“Don’t I know it,” Norma replied, her gray eyes steely. “In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you what a prize you’ve got in her.”
Duncan’s coffee cup froze halfway to his mouth.
Norma went on. “I heard about that kerfuffle last night. You, saving her from those guys on the street. That’s good. Bravo. I like it that you can handle yourself in a tight situation. That’s a good quality in a man. Useful. But that’s not enough.”
Duncan blinked. “It’s not?”
“No. Not for Nell. She’s special. Very sensitive, very romantic. She has more to give than you could imagine.”
He started to feel hunted. “How do you know what I can imagine?”
“Any guy who orders the same lunch for six weeks in a row has imagination issues,” Norma informed him, not without sympathy.
The redheaded waitress swooped by and leaned over his shoulder again. “But don’t despair,” she said, popping her gum in his ear again. “You can make up for a lot of that egghead intellectual imagination stuff in bed, if you treat her good. And I mean, like, good, buddy boy.”
“Exactly my point,” Norma agreed. “If you don’t treat her like a goddess, you’ll have me to answer to.”
Duncan forced himself to close his slack, dangling mouth. He coughed to clear his throat. “Just what are you implying, ma’am?”
“That depends on you,” Norma said crisply. “You see, unfortunately, our Nell is an orphan. There aren’t any parents around to judge you and break your balls.” She pointed at her chest. “But here’s me, Strip Steak. Ready and willing to pick up the slack. Worse than the very worst mother-in-law could ever be. Just be aware.”
“There’s me, too. And Monica. And don’t forget her sisters,” the redhead piped in from behind as she swept by. “Mess with Nell, and Nancy and Vivi will rip you open and toss your entrails into the gutter.”
“Ah.” He pondered that memorable image for a moment. “You want me to declare that my intentions are honorable, you mean?”
Norma smiled approvingly. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”
Nell appeared with a plate. “Here’s your dessert. Carla, table five needs a slice of Black Forest and a Key Lime. They’re in a rush, okay?”
Carla gave her gum a final loud pop, and sashayed away, ass twitching back and forth. Nell set down the dessert. It was not apple pie with vanilla ice cream. It was a fluffy confection. Lots of whipped cream.
“I decided you needed a change of pace,” she said, a note of challenge in her voice. “This is a house specialty. Banana cream pie.”
She stared at him, her soft mouth pressed flat. Norma stared, too, from behind the counter, her large, chubby arms crossed across her voluminous bosom. Seconds ticked by.
It irritated him, being jerked around, but this was not about pie. This was some sort of subtle test that he could not afford to fail.
Ah, what the fuck. It was only pie, after all. He forked up a bite.
“It’s good,” he said, automatically. Then he took another bite, and realized that it was true. It really was good. In fact, it was damn good.
Nell’s face relaxed. Norma raised an eyebrow, harrumphed, and stumped away to serve a customer at the other end of the counter.
Nell leaned down. “What did they say?” she hissed in his ear.
Duncan felt an unexpected smile tug at his mouth, swiftly followed by a desire to laugh. “I was just informed that I should declare my intentions. And if I don’t treat you like a goddess, I’ll be sliced wide open, and my steaming viscera tossed out into the street.”
“Oh, my God.” Nell turned a delicate pink. “I’m going to kill them.”
“No need.” Suddenly, with no warning, he was laughing. Out loud. In public. People were looking. He didn’t care.
It felt great.
Chapter
8
He kept catching her eye, giving her that wicked grin that scrambled her brain. The grin with the dimples that carved sexy lines into his cheeks. He’d done it in the restaurant and made her screw up the orders. He’d done it on the drive to his building. He was doing it now, from behind his desk in his office. She crossed her legs and tried to catch her breath. Bastard. It wasn’t fair. It really wasn’t.
“Nell? Earth to Nell? Do you have any of those finished?”
She jerked her gaze back to Bruce. “Uh, do I have what finished?”
Bruce rolled his eyes. “The manuscripts for the goblin caves! Did you get those done? I need to submit them to the graphic artists.”
“Ah…um…” She winced. What with attackers and protracted bouts of incredible sex, she hadn’t had a second to work on the game. In fact, she’d forgotten about its existence. “I’m so sorry, Bruce, but I—”
“She’s been busy,” Duncan said curtly, from behind his desk.
Bruce’s eyes narrowed. He looked from Duncan to Nell. “Busy?”
Nell began to blush. “My life’s been kind of crazy. If you want, I’ll try to whip something up right now.”
“Okay, fine, but I was hoping to brainstorm about the octagonal tower and the magic mirrors tonight. And how about the prophesies for the cursed tomb of the lost kings? Haven’t done those, either, huh?”
She resisted the urge to excuse herself for slacking off. “Not yet, but I have some ideas,” she said. “They’ll need to be encrypted.”
“I roughed out a Rosetta stone last night. Looks like we’re going to be here till midnight if we want to have a chance in hell of finishing—”
“No,” Duncan said. “She’s been waitressing all day. She needs dinner, and a rest. Plus she has an appointment, in Queens, at nine.”
Bruce stared at them, and started to grin. “Ah. I see. Does she need her beauty rest, then? So that’s the way the wind blows.”
“Shut up, Bruce,” Duncan growled.
“Tired or not, we gotta get that material churned out by Monday,” Bruce fretted. “I don’t know how you expect us to—”
“Do it tomorrow,” Duncan said.
Bruce slanted him a glance. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, Dunc.”
“So? Work doesn’t care what day it gets done.”
“I’m free tomorrow,” Nell said quickly.
Duncan looked at his brother. “See? Problem solved. Get lost.”
Bruce got up and backed toward the door. “I’ll just go on home and slave away on my Rosetta stone while you two lovebirds—”
“Out, Bruce!” Duncan’s voice was like the lash of a whip.
“I’ll just, ah, engage this lock for you.” Bruce flicked the lever, grinning, and ducked out the door. It snicked shut behind him.
“That was unnecessary!” Nell hissed. “I promised him that I’d get those goblin cave manuscripts—oh!” She squeaked as he pulled her up to her feet and dragged her around his desk. He yanked her onto his lap, so that she was straddling him. “Are you nuts?”
He stifled her protest with a hot, persuasive kiss. She grasped his wrists for balance. Wow. But this was his office, for God’s sake.
“Just a kiss,” he said, nuzzling her throat. “Every time I passed the conference room, my dick got hard. Don’t worry. Door’s locked.”
“That makes it worse!” she protested. “Everyone is speculating!”
“What everyone? Everybody’s gone home but Bruce, and he’s already drawn his conclusions.” He gripped her hips, dragging her closer. “I did a crazy thing today,” he said, between ravenous kisses.
“Oh, really?” She laughed, breathlessly. “Crazier than usual?”
“Yeah. I was supposed to convince my sister Ellie to change her major from theater back to economics.” His arms tightened, grinding his erection against the melting sweet spot. She could hardly breathe.
“So I called her,” he continued, his voice silky. “I was about to do my spiel. And then I found your petals.”