Caden Armanelli hid that perfect body under those tailored suits he wore, but not today. He had two towels hanging off one arm, and he grabbed some sunglasses from the counter to put on before he said, “You ready?”
The answer was no.
I leaned against the table for support. I knew I was drooling too.
How had I never considered that he’d look so good without a shirt on in the sunlight? “I don’t think...” How was I going to get around this? “Why don’t you have a shirt on?”
His brow furrowed. “What? Why don’tyouhave a shirt on, dollface?”
I glanced down at myself, completely forgetting what I had on. “I have a bathing suit on.”
“So do I.”
“But you are... You look... You’re the boss.”
“I don’t care what I am. If you’re getting in that water wearing a swimsuit you might lose, I’m getting in it with you. Now, let’s go.”
“Instead of focusing on what might be happening with my swimsuit, focus on being the boss, Cade. The team needs to see you.” I was telling him as much myself, goddamn it.
“The team has a boss. Me. Whether they like me or not doesn’t matter.”
“It always matters. Respect makes a person work harder. Just because you’re their boss and they might fear losing their jobs doesn’t mean they are going to do the job well. Haven’t you ever heard that?”
He stared at me for a second too long, and his eyes changed. “I used to think the same about my father, about my family. We didn’t need fear; we needed respect. My brother and I made friends rather than enemies.”
“See?” I pointed out and shrugged as I walked past him through the doorway. At least maybe now we’d get somewhere, even if I had to look at how hot my boss was throughout the whole day.
I stomped out to the paddleboard relay and tried to hide my frown and irritation when basically every girl swarmed Cade. Lucas was by my side in a hot second, too, telling me exactly what he would do if he got Cade alone. It definitely wasn’t subtle, or professional, but I didn’t blame him. That body and those tattoos had everyone drooling.
Then, I was even more frustrated when Cade did exactly what he was supposed to do. He freaking interacted and swam and engaged with everyone on the team. He joked with them. He laughed. An outsider would assume he belonged there, like he was a part of us, like he wasn’t the callous boss everyone made him out to be.
The fucker won the paddleboard relay for his team too. All of a sudden, the billionaire tech mogul was an avid paddleboarder? I swear I almost shoved him off the damn thing.
And after, everyone was more than willing to accept job tasks for JUNIPER. They even complimented us on a great team retreat, as if I had something to do with it.
Cade nearly knocked me off my feet when he told everyone that none of it would have been possible had I not built the system.
I went to bed that night hoping he would roll over onto my side of the spray-painted line and tell me it was all overrated, that we should screw until the sun came up.
He didn’t.
Suddenly, he was the perfect boss, and I was the one who wanted to step over the line.
16
Cade
Aweek in, I was still showing Izzy what a good boss looked like. Her words had stuck with me, made me realize I’d neglected a large part of my job. I’d treated the teams I’d worked with like employees rather than family.
My team was a part of my family, in a way. They protected the world I wanted to keep living in. One where I was in charge, where the president trusted me, where my brother and my family were safe. JUNIPER and this team helped with that. Sure, I could do it alone, but with people I trusted, it was much easier.
And over the past few days, Izzy had taught seamless sessions at the luxury private conference center down the road. I particularly enjoyed how it looked like a large log cabin on the outside but the inside was equipped with every high-end piece of technology we needed.
Izzy stood at the podium, answering questions about how each voting system could be handled in different states and explaining what to do in the event of a security breach. She didn’t falter when they questioned whether our setup was good enough to hold against other countries.
She spoke with confidence, with passion, and with a respect for all of them. She believed in her team, and I think that’s why they believed in her.
The lesson she was teaching me shined through in the way she portrayed herself. I found a higher respect for her and everyone there.