2. Malcom Jennings

"What the hell, Mal?" Casey hissed under his breath.

I didn't need his scolding. I knew I'd messed up.

I had all but spit fire with my words to the most beautiful, genuine woman I had ever met. That we had ever met. God, I am an asshole. I knew it, and so did Casey. I didn't need to look at one of my best friends and business partners to know he was glaring at me.

"Shut it." My jaw clenched tightly.

"No. That was?—"

"I know," I hissed and glanced at him. "I know." My nose flared. "I fucked up."

"No shit." He looked over his shoulder toward the woman I was watching pick up the debris my stupid nephew and his friends had left behind. I forced myself to move and walk back inside the house. I had a feeling the moment we were within listening range, Casey was going to rip me a new one, and I fucking deserved it.

"We should have hired a company to clean that shit up back there."

"I did," I muttered the moment I stepped foot into the kitchen and grabbed a glass. "They are supposed to come out tomorrow."

"Then why the hell are you letting her clean Coop's mess?"

"What fucking secret do you have with her?" I clipped, and my ears burned red. I hated feeling jealous. Casey was like a brother to me, just like Jett.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "She said I was sweet, and I told her not to tell or she'd mess up my rep, and she said it would be our secret. It was nothing," he clipped.

"You were flirting," I accused him. His blue eyes widened.

"So?" a voice behind us sounded. I shut my eyes.

"So, he shouldn't flirt with her!" I turned to see Jett behind us wearing nothing than a pair of plaid sleeping pants. The asshole scratched his chest with his inked hands and shrugged.

"Maybe you're more pissed about the fact you don't know how to flirt than the fact Casey was."

"I don't need your psychobabble," I interrupted. "Look, she works for us, and you guys need to remember that."

"Mal," Casey muttered.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt? You want a sexual harassment suit tossed by her for that shit?" A very feminine gasp sounded, and ice filled my veins. Shit. I stilled.

"He didn't mean that, Rosie," Casey said gently, and the heaviness in my gut grew.

"Right." My eyes shut at the hurt tone in her voice.

But I didn't turn around.

I didn't apologize.

I simply stood there like a fucking bump on a log and waited for her to do something. Say something, you stupid bastard!

"I came inside to get more supplies. Excuse me." The sound of her feet almost sounded like they echoed in my ears as she moved around me in the kitchen before she went back outside, making sure to shut the glass doors that led to the backyard behind her.

"You're a dick," Jett muttered.

"Tell me something I don't know." I found the energy to grab my keys. "We have work to do. See you in the office."

"Mal, don't you think you should—" I shot a look at Jett.

"It's better this way, and you know why." A muscle under my eye twitched, and I watched Jett shoot a look at Casey, silently communicating something.

"What?" I hated when they did that shit. They were up to something, which usually meant it could go great or explode in our faces.

"We have an idea," Casey shared.

"Idea?" I crossed my arms and watched as Casey and Jett moved closer to me.

I was the practical one of the three of us. They were the dreamers. The fucking ones who got us into trouble more times than I was willing to admit. Not that the trouble hadn't been fun and adventurous, but I had a feeling that whatever they had up their sleeve was going to be fucking impossible. Because I knew Casey and Jett. They probably had the same idea I'd been bouncing around in my head.

"We have a meeting today at lunch to talk about it." Jett shrugged, breaking the momentary silence.

"What's with the dramatics? Why not just spit it out now?" I asked ,knowing the answer. They didn't have to say anything as they looked outside, and my willpower gave out on me. I glanced over to see our girl working. Fucking Cooper. My nephew was a pain in the ass. I shook my head.

"Fine," I muttered. "I'll see you in the office. I have a shit ton of work to catch up on."

"Maybe before you go, you should?—"

"No." I shook my head, and my hands clenched around my keys. The metal dug into my palm. If I went out there with how I felt today after two days of not seeing her, I might do something stupid like kiss her. My resolve to keep my hands off our pretty, little housekeeper had started to crumble. With every passing day, I grew weaker. And she didn't deserve me pawing at her, and since Casey and Jett had feelings for her, too, I couldn't go there. I couldn't betray them or hurt her. I was trash at relationships.

"See you in the office. Don't be late." I waved and made my way to our garage.

Every step further away from Rosa felt wrong.

What the hell are you doing?a voice shouted in my head, but I batted it away. I couldn't apologize. I wasn't the kind of man to show weakness or a vulnerability.

No matter the fact she had become just that. The feelings that had been stirred to life six months ago when she started to work for us were thriving. Growing and blossoming into something bigger. I fucking hated it.

I hated it because I didn't hate her in the least. I was pretty sure I, Malcom Jennings, the biggest jerk of Seattle, had fallen in love.

I beeped my Audi open, slipped inside, and gripped the steering wheel before tightly shutting my eyes and letting the back of my head rest against the headrest behind me. The sight of her crestfallen face, the way she'd flinched at my words, flashed behind my eyes.

She was all smiles and laughs with Casey and Jett. But with me? With me, it was nothing but cautious, wide-eyed glances. Like she feared me. Like she thought I would pick her up, throw her over my knee, and spank her at any given moment. And I had no idea why the hell I loved that, too. Liar, a voice whispered, and I inhaled deeply. My dick throbbed and my hand rubbed the length of it behind my dress slacks before squeezing it tight and letting go.

How the hell was this my life? Me! The man who had no trouble going out and hooking up with faceless women while I worked both our bodies into a sweaty mess. The man who was the king of meaningless one-night stands and more benefits than friend type of situations.

I almost hated myself for falling.

Falling in love was a weakness. My hands fisted, and I hit the edge of my steering wheel. Emotional entanglements were complications I needed like a hole in the head. But as I opened my eyes and stared out at the garage door opening, knowing Rosa was in our house safe and sound, even if probably fuming at how much of a dick I'd been, I knew I wouldn't give her up.

When Casey, Jett, and I had talked about her three weeks after she started to work for us, we had decided that since all three of us were interested in her, none of us would have her. None of us would make a move.

We never let anything come between us.

I could almost laugh at how we had thought keeping our hands to ourselves was the solution. Days had turned to weeks, then months, and our feelings never changed. It was clear that our feelings for the raven-haired beauty weren't going anywhere. Not with the way she smiled and lit up not just a room but our entire lives.

Before Rosa, we were workaholics, burning the midnight hour in the office. Since our princess had stepped into our life, I doubted there had been more than a handful of days in the last couple of months we had all worked late at the office.

Even if we hadn't admitted it yet, we looked forward to going home now.

And it was because of our sweet, little flower.

If I knew Casey and Jett the way I did, I had a feeling we were all about to be on the same page when it came to Rosa Flores.

She'd come between us and would hopefully stay there for the rest of our lives.