Tavish grinned, then trudged through the bubbles to shove Legend’s shoulder. “Let her in before she starts to think there’s something a lot more fun than mopping going on in here. Unless you’d like to start moaning really loud and make her think we’re as slick as she suspects.”
Karolena barely choked down the laugh that threatened to emerge from her tight throat.
Shit. She hadn’t even been there a full day and already she was letting these people erode the barriers she’d erected to keep herself safe.
She was officially fucked.
Restraining the urge to swat Tavish or lob a ball of suds at him for teasing her and Legend, Karolena went back to corralling the disaster instead of trying to pry as their co-worker entered.
“Boys, we need you downstairs for a meeting.” Ruby flashed a smile at Karolena before her eyes went wide. “What the hell…?”
“Nothing. It’s not a big deal.” Tavish blocked her view of Karolena’s catastrophe.
Grateful, she peeked up at him and the red-haired woman wearing a graphic tee with a cartoon character across her chest. Ruby engaged in some sort of silent communication with Legend that irrationally irked Karolena.
After a few moments Ruby tossed her loose braid over her shoulder, then smiled. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem entirely genuine. “Anyway, boys, let’s go. This shouldn’t take too long.”
“Must be important. Nothing good ever happens this early,” Tavish grumbled. “Fine, we’re coming.”
“Do you want me to leave and finish this when you’re here to…supervise?” Karolena gritted her teeth, but she would understand if they said yes. She was a stranger to them. They had no way of knowing they didn’t have anything she coveted except for a way to earn her freedom.
“Nah. Do what you gotta do.” Tavish waved his hands in front of his chest. “Probably best to get this under control sooner rather than later. Those towels we were talking about are in the hall closet at eye-level. Sorry in advance for the state of Legend’s bathroom when you make it that far.”
Legend smacked Tavish in the gut with the back of his hand. “Quit that.”
“Just kidding.” Tavish winked at her. Despite her well-used bitch façade, Karolena felt herself cracking a bit of a smile at their antics. Especially when Tavish strode toward her then reached over, not too quickly, and wiped a daub of bubbles from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. The things his caress did to her should have terrified her more than Vladimir’s brutality ever had.
When was the last time she’d felt at home? At peace? These men, and this place, might be even more dangerous than she’d realized at first.
Legend pointed to a spray bottle hanging on the cleaning cart James had supplied her with. “That one has bleach. You’ll want to use it, in moderation, for the bathroom. But not on anything—like fabrics—where the color could leech out.”
“Uh, right. Thanks.” She winced, damn sure she’d read the directions before putting it on anything.
Before she could turn away, Tavish tucked a tendril of her platinum hair into the messy bun she’d wrangled it into as if passing the gesture along from his roommate. The layers meant wisps kept escaping. It wasn’t a practical cut, but then again, she’d never considered having to put it up during a shift of manual labor.
This was her punishment. She’d lived a life of luxury at other people’s expense. And now it was time to pay.
“Knock on the conference room door if you need anything,” Legend said.
And then they were gone.
Karolena took a deep breath, shook her head to clear it, then got to work dispersing the mountain of suds. It was easier to breathe, and think straight, without Tavish and Legend screwing with her mind and parts farther south.
2
Legend puffed at the wad of suds on his forearm, launching them into the air. They split into smaller globules that careened into the walls and the floor, popping on contact. He shook his head and rounded on Tavish. “You can’t pull that shit with Karolena.”
Ruby’s brows rose until they nearly disappeared in her hairline. Great, just what they needed. Over-interested friends involved in their relationships or lack thereof.
Tavish pretended not to feel the full force of his wrath, only shrugging. “Pull what?”
“Flirting with her like that. What were you going to do, fuck her on the kitchen counter?”
“Would have been more fun in all those bubbles, huh?” The corner of Tavish’s mouth quirked up in a way that did nothing to deescalate the tension—sexual and otherwise—that sparked between them too damn easily.
“Tavish,” Legend growled. The last thing they needed was to stroll into a meeting with boners.
Ruby snorted. When Legend included her in his glower, she mimed zipping her lips and tossing the key over her shoulder. So he returned his ire to the person who deserved it.