The Mogul and the Muscle - Claire Kingsley Page 0,33

the office and I had at least fifty unread emails. Some I forwarded to Brandy; others I flagged for later follow-up. Then I got to one of the few names I always dreaded seeing. Noelle Olson.

Today she was edging out Bobby Spencer for the title of biggest pain in my ass.

She’d been with the company longer than I had, and when Milton had announced he was retiring, she’d assumed the CEO position was as good as hers. Milton had disagreed. Noelle blamed me. I’d hoped that she and I would have been able to develop at least a cordial working relationship. But she was just as hostile toward me now as she had been the day she’d stormed out of the high-level management meeting when my promotion had been announced.

I clicked on her email to find out what sort of trouble she was going to cause for me today. She wanted justification for the increased expenditures in the commercial R&D division. Noelle had long maintained that Spencer needed to focus entirely on government contracts and abandon our commercial projects.

With a sigh, I went to work drafting a diplomatic but very clear response. It was important that she remembered who was in charge.

Once I held a majority interest in Spencer, I was going to have to make some hard decisions about the leadership in this company. Noelle had good qualities that made her excellent at her job. But the way she constantly opposed me wasted a lot of my time.

Another email popped up just as I hit send, and I clicked on it.

Do the right thing. You’ll know.

My brow furrowed. That was odd. And mildly threatening. What did that mean? There were no links. No signature. Nothing else in the email. Just those two sentences.

Do the right thing? I had no idea what it meant. It didn’t have a subject line and the From field had my name, like I’d sent it to myself.

Brandy popped in to remind me it was time to go and my driver was waiting downstairs. I’d been asked to visit Miami Kid-Ovation, a summer and after-school program that provided art and STEM activities for kids, and an organization I personally funded. Jude was already standing, his laptop stowed in his backpack. Always one step ahead.

I forwarded the email to both Jude and IT so they could look into it, just in case it was relevant. Then I put it out of my mind.

Jude fell in step behind me and we took the elevator to the parking garage. Downstairs, Joe held the door for me as I slid into the back seat of the Mercedes SUV. Jude got in the passenger’s side and moved the seat back as far as it could go.

The poor guy probably didn’t fit in most cars. At least this was roomy.

He looked fantastic today in his cream button-down and slacks. I was going to miss the view when he didn’t work for me anymore. Those arms were a work of art.

I felt an odd dip in my stomach at the thought of not seeing Jude anymore. And it wasn’t just because of the arm porn. Or the shoulder porn, back porn, leg porn, or any other part of his gloriously muscular body.

So many of my private thoughts about him were exceedingly inappropriate. But there was something else simmering beneath the surface. Something I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit.

I liked him.

A lot.

I found myself dreading the moment—which seemed inevitable at this point—when he’d tell me I didn’t need him anymore. That I’d been right all along, and full-time personal security wasn’t necessary.

What was I going to say when that happened? Thanks, it was nice to have met you, good luck with retirement? Wait, I was wrong, I’m terrified for my life and I need you to stay? Come home with me and lick key lime tart off my stomach?

This was a problem.

Trying to put my latest inappropriate Jude sex fantasy out of my mind—but god, what would it feel like to be pinned down by those huge hands?—I focused on the notes Brandy had sent me.

Give short talk on why science and engineering are awesome. Bullet points below. Then the kids will show off their projects. Indoors. No need for sunscreen.

I grinned at the sunscreen remark. She knew me too well.

We pulled out of the parking garage onto the street and Jude adjusted the seat again. Thinking about his size, and that stony brick wall impression he did so well, made me