Neanderthal Marries Human: A Smarter Romance (Knitting in the City) (9 page)

His phone rang five times before he picked up.

“Someone better be dead or horny.”

“
Good morning, Dan.”

“
You’re seriously calling me at five-fucking-fifty in the morning?”

I glanced at my watch.
“Sorry, are you on vacation?”

“
Wait, are you on the treadmill? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—please don’t tell me you left Janie to go run on a treadmill? What happened to your dick, Quinn? Did they confiscate it at customs? I can’t think of another straight man who would leave all that a-”

“
You didn’t give me a report yesterday.” I thought about the previous day, remembered that Dan took Pete’s place guarding Janie last night. “Anything I should know? Why’d you replace Pete?”

“
Oh, that. We thought some guy was tailing her. Pete called it in. I replaced him so he could follow up. Turns out the guy was a nobody, some banker. Thought she was pretty, wanted to ask her out for a drink.”

“
Did he approach her?”

“
No. Pete interceded and took him for a walk. I think you’re driving her crazy with all the guards.”

“
I know. But I want her to be safe.”

“
Do you know something that I don’t?” I guessed that Dan was referring to the Wickfords. They were the primary private account that we were offloading during this visit.

The Wickfords were
idiots, assholes, and cowards.

D
uring the handoff meetings, they’d made veiled threats about undermining my credibility with corporate clients. I wasn’t expecting the temper tantrums.

But they weren
’t violent, which was probably why Dan was questioning my compulsion to have a team of three guards following Janie everywhere she went.

“
No. You know everything. I just want her safe.” I glanced at the display panel. I still had eight minutes left in my warm-up pace of six miles per hour. “Anything else happen?”

“
Not on the ground. I have a few items as part of the daily status update. Speaking of, how are the negotiations going with the Wickfords?” He finally came out and asked.

I grimaced
and thought about how to answer without using only expletives. “Better yesterday than the day before.”

Extracting my company from the private security business had proven challenging over the past four months.
In other words, it was a pain in the ass.

Powerful families were like spoiled children
; they required coddling and didn’t respond well to change.

“
Those people are a piece of work,” Dan said. “Do you remember three years ago when I assigned myself to the grandson because he kept having accidents and run-ins with the O’Toole crew? That prick wanted us to get him hookers.”

“
I remember,” I said.

“
You should have dropped the family then.”

“
They pay well.”

“
Yeah, they’re also assholes. I’m glad you’re cutting all the families loose.”

“
So you’ve said.” The treadmill display told me I had another five minutes.

“
So, the Wickfords don’t like their replacement security? Is that the deal?”

“
That’s part of it. The other issue is they’re nervous about all the intel we’ve gathered over the years.”

Dan chuckled
. “They should be. They all should be.”

“
They want assurances.”

“
They can kiss my ass.” Unlike me, Dan hadn’t shed his south Boston neighborhood accent. This sounded more like
Dey kin kiss ma a-a-se.

I agreed
, but I didn’t need to make enemies, not with some of the world’s richest families. “They’ll come around. Let’s talk about tomorrow.”

“
Right. Tomorrow night. The party, the shindig thing. You, Janie, Steven, and me are all on the guest list. They’ve approved our security detail, finally. Nothing like waiting till the last bloody minute.”

“
And you’ve looked over the guest list.” I stated this rather than asking.

“
Of course, they’ve been cross checked. A few previous clients will be in attendance, mostly nothing to worry about.”

“
Mostly?”

Dan hesitated
, then he let out a weary sigh. “Remember Damon Parducci? The guy who drugged Janie in Chicago at the Outlandish club—or whatever the hell that stupidass place is called. His parents will be there. And they’re still unhappy about you ending their contract after that mess. Damon’s sentencing is next month, and all signs point to maximum prison time.”

I grunted. My blood pressure spiked, but I kept my tone even.
“That little fucker got what he deserved. He had the coke in his possession; we just tipped the cops as to when and where. I told them we weren’t in the business of protecting rapists and drug dealers, even before what happened to Janie.”

“
I know. I just thought you should know, be prepared. Also….” Dan sighed. Again.

“
What is it?” I was down to thirty seconds.

“
Niki Kenner is going to be there.”

I blinked at the display, trying to place the name.
“Why does that name sound familiar?”

“
You banged her in Los Angeles for a coupla weeks a few years ago. Then she went apeshit and made the rest of the month out there hell.”

I grimac
ed. That bitch was crazy. “Maybe we won’t go.”

“
No. You have to go. At least ten of our corporate liaisons will be there, including the Grinsham corporate account. I know you and Janie are meeting with the security liaison today, but you know how these Brits are. They want to see you socially before they trust you and they know you’re on the list. It’s the main reason for this trip.”

He was right.
“Maybe I won’t take Janie.”

“
Take Janie. She’ll make you look good. And it’ll look weird if she’s not there after they meet her today during the specs meeting. She’s good for business. And when she’s not making you look good, she can make me look short…and good.”

“
No, no…I don’t want—”

“Yes, yes. You don’t have to say it again. Steven and I are tired of hearing it. You don’t want our extraction from the private clients impacting her in any way. I know this already. She’ll have a good time. It’ll just be a charity party thing for her. She’ll get to dress up and shit.”

I grunted again.
“I’m serious.”

“
You’re always serious.”

“
I have to go. We’ll go over the daily status report after my meeting this afternoon. I want to know what’s happening with Watterson.”

“
No change with Senator Watterson, and it’s fine to go over the rest of the report later. Things are pretty quiet anyway. I’m going back to sleep.”

My time was up
. I was already a full minute over my warm up, but I had one more thing on my mind.

I needed to ask Dan to be my best man. I briefly thought about waiting until I could do it in person. I decided against that. Better to just ask and get it out of the way.

“One more thing.” I took a deep breath, cleared my throat. “We’re engaged.” Then I added unnecessarily, “We’re getting married.”

Without missing a beat, Dan responded.
“That’s great. Do I know him? Was it everything you dreamed it would be?”

I rolled my eyes.
“Shut up, asshole.”

“
Did he get down on one knee?”

“
Dan….”

“
Both knees? Wow. You’re lucky.”

I cracked a smile and shook my head.
“I’m hanging up now, douchebag.”

“
Does he know you’re not a virgin?”

“
Keep talking, fuckface. You’re going on knitting group duty when we get back.”

“
Tell Janie I said she’s too good for you.”

“
Bye.” I disconnected the call before he could make another smartass remark. I would have to ask him to be my best man later.

One of the
nicest things about working with my best childhood friend is that I can always count on him to tell me exactly what he thinks.

One of the worst things about working with
my best childhood friend is that he’s always going to tell me exactly what he thinks.

***

Janie was on
the phone when I got back—the hotel phone.

Even though she
’d had the cell phone for going on six months, I still couldn’t get her to use it voluntarily. She’d text me infrequently, but she didn’t like using it for calls. Something about inconclusive research surrounding cell phone radiation exposure and brain tumors.

I stepped behind her,
wrapped my arms around her waist. She was wearing only a bathrobe. Torturing myself, and hopefully her, I slipped my hand inside the opening at her chest and massaged her breast. I barely contained my groan when she arched her back at the contact, her bottom pressing against my groin.

I didn
’t know who she was talking to, but it sounded like business. If it had been one of her friends, I might have continued. But I’d found out a few months ago that she didn’t like it when I distracted her from business calls.

She said I was being unprofessional.

Which, for her and given the fact that I was her boss, was basically a crime against humanity.

So
I kissed her neck, withdrew my hands to her hips, then stroked her through the terry cloth one more time. I left her and headed to the shower, planning to make it a cold one. I turned to take in one last look at her.

Janie
glanced over her shoulder at me, covered the phone receiver, and whispered
psst
. She had a small smile on her full, pink lips, and she mouthed,
Thank you.

I let my eyes roam over
her body, back lit by the window, and promised myself I’d mess up her makeup tonight in the limo.

On that cheerful thought, I
showered and dressed in a rush. I was leaving just as Janie finished her call.

“
You’re leaving?” She turned her wide, amber eyes to me. She held the bathrobe shut at her neck. This was fucking adorable.

“
Yeah, I have a meeting at nine with a private client. I’ll be back around noon to pick you up for lunch before we meet with Grinsham’s people.” I took a kiss from her soft, stunned mouth, and shrugged on my overcoat.

The Grinsham group—of Grinsham Credit and Banking Systems—was the only corporate client we were meeting
during this trip. Janie had already done an amazing job on the specs and account itemization. All that was left was winning over their security liaison.

“
Oh. Okay.” She nodded and pressed her fingertips to her lips. “I have everything ready for the specs meeting. I guess I’ll see you at noon.”

“
Sounds good,” I called over my shoulder and reached for my suitcase.

My hand
hovered over the button to call the elevator when I stopped.

I
set the case on the floor. I turned to her. I closed the distance between us in five steps, backed her against the wall, and gave her the kiss she deserved, every place she deserved it.

W
hen I finally left, it was with deep satisfaction of a job well done, and the knowledge that I was going to be late.

***

Ten minutes later
, I was three steps out of the hotel before I realized I’d left my phone upstairs in our suite. I should have been annoyed. After all, I was already late.

I
nstead, I smiled.

Janie would be out of the shower by now
, and she probably thought I was long gone.

An image of her towel drying droplets of water from the white, soft skin of her stomach, her generous breasts, the sweet spot between her thighs flashed through my mind. Her hair was probably still wet.

My body tensed and hardened. I glanced at my watch, turned, and walked back to the elevator. Once there, I jammed my thumb against the button. The doors immediately opened, and I boarded it for the fourth time that morning.

Leaving her was never easy
, and even more difficult this morning. She was going to be my wife. What better way to celebrate than an idle morning in bed with Janie and her soft, pliant body.

I
was going to be very late.

I
reasoned that I didn’t have to be present for the pre-meeting. Steven’s plane arrived this morning. He would be jetlagged, but he didn’t need me there. He’d be surprised, but he’d handle it. Strategically it would work to my advantage. I’d been spending too much time with the Wickfords over the last few days anyway. Tactically it made sense to show them that I already considered our relationship less of a priority.