Dirty Playboy - Alex Wolf Page 0,72

have to pry her away from Grandma every night, don’t you?” It’s a well-known fact that the matriarch of the Collins family runs things and barely lets the grandbabies out of her sight.

“I’m gonna head over here for a bit.” Rick gestures to the Collins brothers. “Congratulations, Quinn.”

“Thanks.” She waits for Rick to walk away, then nudges me with her elbow. “Wow, I thought we all did a good job. Look at him.” She nods toward Rick. “I think you’ve domesticated the crudest of the bunch. Well done.”

I smile. “Hardly.”

“Yeah, right. I saw him walk up the hall the other day in the office, and a handful of young, pretty associates walked toward him.” She reaches for my forearm and her eyes widen. “He bolted in another direction. Bolted! It was hilarious, and sweet.”

I shrug. “And?”

She gives me her new patented mother stare. I think she’s been perfecting it for when Delaney is old enough to drive her crazy. “Before you came along, I can’t even put into words what he might’ve said to them. Like, my mind literally could not go to that place to accurately represent what words that man would utter.” She waggles her eyebrows.

I’m well aware of how Rick used to talk to women, even though I’ve never seen it happen myself. The rumors at the office were insane for a while. I was warned about him the day I was hired, multiple times. It was probably what took me so long to ever even acknowledge him when he would come around. I would always feel bad, because I don’t like judging people on the words of others, but the evidence was overwhelming when it came to him.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. What else can you say? Not to mention, I don’t know how much I want to say. Quinn is the sweetest person, but she’s also the hub of office gossip. I think this is her favorite thing about working at the firm. It’s all a big soap opera to her.

“Well, I’m happy for you two.” She leans back and smiles. “You two just work. It’s always the most unlikely pairs. I think that’s the greatest thing about great romance stories.”

Discussing personal things with people from work is so awkward. I’m there to do a job, not make friends. I mean, I’m always nice to Quinn and the others who enjoy this type of thing, but so many people let their own stuff interfere with work. Maybe it’s just how I was raised. I don’t know.

“Well, thank you. And seriously, congratulations. I know what you’ve accomplished wasn’t easy.” I mean every single word, but hopefully, it serves as a distraction too. “You should be proud. And you set an amazing example for all the women in the office.”

Quinn blushes a little. Despite being a gossip, she’s incredibly modest and humble about her accomplishments. “Thanks, seriously.”

I watch Rick in my peripheral vision, and he’s joking with the brothers, laughing it up. But I catch his eyes every few seconds. My neck heats up every time he stares at me. I feel him between my legs, goosebumps pebble down my arms. I don’t know how he does that, but I don’t want it to ever stop. I care about him so much.

I think Quinn notices exactly what’s going on. “Yep, you have that puppy on a leash.”

I start to say something, but my mind is still drawing blanks because Rick’s eyes haven’t left mine.

Speaking of a puppy on a leash, Deacon walks away from his brothers and over to us. “Hey, Mary.”

“Mr. Collins.” I give him a nod.

He takes Quinn by the hand. “Excuse me, but I need to steal her away for a minute.”

“No problem at all, congratulations again, Quinn.” Yeah, like I’m the only one who tamed someone at the office. The Collins brothers would follow their wives and fiancées off a cliff.

Rick notices me all alone, and heads toward me. I pretend not to see him and stare at a picture on the wall, but I’m sure he knows exactly where my mind is. I turn my back to him, just so he can walk up behind me because I’m addicted to him wrapping his arms around me.

He walks up and like clockwork his hands find my hips. “Let’s get out of this place.”

“We just got here.”

He spins me around, so we’re face-to-face. “We’ve seen who we need to see, said what we need to say.” His eyes roam up and down my body.