Diana

I sat back down, trying to catch my breath. Alejandro Sanchez was more attractive in person and the way his gaze traveled all over me just made this whole thing much harder. His masculine sweat pulled me in and I wanted to cross the few feet between us and breathe him in. Through his tight white tee I could make out every single one of his muscles from his pecs down to his abs and that wasn’t what I was here to do. I had to get myself together and stay away from Alex. Alex, I could say his name over and over again, but then I was back where I started, mentally losing myself to him. This wasn’t going to go as planned at all. The mission in itself was dangerous and I was very unqualified for it. “Here’s a glass of tea,” Maggie said, interrupting my thoughts of his body.

“Oh, oh. Thank you,” I answered, taking the glass from her. She was a good girl and the perfect prey for the man I was here to watch. Getting the job was even more important than before.

I raised the glass to my lips, just as the screen door slammed. I put it down and stood, my training getting the better of me. Alex rushed through the door like the house was on fire. Knowing it was him didn’t calm me down. Instead, I felt more on guard. My body noticed everything about him.

“What’s wrong?” Maggie asked him, wondering why he rushed back in so quickly.

“I figured we’d get this meeting over with now.” He stepped up to the table and took my glass of tea, drinking it down in one long guzzle. I watched his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing with every swallow. How could a man drinking, make me so thirsty? I slammed my legs shut before he could smell the fact I was in heat. Maggie looked back and forth between us with her brow arched and her arms crossed.

“That was her drink, Mr. Sanchez,” Maggie added with a snicker. Please for all that was holy tell me that he wasn’t interested in me, too. That wouldn’t be good for shit. Well, the woman in me would love to have his strong cowboy hands on me.

“Sorry, mi amor,” he said, looking me right in the eyes. Having lived in Arizona my whole life, and being half-Mexican, I understood and spoke Spanish. Though with the way he stared into my eyes, I didn’t need to know it to interpret his expression or the way he caressed the words—my love. It was probably just the way he spoke to most women.

“Wow, it’s hot up in here and it ain’t coming from the stove,” she drawled out the ending. I turned into a tomato for sure. All of a sudden the kitchen tiles looked very appealing. I was about to count the squares when I felt his strong hand cup my chin, pulling my head to look up at Alex. The rough pads of his fingers told me that he worked with his hands. Something about his raw, manly persona made it hard to focus on anything else.

“She’s right. I should send you away because all I can think about are the wicked things a boss shouldn’t consider doing with his employee.”

“Yes,” I muttered, struggling to gain a brain cell. His brown eyes weren’t so much chocolate in color, but like a caramel.

“Don’t look at me that way,” he warned me. Because that’s what it was. The shaky tone and deep resonating bass gave him away. I had to remember why I was here. I shook off the attraction.

“You said you wanted to discuss the job,” I reminded him. His face hardened for a second and then he nodded.

“Come into my office and we can talk about it. Maggie, can you bring us some more tea?”

“Yes, boss.” She winked then walked to the refrigerator while Alex pressed his hand to the small of my back and led me from the room. The burn of his touch passed through my top and imprinted on my skin. I tried to focus my thoughts on the task at hand, but then he leaned toward me and whispered, “Calmate, amor.” He led us down a corridor and right before the end of the hall opened a door on his left. The office was tidy. It didn’t look like I thought it would. In the center was a large oak desk with a laptop and mouse to the left and a calendar blotter 

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I need this job,” I said, turning to face him. He could read the sincerity in my words, though it was true for different reasons.

“You know breakfast is at like five-thirty in the morning. Meaning in order to work here, you’ll have to live here.” Before I took this assignment, I was up for that idea. Thinking I was a physical badass and could handle anything. That was before I met the sexy Alex. He wasn’t anything like the man I was after according to all the information I could pull on him.

“I could drive in from town every morning.”

“No the fuck you can’t,” he stated, taking a seat behind his desk. “Did it cross your pretty little head that danger is around every corner in the middle of the damn night? It won’t be light and with that beater you drive, you might get stranded out there. I have an extra bedroom you can use.”

“I don’t think that’s safe either.”

“Only if you come beating down my door asking to be fucked,” he said. Did he have to say shit like that? I was working on my last thread of resistance.

“I won’t. I have a boyfriend, Mr. Sanchez.” Uh-oh. That wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He broke the pencil in his hand. He stood, then walked back around and came up between me and the desk.

“Did you say you have a boyfriend?”

“Yes,” I said with a firmer backbone. It was all a lie, but I had a job to do and couldn’t let Alex get in the way of it.

“That doesn’t work for me at all. There’s no way you’re going to live in my house and think you can bring your lover here.” He shook his head at me and closed the gap even further. His breath grazed my cheek. “Diana, your body reacts to mine. I can see it in your eyes, hardened nipples, and parted lips. And I bet if I checked, you’d be soaked for me. But I won’t. The way you react tells me you’re wasting time with this guy. Lose him. It’ll be best for all of us.”

“I won’t bring a man here, but that is as far as I’m going to let you dictate my private life.”

“We’ll see. Now, do you have to clear out your things from where you’re staying?”

“Um, I don’t have a place. It’s all in my car.” He closed his eyes.

“Again, another reason to dump the loser. No woman should be forced to live in anything but a nice warm home. Let’s get your things and take them to your room.”

“I need a drink first. I’m thirsty.”

“Speaking of which, Maggie should have brought it in already.”

He stepped around me and into the hallway and I followed him out. When we got to the kitchen I saw what or rather who was delaying her. The reason I was here. He was leaning on the chair near the island, blocking her path.

“What are you doing here, Rico?” he asked. I could hear the biting tone in his voice. Suddenly I wondered how much he knew of his cousin’s suspected crimes. I took a step to the side, away from Alex, but he wasn’t having it and moved next to me, his arm brushing mine. Even with all this tension, I was still turned on by him. Please tell me he wasn’t covering for his cousin.

“Whoa. Who is this? You have a woman in the house, well besides your lovely cook here?”

“She’s going to be an additional cook to handle breakfast and lunch. Now like I said, por qué estas aqui, guey?”

“Wow, someone’s a bit on edge. I was thirsty.”

“You’re not supposed to be here today.”

“I was in the neighborhood. You’re acting odd. Maybe it’s your new beauty.”

“I don’t want you harassing these ladies at all. And if I hear you say shit, I’ll beat your ass. Entiendes?”

“Calmate, primo.” He threw his hands up and smiled at Maggie, then me with the lecherous intent I had expected. Once he was out the door, Alex looked down and gave me a questioning expression. “I’m really sorry about that.” He turned his gaze to Maggie. “Maggie, are you all right?” 

“Um, yes. He’s just a bit too flirty for me.”

“It’s harassment and the next time I catch him I’ll have his ass arrested. I know his thing about blondes and I’m sorry that he made you feel uncomfortable. I hope that won’t happen again, but lock the doors when I’m not inside. Okay?”

“Yes. I’m not trying to start trouble between you and your cousin.”

“You’re not. He’s hanging on by a thread with me already.”

“Why is he still around?”

“He’s family and hasn’t done anything that I know of. If he did, I’d never deal with him again.”

“Really?”

“What’s so hard to believe, Diana?” he asked me with a heartbreaking frown I didn’t think a big guy like him could pull off. It was as if I cut him to the quick. The cowboy was offended and I should have known better, but they are related.

“Well, loyalty tends to supersede misdeeds when it comes to family.”

“I don’t need a bad apple around spoiling the whole bunch. He is a loser and already gives the family a bad name. If I wasn’t asked by my father to give him a job, I wouldn’t have.”

“You girls stay inside. I have to get back to work. We’ll grab your things when I finish, okay?”

I nodded. Since I didn’t know what room he’d put me in, I had to wait anyway. After he walked out, I went to Maggie and gave her a hug. She cracked in my arms, sobbing hard and not holding back. “I’ve got you and one day he’ll get his own.” She nodded in my arms and I knew she was going to be okay. I had to find something on him that clenched the case, but he didn’t even live here. I’d hate to say it, but the only way we’d get a search warrant on his property here is if he did something to Maggie.