2. Flex His Muscles

2

FLEX HIS MUSCLES

Z ander watched Regan go back into her office with a slight pink hue on her face.

He wouldn’t call it blushing, but it was more color than she normally had.

She didn’t wear much makeup. Enough to make her look fresh and innocent though he was positive there wasn’t much innocent about her or at least around what she’d heard in her job.

He could definitely say the same in his career.

When he’d walked up the stairs and saw the two coming out together holding hands he just glanced past them, but when the woman yanked her hand back after the guy whispered something to her, he decided to slow his pace to intervene if he had to.

Rather than march over and get in the guy's face for what he was saying to his wife and cutting her down, he pointed to Trent’s office and said, “There’s a good lawyer right there if you feel the need to ditch the douchebag.”

He seriously hadn’t expected the woman to do it and thought for sure the man would get in his face. Maybe he was itching for an excuse to flex his muscles to a man who treated a woman like shit.

It was over though, the woman was in Trent Davenport’s office and the husband was gone. How she got home was her business.

“Why are you frowning?” Betsy asked him.

“Am I?” he asked his assistant. She’d been with him since he opened his business years ago. He’d met her when he was a police officer and she’d been a witness in an office mishap.

Damn, that woman had all the details and facts he needed before he could even ask.

She’d joked that she loved cop shows and playing detective and when her radar was up she was just on watch.

When it came time for him to start his business, he’d taken a risk and asked her if she’d be interested. He couldn’t pay her much, but she’d been so thrilled over the prospect she jumped.

“You are,” Betsy said. “Did your phone die when you were trying to take pictures or something just now?”

He laughed. “No.”

One of his biggest contracts was with an insurance company trying to catch fraudulent worker compensation cases. They were simple enough and sometimes he even sent Betsy on field trips to do it for him. He’d been nervous about it, but she’d been a great asset when it came to sniffing things out.

“So you caught the guy running?”

“I didn’t,” he said. “Just out walking his dog. I did hear him on the phone talking to someone about a basketball game at four at the park.”

Betsy was rubbing her hands together. “Did you find out the name of the park?”

“I’m going to assume it’s the one around the corner from his apartment since he’d said he can get there in three minutes.”

“Could be driving though,” Betsy said, punching into her computer. “Nope. No parks within driving distance that close. That’s on my way home. Oh...they’ve got a dog park there too.”

It was the hopeful look in her eyes. He had a shit ton to do anyway and wouldn’t mind passing this off.

It was almost on cue that Betsy’s rescue dog, Rocco, came out from under Betsy’s desk where he slept on a pillow.

He wasn’t sure if dogs were allowed in the building, but Rocco was small enough to fit in Betsy’s bag and no one saw her bring the mutt in.

His best friend, Royce Kennedy, was one of the owners of the building and knew Rocco was here but had never said a word.

“We know how this plays out,” he said. “No reason to waste either of our time talking about it. You can leave and do what you need to do. But get that picture.”

“Yes,” Betsy said, doing a little fist pump. “Best job ever.”

“You’re only saying that now because you got your nice fancy building and get to chat with other women on this floor.”

Betsy snorted. “Hey, can I help it if the last place had a leaky roof and smelled like mold? The doors didn’t shut all the way and the windows rattled in the wind.”

“And you threatened to leave multiple times.”

“Just look at how your business has expanded since you moved here,” Betsy said. “You’re more professional looking and you are getting referrals from other tenants. Trent is always giving you business.”

“Which is why I returned the favor just now,” he said, smirking.

“What happened?” Betsy asked.

He filled her in on the couple in the hall. “Then Regan came out right when her client marched into Trent’s office. I thought for sure I was going to get an earful about ruining all her good work.”

“Nah,” Betsy said, waving her hand. “Regan isn’t like that.”

“Do you talk to her much?” he asked. It was news to him, but it’s not like he was in the office all that much. Sometimes he was even out of town for days.

“Once in a while,” Betsy said. “If I see her in the hall or the staircase. She normally walks up and down. I find her refreshing.”

“Refreshing?” he asked. “I’d say more like cool.”

“That’s right,” Betsy said. “Cool and refreshing. She’s beautiful. She’s smart. She’s witty. And she’s shy. Kind of perfect, don’t you think?”

It was the way Betsy was eying him. Like his assistant knew what he was thinking and feeling since he’d first laid eyes on Dr. Regan Philes two months ago when she moved into the office next to his.

That yeah, she was beautiful.

She was smart. She was witty.

She definitely didn’t appear shy.

“What makes you think she’s shy?” he asked.

Betsy laughed. “You’re not disputing the other things?”

“No reason to,” he said, laughing.

“Maybe not shy. Guarded is probably a better word.”

“I’d think in her job she has to be.”

He’d talked to her more than just in passing but not often.

Once she’d come into his office and asked if they could chat. She’d wanted to know more about his services and him as a person. That she was positive she’d have clients that might need the use of his services but didn’t want to recommend him without knowing more.

He found her straightforward and to the point. Professional with it but kind also.

It was a hard combination to pull off, but he didn’t think she was trying as much as it was just in her nature.

And maybe his heart knocked a few times in his chest and he had to force himself to pay attention to her words and not her light blue eyes and pale pink lips.

She’d been wearing navy pants and a white sweater that day. Just a summer one and had a light almost sheer scarf on with white, orange and a touch of navy in it.

On her feet was a pair of sexy navy pumps that might have had him checking for drool.

He’d always been a fan of sexy accessories on women.

“True,” he said. “Why are we talking about Regan?”

“Because I see you looking at her. Or for her when you leave the office,” Betsy said, smiling.

He turned and looked out his door and saw that his assistant most likely saw him turn his head to look at Regan’s office without even realizing it.

“I’m looking around the hallway when I leave,” he said.

“For danger?” Betsy asked. “You know, like Trent or Regan coming at you to give you a paper cut?”

“We aren’t the only ones on this floor,” he said.

“You’re protesting way too much,” Betsy said. “Just admit it. You like Regan.”

“I’ve got no reason to dislike her,” he said. “And now I’ve got work to do.”

He walked into his office and shut his door so he could make a few calls.

Not that things had to be private from Betsy, but she’d get on the phone or would be listening to music and he didn’t want the distractions.

“I tried, Grant,” Betsy said two hours later.

“Tell me what happened,” Grant said as he approached her reception counter in Zander’s suite. “I need to report back to Garrett. He’d normally be with me, but he was in a meeting when I left. I had to meet with someone on the third floor here and thought I’d swing down to say hi.”

Grant had to get some matchmaking work done on Zander, as his wife and sister-in-law were going to try to focus on Dane Grey, Chloe Kennedy’s brother. There was no way he and his brother could do much with that one. They had no reason to see a pediatrician, and his employee, Chloe, wasn’t about to help out at this point either.

He listened to Betsy tell him about Zander’s interaction with Regan today. Betsy’s little dog came out to sniff his legs and he gave it a pet, then watched it walk back under the desk. He enjoyed seeing the dog but never said a word about it being here. It’s not like he wanted all his tenants to do it and he knew Betsy was discreetly bringing Rocco in the building in her bag.

He and Garrett thought they’d put some feelers out since Regan moved into the recently vacated spot a few months ago.

To him it was like an opportunity landing in their lap and he’d jokingly dropped a few hints in Betsy’s ear to see if she’d be game to play along.

“I even put it right out there to get his reaction,” Betsy said. “He didn’t bite. Well, he didn’t argue about Regan being beautiful, but not much more of a response.”

“Do you think they’d work? You know Zander better than anyone else other than Royce. I’ve tried dropping hints there, but Royce is onto me.”

“It doesn’t sound like Royce is complaining all that much considering he’s got a wife and beautiful little girl out of the deal.”

“Exactly,” he said. “But you know, it’s hard to get people to just give into it and make our lives easier.”

“I’ll keep you posted,” Betsy said. “Have you talked to Miles about it?”

“I’m heading over there now. I’ve only had a few conversations with him. I thought I’d just drop in and see how they are adapting to the building.”

“Miles will be on board,” Betsy said. “We chat.”

“Really?” he asked, leaning in and putting his arms on the counter that separated Betsy from the waiting room.

“Yes. He’s been with Regan for a while and they’ve got a relationship similar to Zander and me. If you get anywhere with him, let me know. Then he and I can put our heads together too.”

“Good information to have,” he said. “I’ll head over there now.”

He felt like there was some progress going on here and that was better than nothing.

“Grant,” Miles said when he opened the door. “What do I owe this lovely visit to?”

He did like the guy who was all sunshine and roses when the door was opened.

“I was in the building and thought I’d stop in and see how everything was going. If there were problems or concerns.”

“No,” Miles said, waving his hand. “We love it here. Roni and other building employees have been great checking in on us. We’ve got a big strapping PI next door and an attorney across the hall. I tell Regan all the time this is the best location we could ever have.”

“So you’ve met and talked to Zander and Trent?” he asked.

“I’ve only seen Trent coming and going,” Miles said, fanning his face. “Roni sure is a lucky girl. A man who wears a suit like that...it’s hard to find.”

Grant laughed with the younger man. He and his brother and their wives had set Trent up with their property manager Roni Hollister. “I’ll have to take your word on that. My wife used to say the same about me, but thankfully I’ve ditched the suit and am happier for it most times.”

“I love that Regan lets me wear what I want,” Miles said.

He couldn’t see what Miles had on in terms of pants, but his pink button-down short-sleeved shirt and navy bow tie stood out. The shirt looked a little snug in Grant’s opinion, but maybe that was the style of the slim man.

“It’s great to have a wonderful boss like that.” Grant leaned in some. “I was just talking to Betsy.”

“I love Betsy. When Zander is out of the office and Regan is in with clients, Betsy and I meet in the hall for a cup of coffee and chat. We can still hear the phones ringing. Sometimes a small office can get lonely.”

“That’s nice you can find work relationships between the different businesses. That is the atmosphere I hoped would happen here.”

“Only those kinds of relationships?” Miles asked, lifting his eyebrow.

This was leading right into the palm of his hand.

“Well,” Grant said. “I’m assuming you know that we do good work in all sorts of areas.”

“I do,” Miles said. “Betsy has filled me in. Are you thinking of someone for Regan because I’ve got an idea.”

“Is she available and do you think she’d be willing?”

“She’s available,” Miles said quietly. He heard the sound machine going so Regan had to be meeting with someone now. “I’m not so sure about willing to be set up, but if she doesn’t know about it happening...”

“Who do you have in mind?” he asked. “We can work around the willingness of people. We are sly that way. And if we’ve got help...even better.”

“There is a certain sexy PI that I’ve noticed she looks at. I might have dropped a few hints myself.”

Grant grinned. “So you’ve started without us?”

“Let’s say maybe I’d like to see Regan hook up and loosen up at times.”

He cleared his throat. “Well now, I don’t need to know details.”

Miles laughed. “Come on now. You’ve got three kids and Garrett has four. You’ve been setting people up for years and some of them have babies before weddings.”

“We do good work,” he said, puffing his chest out. “But what they do together is their own business.”

Miles laughed at his smirk. “Fair point. Let me know what you need from me.”

“Perfect,” Grant said. “For now, keep doing what you are, but don’t push so much that she gets annoyed. I’m going to rally my troops and we’ll figure out another step. Betsy’s on board.”

“Betsy and I have this covered. Leave it to us. You won’t have to do much work at all.”

Grant left grinning after that. This might be much easier than he thought.