Dirty Thoughts - Megan Erickson Page 0,75
on the coffee table in the lobby, grab a beer, and watch a baseball game.
Or he’d rather be home, playing video games with Asher. He knew the kid would have been fine by himself all night, but Gabe had said he could spend the night at his house with Julian. Cal figured that was a better idea, so Asher didn’t have to rattle around in his house all by himself. Cal would still rather be home with him.
Cal kept those thoughts to himself, though. He shook hands when Jenna introduced him to her colleagues, and he smiled. He even made small talk about the weather, which was painful. But Jenna beamed at him, her smile lighting up the entire place.
He managed to escape to a corner of the room with a vodka tonic clutched in his hand. Jenna worked the crowd, her dress swishing around her legs. He crunched the ice in his glass with his molars, shifting uncomfortably when the thought of his hand up that skirt made his pants tight.
“You might wanna simmer down on the eye-fucking,” a voice said next to him.
He looked down at Delilah, who sipped from a martini glass and peered at him over the rim. Her hair was down, black and straight and so long it touched her elbows.
“Didn’t know the kid’s department sold dresses that tight.” He gestured toward her purple dress.
She scowled. “It’s called petite, jackass.”
Cal grunted and let his eyes drift to Jenna, who had her back to them, round ass in view. “I like a good handful.”
“Don’t be a pig.”
He snorted.
She plucked at his shirt. “I did pretty well, didn’t I? Jenna like your clothes?”
He grinned wolfishly. “Yeah, she liked ’em so much, she—”
“Oh, shut up.”
He laughed. “So what are you doing there?”
She waved a hand into the crowd. “I came as a plus-one.”
“With you?”
“Some guy named Marshall.”
“Marshall?”
“I just want my name in the raffle. Some great stuff is up.”
“So you seduced a guy so you could get invited?”
She winked at him.
“You’re a bad influence on Jenna.”
She pushed his shoulder gently. “You have nothing to fear. That woman is gone for you.”
He didn’t answer that, because he sure hoped so. He was gone for her. If he thought about it, he might have been gone for her again the second he saw her standing outside his garage next to that Dodge Charger. He didn’t know how Jenna felt. Of course, he caught her watching him, a small smile on her face. She was attentive and caring, but that wasn’t the same thing as falling in love with him. He’d avoided talking to her about it the last two weeks, but it was time now, time for them to finally put into words what they’d been communicating with kisses.
He didn’t have time to think about it now, though, because Jenna was walking toward them. She hugged her friend, and they chatted for a minute about clothes and stuff Cal didn’t care about. Then Jenna announced it was time to sit for dinner, and Cal did care about that.
It was worth it too. Slices of rare roast beef and garlic mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. Must have cost the company a pretty penny. Jenna’s eyes flitted around the room during dinner until he placed a hand on her thigh. “Eat.”
She looked a little guilty, but she dug in and cleaned her plate. They sat at a table with her brother and his date, her parents, and some other higher-ups in the company. Cal kept his head down and his mouth full, so he wasn’t asked to contribute to any conversations. He let the voices carry over his head.
Dinner was fine until Dylan finished off what had to be his third drink and looked at Jenna with a gleam in his eye.
Cal’s backbone stiffened.
“So you think this event will actually have a lasting impact?” Dylan asked, propping himself up with an elbow on the table.
Jenna’s face was composed, and Cal knew if they were in private, she’d probably light into her brother. But not in public. “I do think it will. Something had to be done.”
It was a reference to the damage her brother had inflicted on the company. No one at the table missed that. Dylan’s eyes narrowed. “Thank God the brilliant Jenna was able to come back into town to fix everything. Never mind that I’ve been working my ass off at this company for ten years, helping to build it to what it was—”
“No one is saying you don’t