Abbey likes to keep an eye on her star employees. Will likes to keep his boss happy. Together, they make an emotionally-conflicted pair with an undeniable attraction for each other. But when will their desire cross the line?
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"'You never open your mouth-'"
"'-until you know what the shot is.' I got it, Abbey."
"Are you sure you want this job? I thought you wanted to get out of the field, take a seat in the front office." Abbey rested her full bottom on the front of the mahogany desk in her executive suite.
"One last ride," Will promised, his brown eyes locked on hers. "Then I'll back here, by your side in the Oakland bureau, day in, day out. You won't be able to get rid of me."
Abbey matched his piercing stare. "If that's what you want."
"Scared I'll make a mess of things?"
"You're the star player on this team, Will. You know it, everyone knows it."
"But the cameras stay on?"
"For your first dates with Lisa, yes. It's protocol, for her safety and yours. I'll be watching you."
"Can't stop, won't stop, huh, Abbey?"
"That's why I'm the best."
"I can't argue with that. I hope Jed recognizes his good fortune."
"He does." Abbey wiped her sweaty hands on her linen pants. "And I recognize mine."
"Flying back and forth, East Coast to West Coast, must be hard."
"We don't go more than two weeks without seeing each other. It was fun when we were younger. But after we turned 40..."
"You look fabulous, by the way."
Abbey hid her smile. "Both of us are too stubborn to move. Uprooting our careers and starting over in a new city?"
"Couldn't you open a branch in Washington?"
"Different market, more competition, but yes, I could."
"Boom." Will put his hands up. "Problem solved. I wouldn't mind helping you find wealthy female politicians who need their fires stoked by a seductive courtesan. Field trip!"
"The real problem is," Abbey crossed her arms, "both of us want a wife, but neither of wants to be one."
"Being a wife doesn't sound so bad." He sat on the leather loveseat to the left of the desk. "Your wife, specifically. What would the duties entail?"
"You couldn't handle the position."
"Have you seen a position I couldn't handle?"
Abbey scanned Will's sculpted body, clad in his usual sweater and dress pants. "I have not."
"Moot point. Based on your improved mood, I presume you and Jed are on the mend?"
She walked away from her desk and joined Will on the adjacent cushion. "He flew in Thursday night, apologized, and..."
"Ate you out for three days?"
"Dude."
"Sorry. Forgot it's Monday morning. I had my friend hat on. Taking it off, replacing it with my employee helmet."
"Can you wear both at the same time?"
Will crossed his ankles. "I thought that was my entire job description."
Abbey's face fell.
Will leaned in to comfort her, then drew back. "I'm jealous. I can't be an impartial observer of your relationship with Jed."
Abbey stood up. "This is unfair to you."
Will reached up to clasp her fingers.
Abbey let him tug her back down to a seated position.
"Where are you at now?" he asked, reluctantly letting go. "You appear more relaxed than you did last week."
"We are good." Abbey retrieved her laptop and changed the conversation, though she remained on the loveseat with her employee. "Let's get back to this new new client, a result of the old new client."
Will looked at the screen, which featured Lisa's profile. "You were correct about the opening an untapped market. She is the definition of a well-connected, self-made millionaire. I will show her a good time tonight."
"Be careful with this one. Lisa is the mom of a friend of my daughter."
Will pretended to keel over. "You have a daughter? Since when?"
"Since I was in my last year of university. No, that's when I got pregnant. I gave birth to Amelia that summer after graduation."
"You have a baby. Whoa."
"She's a grown woman. At least that's what she thinks. 21 and can't tell her anything."
"I've known you for how long?"
"Too long."
"And I've never met, Amelia is it?"
"My mother and grandparents raised her back at home. I was looking at the Rhodes and a Fulbright and... We made the best decision."
"Do you regret it?"
"Never. I'll always be Amelia's bio mom, and Jed loves that she calls him Uncle Stepdad. One Christmas, when she was probably in middle school, Amelia asked him if my business made me a whore. He told her I didn't go on dates, I manage you suitors."
"True."
"Then Amelia asked Jed if that made me a pimp, and Jed stuffed his mouth with a gingerbread man. Do you have kids?"
"We're talking about me now? Whew. It's complicated."
"I've got time."
Will pushed on. "About a decade ago, before you recruited me, I was with someone. She got pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. She told me they were mine. Then three years later, we split up, and she told me they weren't mine."