Faking Ms. Right (Dirty Martini Running Club #1) - Claire Kingsley Page 0,99

her.

I also had a feeling she’d be the one who could handle Shepherd Calloway.

Being with me hadn’t changed who he was. He was still stoic and serious. Still appeared cold and unfeeling, especially at work. Not many people got to see the Shepherd on the inside. The guy who could shred on a bass, whose rare smiles made my knees weak, and who loved it when I left bite marks on his chest.

He had four right now. I’d counted them this morning as I kissed them better.

“Thanks for coming in.” I stood and shook Sophie’s hand. “We’ll be in touch soon.”

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Dalton,” she said. “Mr. Calloway.”

Shepherd’s eyes flicked to her, but he didn’t reply. Just gave her the tiniest of nods, then went back to his messages.

Sophie turned to leave and the door flew open, hitting her right in the head. She stumbled back, clutching her forehead. Shepherd stood, and I grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

“I’m so sorry.” It was Nina, the front receptionist. “I thought you were interviewing in Mr. Calloway’s office. I didn’t know anyone was in here. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Sophie said, and I could hear the dejection in her voice as she rubbed her forehead. “It’s probably my fault.”

“No, it was totally me.” Nina seemed to realize Shepherd was still in here. Her eyes landed on him and she paled. “I have to get back to the front. I’ll find another conference room for the marketing team.”

Nina scurried away. I still had my hands on Sophie’s shoulders. I felt her take a deep breath and straighten her spine.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.

“Yes.” She took a step and turned. “I’ll be fine. Thanks again for your time.”

I leaned a little closer and lowered my voice to a whisper. “Don’t worry. That didn’t ruin it.”

She gave me a bright smile. “Thanks.”

“We’ll be in touch.”

Sophie left and I gathered up the resumes we’d collected.

“That was the last one. What do you think?”

“We’ll hire Sophie.”

I agreed, but I was surprised he’d made the decision so fast. “Really?”

“She’s the obvious choice. Don’t you think so?”

“I totally do, I’m just surprised you decided that fast.”

“She’s experienced and well-qualified. She interviewed well. And I don’t hate the sound of her voice.”

I laughed. “That’s your criteria? Is that why you hired me? You didn’t hate the sound of my voice?”

Pocketing his phone, he looked me in the eyes. “No. You were the best for the job and I didn’t hate the sound of your voice.”

I slipped my arms around his waist. It didn’t matter that the door was still open and anyone walking by could see. In fact, Steve walked by, right then. He paused and gave me a dramatic wink. I had no idea why. Shepherd and I were no secret. Everyone knew that we were dating and I’d moved in with him. People probably thought I’d taken a new job because of our relationship—which was both true and false. But it didn’t matter what they thought.

The corner of Shepherd’s mouth hooked in a little grin and he leaned down to kiss me. I caught his lower lip between my teeth and bit down, just hard enough to get him to grunt.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard for that later,” he growled in my ear.

“Promise?”

The last couple of weeks, since we’d come back from Miami, had been busy. I was still working for Shepherd, just until we could get a replacement up to speed. Cameron was anxious to get moving on her new venture, so I’d been scoping out office locations, pricing furniture, and putting together a preliminary budget.

Thankfully, it was Friday. It looked like we’d just found his new assistant. I had a few options for office space to send to Cameron. Nora had been helping me with office décor ideas, and Hazel had given me a lead on a potential office assistant.

Things were coming together.

Reluctantly, I dropped my arms and stepped back. “I have a few more things to do, then I’m heading home. Are you going to the Office early?”

“Yeah.”

The way he looked away, not quite meeting my eyes, made me feel all squishy inside. I’d caught that rare display of emotion. Shepherd Calloway was nervous.

I squeezed his arm. “I’ll see you there. And it’s going to be great.”

As usual, the Office was packed. Dahlia Marlow was on first, regaling the crowd with her sultry voice. I loved that the same bar that rocked out to Incognito was mesmerized