Well, that was worth leaving the house for.
4
Declan
“You and Eloise meeting with Carmine today?” My best friend, Lincoln, asks.
When we were assigned to the same dorm back in the academy, we became fast friends, a friendship that survived us landing our dream spots on the force in different states.
Even my leaving the force to follow Isiah Peak in his private endeavor didn’t hinder our friendship, which I was thankful for considering I trust very few people in this world. In fact, it was probably one of the main reasons I agreed to Zane’s offer. Moving to LA meant having my best bud close again after almost five years of long-distance.
“Yeah,” I affirm. “You at the station?”
“Yeah, I got some new cases.”
Linc works in the LAPD’s Detective Bureau, specifically in the Cyber Crimes Section of the Commercial Crimes Division. And he is exceptionally good at his job.
“Cool. Want to catch the game at my place later?”
“Sure,” he replies, though I can tell his mind is already on a case. “It’s her first time meeting him, right?”
He’s been asking a lot about Elle since he saw me follow her out that night at the club. Not that I can blame him. She’s more beautiful than most girls I’ve met, and she dialed it up to full divinity mode for the club, with her shimmering curls bouncing around those sexy antlers, and that dress which was hugging her every curve, barely hiding those long toned stems, looking sexy as sin in strappy red heels. She even made that ridiculous clown nose look hot.
“Yeah, we’ve finally worked out the pitch,” I reply, pushing back the unfamiliar feeling of annoyance at his constant questions. “And if Elle’s going to be my second in this operation, she needs to know the frenemy.”
Lincoln bursts out laughing. He’s met Carmine a couple of times, and, as much as we both like the guy, he can be a piece of work.
“Well, tell her to wear that green dress,” Linc suggests. “You could offer Carmine a house made of shit, and he’d say yes.”
And that right there breaks my self-control.
“She’s a professional, Linc. Not some piece of ass I’m going to dangle in front of Carmine like candy. Have some respect.”
“Okay, geez, it was a joke,” Lincoln huffs, and after a few seconds of thoughtful silence, probably concludes I’m right. “Yeah, that was out of bounds, Dec. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I wave him off. “I’ll see you tonight, get the beer.”
“Yep. Bye.”
The next order of business is texting Elle where to meet me. I pull up her contact to do just that, but somehow it comes out as “I’ll pick you up in 30.”
Great.
Getting my shit together, I secure an address and drive up to Elle’s building, waiting for her to come out. When the door opens, and she steps into the sunlight, I find myself unable to tear my gaze away.
Even when she’s dressed for work with a bright-pink skirt and a white blouse, she’s perfection personified. The fabric glides over the soft skin of her never-ending legs, and her bright curly hair whips behind her as she hurries her steps.
Just as she bends down, I lean forward to open the door, getting an eyeful of her cleavage. Oh, boy. I take a deep breath, ordering my blood to backtrack up north.
“Good morning,” she greets with a bright smile, handing me one of the travel mugs she’s holding.
“Good morning to you, too.” I smile back, examining the cup in my hand. “Born to be a girl boss?”
“The other says to put on your lipstick and hustle if you prefer.” Elle holds up her own mug.
“I can be a girl boss.”
“It’s a privilege to be a girl boss,” Elle declares and sips on her coffee. “Not everyone gets to drink from my boss lady mugs, I’ll have you know.”
“I’m honored.” I raise my cup in her direction and take a sip. “Good coffee.”
“French press.”
“Fancy.”
“I’m a fancy kind of girl,” Elle replies with the same sassy grin from that night she caught me with Flora, now no longer in the picture due to the jealous attack she had after I followed Elle out.
No amount of explaining that it was about work helped calm her down, and telling her she was overreacting, considering we were only on our fourth date and I was gone for less than five minutes, pretty much assured there won’t be a date number five.
Not that it was looking bright, to begin with. Flora wanted someone to always put her first, and I always put the job first.
“You ready, fancy pants boss lady?” I ask Elle when we pull up at the lot on Bleeker Street, Carmine’s gold Jaguar already waiting for us there.
“He cannot be that bad,” Elle scoffs and rolls her eyes.
“Not bad. Just with a strong personality.” I circle around to the passenger side, opening the door and offering Elle a hand. Warmth spreads up my arm and through my chest when she takes it, and Elle looks at me through her lashes. She faces me with a soft smile playing on her lips, and the faint scent of freshly baked sweets wafts to my nose, taking over my senses.
“Oh, there you are!” Carmine rushes toward us, and it’s almost as if he and Elle coordinated outfits, what with his bright blue polo and large, white-rimmed sunglasses. However, his are decorated with rhinestones. He’s also wearing one of those hats that always remind me of gondola operators in Venice over his dark brown hair. “I have been waiting for ages.”
“We’re ten minutes early,” I point out.
“Are you?” Carmine stops and rubs his neatly trimmed beard in thought, then catches sight of Elle. “Oh, my.”
“Eloise Bloom meet Carmine Capello,” I introduce. “Carmine, Elle is my second in command for the Bleeker project.”
“I can see why you chose her.” Carmine lowers his shades to reveal dark brown eyes, then proceeds to shamelessly scan Elle head to toe.
Despite knowing there is nothing sexual about his appreciative gaze, I still feel that pesky annoyance bubbling in my gut.
“I chose Elle because she’s a brilliant architect, and her creative thinking will benefit your unique flare.” I force myself to stay under control, though I can’t stop that little jab at the end.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“We’ll see,” Carmine replies, flashing his pearly whites. Standing between us, he loops his arms through ours, leading us to the center of the empty lot.
“Show me what you got, Moretti.”
For the next couple of hours, the three of us go through the various teams’ designs, using Zane’s patented software to show Carmine how each facet of the new complex connects, intertwines, and layers into a grand plan we hope he’ll be satisfied with.
Carmine surprises me with his sharp and on-point comments, his vision truly exemplary and unique.
But what really blows me away is how easily Elle accommodates him. She knows how to tweak each aspect of the design, whether it be the architecture or landscape, even interior, to keep the flow and avoid us having to redo the entire blueprint.
Between the two of us, me on the technical side and Elle on creative, there’s no stopping us. We may just hand in the final blueprints for Carmine’s approval by Christmas, which means that, against all forecasts, the entire team will be free to use their complimentary week off during the holidays.