Lila

"Oh no!" Lila laughed. "What happened?" she kept her voice down because the restaurant was very high end, with white tablecloths, and uniformed staff. The only sounds in the room were clinking glasses and silverware. She stifled her laughter so they wouldn't draw attention.

​​

Across from her, Chris lounged in his chair, his plate pushed slightly forward, but she noticed he'd perfectly placed his knife and fork across it to indicate he was finished.

He had manners, he just chose when to use them.

"We pretended we'd known all along. And the guy was so scared, he just confirmed it all for us. We handed him over to the Police and—get this—he thanked them for coming to get him. He thought we were there to kill him!"

Lila shook her head and sighed. "You know when I joined this company I never imagined it would be so... colorful."

"You have no idea." One hand resting on the table, the other on his broad thigh, Chris had his chin down, his lips pulled up on one side in a lopsided smile that wrinkled his cheek. Lila flushed as his eyes locked on hers. But she immediately looked away, pulling her napkin off her lap and folding it for an excuse not to hold his gaze.

Her heart fluttered. He was an incredibly attractive man. But he seemed to flip between humor and tension so quickly. Or he'd be all business one moment, then the next like . . . this. The heat in his gaze was undeniable. She knew if she'd met him in any other circumstances, she might have held that gaze and returned the challenge. But now?

She wasn't going to date her boss' brother.

And she definitely wasn't going to sleep with him.

"Mr. Daniels," she started.

Chris huffed. "Don't go all formal on me now, Lila. It's Chris. It'll always be Chris. I'm not my brother." His tone darkened on the last sentence.

"Chris," she said and smiled. "thank you for lunch. And thank you for not firing me after that . . . event yesterday."

"Dane was right," he replied. "It showed us a weakness that we need to fix. It will only make us stronger in the end." But his eyes were hawkish and fixed on her.

Her heart fluttered again, but this time with nerves. And not the good kind. She couldn't keep up with this man.

"Well, I hope you're confident that you don't have to worry about me flipping you around the offices at random moments. And I promise to practice my diligence too. Make sure I'm not so unfocused that I can be taken off guard either."

Chris nodded. And she nodded back. Their eyes locked.

*****

Dane

He hadn't been able to leave for lunch. He wasn't sure why. He hadn't been able to focus on anything. Instead, he'd stood here in his office, staring out the window, as if he didn't have anything better to do. But every time he tried to turn his mind back to work, he found himself thinking again.

And he finally realized why when, a little after one, he spied Lila and Chris walking slowly down the block toward the office.

Chris said something and leaned in. Lila laughed, shaking her head. For a brief second, she touched his arm.

Heat exploded in Dane's chest.

His brother had gotten them into this mess by hooking up with someone inappropriate, now he was hitting on their new employee?

Dane's jaw ached, he clenched his teeth so hard. Chris was nothing but a pain in his ass. He had to figure out a way to keep him so busy he didn't have time for this shit.

He watched them, scowling, until they passed under the overhang of the front of the building. Then he whipped away from the window and headed out of his office.

*****

Lila

Walking along the sidewalk, it was easy to be amused by Chris's stories. But Lila was finding that she wished she hadn't gone on the lunch. Chris kept stepping closer, leaning in. To him it was probably nothing. Pure flirting. Something he did with any woman, she imagined. But she found herself walking more quickly as they got closer to the office. And when he leaned it the last time, she'd put a hand on his arm—her arm braced—to make sure he wasn't coming closer.

She would be glad when this was finally over.

Chris opened the door to the building and held it for her, his brown eyes—so light they were almost gold—twinkling.

"Thank you," she said, and hurried through so she could reach the elevators before him.

They'd agreed to put yesterday's moment behind them. Now it was time to focus on the real reason she was here, and put her mind to figuring out the connections between this woman Becky, and the criminal underground of the city.

Because she'd been reviewing her notes before lunch, and a few things were starting to make sense. When they stepped out of the elevators together, Dane was already in the reception area, but he was leaned over the desk, speaking into a phone and his face was taut.

He caught Chris's eye and beckoned both of them over. "Okay, tell me again where this came from?"

She and Chris both stopped, waiting. Dane made a note on a pad as the Receptionist looked on, worried.

"Yes, I hear you. Chris is here now. I'll go over it with him. We can chat in say, twenty minutes? See if you find anything else?"

All hint of flirting had fallen from Chris. He stood next to Lila tense, his hands at his sides, clenched to fists. His eyes on his brother, worried.

"Yes, yes, I know. But I need to brief him—no, not yet. Look, if we can't take thirty minutes, then we have bigger problems."

Lila tensed as that angry, bullish side of Dane leapt to the forefront again. Was he ever able to stay calm for more than a few hours?

"Okay. Yes. Thank you. Goodbye," he barked into the phone.

"What was—" Lila started. But Dane cut her off.

"Chris, my office now. Credible threat. Lila, get going on those leads in case there's a link. I need your oversight on the contacts we discussed yesterday." He gave her a pointed look and she nodded. "I'll call you in an hour and I'll need whatever you have at that point. Immediately."

She nodded again, but Dane had already turned away and grabbed his brother by the sleeve to drag him towards his office.

She looked at the receptionist, who just shrugged, but glanced after the men, worried.

Lila didn't know what was going on, but she hoped she was about to find out.