Now, with Jessica in my home, could I understand? Was that what Sandra had been referring to? That suddenly everything might change with the right woman?
I’d never believed in the ‘right woman’.
Never really thought about it enough to give it much of my time or attention.
But Jessica? She felt right. And even worse, she felt right, here in my home.
I liked seeing her in my kitchen, liked seeing her with my friends and, as Mac had said, my family. I wanted to watch her giggle, wanted to see her spread out on the large L-seater sofa in the den watching TV. I wanted her, even more, spread out on my bed, but hell, that might have been taking things a step too far.
We had to walk before we could run, and somehow, her being here at all felt like we’d already taken part in a marathon, and we’d seen each other out of the office only a handful of times!
I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like on the tenth date or fifteenth.
I blinked, the realization hitting me and stunning me that I wanted there to be fifteen dates.
Shit, I wanted there to be more.
Curling my hands around the side of my desk and feeling the carved wood of the plantation desk bite into my palms, I murmured, “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Why don’t you?” Alex asked, sounding shocked.
“Because it’s none of your business?”
Silence fell at my words, then, Derek hissed. “You like her, don’t you? The one woman you had to like and she works for us. You know what will happen after all that sexual harassment shit last year, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t,” I told him, bewildered. “I have no intention of sexually harassing Jessica. What the hell made you even think I would?”
Derek closed his eyes again and blindly stared up at the ceiling once more. “When you split up, she can use your time with her against us. Say you started something with her that was inappropriate.”
“I have no intention of doing anything inappropriate with her,” I retorted with a huff, folding my arms across my chest for good measure.
“You disappoint me, Maxy boy,” Alex said on a guffaw that had Derek rounding on him with another glower.
“Shut the fuck up. You’re not helping. You said you’d help.”
Alex clambered to his feet, just as huge as I was as he approached me with his hands held out like he was offering surrender. “Sorry, Der. Yeah, Max, little bro over here wanted me to make sure you knew what you were doing?”
I blinked at that. “When don’t I know what I’m doing?”
Alex snickered. “He has a point, Derek.”
“Again, not helping.”
I smirked at the pair of them. “Why are you so worried about my love life?”
“Mostly because you just said you had a fucking ‘love life’,” Derek half-screeched. “Since when have you had a love life? You have women you fuck. That’s it. Simple. Now, after her, you have a love life? What the fuck, man?”
Alex winced. “Shit, Max, I can see why Derek is flustered now. You really like her, don’t you? I mean, really?”
I hunched my shoulders. “Yeah. She’s different.”
“She’s staff, that’s what she is,” Derek snarled.
“I’d ask what you boys are talking about, but we can hear you all the way down in the kitchen,” Eileen’s soft voice declared from the doorway making the three of them spin around to gape at her. Though her voice might have been soft, her words were hard. “Either keep it down, or stop being rude and talking about one of the guests like she isn’t even here.” To me, she turned glittering eyes my way. “I expected better of you, Max.”
“What? And there’s no hope for Derek or I?” Alex retorted, stacking his hands on his trim hips.
“Nope. You were both a lost cause a long time ago. Only Max is worth saving,” she told us all, tilting her head up so her nose was in the air as she trundled off back to the kitchen.