Engaged with the Boss

Ash snorted. “Easier said than done. Later, brother.” He grabbed Devin’s hand and shook it, then pulled him close. “Get some rest. You look like hell.”

“Thanks, you don’t look so good yourself. Keep an eye on that fiancée of yours. She could be in as much danger as the rest of us. Especially since she found the DNA evidence that freed Rick Campbell.”

“Rachel can hold her own. But I’ll gladly keep a very close eye on her.” Ash waggled his eyebrows.

Devin shook his head. “How she puts up with you, I’ll never know.”

Ash smiled at Jolie. “My big brother hasn’t learned that a good woman makes a man want to be a better person. That woman could be right under his nose and he hasn’t pulled his head out of the sand long enough to notice.” He winked at Devin. “Am I right?”

“Shut up and get out.” Devin shook his head, a hint of a smile pulling at his lips. Ash was a ladies’ man who’d met his match in Rachel. That didn’t mean Devin was headed down the matrimonial path. He had too much on his plate to even think of a relationship.

His gaze landed on Jolie. She was the ideal woman, the one he found himself measuring all others by. If he decided to settle down and think about a wife and two-point-one children, he’d like to find someone as strong and stable as Jolie. But that was a big if, one he didn’t intend to explore anytime in the near future.

And she was his executive assistant. Completely off-limits in the corporate world. He shuddered inwardly at the media nightmare such a relationship would generate.

JOLIE SAT ACROSS THE restaurant table from Natalie, laughing and chatting. Yet her thoughts were of Devin, whom she’d left in his office thirty minutes earlier. She really should have stayed to see if he needed anything.

“He’ll be fine. You know, you aren’t married to him or the job.” Natalie smiled at Jolie’s attempt to eat Chinese the traditional way.

“I understand why the Chinese are so thin,” Jolie grumbled, fumbling with the chopsticks. She almost managed to get four grains of rice to her lips before the chopsticks slipped and the rice fell into her lap. What was the use? “I give up. I’m hopeless at this. I can’t even pretend to be sophisticated and a world traveler.”

“Not to worry. That’s what they make forks for.” Natalie handed her the fork beside her plate.

Jolie held her hand up. “No. I’m going to eat with the chopsticks or go hungry.” She put the sticks together and used them as a shovel, this time getting a line of rice and vegetables into her mouth without too much spillage.

“So what did you think about my brother’s family meeting?”

Jolie shrugged. “I don’t know what to think about the whole situation.”

“Oh, come on. Are you telling me Jolie Carson doesn’t have an opinion? That’s a change.”

Jolie grinned. “Okay, I do, but I didn’t want to speak out against Devin. He’s been taking this all to heart. The man hasn’t slept in days. Probably hasn’t eaten.”

“Oh, so the dinner-to-go you ordered isn’t for your freezer then, is it?” Natalie smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t hold that little lie against you. You’re going by my brother’s condo to make sure he gets a proper meal.”

Jolie’s cheeks burned.

Natalie leaned across the table and grabbed Jolie’s hand. “Have you told him how you feel about him?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Jolie pulled her hand from her friend’s.

“Sorry, I’m not buying it.” Natalie stared hard into Jolie’s face. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Jolie considered lying again but thought better of it. Her friend deserved the truth, no matter how pathetic it was. She sighed. “For six years.”

“Good grief. When are you going to tell him?”

“Never.” Jolie sat up straight and pointed a finger at Natalie. “And neither are you.”

“Not tell him? What good will that do?”

“I work for the man. If he thinks I’m in love with him, he’ll fire me on the spot.”

“And you’d rather work as his executive assistant, secretly in love with him, than work somewhere else. Right?”

Jolie’s lips twisted. “Pathetic, huh?”

Natalie leaned her chin on her palm and sighed. “No, I think it’s romantic. I wish I could find someone I’m completely crazy about.”

“You will. He’ll show up when you’re least expecting it.”

Natalie sighed again. “I hope it’s before I’m as old as you are.”

Jolie tossed her napkin at her. “Thanks. I’m feeling older by the second with you around.”

“Speaking of showing up—” Natalie sat up straighter, her brow furrowing “—there he is again.”

“There’s who?” Jolie twisted in her seat.

“That guy at the table by the door.”

“The one with the menu over his face.” Jolie rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, only he hasn’t always had the menu over his face.” She lobbed Jolie’s napkin back at her. “I swear he’s the same guy who’s been following me for the past few days.”

Jolie looked closer, but the menu remained up, the man studying it intently. A flicker of concern threatened her usual calm. “Have you said anything to your brother?” Devin would want to know if there was any threat to his family.

“No. If I tell him I think I’m being followed, he’ll insist on a police escort everywhere I go.” Natalie shrugged. “I’ll handle it myself rather than be put under lock and key by my overbearing brother.”

“He’s worried about you.” Jolie shot another glance behind her at the menu-covered stranger. “He worries about his family.”

“He’s annoying and overprotective. You’d think he was my father, not my brother.”

“As the oldest, he feels responsible for his siblings.”

“Well, he needs to stop it.” Natalie set her fork aside. “I have work to do at home. Are you sure you don’t mind taking the marketing plan to my brother? I promised I’d have it by the end of the day.” She laughed. “Guess late at night is still part of today.”

“I’ll get it to him.” Jolie patted her oversize purse with the file folder inside.

“Yeah, and make sure he eats that food you bring him. He looks like he’s losing weight.”

“Now who’s the worried sibling?” Jolie laughed. “I’ll stand over him until he downs every bite.”

Natalie grinned. “I can see you doing just that. Like a drill sergeant ready to pounce on him if he doesn’t.” Then her smile faded. “I have half a mind to tell him to wake up and smell the rose he has for an E.A.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“It goes both ways. Don’t tell him I have someone following me unless you want me to tell him that you have a thing for him.”