Behaving Badly in Vegas (Vegas Love #3)

37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Charli

It’d been two weeks since Hunter apologized. Two weeks since I’d slept in my own bed. Two weeks of passionate nights and blissful mornings.

Life was good.

I rode the elevator up to the Mystique offices, then pushed the stroller into the reception area and asked for directions to Hunter’s office. Making my way through the maze of hallways, I stopped to see my brother first.

“Hey, you.”

He looked up from his computer and smiled. “Hey, Charli. What are you two doing here?” He made a googly face at Carina and patted her on the head like a dog.

“Bringing our favorite men some lunch.” I held up a paper bag and jiggled it in front of his face.

Tom groaned and snatched the bag from my hand. “Men? Please tell me that doesn’t include Hunter.”

“Don’ t be like that. We may have had a rough start, but things are going really well.”

“Professionally or personally?”

“Both actually,” I said with a smile. “And I’ve been training like crazy, so I’ll be able to return to Oasis soon.” A little deflection never hurt.

“Nothing would make me happier. How’s your leg?”

I gave it a tap. “Good as new. No soreness or lingering pain. Don’t even need a brace. I guess the doctor was right, I am a quick healer.”

“So you’ll be quitting the nanny job and getting your own apartment soon?”

Subtlety was not my brother’s forte. “I’m not sure what I’ll be doing. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” I didn’t want to make any assumptions that Hunter would want me to stay. It was a conversation we needed to have, but I wasn’t in any hurry. The last thing I wanted to do was freak him out again.

“Charli?” my brother growled.

“Nothing is set in stone, so cool your jets. Relax and enjoy your chicken salad.”

His face perked up. “Homemade?”

“Mom’s recipe,” I confirmed.

He opened the bag and pulled out the sandwich, taking a larger-than-socially-acceptable bite. His eyes closed as he chewed. “Holy cow! This is why you’re my favorite sister.”

“I’m your only sister.”

“Yes, but it’s still a true statement.” He polished off the sandwich in record time, then wadded up the bag and tossed it in the trash. “I’ll take you to see Hunter.” Carina and I followed him down a long hallway, around a corner and down another hallway. I peeked into the open offices, impressed with their size and elegance. Mystique didn’t cut corners, that was for sure. “Here we are,” Tom said, waving his arm toward the door at the end.

I gave him a hug and proceeded to Hunter’s office, knocking on the closed door.

“Come in,” he said gruffly .

Hoping he wouldn’t be mad I was disturbing him at work, I twisted the knob and poked my head in. “Surprise.”

His office wasn’t anything like I imagined. It was small. Really small. A large desk was crammed inside, with two plastic chairs in front of it. His bathroom at home was bigger than this room.

“Hey.” He climbed out from behind the desk and squeezed by it to greet me with a hug. “This is a surprise. What brings my girls by?”

My heart fluttered in my chest. When he said my girls , it made me feel as if Carina and I were a package deal. Like he wanted to keep me. Like I belonged to him.

I looked around his office, taking it all in—the peeling paint, the noticeable crack in the wall, and the stain on the carpet that looked as if a box of pens exploded. Honestly, it was disappointing. I thought for sure Hunter’s office would be huge. This one lacked all of the opulence of the others I passed in the hallway. “Did you draw the short straw or something?”

He looked back over his shoulder at the space. “This is all Trent. My punishment for humiliating him. He’s teaching me a lesson. I’m making it work, trying to be a team player, but I will get my old office back once I prove Moroski is a thief.”

“How’s that going?” I whispered.

“Not great.” He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. “Let’s go into the conference room, where there’s more space.” He picked up Carina and placed a kiss on both our foreheads. My heart fluttered again from the sweetness of it.

“I hope you didn’t eat yet; I brought you lunch,” I said, pulling out the bag with his sandwich in it.

“Thank you. I’m starving.”

“Hunter!” A middle-aged, balding man huffed down the hallway in our direction. “I’m waiting on the payroll. You don’t have time to fraternize. This is a place of business, not a day care.”

WTF? Seriously, what the fuck? “Who is that guy?”

Hunter straightened to his full height and his eyes turned to ice. “Well, Leonard, if you looked at your inbox, you’d see payroll was completed two hours ago. And this”—his arm tightened around Carina—“is my daughter. The granddaughter of your boss.”

Leonard waved his arm in the air. “This is completely inappropriate!”

Hunter’s jaw ticced. I shrunk into myself as much as I could, trying to disappear completely. It was dangerous to get between him and his daughter. He handed Carina to me and met Leonard head-on. “What’s inappropriate is you! I know you’re new here, but Mystique is and always has been a family business. It’s family above anything and everyone else. So if you have a problem with my daughter being here, then I suggest you speak to my father!” His voice echoed off the walls and I swear I felt the vibrations in my bones.

Leonard didn’t have to go to Hunter’s dad because every person on the floor was standing in the hallway, observing the shit show. The Mr. Dorsey pushed through the crowd. “What’s going on here?” He looked between Hunter and Leonard, who shot daggers at each other, neither of them backing down.

“Children don’t belong in the workplace and neither does she,” Leonard spewed as he pointed at me.

Hunter took another step forward, getting in Leonard’s face. “ She is my girlfriend and my daughter’s caretaker. Charli is family, unlike you, you piece of—”

I hugged Carina against my chest. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. I didn’t mean to cause a problem.”

Mr. Dorsey took Carina from me and bounced her on his hip. “Having my granddaughter here is never a problem, Charli. You’re always welcome.” He kissed Carina all over her chubby face and handed her back to me. “Leonard, in my office now!”

“But…”

“My office!” He stomped away and Leonard reluctantly followed behind. I jumped when the door slammed.

“I’m so sorry…”

Hunter put a finger to my lips. “You have nothing to apologize for. That guy has had a hard-on for me since the moment I came back. ”

Trent came down the hall, slow clapping theatrically. “Finally put that surliness to good use. That guy is a total douchebag.” He stopped in front of us and stuck his hands in his pockets. “How are you, Charli?”

“How the fuck do you think she is?” Hunter snapped.

“Right.” He waggled a finger at Hunter and me. “Now, this is interesting. I like it.”

With all the commotion, it hadn’t even registered that Hunter called me his girlfriend. If I wasn’t still shaking, I would have been preening at his public declaration. Seemed our something had progressed.

Employees lingered in the hall, staring at me and whispering. Hunter gave them a death glare. “Show is over, people. Nothing to see here.” Everyone scurried back into their offices.

Trent followed us into the conference room. “The girls are excited Carina is here. I’ll tell them to give you fifteen minutes before they bombard you.”

I set Carina back into her stroller and opened the paper bag, taking out the sandwich and placing it in front of Hunter. “I made chicken salad.”

Trent clicked his tongue. “You made him lunch? How cute.” Then he pouted, turning his lips down dramatically. “Where’s mine?”

“I… umm…”

Hunter pushed him out of the room. “Have your wife make your lunch.” He closed the door and leaned against it. “Finally, a moment of peace.”

I laughed. “Is it always so crazy around here?”

He shrugged his shoulder and sat at the table. “Usually it’s boring as fuck.” Unwrapping the sandwich, he picked it up and took a bite. His eyes rolled back as he chewed. “Oh my god, this is so good.”

I reached into the bag and pulled out an apple, brownie, and bag of barbeque chips and set them neatly on the napkin I remembered to pack. Then, I sprinkled some puffs on the tray of the stroller to keep Carina busy. She promptly picked up a handful and shoved them in her mouth. “So that’s Leonard, huh?”

“That’s Leonard,” he said between bites, pushing the bit of chicken salad on his lip into his mouth with his thumb. “Total dickbag. ”

“Why does he hate you so much?”

“He’s threatened by me. Knows I’m here to take his job, therefore he treats me like an enormous pile of donkey shit.”

“What does your dad say about it?”

Hunter scratched his chin. “I think, in the beginning, he thought it was all me and got a bit of satisfaction out of seeing me struggle, but that”—he swept his arm toward the door—“should be proof enough.”

“You mean besides the tainted coffee and the strippers?”

“Hush now.” He cupped a hand over my mouth. “We don’t talk about such things.”

I giggled behind his hand. “Alright, alright, alright,”

A knock sounded at the door and Tom’s face flashed in the window. I motioned for him to come in. He opened the door and poked his head inside. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. That was brutal.”

Hunter plastered on the biggest fake smile I’d ever seen. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

Tom sighed and opened the door farther, squinting his eyes at Hunter. “Not you. My sister.”

“I’m okay.” Even though I was still a bit shaken, Hunter’s antics made me laugh.

My brother stared at me, probably trying to figure out if I was telling the truth or not. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He nodded and scanned the table where Hunter’s lunch was laid out. “Wait! He got a brownie and chips? I only got a sandwich.”

“Boyfriend privileges,” Hunter said with a smirk as he unwrapped the brownie and took a bite.

Tom scowled at him, then leaned across me and grabbed the chips. “I’m taking these. Later, Charlotte.”

I waved goodbye to his back as he left. “Later, big brother!”

“I think he’s really starting to like me,” Hunter said sarcastically.

“Maybe you should hold off on the matching shirts just to be safe.”