My desk was a haven after the tension in Parker’s office and I eyed them covertly, pretending to work, though likely neither would have noticed even if I’d pressed my nose to the glass.
Parker seemed to be barely paying attention to Ryker, though I’d seen him do that before and it was always a fake out. Nothing slipped by him.
For his part, Ryker had abandoned his earlier relaxed pose and was now bent forward, his elbows braced on his knees as he talked.
Neither of them smiled.
They knew each other, and apparently hated each other—or at least Ryker hated Parker. “Narcissistic dick” and “fucking prick” usually weren’t terms reserved for a good buddy. It was an engrossing mystery and I did nothing but speculate, my imagination running rampant for the ten minutes Ryker was there.
Finally, he stood and walked to the door. He didn’t appear to say good-bye and Parker was seemingly already absorbed in a file before Ryker even left his office.
I expected him to head straight for the elevators, but he caught sight of me watching him. A look I couldn’t read flashed across his face and he changed direction, stopping in front of the raised counter that served as two walls of my “cubicle.”
“So…Sage, was it?” he asked.
I eyed him suspiciously, tapping the nameplate that sat on the counter rather than answering him.
“Sage Reese,” he read. “Executive Administrative Assistant.”
“You can read,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I was worried you’d have trouble with the big words.” If Parker didn’t like Ryker, and it seemed pretty clear he didn’t, chances were I wasn’t going to like him either.
He grinned at me despite my sass and he had an honest-to-God dimple in his cheek. His teeth were perfectly straight and white, and his smile drastically altered the hard expression on his face to one of sexy mischief. I momentarily lost my train of thought.
Ryker leaned down like he was going to tell me a secret. The aroma of leather and something musky drifted in the air and I caught myself taking a deep whiff of it.
“I know what you’re doing after work,” he said.
I looked at him in confusion. “What?”
“You’re having dinner with me.”
That was the absolute last thing I expected him to say. I gaped at him.
Ryker reached toward me and my breath caught. His fingers brushed the fabric of the scarf tied around my throat. I was frozen in place, my eyes wide as I looked up at him and my pulse racing. I felt the softest touch of the back of his knuckles against my jaw; then he was reaching past me to snag a couple of peanut M&Ms from the little candy dish on my desk for when I absolutely had to have a bite of chocolate. Tossing them in his mouth, he grinned again, the knowing look in his eyes telling me he knew exactly how he was affecting me.
“Pick you up at six,” he said with a wink, and then he was gone, striding toward the elevators, his jeans and leather jacket utterly out of place in the sea of suits and business attire. But you would have thought he was a model wearing the latest from Armani by the way he walked.
When he got to the elevator, it dinged as though it already knew he was coming. He’d slid his sunglasses back on and he turned before he stepped inside. I was still staring at him and he caught me at it, another knowing grin spreading across his face before he disappeared from my view.
“Wow. Who was that?”
I turned around to see Megan, my friend and fellow secretary. She worked for a group of analysts who reported to Parker.
Sliding her glasses up her nose, she turned to me. “Seriously. Please tell me he was interviewing and starts work tomorrow.”
I laughed. Megan was an incongruous package. She was tiny, barely five feet tall, with curly blond hair and a heart-shaped face—a stereotypical sweet, shy type. She was sweet, that much was true, but she had a biting wit and an irreverent humor that made her a favorite with nearly everyone at KLP.
“Sorry,” I said with an exaggerated sigh. “He already has a job.”
“As a movie star, right?”
“He’s a detective,” I said with a grin. “And I think I have a date with him tonight.”
“Get out!”
I shrugged. “He asked me out.” I thought for a second. “Actually, he didn’t ask. He just told me I was going to dinner with him.” Which should