she was being, she blurted out, “Yes.”
Danny blinked as if he were trying to focus his eyes, and then his cheeks turned red.
Adison bit the inside of her lip. Oh, God. Why had she done that? What was she thinking? This job had been an amazing opportunity, and one week in she’d blown it. There was no way he wouldn’t fire her for this.
Not only that, but Mr. Montoya was only a millisecond away from correcting her. So not only would she not have a job, but she would also be shamed in front of Danny.
She swallowed hard, looking for some way to save herself. But there was nothing to say, and she couldn’t even bring herself to look at her boss…
Who pulled up the chair next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “That’s right,” Ken said coolly. “And who are you?”
Adison’s jaw dropped. She turned her head to look at Ken, but he was studying Danny with a confident, easy expression.
“I’m her ex,” Danny said. He stared Ken down, as if daring him to challenge the statement.
Ken sucked in sharply between clenched teeth. “Ah. Right. I’ve heard about you.”
The tone of his voice insinuated that he’d heard nothing good. Of course, Adison had never even mentioned Danny to Ken. The man, for some reason beyond her, had decided to play along.
“And you guys met when?” Danny asked.
“At work,” Adison said quickly, fully aware that she was dodging the question.
Ken nodded in agreement.
“I have to go.” Danny unceremoniously stood. “There’s something else you left,” he told Adison.
“What?”
“Your body wash. You can come get it later.”
She tried not to laugh. Danny was obviously just trying to remind Ken that at one time Adison had belonged to him.
So. Even if she was about to be unemployed, at least her plan to make Danny jealous was working. It wasn’t mature in the slightest, but in times like these a person deserved a break from adulthood.
“That’s fine,” she said. “You can keep it.”
“I don’t like you leaving your stuff all over the place,” he grumbled.
“Excuse me?” Fire raced through her veins. “I was a little rushed on the day I came home and found another woman there, so yeah, maybe I did forget my body wash, but you forgot to keep your pants on.”
Danny turned cherry red. “You—”
“Stop.” It was Ken, leaning forward and staring at Danny without blinking. “You heard her. It’s time for you to leave.”
There was a long, tense moment where the two men stared each other down. Adison’s breath hitched in her throat. Then, finally, Danny guffawed and stood.
“See you later, Ad.” He threw a hand in her general direction.
“Doubtful,” she responded.
He sulked out of the coffee shop.
As the door closed behind him, Ken’s arm retreated from around Adison’s shoulders. She sucked in a long breath, steeled herself for the storm that was about to hit, and turned to him.
Chapter 8
Ken
“Thank you, and I’m so, so sorry.” She spoke in a rush, following up by biting into her full, pink lip.
Ken opened his mouth to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. He’d never been this close to Adison before. To put it simply, he was struck dumb by her beauty. Her milky skin, with freckles mapped across her nose and cheeks like a galaxy. Her round, puffy lips. The big blue eyes that made him want to fulfill any request she might ever have.
And the smell of her. Vanilla and flowers. Add that to how good it felt to have her body sidled up to his, and the effect was intoxicating.
When he didn’t respond right away, her front teeth released her lip and she looked away. “I’m really sorry, Mr. Montoya. I didn’t have that planned. It just kind of happened.”
“It’s okay.”
“Really?” She cautiously looked back at him.
“I think I have a good sense of what was going on.” Conscious of how close they still were, he scooted his chair away from her by about a foot. Playtime was over. Though, admittedly, he’d enjoyed it.
Adison sighed. “That was my ex. We just broke up last week, and he already has a new girlfriend. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to respond to that by claiming I’ve already met someone new.”
“Me?” He grinned.
It was supposed to be a joke, but she blushed and dipped her face.
“I’m kidding,” he said. “Please. Go on with your story.”
She placed her hands on the table, both of them in fists. “All I said was that it’s someone