"I get that you need to check out my credentials." Again, she stares at Crew while she talks. A smile brightens her face. "If you need me to fill out an application or submit my resume when I get back to the city, I'll be happy to come in and do that."
"Give me your number." He tugs his phone out of the back pocket of his pants. "I'll need a few other details too."
She steps away with him; her phone clutched in her delicate hands. They're the same hands that most likely could snap a man's neck in two with one quick twist.
"Are you coming home with me or not?" Lacy bumps her hip against my thigh.
Shit. I forgot about her. Her voice, her irritatingly high-pitched, tinny voice had trailed off when I walked over to speak with Ellie and Crew. I assumed Lacy had wandered away after someone else, but that didn't happen. She's still here.
I look down at her, expressionless. There seriously are no words.
"In case you can't take a hint, you're not Ellie Madden's type. The looker with the black hair is." She smirks. "It's fate. The two of us are destined to happen."
I circle my index finger in the narrow space between us. "The two of us? You think this is fate?"
"You haven't been able to take your eyes off of me since we met." She flutters her now chalky eyelids causing flecks of bluish, lime green shimmer to rain down on her cheeks. "We're wasting time standing here when we could be back at my place."
Destroying this woman's ego is tempting, but the fuel of my frustration would be wasted on her. She may be right. I may not be Ellie's usual type, but that unspoken exchange between us, when she was in my lap, was undeniable. I know she felt it too even if she acted like I didn't fucking exist when she was talking to Crew.
"Are you ready to go?" Lacy snaps. "Time is wasting."
"Time has run out." I gesture at my watch with an exaggerated sigh. "It looks like fate has other plans for us. I have an early flight in the morning."
"We'll just pull an all-nighter." Her eyes drop to my wrist. "Jesus. Is that a Rolex? How much are you worth?"
"This? A Rolex?" I tap the face of my watch, one of the three Rolex watches I own. "I wish. I got this from a guy working a street fair in Toledo. It keeps time, but the rash it gives me rivals the one on my dick."
"What?" she asks tightly. "You have a rash on your dick?"
I nod. "That's what my doc says it is. He doesn't think it's contagious. My ex-wife disagrees."
"She has the rash too?"
If I actually had an ex-wife, she'd be rash free, just as I am. I'm clean as a whistle and have the monthly test results to prove it. "She's got the rash, the open sores and the non-stop itching. At least, that's what she claims in her lawsuit."
She takes a step back. "She's suing you over the rash?"
I reach down and scratch my dick through my pants, shifting from one foot to the other. "She has to prove I gave it to her. Since my doc says my rash isn't contagious, she can't win."
Her attention is laser focused on the movement of my right hand. "I forgot that I need to give my dog a bath. He needs a good scrub. I'll go home now and do that."
I stop scratching and raise my hand to her shoulder. "I'll help."
Tension tightens her body. She looks at my hand, panic chasing away anything else in her expression. "No. You can't help."
"Why not?"
"He'll bite you?"
"Is that a question?" I quirk a brow. "Dogs love me. What kind of dog is it?"
She retreats so quickly she bumps into a woman walking behind her. "He's a really big dog. You know the kind with the floppy ears and the long nose."
I force back a smile. "What's the name of your big dog, Lacy?"
Her eyes search mine as she scrambles to think of a name, any name that will give her the out she needs to get away from me and what she thinks is my rash covered cock. "Lacy."
"Your male dog is named Lacy?" I ask as she slowly backs away from me.
"That's right. Yes," she calls with a brisk wave of her hand. "He's named after me."
With that, she turns and sprints to a run, racing to the nearest exit. I adjust my suit jacket, smooth my hand over my hair and walk over to where Ellie is still talking to Crew.
Chapter 7
Ellie
What the hell crawled up Nolan Black's ass?
The man was doing everything in his power to dissuade his business partner from hiring me. You'd think after what I did in Meadow Grill that he'd want me on his team.
He was there when I took Jerry to the floor for touching that woman, yet Nolan seems completely unfazed by my drive to do what's right.
After hearing Crew tell me about the job at Matiz, I know I'm a perfect fit. I would do the job well and make the company proud. They're one of the most recognized makeup brands in the United States and also one of the most expensive. It's not my ultimate dream job, but I'll happily take it.