Her Dirty Builders (Men at Work #10) - Mika Lane Page 0,35

normally heeded.

But not this time.

Adam held his hands up. “Okay. Okay, Esme. Just keep in mind that… another opportunity this big might not find its way to your desk for quite a long time.”

Holy fuck. He was threatening me.

I stood up before I exploded, or burst into tears, or both. “I need to run to the ladies’ room. I’ll talk to you later.”

I had to get away from him.

I locked the bathroom stall door behind myself and sat on the seat, head in hands.

Had I heard him right? Would he actually withhold assignments from me if I didn’t write about Ty and his family?

I already knew the answer. Adam was just that petty and vindictive. I’d seen him mess with someone last year who finally gave up and surrendered, quitting in frustration. Something about refusing to ‘stretch’ the truth in a story he was working on.

While I sank into a new level of misery in one of the bathroom stalls, the outer door to the ladies’ room blew open and two of my coworkers came in, chatting happily about their weekend plans. But then the subject changed.

“Hey, did you see that guy Esme brought to happy hour?” one of them said.

“Oh, hell yeah. How’d she land such a hottie?” the other said with a laugh.

“Seriously.”

They giggled and left.

Way to go, universe. Any other shit you’d like to drop on my head before the day is over?

24

ESME

Thank goodness I was meeting the guys for dinner. I was desperate for a pick-me-up, and I knew they were just the ones to give it to me.

The second I walked into the restaurant and saw the guys already seated, watching me cross the room, my heart skipped a beat. There was nothing as comforting as seeing their handsome faces at the end of a shit day. Or any day.

“Hello, beautiful,” Alden said, pulling out my chair for me.

I looked at each of them, one at a time. How’d I get so lucky to meet men like this, even if we were only going to be spending time together for the duration of my house fix-up.

They’d hinted at something longer term, but I just didn’t see how that was supposed to work.

But for now, things were fine. We were all having fun with no expectation of anything further. And I planned to keep it that way.

The waiter happened by just as Case asked me what I wanted to drink.

“What are you guys having?” I asked.

Ty held up his glass. “Maker’s Mark, baby. You want to join us?”

“No, no, no.” I looked up at the waiter. “A glass of chardonnay for me, please.”

Alden reached over and rubbed my back. “You okay, sweetie?”

My heart melted a little. Actually, a lot. It was so amazing to have someone looking out for me.

“It was an… interesting day at work.”

Ty set down his drink. “Do you want to tell us about it?”

I thought for a moment. What the hell. I could be honest with these guys.

I rubbed my eyes before I spoke. “My boss, Adam—you met him at happy hour, Ty—came to me with a new writing assignment.”

Ty rolled his eyes. “I can just imagine. Guys, you need to get a load of this little weasel. He’s as big a douchebag as they come.”

Ty was about to become even less of an Adam fan.

“Well, he asked me to do a story on you, Ty, your family, and the death of your sister.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

And poor Ty, his face paled as he absorbed the distastefulness of the idea.

Case looked down at the table. “Jesus Christ. He wants you to use your relationship with Ty that way?”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to.

Until Ty looked at me with so much pain in his eyes I wanted to stab Adam in the heart. He’d never hurt Ty. At least not if I had anything to do with it.

“Are you… are you…?” Ty stumbled.

I reached for his hand. “Oh god no. I shut him down flat. I’d never do that, sweetie.”

Relief washed over his face as he nodded slowly. “I’m sorry I asked. Of course you wouldn’t. I know that.”

“It’s just really upsetting to know that I work for someone so horrible. And then he hinted around that if I didn’t do this, it might impact my future work assignments.”

Alden slammed his drink on the table. “You need to get a new job. That’s all there is to it.”

But Ty held a finger up. “Or… she could get rid