King went to the kitchen to grab another glass. When he returned, he handed it to me before picking up an expensive looking bottle of red. I considered asking how much it cost, but I stopped myself. Expensive indulgences always made me feel wasteful, and I just wanted to enjoy myself.

After pouring the wine, King began setting up the chessboard as I took several sips, and man, it was delicious. The rest of the bottle was in serious danger of being depleted by me if I kept this up. King’s attention was on the board when he started to speak, holding a pawn between his fingers, “You know” —a pause— “you’re not the usual sort of person who comes to work for me.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Finally I went with, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Neither. It’s just a fact. Eleanor is strict. She steers me in the right direction when I might be about to make a bad decision. Gillian is a wonderful organiser, and she never fails to compliment me in some way when she greets me in the morning. It’s a nice little confidence boost.”

I grinned at him, leant in, and mock-whispered, “Mr King, do you have a crush on Gillian?”

He chuckled, and it was an attractive, masculine sort of sound. “Don’t be ridiculous. I simply enjoy her compliments.”

I couldn’t help teasing him. “Well, I wouldn’t go getting a big head about it. That woman would marry a cup if it showed her enough attention.”

“Alexis.” Now it was King’s turn to mock-whisper. “What a horrible thing to say.”

Laughing, I replied, “It’s not horrible. It’s just the truth, and I’m not judging, but that Gillian is a flirt. You forget I’m the one who has to listen to her giggle to men over the phone all day long.”

King winced. “Giggle? Really?”

I nodded. “Uh-huh. You’re not the only one who gets the compliments. Jealous?”

King shook his head and made his first move on the board. “No. And stop interrupting my train of thought. I was saying something, now, where was I? Oh, yes, Eleanor is my compass, and Gillian is my confidence-booster. Now that Eleanor’s poised to leave, do you think you can fill her shoes?”

I bent forward to take in the board, then made a move. “Be your compass? I’ll try my best,” I answered, considering my strategy for the game.

“Your best is all I would ever ask,” said King, a thread of seriousness coming into his voice. I glanced up at him for a moment, my eyes catching on a picture frame behind his head. It sat on a shelf beside a number of other pictures, and showed King with his arm around a good-looking woman with light brown hair. Since he thought I was gay, I felt relatively comfortable asking about her.

I nodded to the picture. “Your girlfriend?”

King turned to see what I was referring to. “My ex, actually. Mila and I broke up about three months ago.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Breakups are tough.”

“They can be, but not this one. Our parting was amicable. She wanted to get married and start a family, and right now I’m married to my job. There are things I want to achieve, and I’m quite single-minded about them. Mila is a career woman, too, so she wasn’t hurt by my decision.”

“I can understand that,” I said. I could understand it, but I didn’t believe for one second that this Mila woman hadn’t been hurt. She’d probably just hidden it really well. I felt a bit sorry for King that he couldn’t see that, or maybe he just refused to see it.

Eyeing his side of the chess board, I could already tell he was going to be a tough opponent and I was probably going to lose the game. We played for a couple of minutes in thoughtful silence before King spoke up.

“What about you? Any special lady in your life right now?”

His question and curious tone took me off guard, and I was answering before I had time to think it through. “Yes.”

King rose an eyebrow. “Really? How long have you two been together?”

“Not long. It’s pretty new.”

“Do you think she’s a keeper?”

Jesus, what was with all the questions? I felt like I was under interrogation. Needing to lighten the mood, I answered, “Who knows. For now I’m keeping my options open. I mean, just ’cause I’m tied to the fence, doesn’t mean I can’t bark at the cars.”

He chuckled softly. “I’ve never had a lesbian for a friend before. I quite like it. It’s pleasant talking to a woman who’s essentially a man.”

“Hey!” I protested.

He raised his hands. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

I scowled at him. “Whatever. Besides, I’m not exactly your friend. I’m your employee.”

King feigned a sad expression, like I’d just hurt his feelings. “You can be both.”

I shot him a grin. “Well, all right, then. Let’s try that. And since we’re being friends, you won’t mind me openly kicking your arse at chess.”

His answering grin was wicked, and combined with his handsome face and tousled blond hair, gave me some distinctly un-lesbian feelings down below. What, oh what, was I getting myself into?

“Bring it on,” said King.

Four

My mind was on my boss again as Karla and I walked to the nearby supermarket to do our weekly shopping. I’d stayed at King’s place for another hour the night before, drinking wine and finishing our game of chess. I really enjoyed talking to him. I mean, he was so unlike the usual sort of men I’d grown up with. King was sophisticated and urbane, and he represented a world I knew virtually nothing about. And, as expected, he was the one to kick my arse at chess. I had to hand it to him — he was an excellent player.

In order to preserve my job, I left before I got too drunk, and told him I’d see him on Monday. It was only Saturday, and already Monday felt too far off. There was something about being in his presence and talking to him that I craved.

“Oi oi,” I heard someone call as Karla and I were passing by a betting shop.

Talk about the sort of men I was used to. I turned my head to see Lee Cross, my ex Stu’s younger brother, standing in the doorway, wearing a cocky smile. Lee was a handsome little shit, and he knew it. He was about twenty-five, and was one of four brothers that made up the notorious Cross family. Despite being younger than Stu, Lee was the brains of the operation, and I was fairly sure the garage he ran was also a chop shop. He held a toothpick to his mouth, still grinning, as he took in me and Karla.

“Haven’t seen you around in a while, Clarky,” he said, stepping outside and walking toward us. “What happened?”

“Stu and I broke up,” I said, and remembrance lit in his eyes.

“Oh, yeah, I think I heard something about that,” he said, glancing over his shoulder and back inside the bookies. That glance told me all I needed to know. Stu was inside, and I had the sudden urge to flee. I definitely didn’t want a run-in with my ex right now, especially since the last time I’d seen him, he was being arrested for stealing cars. So yeah, their garage was most definitely of the dodgy variety. Lee’s attention wandered to Karla, his gaze skimming lazily over her body and then back up to her face. By the glint in his eyes, I thought he definitely liked what he saw.

“All right, Gingersnap,” he said, giving her a flirtatious wink.

Karla frowned and tried to hide a blush before looking at me. Although she’d met Stu a few times before, she’d never met Lee. And as I said, Lee was attractive in a bad boy sort of way. He had light brown hair, blue eyes, a muscled physique, and a perennially cheeky grin that promised pure naughtiness.

The supermarket was right next door to the bookies, and Karla sounded a little perplexed as she said, “I’m, uh, going to go inside and make a start. I’ll see you in a minute.”

And then she left, leaving me alone with the sexier, grown-up version of the Artful Dodger. Lee didn’t even try to hide the fact he was checking out her arse as she went. He also didn’t look away until she’d completely disappeared inside the supermarket, and that was when his attention returned to me.