Up to Me (The Bad Boys #2)(17)
Author: M. Leighton

He arches one brow and I feel desire shoot through me.  It almost takes my breath.

Oh God how I want him!

I’ve never wanted someone this way. So deeply.  So completely.  So desperately.

But that’s the part that gets me into trouble. It’s the part that scares me.

A group of guys moves away from the action, coming between us and breaking Cash’s very disconcerting eye contact.

The moment is gone.

But not the effects.

Every day, every hour, every minute I spend in his presence, Cash is getting further and further, deeper and deeper under my skin.

“You must be Olivia,” a lightly accented voice says, drawing my attention away from the door.

When my eyes make their way to the owner of the voice, I know my mouth drops open.  If the earth holds anyone that ranks anywhere close to Cash in good looks, it would have to be this guy.

Holy furry crap balls!  He’s gorgeous!

A thick patch of jet black hair—cut close and styled like Tom Cruise’s hair in Top Gun—sits above a very tan face that is the picture of classic good looks.  Wide brow, high cheekbones, straight nose, chiseled mouth, strong jaw—he’s just a man’s man. That’s all there is to it.  But it’s his great smile and twinkling ocean blue eyes that turn him from great looking into gorgeous.

Even while I’m thinking this, while I’m cataloging his attributes, I’m aware of a lack of any flicker of excitement, any glimmer of attraction.  He’s handsome, very pleasant to look at, seems to be a nice enough guy, but he’s just not Cash.  Plain and simple.  My guess is there’s only one guy for me. I just hope I’m the girl for him.

The guy I’ve been examining raises his eyebrows in question and I remember what he said.

“Why must I be Olivia?” I ask agreeably.  His grin widens. It’s contagious and puts me instantly at ease.

“Well, for starters Olivia is a pretty-girl name.  And you’re a pretty girl.  Secondly, you’re the only employee I haven’t met here, which means you must be Olivia.  Now,” he says leaning in and looking at me from the corner of his eye.  “Be honest. You’re impressed by my extraordinary powers of deduction, aren’t you?”

His eyes are full of mischief and I find myself laughing before I can even reason out what he’s saying.

“Okay, you caught me.  I won’t lie.  I’m terribly impressed by your extraordinary powers of deduction.”

He nods.  “As I suspected. I’m irresistible that way.”  Abruptly, he straightens and sticks his hand across the bar.  “I’m Gavin.  Gavin Gibson.  I help Cash with the bar.”

“Gavin Gibson?  That sounds like the real identity of a super hero.  You packin’ a cape somewhere under that shirt?” I ask.

“Nah, I stow my only super power in my pants.”

He winks and I grin.

“Do you flirt like this with all the employees here, Mr. Gibson?”

“Mr. Gibson?” His expression shows he’s clearly appalled.  “Mr. Gibson is my father.”

“Sorry, Gavin.”

“Much better.  And no, I don’t.  It’s very unprofessional for one thing.  But, far more importantly, none of the other employees look like you.  If they did, I might have a problem on my hands.”

“I never figured you for the sexual harassment type, Gavin,” Cash says, coming to a stop at the bar beside Gavin.

Although his tone is light and playful, Cash’s expression is anything but.  Gavin leans an elbow on the bar and turns to Cash.

“You’ve never had an employee worth harassing before,” he teases, looking over to wink at me.  “But this one might be worth losing my job over.”

“Oh, you’d lose more than your job if you ever laid a hand on her.  Trust me.”

Gavin’s still smiling as he looks back at Cash.  I see it slowly fade as he takes in Cash’s very serious expression.  Gavin straightens and his head turns from Cash to me and back again.

He nods and claps Cash on the shoulder with one big hand.  They’re pretty close to the same size, but Cash is still a touch bigger.

“Got it, mate.  No harm intended.”  He turns to me and gives me another charming smile.  “Olivia it’s been a pleasure. If you’ll excuse me, we have some business to discuss.”

Cash doesn’t move until Gavin has already left the bar and is heading in the direction of the office.  He looks at me, his eyes deep, fathomless pools of ink, then he turns and follows Gavin, leaving me baffled as to what just happened.

CHAPTER TEN

Cash

It’s all I can do not to slam the office door behind me as I follow Gavin inside.  I’m seething.  And Gavin knows me well enough to know it.

“I didn’t know you were seeing her, bro.  I meant no offense.”

I know he didn’t.  But that does nothing to appease my anger.  Watching Olivia smile like that for someone else was…was…

“You can’t act like that around employees, Gavin.  Do you know the kind of legal shit storm you could cause?”

He holds up his hands in surrender.  “My bad, Cash. It won’t happen again.  I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Don’t let it happen again.  I mean it.”

“It won’t,” he assures me solemnly.  After a few seconds of silence, he makes mistake number two.  “But damn that’s one hot sheila!”

His accent seems more pronounced, which only makes me angrier.  It’s like he’s slipped into some mode where he’s trying to be more appealing to the women.

“That’s enough!” I snap.

Gavin grins and nods slowly, like he’s discovered something.

“Ahh, so you are seeing her.”

“I didn’t—”

“You didn’t have to.  Don’t forget that I know you, mate. For a while now.  I’ve seen you with your flavor of the month before and you’ve never given a shit if I flirt with them or not.”

“You’ve never—”

“The hell I haven’t!  You’ve just never noticed before.”

I can’t even clear my mind enough to think back and determine whether it’s true or not.  But I decide it doesn’t matter.  What matters is that he keeps his hands off Olivia.  His eyes, too.