Her Dirty Builders (Men at Work #10) - Mika Lane Page 0,49

find out, and I hope you are too. If you’ll have me.”

For an agonizing moment, they looked around the room, at their feet, and then at each other.

Shit. This was not going how I’d hoped it would.

Until Alden spoke. “Are you kidding? Of course, we’ll have you.”

I exploded with a shriek that was sure to get us kicked out of Ty’s room.

Alden picked me up and twirled me around the room, and when he put me down, Case planted a huge kiss on my mouth. Not to be outdone, Ty extended his hand to me and pulled me in for a passionate kiss.

We turned around to see the nurse come in, initially hesitating when she saw me kissing and hugging all three of the guys.

I guess there’d be more of that, and I’d better prepare for it. Most people weren’t going to know what to think of us.

But that was okay.

My phone buzzed, and I saw it was Matt. Adam was probably looking for me. Dammit.

“Now that I’ve dropped my news on you guys, believe it or not, I have to get back to work. But I’ll see you this evening, okay?”

I floated back to my car, unable to wipe the smile from my face.

Ty was going to be okay, and the guys wanted me. Me.

How did I get so damn lucky?

But as I got closer to the office, my cozy happiness started to wither, and to make matters worse, when I’d tried to return Matt’s call, I only got his voicemail.

I was going to have to tell Adam that the story he wanted so badly was not going to happen. No fucking way, no matter what he threatened me with.

I tried to breathe through the acid-y pit in my stomach. But hey, I’d handled worse. If he fired me, so be it. I’d go out and find something better.

I planned to slip back into my cube without being noticed, but the office was buzzing with excitement, unusual for a weekday afternoon.

33

ESME

Matt gestured when he saw me, and I headed straight for him.

“How’s Ty? He going to be okay?” he asked.

I let out a long breath. “He’ll be fine. Thank god. Hey, were you trying to reach me? I tried to call you back but—”

“Adam’s gone.”

Huh?

“What? What do you mean? Did something happen to him?” I asked.

Matt shook his head. “He’s gone as in fired. I guess there were just too many complaints against him.”

My mouth dropped open and it was a moment before I could respond. Had Ty made good on his promise to get rid of Adam? “You’re… joking,” I stammered.

He smiled. “It’s true. It’s the goddamn truth.”

Holy crap. It was like in the Wizard of Oz when the bad witch died. You wanted to jump up and down and sing.

But gloating was ugly. So I kept my joy to myself.

The other folks in the office were not so restrained.

“The owners of the paper will be here”—he looked at his watch— “in thirty minutes.”

This was some crazy shit.

“Who’s going to be in charge, then?” I asked.

“Yours truly,” he said, beaming. “And I’m thinking of making you the second in command. That is, if you are interested.”

I couldn’t recall ever having had such a crazy day. Apart from being left at the altar, that is.

I drummed my fingers on my desk. “Well, I’d have to think about that. I mean, having you as my new boss is freaky enough. But how do I know you won’t stick me with shit like planning staff retreats and such?”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Like I’d even consider turning down the job.

Matt dropped his head back and exploded with his usual roar. When he caught his breath, he wiped a drop of sweat off his forehead. “There won’t be any damn retreats. In fact, the one you’ve been working on can be canceled. That will be your last task related to this bullshit. If that’s okay with you, that is.”

“Oh my god, Matt. Congratulations. And of course, I’ll be your deputy. It’s… it’s an honor.”

“You know, you’ll be getting a raise, too. Maybe you’ll be able to afford that house of yours after all,” he said grinning.

Holy shit. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Matt was purposely giving me a leg up so I could improve my situation.

And I’d be forever grateful to him for it.

Crap. I’d just left the guys, and now I was desperate to talk to them.

Could it really be that I might be able to