“Damn it, Mr. Masters. Don’t you know how to knock?” God, she was gorgeous even when she was annoyed with me. Fuck, maybe even sexier when she pouted like that.
“It’s Tate, Blake. Anyway, I came to bring you these receipts.” I took the small stack I had clipped together because this wasn’t my first rodeo. Well, maybe with the company, but I traveled when I worked with the Houston PD.
She held it up, turning it with her brow lifted. “Okay. Thank you. I’m sorry about the other day.”
“No. It’s cool. I understand that decorum is important for Sean’s company to be successful.” I leaned over her desk, staring into her pretty blue eyes. “I’m not an animal, Blake.” Even as I said it, I didn’t believe that where she was concerned. I wanted her, and I’d devour her ass like a beast. She bit her bottom lip nervously, so I slowly stood back up without taking my eyes off her.
A knock at the door startled us. I turned to see Sean come in. “I didn’t want to interrupt, but your services are needed. I have another trip for you to take tomorrow if you’re up to it. It’s only an hour away, but it’s almost the same install as today.”
“That should be fine, assuming we have everything ready to go and loaded. I’ll take the work truck. You’re saving my truck miles.”
“Doing what I can.” He winked and walked away.
“Well, is there anything else you need before I leave?” I asked Blake, who stared at the back of Sean. A hint of jealousy ran through me, but I ignored it because Sean’s a married man.
“No. Um. This should be enough. I’ll make copies of these and then send you a draft to review before it’s submitted for reimbursement.”
“Sure thing.” I nodded and left before I made her more uncomfortable. It was clear as day that I unnerved her. After all that she’d been through, that wasn’t a good thing.
Two hours later, Blake called my desk. “Hello,” I answered coolly.
“Um…my mouse isn’t working properly. I need a new one, and Macy told me to ask you.”
“I’ll bring another one over.” I got up and walked to the supply wall in my office, pulling one off the shelf and unboxing a new mouse. Quickly, I head over to their office and knocked on the closed office door.
“Come in,” Macy called out.
I shake the small device in my hand as I step into the room. “I have the mouse for Blake.”
“Um…she had to go to the ladies’ room, so you can set it down. I’m sure she knows how to hook it up.”
I found the other one in the garbage, which was full of paper towels covered in coffee. “Ah, so that’s why it’s not working.”
“Oh,” Blake exclaimed, coming into the office. Damn, even with the hint of a coffee stain on her blouse, she still looked perfect. My dick throbbed in my jeans, but I was grateful that I’d tucked that bastard down the leg of my boxers. “You’ve got me. I spilled my coffee all over everything.” Her face pinked with a hint of embarrassment. She tucked her head and moved to her seat, giving me the visual cue to see myself out. She confused the fuck out of me. Maybe I was just too exhausted and too obsessed with her to read her signals. Either way, I’d rather see her mad at me then scared of me, so I pushed her buttons.
“It’s okay. At least it wasn’t the hard drive. Besides, I’m not footing the bill, but don’t go making a habit of it.” I smiled, and her blush shifted to an angry scowl. On that note, I left.
Chapter 4
Tate
Weeks passed and turned into a month. No matter how busy I was, I longed to be with Blake, but I didn’t have time to get her to trust me. She became even more skittish and evasive around me, as if she was aware of my obsession. Blake did all she could to avoid me. I thought I did my best to hide my attraction from her. However, it seemed I failed.
Even though she’d been ghosting me, Blake was super accident-prone in the office. She had managed to drop her laptop for one of the meetings, cracking the screen, so I replaced that, then she locked herself out of three accounts all in the same week. She was the reason I had to recheck the supplies all the time.
Around three in the afternoon, my cell phone rang while I ran through the supply list to order some of the basic ties and cables we needed. The caller ID lit up with my former Captain Anders’s name. A chill ran down my spine as I pressed the green answer button.
“Hello,” I let out without showing any hesitation. A sense of foreboding slammed in my chest as if I knew he had nothing to say that I wanted to hear.
“Tate. Sorry to call you out of the blue, but we have a problem.” Of course.
“What problem? I don’t work for the HPD anymore.”
“They are reversing the verdict in Sneed’s case. A mishandling of the case evidence during the trial, and his lawyers used it.” I dropped my cell phone onto the desk in shock, quickly picking it back up.
“What the fuck? Is he getting out?” I questioned, doing my best to control the anger and panic. No one was invincible. I’d been lucky with the first shot. And if something happened to Blake… Fuck, I couldn’t even go down that road.
“Not getting. Sneed was released at seven this morning.”
“Son of a bitch,” I roared, slamming my fist on my desk. I could destroy a motherfucker right now. My anger elevated to the breaking point. I needed to hit the gun range.
“I’m sorry. We had no idea it was going on until they hit us with it this morning.”
“What does that mean? A new trial, or does the fuck get off?”
“A new trial. You’ll have to take the stand again.” It wasn’t hard, except for wanting to jump across the room and not kill the fucker with my bare hands.
“Fuck. Where is he?” Maybe I could put tabs on the asshole.
“He’s on house arrest until trial, but he’s used his right to a speedy trial. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but all we can do is hope that the jury sees past his bullshit.” Damn, he’d been a sly bastard the first time. It was the slip-up and my testimony that got him put away the first time.
“How much of the evidence is unavailable?” I had a feeling that he was about to ruin all my hope.
“Almost all of it. We lost the DNA, and the notes because of the mishandling of the warrant. They claimed it wasn’t legal and won.” I fucking knew it.
“Understood. That’s why I left. Incompetence all around. Keep me in the loop. If you’ll excuse me, I have to take this up with my boss.” I ended the call without another word. Hate, rage, and pure fury burned right through me.
“Fuck,” I roared.
“Oh no. I could come back.” My eyes darted up to find Blake staring at me nervously.
“Blake. I mean, Ms. Avery. Sorry. How can I help you?”
“Sean hired a couple of more guards. Here is the security access requirements they’ll need once they start.” She handed over three manila folders. Our fingers lightly grazed, and I instantly masked the emotion she brought out in me. Striking and intense, the electricity hit me full force.
“Thanks. I’ll get on it,” I responded, setting them down on my desk and focusing on my phone.