Monday morning dawned bright and beautiful as Kasey rolled over and groaned in protest. She’d fallen asleep the night before forgetting to close the blinds. Now the bright early morning sun was glaring directly into her face, daring her to try to sleep on its time.

“Kasey? You up?”

She’d give anything to pull the blanket over her head and hide from the world, but she couldn’t do that to Layla. Already, her cousin was up and nervous as hell. It’s not like they’d been able to say no when Kira had called the night before to offer the recently vacated office operator job to Layla.

“Come on, I heard you groan. That means you’re either busy with a toy and fantasizing about Brannon or you’re awake and trying to hide.”

Kasey bit back a smile at those words. Already her cousin knew her too well. Her next words confirmed it.

“Coffee’s brewed and waiting for you.”

“Fine, I’m up. Just tell me you’re not always this chipper and today is just nerves or something asinine like that, right?”

She climbed out of bed and grumbled as she realized the only reply she’d gotten was her cousin’s trademark musical laugh. It was a damn shame she liked Layla so much, otherwise she’d have to kill her.

When they walked into the office a short time later, they both stopped short in surprise to see the welcome banner that hung from the wall behind the desk Layla would be using.

“That’s for me?” she whispered so only Kasey would hear.

“Layla, welcome!” Carly yelled as she walked down the hallway. “We’re so excited to have you join us and we just wanted you to know that.”

Kasey bit her lip as she watched her cousin fidget at the other woman’s exaggerated greeting. Kasey said, “Come on, I’ll show you around the office.”

“Actually, you have a visitor at your desk. I’ve come to steal Layla so you can deal with that,” Carly said with a wink as she tugged Layla from her side.

Layla threw her a frightened look, but she could do nothing but nod in encouragement. Her hands were tied. Besides, she knew these ladies. They’d make her cousin feel comfortable and relaxed in no time. With that thought in mind, she headed to her desk to see who was waiting for her and what they needed first thing in the morning.

“You finally decided to make an appearance, huh?” Caelan grinned roguishly from his place at her desk.

“What does that mean? I’m not late and why do you have your nasty boots propped on my desk anyway?” She rolled her eyes and did her best to hide a grin. Truth was she’d missed the irritating ass the day before. His wit and humor never failed to make her laugh and kept her entertained. “Don’t you have someplace to be or something to be doing other than bothering me at work on a Monday morning?”

“Nope, nothing right now.” He laughed at her look of disbelief. “Come on, you know your day isn’t complete without me.” She watched as he dropped his feet and leaned forward to whisper confidentially. “Besides, I’m here to plead my friend’s case.”

She couldn’t help the groan that escaped at his words. Would he never give up on this? She couldn’t even think about dating Brannon. It was too dangerous, for her heart and for peace of mind. “Give up, it’s not going to happen. Does he even know you’re here? Because when I saw him yesterday, all he did was growl and scowl at me.”

Caelan grinned innocently. “I’m just looking out for my friends. You can’t fault me for that, can you?”

“I’ll take that as he doesn’t know. That lets him off the hook. As much as I love bantering with your annoying ass, I’ve got work to do. Go away before you get me in trouble with my bosses.”

“Fine, I’ll leave but not because of them. They don’t scare me. As matter of fact, they love me.”

“Then go pester one of them,” Kasey said with a laugh as she finally took her vacated seat. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

Caelan winked. “I know you can’t sleep without hearing my voice to help you drift off each night.”

Kasey scowled and reached for her stapler to throw at the chuckling ass, but he was already down the hall. Good, she thought, let him bug someone else for a while.

The hours slipped by in a blur as she got caught up on her emails and phone calls. She’d checked in on Layla once or twice, but her cousin seemed to be doing just fine if the gigantic smile was any indication. She shouldn’t have worried so much.

That thought had just entered her mind when a shadow fell over her. She glanced up to see Brannon standing there with a scowl that could scare small children into therapy for the rest of their lives.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Brannon cocked one eyebrow and smirked. “Hello, Kasey. Nice to see you today. I’m fine, thanks, and you?”

She rolled her eyes at his annoyed tone. “Mr. Wolfrik. How are you this fine Monday morning? Is there something I can help you with?”

“Wow, I’ve never seen you smile like that. I’m impressed.” She watched as Brannon grabbed one of the chairs from the other side of her desk and pulled it around to the side, so he was closer to her. “We need to talk.”

“You do realize I’m at work. I don’t have time to socialize with you. I have a lot to do.”

“Ouch, that hurt. But I happen to have your boss’s permission to be here.” He leaned back in his chair with a smirk. “As matter of fact, when I told her what I wanted, she said you would be the one to see.”

“This is business, then?” Kasey wasn’t sure what to think. When she’d agreed to oversee new projects, she hadn’t expected him to be her very first client.

“Yes and no.” He cocked one eyebrow. “I do have business, but since I can’t talk to you at your home, I decided to kill two birds with one stone as they say.”

She shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today, that was all there was to it. Now she was going to be stuck working with him, all the while trying to avoid his probing questions.

“What is it you want exactly?”

“To know what you’re hiding, to know what you know about those kids, and why you always look so scared whenever you think someone is asking anything personal.”

Kasey ground her teeth together before replying angrily, “I meant, what do you want with Rakida Construction?”

“The Alpha nightclub, I want to remodel it. If all goes well, I want to redo The Midnight Howl as well. It’s becoming a bit shabby and could use some sprucing up.”

“We aren’t decorators. Did you miss the name of the company? Rakida Construction,” she said with a heavy emphasis on construction. “That means our crews build things.”

“Yes, I do know what the word means, but thank you for explaining anyway. I’d like to hire your firm to demolish and redo the whole building. I want to change the look and feel of the whole place. I bought it as is, and it’s time to make it what it’s supposed to be.”

“Fine, give me some details and I’ll get you set up with the perfect architect to draw up your plans. Once that’s done, we’ll move on to the next step, agreeable?”

“Sure, what are you hiding?”