her hands on her hips. “Maybe you’ve not been paying attention, but Jackson and I don’t exactly see eye to eye.”
“That’s only because you’re ten inches shorter than me, Gracie.”
Jackson seemed to be having way too much fun with this. Merrick never could understand why the man seemed to take such pleasure in provoking Grace. “Christ, Jackson, can’t you at least try to be nice?”
“Can I say something?”
He hadn’t expected Chloe to want a say in it. Although, one of the things they’d learned since they’d started counseling was to respect each other’s role in the business. At one time Vaughn’s Business Solutions had been in his name alone. He’d fixed that error. Now the business was both of theirs, equally. It’d been another attempt to prove to Chloe that he was deadly serious about keeping her number one in his life.
Merrick nodded, encouraging her to go on. Chloe dove right in. “Grace, you won’t get a better opportunity than this. You’ve worked hard to get that degree, and Merrick’s offer is your reward. Besides, isn’t this exactly what you wanted?”
Grace nodded and stayed silent, for once. Amazing.
As they wa
lked away, Merrick quirked his lips and tugged his wife around to face him. “You’re good.”
Chloe laughed. “All I did was point out the obvious.”
“What if they kill each other? This may end up a real bad idea.”
“No, they won’t. She’s in love with him, and he’s got the hots for her big time.”
Merrick stiffened, every single one of his protective instincts kicking in. “The hell you say! He’s way too damned old for her.”
Chloe placed two fingers against his lips and said, “Shh, it’s their business, not ours. And he’s only thirty-two to her twenty-two. Not exactly a huge gap.”
Merrick’s gaze sought out the two antagonists, shocked to the core when he witnessed Jackson sliding his fingers through Grace’s blonde hair. Grace stepped back, forcing Jackson to drop his hand. “He has no business thinking of her that way,” Merrick muttered.
Chloe laughed, which had him as hard as a baseball bat. “Only because she’s your little cousin and you’re way too overprotective. Let it go. It’ll all work out.”
“I still don’t like it,” he grumbled.
Chloe smoothed her thumb over his bottom lip, adding extra fuel to the fire in his loins. He grabbed her wrist and sucked the digit into his mouth, then bit the fleshy tip. “Think of a way to escape, baby,” he murmured around her finger. “I need you.”
“I’ll always need you, Merrick.”
“Keep saying things like that and I’m hauling your ass out of here, regardless of the barbeque.”