He laughed outright, something I didn’t see him do often, but when he did it was a treat. “Well, I am spending time with you.”

I sat back in my chair, sulking a bit and drinking my coffee. “You’re lucky I need this coffee so much or you’d be wearing it,” I mumbled.

Despite my pouting, our banter made me feel better. After the tension between us the past few days, it was nice to be able to make wise cracks.

My phone rang again and I looked down. Katie. Damn, she was persistent. King saw it too, because he swept it up and hit the red button to reject the call.

His eyes were cold when he looked back at me. “Are you still talking to that bitch?”

I shrugged. “Not really. I’ve texted her a few times but she ignores me. Now that I’ve seen the video, no way in hell.” I paused. “I take that back. We’re going to have one more little chat, then I never want to see her again.”

“Chat?” King asked, his eyebrows going up as though he were surprised.

“Oh hell yeah, I have some questions I want to ask her.”

“With your mouth or your fists, babe, because you do not look like you’re ready to talk to her without getting into a catfight.”

“This is why I’m not answering her calls,” I replied sarcastically. “I’m too angry to have a productive conversation with her.”

“Productive conversation?” he repeated, another smile spreading across his face. “Damn, I knew you were funny, but this is hilarious.”

Frowning, I asked, “What do you mean?”

He set his cup on my desk and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. I was momentarily distracted by the sight of his biceps and shoulders stretching the black material of his t-shirt almost to the breaking point.

“You do not have a productive conversation with a bitch like that, Jena. I don’t know how long you’ve considered her a friend but she is bad fuckin’ news. Not only is she bad news, but she’s not your fuckin’ friend.”

“That’s not the first time you’ve said that,” I stated. “Other than the obvious, what do you mean?”

King shook his head. “I’m not sure you really wanna hear it.”

“Oh, I sure as hell am,” I snapped. “Quit acting like you’re a Man of Mystery, and just tell me shit instead of dancing around it.”

He shook his head again, but this time there was a smirk on his face. “Feisty, as usual.”

“King!”

His expression abruptly turned serious. “She is so jealous of you she can’t see straight, Jena. What you have, she wants. No, it’s not even that. It’s not that she wants what you have, she wants to be you. I’ve seen bitches like that before and they will do whatever it fuckin’ requires to take down whoever they see as their rival. I’m not gonna tell you what to do, but I know, in your position, I wouldn’t have anything to do with her. She’s completely whacked.”

I nodded, appreciating the fact that he wasn’t trying to tell me what to do, but sharing his opinion.

My phone buzzed again, this time a single short burst. It was a text from Katie.

We need to talk. Call me.

I rolled my eyes.

“What now?” King asked.

“Now, she’s texting me.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said, rising from his chair.

I took one look at his face and my blood turned cold. “King-”

“Jena, I said I’ll take care of it.”

I pointed a finger at him as he walked out. “Do not do anything illegal, Alaric Sloan! I refuse to bail your ass out of jail!”

He winked at me. “Wick’ll do it.”

“Seriously, King, don’t hurt her or anything. I may be pissed at Katie, but I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“I won’t lay a finger on her,” he promised.

I nodded as he walked out the door. Then a thought came to me. I stood up and ran out into the hall, calling out after him, “And none of your goons either.”

He kept walking away, only lifting a hand and flicking two fingers at me. I assumed that was an affirmative and ducked back into the office.

I took a sip of my coffee, smiling because King was considerate enough to bring it to me, and got back to work.

*     *     *

I got three more calls and numerous texts from Katie until mid-afternoon when they abruptly stopped. King must have done whatever he intended to do. Though I usually preferred to take care of my own problems, in this case I was willing to let him do the heavy lifting. I wasn’t equipped to deal with the insanity that had become my life.

A little after six, King came into the closet that was once Albert’s office. I had files spread out in front of me on the desk and both my laptop and the desktop running.

He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. “Making progress?”

“Barely,” I grouched. “When was the last time Albert updated your software?”

He shrugged. “No clue. I left him to whatever he thought he had to do.”

I shook my head and growled under my breath. “It’s going to take me at least two weeks to straighten all this out. I sent Marilyn an email. We’ll see what she says.”

“I have no problem with that,” King stated with a wink. “I kinda like bringing you to work with me. Are you ready for dinner?”

I sighed and backed up my work. “Hell, yes. I have to take a break or I’ll be dreaming of spreadsheets and numbers all night.”

King chuckled. “Does that happen often?”

“No, only when I’m faced with this kind of mess during the day.”

After I finished saving the work and reorganizing the files on the desk, I shut everything down and packed my files and laptop in my bag. As we walked out, King waved to the bartender and Jack, who were chatting behind the bar. There were a few customers scattered throughout the tables but not many. I knew from experience that the crowd would build after the dinner hour. After looking at King’s financials all day, I knew that business was booming.

“I’ll be back later.”

They both nodded and went back to their conversation.

“Are we coming back later?” I asked.

“I am. You’re staying home.”

“Um, I hate to be a stickler here, but how exactly how are you protecting me if you leave me alone in your house until the wee hours of the morning?”

King laughed. “You? Hate to be a stickler? That’s priceless.”

I scowled at him. “You make it sound like I bust your balls twenty-four seven.”

That got me a look.

Huffing out a sharp breath, I stopped in the middle of the parking lot and put my hands on my hips. “I am not a ballbuster!”

King put his arms around me, lacing them through the space between my elbows and waist. I left my hands on my hips and glared up at him. “Darlin’, you are a ballbuster and I’ll have a man on the house tonight. You’ll be safe.”

I made a low, angry noise in my throat and it sounded suspiciously like a snarl.

King grinned down at me, tenderness seeping into his eyes that made my hands move from my hips to grip his biceps because my knees were suddenly weak.

“I like it,” he whispered, leaning down to take a little nip at my bottom lip.

His mouth opened over mine and our tongues tangled together, slow and sexy. My ability to stand on my own disappeared and I gave him my weight. King gathered me closer and somehow managed to make the kiss deeper.

I felt dizzy when his head lifted. “Wow.”

When he smiled down at me again, I felt as though a band was wrapped around my chest, squeezing tight.

I suddenly realized I was making a colossal mistake. I was falling in love with King, which could only end in one way. My heartbreak.

Chapter Twenty

‡

Later that night, I stretched out on the couch while flipping through channels on the television. Though King left me at home so I could get some sleep, I was wide awake.

But I wasn’t thinking about Justin, or even Katie. I wasn’t worried about whether I would make it out of this situation with Larry unscathed. I was obsessing over the fact that I was more than half in love with Alaric Sloan yet I didn’t think I could forgive him.