All Fired Up (DreamMakers) (6 page)

Shit.

Lynn slammed up a hand to halt Suz’s confession. There were too many opportunities to be overheard on the busy floor. “Come on…”

She dragged her friend down the hall to the ladies’ room, peeking under the stall doors to make sure they were private while Suz locked the main door.

“Spill,” Lynn demanded.

Her best friend sighed, the agony of her soul written in her sorrowful body language. “I was on my way to marketing when I spotted your Phil coming out of a maintenance room.”

She frowned. “A…broom closet?”

Suz nodded. “He didn’t see me, but knowing how uppity he is, it seemed like a strange place for him. I mean, he’s the type who calls for someone to wipe up spilled coffee instead of doing it himself. So I hid around the corner and hung out for a bit.”

Sadly, Lynn already knew where this was going. “And a little while later you saw Dana Hastings leave the closet.”

“Shit, what? No.” Suz’s eyes were huge. “It was Sylvia, the new temp from the second floor who’s—wait. You’re not surprised?”

Lynn wouldn’t put it that way. Holy shit, this changed everything, again. “I’m…kind of speechless.”

“But you thought he was fooling around with Dana?” Twin spots of red brightened Suz’s cheeks as fury flickered over her face. “Okay, so as long as you’re not upset, I’m gonna go kill him.”

“Why?”

Suz looked at her as if she’d gone insane. “The fucker
cheated
on you.”

“With more than one person, it seems.” Lynn did an internal check, but there was nothing there. No regret, no upset. No…nothing. “I was going to call things off with him today anyway. I had my suspicions.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Suz folded her arms. “That’s not following the rules in the BFF handbook.”

“It was a recent decision,” she confessed. “Like since this morning. Honest. I was going to tell you tonight over tequila shooters.”

Her friend stood down, tension draining away. “You’re sure you’re not upset? Because I don’t mind hurting him a little.”

Lynn laughed. “I’m sure. I’m not upset, just floored, and some of the head rush is from a lack of food. I skipped breakfast and lunch, and granola bars don’t sit right after the third one.”

Suz caught her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “Then tonight we celebrate losing the loser. We’ll grab some burgers, then hit the Frog and Crown for shooters. My treat, all expenses paid.”

“Sounds good.” Lynn unlocked the door and gestured into the hallway. “But if I drink too much, you have to promise to hold my hair back while I worship at the great white throne. Deal?”

Suz grinned. “Deal.”

Parker stared at his best friend. “Really. You didn’t do
anything
?”

Jack Hunter shrugged rock-solid shoulders, easing back in his chair and resting his feet on the desk. “What can I say? This gorgeous brunette noticed my T-shirt with the business logo, and the next thing I know there’s a group of women gathered around grilling me about DreamMakers. One thing led to another, and when I got the perfect opportunity to suggest our services as a designated driver, I took it.” He popped the lid off his takeout coffee cup and peered at the steaming liquid. “Just doing my part to keep the roads safe.”

“Let me get this straight,” Dean interrupted. “You lost the toss, had to go spring for our coffees, and ended up with a job driving a dozen women home after a bachelorette party tonight?”

“They’re doing a home spa night, with shooters,” Jack shared, his grin brightening his already cheerful face. “I understand there’s a lingerie party involved as well.”

“If they have Adam and Eve door prizes, this could get a little crazy,” Parker cracked.

Dean leapt to his feet. “Jack, I’m so ashamed of myself. I just remembered you said you missed dealing with the trickier recons. I volunteer to take the driving off your hands so you can help Parker with the other job tonight.”

“Yeah. I’m so upset.” Jack sneered at Dean. “Nice try, but the ladies were so enamored of my charm, it’s got to be me or no one. I’d trade, really I would, but I don’t want to jeopardize the mission.”

“You’re an ass.”

Jack raised his cup in the air. “A bold knight escorting fair maidens to the safety of their fortresses—that was the phrase one of them coined, by the way. I propose we add it to the company logo.”

Dean settled on the desktop and pushed Jack’s feet to the floor. “
Scantily clad
maidens. Jerk. You got all the luck lately.”

“Don’t sleep with any of them,” Parker warned.

Jack made a rude noise. “I know the rules.”

“Yeah, tonight he’ll get all their phone numbers. He’ll sleep with them starting tomorrow.” Dean crossed his arms, inspiration twisting his expression into sheer mischief. “I should ride shotgun. I’m sure there’s something in the codebook stating the ratio of knight to damsel can’t go over eight to one.”

“Give it up,” Parker muttered. “We accepted the asshole job, and we need to finish it. I need you with me tonight.”

No matter how exasperating the idea of helping Shotelle win over Lynn had become, nothing had officially changed. He needed to focus in spite of his reservations, because the alternative—failure—was unacceptable.

Dean made a face. “Phil strikes me as the type who might sue our asses if he doesn’t get what he wants.”

“I wait in anticipation for the day some idiot tries to take us to court,” Jack said. “The media coverage alone would be worth the scandal.”

“No scandals. No media. Just get the damn job done.” Parker dragged a hand through his hair. “Enough chatter, both of you. Didi has a list of some prescheduled requests you can work on.”

Jack and Dean exchanged glances but wisely didn’t say anything about the stick up his ass.

Or at least not until hours later, when he and Dean pulled up outside the bar they’d tracked Lynn to. The two women had stopped for burgers and fries at a grill on 16
^th
, and now they were hitting the Frog and Crown, a small pub Parker had never heard of. But the second he went to open his door, Dean clicked the power lock down.

“What the fuck?” Parker glared at the other man.

“Talk to me, bro.” Dean shook his head. “You’ve been snapping at us all day. I think Didi was one second away from sneaking a Midol into your lunch.”

Damn it. There was no use in denying it.

“Shotelle emailed me earlier saying he just remembered Lynn loves roses. When we know for a
fact
that she’s not a fan.” Parker wearily gestured to the bar. “I keep thinking about how she’s wasted on that asshole. Usually I love what we do, but the woman deserves a helluva lot better than a prick who doesn’t know fuck-all about her likes and dislikes.”

“Agreed. Phil’s a jerk, and an ass, and no woman in her right mind would agree to marry a guy who doesn’t give two shits about anyone but himself.” Dean shrugged. “But Lynn seems smart enough to make that discovery on her own. She’s not going to thank us for poking our noses into her affairs. Plus, remember what you said last night—this is our
business
. So unless we want to return the advance and risk Phil-the-fucker making waves, we do our job. Period. Trust in karma that his true colors shine through after we cash the check and before she says ‘I do’.”

“I still don’t like it,” Parker grumbled. “We’re aiding and abetting a criminal.”

Dean snickered. “Melodramatic much?”

“Come on, admit it. She deserves better. Someone like you, or me. Either one of us would be better for her than that egotistical bastard.”

“I know, bro, I know.” Dean unlocked their doors. “Hey, if I had my way? We’d be heading into that bar to turn Lynn’s night into a fantasy like she’s never experienced before, including the best damn sex ever. But, sad as the truth is, that’s not our agenda. So get your head in the game, and let’s go find out what turns the lady on.”

Parker wanted to growl in frustration, but he simply nodded and reached for the door handle.

“So what’s the plan?” Dean asked. “Do we make contact?”

He mulled it over. “Only if it comes off as natural. Otherwise we just observe. We know she eats meat now, but pay attention to what she drinks, any music she plays on the jukebox—the usual.”

“Roger that.”

A moment later they headed for the bar, the flashing red-and-green neon signs casting strange shadows over Dean’s dark hair. Music hit them before the front door was even open, a heart-pounding beat echoing off walls covered with all manner of ceramic frogs.

Dean peered closer with ghoulish fascination. “They’re all wearing teeny, tiny crowns.”

Parker was no longer checking the décor. He’d spotted Lynn, her face shining as she threw her head back and laughed. Irritation slammed like a fist into his solar plexus, but he pushed it aside. Dean was right. This was a job, nothing more.

But nobody said he couldn’t at least enjoy
looking
at his target.

She’d pulled her long hair into a loose braid, golden highlights dancing as she moved. Her pale blue tank top clung intimately, the upper curves of her smooth breasts perfectly visible above the scooped neckline. That left her shoulders bare, the twinkling lights suspended over her table shining down and giving her an angelic glow.

“She’s wearing blue again. I think it’s safe to say she likes the color,” Dean remarked in a dry voice.

Parker felt himself being tugged along the length of the bar toward an empty table. His buddy shoved him on a tall stool, settling across from him where they could easily observe Lynn.

“You’re so unobtrusive and discreet tonight,” Dean muttered barely loud enough to be heard above the music. “Just don’t drool on her, okay? That would be hard to explain to everyone.”

“Fuck off.”

Dean pulled off his coat and tossed it on the seat beside him. “Wait until we get a drink in hand. Then you can introduce me to the friend.”

“The friend?” he said blankly.

“Yeah, you know, the golden goddess of love sitting next to Lynn. The one you failed to tell me about earlier, and who, might I point out, is not our mark, and therefore totally on the table for an evening of being swept off her feet and pleasured until she can’t resist my charms.”

“Hound dog.”

“Arwhoooooo.” Damned if Dean didn’t actually throw back his head and howl. Loudly.

Across the bar, Lynn and Suz turned toward the sound. Lynn’s eyes widened as recognition kicked in. And somehow the entire evening got a little bit brighter.

Chapter Four

“It’s fate,” Suz hissed. “F-A-T-E.
Fate
.”

Normally Lynn’s practical nature would rear its head and argue the statement, but at the moment, she was at a total loss for words. The sex god from yoga was here. Sitting twenty feet away from them.

What were the odds? The very day she decided to end it with Phil, the universe rewarded her with the sexiest man she’d ever met?

Maybe she needed to reevaluate her stance on F-A-T-E.

“You need to buy him a drink,” Suz announced. “Seriously. Flag down our waitress. Pronto.”

Lynn had to laugh. “I’m not doing that!”

“Why not? You’re officially single again—what better way to celebrate than to hook up with the hottest guy on the planet?” Suz paused. “Actually, the title of ‘hottest guy on the planet’ might be a two-way tie. Because
damn
, his pal is not hard on the eyes, either.”

Since she wasn’t directly facing their table, Lynn had to discreetly shift her head in order to study Parker’s friend. Her breath instantly hitched when she got a better look.

Yep, the new guy was equally delicious, and he didn’t waste a single second before his gaze locked on hers. A dark brow cocked enticingly, leaving no doubt in her mind this guy was always ready for a good time. Sensuality rolled off his lean, muscular body in spades, and Lynn was surprised to feel her body respond to the playful twinkle in his eyes.

Her gaze moved on to Parker, and she was startled again, because she found him looking right back. His expression was more serious than his friend’s but no less seductive. Those moss-green eyes burned her face, sending ripples of heat shooting through her body before settling between her legs.

Oh boy. She might not be a big believer in fate, but she sure believed in chemistry—and right now, a ridiculous amount of mutual attraction was combusting the air.

“I didn’t come here to hook up with anyone,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, I haven’t even officially ended it with Phil yet.”

“Yeah, explain that to me again? Because in my humble opinion, you should have stormed into Philandering Phil’s office hours ago and dumped his ass.” Suz tapped her red-painted fingernails on the tabletop, her eyes narrowed with accusation.

Lynn absently traced the rim of her empty shot glass, the urge for another mouthful of tequila overtaking her. “He went to lunch with his boss, and I didn’t get a chance to see him all day. I was busy working on the weekend layout.”

She raised her hand at their waitress, trying to get the woman’s attention.