Page 35 of All for Love

It was turning out to be a lot more fun having her around than I’d thought. There were endless opportunities to mess with her, and I didn’t let a single one of them pass me by.

She glanced at me from where she was sitting in my outer office with my assistant, working on the triage system she was now going to implement. When she caught me already looking at her, she flushed a rosy shade of pink and her gaze darted back down, but I took it as an invitation.

“Mercedes,” I called. “Could you come in here a minute?”

“What is it this time?” she yelled back, not looking at me again and not moving a muscle to do as I’d asked.

“I need your help making sense of all these colors,” I lied, whining as I lifted yet another color-coded manual she’d dropped on my desk for me to look over an hour ago. “There are too many of them. What were the blue tabs again?”

“The sections you don’t have to go over.”

“Shouldn’t those be green?”

“No.” She finally looked at me, rolling her eyes when she found me still staring at her. “Green means good to go. You’ve got a driver’s license, right?”

“Just get in here,” I insisted, my gaze never leaving hers. She sighed, stood up, and told Rosie, my second assistant, that she’d be right back.

She was using all of the organizational tools this week, and she was making strides—not that I’d ever tell her that—but she was also fitting into my department like she was made to be a part of it. My teams loved her from top to bottom level and she was impressing us all in a way I hadn’t expected.

Those green eyes were flickering with irritation as she lifted her eyebrows at me once she walked into my office. “What?”

“Nothing. I just don’t like yelling.” I stroked the front of my neck. “It hurts my throat. I have a sensitive voice.”

“There is no part of you that’s sensitive.”

“That’s not true. I have lots of parts that are sensitive.” I winked at her, a smirk touching my lips as I waved her into the chair across from mine.

Some of the irritation turned to amusement and she sat down, leaning back in the chair with her arms on the armrests like she was confident. Her posture was open, her chest pushed forward just enough to make my gaze drop to it.

“Eyes up here, Kody,” she said, but there was some reluctance in her voice. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

The gaps between the buttons of her shirt didn’t make it look like her tits were about to burst out, but there was more than enough there to—

“Kody?”

“What?” I snapped my eyes back up to hers and cleared my throat. “Oh. Right. I wanted to talk to you about the blue tabs. What’s the difference between green and blue if neither require my attention.”

“Blue means you don’t have to look over it at all. It’s the stuff that’s cool. Like water, you know? Blue?”

I stared into those eyes for another long beat before I started laughing. “God, you’re such a nerd. That’s what you think is cool?”

“Yes.” Her cheeks took on that rosy hue again, and I groaned. She narrowed her eyes at me. “What?”

“You’re such a perfectionist.”

She pursed her lips. “Go ahead. Make fun of me for it if it will make you feel better.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” Adorable. “Nothing. What does green mean, then?”

“Green means it’s good to go, but you still need to read over it. I’ve made my changes and those sections are ready, but you do need to take a look.”

“You’ve made changes?” The teasing and humor turned to stone in my stomach. “Without consulting me about it?”

“That’s why they’re green. This is me consulting you.”

“But you’ve already made the changes.”

She sighed, but her head was held high as she nodded. “Yes, Kody. I’ve made the damn changes. That’s my job.”