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I smothered a groan, wishing he hadn’t. “I’ll handle Mylee, okay? You and Kai almost blew the whole thing earlier.”
“She’s a straight shooter, Linc. We shouldn’t treat her with kid gloves.”
“A modicum of decorum never hurt anyone,” I insisted, my jaw twitching.
Paxton returned to his phone and turned toward his office as I pivoted for the elevators.
“Linc.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Paxton flashed me a thumbs-up. “Good hire.”
Snickering, I punched the down button for the elevator. “That’s why I’m paid the big bucks, buddy.”
* * *
Mylee shifted uncomfortably in the cushioned chair in front of me, the menu still open in front of her, but she wasn’t reading it. Her luminous dark eyes darted around the Devil’s Flambé like she was looking for an escape.
She needs to get used to places like this,I thought firmly, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty, throwing her into such a fancy place without warning.
“Do you know what you want?” I asked, setting down my own menu.
She shook her head, the straight, satiny strands falling over the curve of her breasts as she bit her lower lip.
“I’m not sure what to order,” she admitted nervously. “When you said go for lunch, I thought you meant grab a burger or something.”
I chortled. “Well, I’m sure you can get a burger here,” I suggested, glancing back at the menu. “Do you want me to order for you?” I asked, and she started to nod but changed her mind.
“No… maybe? I don’t know.”
I started to laugh again. “I didn’t intend to stress you out by asking you to lunch. Do you want to go somewhere else? I’m pretty sure there’s a fast-food joint around the corner.”
She grimaced and looked at the ivory linen tablecloth, her embarrassment palpable. “I’m going to humiliate you guys. Maybe all this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.”
My grin faded, and I reached across the table, shaking my head. “No, you’re not,” I told her firmly. “There’s more to what you’re doing than knowing the difference between risotto and rice. You kind of have to get into it to understand what I’m talking about.”
Her frown deepened. “Okay, I’m not that much of a philistine,” she retorted. “I know the difference between risotto and rice.”
“You’ve got quite a vocabulary,” I commented. “Do you have a degree?”
“Yep. From the school of hard knocks,” she joked, slowly withdrawing her hand and again picking up the menu. The redness lingered on her cheeks, and she avoided my stare.
“Really? You don’t have a degree? How are you so well spoken?”
A smirk quirked the edges of her mouth. “College doesn’t gauge the intelligence of a person, does it?”
“Definitely not,” I agreed. “But I don’t often meet people who carry themselves as well as you do without having cracked open a few books.”
“I have read a lot of books,” Mylee confirmed, again setting aside the menu to meet my eyes. “But not in a place of higher education.”
Intrigued, I sat forward, my head cocked with interest. “Do go on.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “You don’t need to make fun of me,” she said sharply. “Not everyone can afford school.”
My jaw slacked, and I shook my head vehemently, sitting back with my hands extended. “I swear. I wasn’t,” I promised. “I’m genuinely curious about you, Mylee. Even before you got in Richard Crossman’s face, I swear I saw something in you. And it wasn’t just because you’re breathtakingly beautiful.”
She weighed my words, debating whether to believe them or not, but every word I spoke was the truth.
“This may come as a shock to you, but I encounter dozens of beautiful women a week,” I teased, winking at her. “And while you are very attractive, that’s not what drew me to you and made me want to offer you this opportunity.”
