Kim still hadn’t managed to stop staring at Michael, smiling Benedict Arnold that he was. “Was that necessary?” she asked in an undertone that couldn’t be all that low considering he was half a room away. By design. She didn’t need his overactive just-started-having-sex pheromones to catch her up in some kind of noxious cloud.
If they hadn’t already.
“Yes, it was. I want to be honest with my boss. He should have all the facts before he decides I’m the right person to lead his team.”
“Co-lead. Bob will be in charge and he’s quite capable.” Kim swiveled toward Brad. “And what was that crack about again? Again what?”
Her brother snorted. “You know what. It’s not awkward enough when you sleep with guys you work with. Now you’re plucking them from my shop too?”
“Uh, I didn’t pluck anyone from anywhere. I didn’t even know he worked for you at first. Not everything’s about you, jackass.”
“Right. You just bumped into his penis on a random street corner.”
Kim curled her hands into fists. “Interesting argument considering you bumped into my best friend’s vagina.”
“At least her vagina was in my own freaking house. You had to go across town.”
“Enough,” Michael said, his voice lashing through the air like a whip. “Is any of this productive?”
“Not usually.” Sara sighed. “Most of the time I let them just burn themselves out on insults. They spark hard but fizzle out fast.”
“I’m done. If he wants to think I’m a tramp, that is his prerogative. Even if it’s wrong.” Kim shook her head and slumped in her chair. The nubby fabric against her bare back reminded her of how carefully she’d dressed that evening. She’d wanted to look her best despite all the reasons she and Michael mixed like oil and water, which probably said plenty.
Either she was a hopeless tease or she truly wasn’t finished with him.
Brad crossed one leg over his opposite knee. “I don’t think you’re a tramp,” he said gruffly. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt again and you always pick the wrong men. No offense, Michael. I don’t mean you.”
“None taken.”
“She did better this time,” Sara said, giving her fiancé a cheery pat on the cheek. “Michael’s a cutie-pie.”
“Don’t lay it on too thick.” Brad tugged on Sara’s arm and pulled her into his lap. “Keep in mind your eyes are supposed to stay on me.”
“Looking is free.” Grinning, she gave him a smacking kiss.
For his part, Michael started blushing when Sara called him cute. Kim couldn’t help thinking it was adorable how readily he flushed.
Too many things about the man charmed her. Even the fact that he’d stood up to Brad and announced with casual indifference that he might not be the right guy for a job he’d admitted he wanted. Because he’d slept with her.
No. Correction. He’d said he was sleeping with her. Present tense. And damn if the realization didn’t make the area between her thighs turn achy and damp.
“Bedroom arrangements aside, do you still want the assistant manager position, Michael?” Brad asked.
Michael shifted on his cha
ir, still stroking his tie. “I do. I think I’d be good at it.”
“Then it’s yours.” Brad gestured toward Kim. “Whatever you do or don’t do with my sister is your business and hers. Not mine. I have my own love life to relish at the moment.” He slipped his arm around Sara’s waist, pulling her close. “Besides, if I’d said anything else, I would’ve been couching it on my honeymoon, wouldn’t I?”
Sara rested her head on his shoulder. “Pretty much.”
They looked so good together. So fucking happy. Kim blinked away tears, joyful ones. “I love you guys. I’m so thrilled for you.” She crossed the room and knelt in front of their chair, hugging them both. “I can’t wait to plan a fabulous wedding. I’ve never been a maid of honor before.”
Sara’s fidgeting was the first clue that something was amiss. The second was Brad’s mumbled, “Told you so.”
“Uh, well, we were intending to just—” Sara began.
“Oh hell no. If you’re abandoning me in this big old house all by myself to move across the country, you’re for damn sure going to give me a wedding to remember first.” Kim pursed her lips and split her glare between both of the people she loved most. “I’m putting my foot down here, people.”