Up to Me - By M. Leighton Page 0,26

of deduction."

He nods. "As I suspected. I'm irresistible that way." Abruptly, he straightens and sticks his hand across the bar. "I'm Gavin. Gavin Gibson. I help Cash with the bar."

"Gavin Gibson? That sounds like the real identity of a super hero. You packin' a cape somewhere under that shirt?" I ask.

"Nah, I stow my only super power in my pants."

He winks and I grin.

"Do you flirt like this with all the employees here, Mr. Gibson?"

"Mr. Gibson?" His expression shows he's clearly appalled. "Mr. Gibson is my father."

"Sorry, Gavin."

"Much better. And no, I don't. It's very unprofessional for one thing. But, far more importantly, none of the other employees look like you. If they did, I might have a problem on my hands."

"I never figured you for the sexual harassment type, Gavin," Cash says, coming to a stop at the bar beside Gavin.

Although his tone is light and playful, Cash's expression is anything but. Gavin leans an elbow on the bar and turns to Cash.

"You've never had an employee worth harassing before," he teases, looking over to wink at me. "But this one might be worth losing my job over."

"Oh, you'd lose more than your job if you ever laid a hand on her. Trust me."

Gavin's still smiling as he looks back at Cash. I see it slowly fade as he takes in Cash's very serious expression. Gavin straightens and his head turns from Cash to me and back again.

He nods and claps Cash on the shoulder with one big hand. They're pretty close to the same size, but Cash is still a touch bigger.

"Got it, mate. No harm intended." He turns to me and gives me another charming smile. "Olivia it's been a pleasure. If you'll excuse me, we have some business to discuss."

Cash doesn't move until Gavin has already left the bar and is heading in the direction of the office. He looks at me, his eyes deep, fathomless pools of ink, then he turns and follows Gavin, leaving me baffled as to what just happened.
CHAPTER TEN - Cash

It's all I can do not to slam the office door behind me as I follow Gavin inside. I'm seething. And Gavin knows me well enough to know it.

"I didn't know you were seeing her, bro. I meant no offense."

I know he didn't. But that does nothing to appease my anger. Watching Olivia smile like that for someone else was...was...

"You can't act like that around employees, Gavin. Do you know the kind of legal shit storm you could cause?"

He holds up his hands in surrender. "My bad, Cash. It won't happen again. I just wasn't thinking."

"Don't let it happen again. I mean it."

"It won't," he assures me solemnly. After a few seconds of silence, he makes mistake number two. "But damn that's one hot sheila!"

His accent seems more pronounced, which only makes me angrier. It's like he's slipped into some mode where he's trying to be more appealing to the women.

"That's enough!" I snap.

Gavin grins and nods slowly, like he's discovered something.

"Ahh, so you are seeing her."

"I didn't - "

"You didn't have to. Don't forget that I know you, mate. For a while now. I've seen you with your flavor of the month before and you've never given a shit if I flirt with them or not."

"You've never - "

"The hell I haven't! You've just never noticed before."

I can't even clear my mind enough to think back and determine whether it's true or not. But I decide it doesn't matter. What matters is that he keeps his hands off Olivia. His eyes, too.

"Olivia's...she's...it's just..."

"Say no more. From now on, she's my little sister."

I look at him. Really look at him. In his eyes, I see my best friend. My business partner. One of the few people on the planet I actually trust. And I know he's telling the truth.

I nod, too. "Good enough."

Gavin sinks down in his chair a little, propping one ankle on his knee and lacing his fingers together behind his head. He's back to his old comfortable self.

"So, what's going on? From what I'm gathering, it must be pretty important."

I'm sure he's referring to my short temper. At least partly. Gavin is a very perceptive guy.