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“Ahh, okay.” Da
Suzette beamed. “No, I love it rough, Da
Purposely obtuse? Christ, was this really happening? Judging by the look on Max’s face, it certainly was.
“Rough it is,” Da
Had her face not made him physically ill, Da
###
IT WASN’T MORE than a couple of weeks later when Da
Wayne came with an impressive resume, a handsome face, and unfortunately roaming eyes and Velcrohands. Da
“Julie, cupcake, no need for you to climb that step stool when you got a man right here. I’ll get that bottle down for you.”
Da
“What the…?” Hands balled into fists, Da
“Look, boss, the guy’s a flirt. I’ve heard him call other dudes ‘babe,’” Max reported. “Let it go, and let’s just get this done.”
Accepting Max’s advice, Da
“Mmm, Julie, how’m I supposed to concentrate on cleaning when every time you bend over, I get a perfect view of your sweet ass.”
A red haze slid over Da
“I’ll come out with you,” Max snarled. “He needs to be gone, Da
Max’s words penetrated just in time to save Wayne’s life.
“Get the fuck out of here!” Da
Wayne’s hands were held up in a surrendering pose. “I didn’t mean…I wasn’t trying—”
“You weren’t flirting with my wife? You weren’t staring at her ass?” Da
Wayne nodded, understanding clear on his pasty face as he grabbed his backpack from under the bar and scooted past Da
“Rats and thieves,” Max rumbled, his arms crossed. “Only rats and thieves steal what belongs to someone else. Rats do it for survival…you got no excuse.”
“Five, four, three—I get to one, and you’ll be limping out of here,” Da
Wayne ran. The empty bar became silent.
“Thank you, Max, for having my back again,” Da
“Not a problem, boss.” Max shrugged. “Let’s just say I have some experience when it comes to cheating. I’m not a fan.”
Receiving the message Max not-so-subtly put out, Da
“Happy to be here, sir.”
Julie cleared her throat. “Hate to interrupt all this male bonding, but I’m standing right here in the mess that you created, Mr. Marcus, and I’m waiting for an explanation.”
Judging by the playful look on his wife’s face, no explanation was needed. She totally understood Da
“Jules—”
“I could have handled it, Da
“I—”
“I’m go
The mammoth man left the bar, but Julie’s gaze never left Da
“That guy was a douche bag, Jules,” Da
“Does it matter?”
Julie’s question left him speechless.
“Seriously, Dan, the guy has only worked here for seven shifts. Does it matter if he’d flirted with me before today?”
He knew the correct answer to her question, but damn it, hearing that son of a bitch hit on his wife without cause or care to the fact that she was married pissed him off. “Yes, it matters, okay? It matters. You’re mine. That punk had no right—”
“‘You realize that you’re it for me, right?’” Meaning danced through Julie’s eyes as she repeated the words he’d spoken weeks earlier when she’d come to him with her concerns about Suzette. “‘I don’t care who flirts with me. I only want you.’ That’s what you told me and I believed you, but it doesn’t feel reassuring when you watch someone trying to take away the person who holds your very existence in their hands, does it?”
Damn, the woman had a point, but he wasn’t ready to concede…yet. “No, it doesn’t, but Jules, that guy—”
“I know you’d never hurt me, Da
“Now, to answer your question”—glass crunched under Julie’s feet as she made her way closer to him—“no, it wasn’t the first time he’d flirted with me, but it would have been the last.”
The feel of her hands splayed across his chest quickened his pulse for all the right reasons.
“We both know that some flirty behavior can come with the job, but what he was doing was harassment. That is unacceptable in our home. While I fully intended to fire his ass before you came in all bad-ass and sexy, you sure saved me the trouble.” Her eyes glittered. “How can I thank you?”
Da
He led her back to their office and locked the door. A lot happened in seventeen minutes.
From that day on, when they hired staff, they found themselves looking beyond the resume, beyond the good looks, and into the eyes of the applicants. They weren’t seeking workers; they were looking for team members.
Just like Max DeLucca, Kyle Marx sauntered into Da