Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable Book 6) Read online

  Jake paused us in the hall with a hand to my waist, then pressed a kiss to my cheek before he tugged me from Archie and gave me a proper kiss. Thankfully, I hadn’t bothered with cosmetics beyond the absolute bare minimum that I’d snapped a pic of and sent to Rachel. She’d given me a thumbs up and suggested a nude gloss. I’d put that on after I left so the guys wouldn’t kiss it right off me.

  The faint clearing of Archie’s throat didn’t slow Jake’s deep exploration of my mouth, nor did it quiet my sigh as he dug his fingers into my hips. At this rate, I would not only not be going into the office, I was going to be naked and back in bed.

  Not that I was complaining.

  But still…

  I groaned as Coop whistled. “Yo, we need to give her a present.”

  “I’m giving her a present,” Jake murmured, and I cracked up. He smiled against my lips, then waggled his brows playfully.

  Coop gagged, then socked him gently. I say gently because Jake still had a hold of me. Archie tugged me away, and Ian ran interference when Coop and Jake started shoving each other.

  They stumbled into the living room and right into the coffee table.

  “Don’t wreck the table,” I said at the same time Archie snapped, “Watch the table, guys.”

  The table shuddered and slid a few inches, but they did not, in fact, break it again.

  So, win?

  In the kitchen, Archie tugged me over to the table where we’d had breakfast a little earlier. They’d all insisted on eating here rather than at school, since I wasn’t going in with them. There was a lunch bag on the table and a travel mug with a photo of all of us from Colorado printed on the side of it. It was from skiing and we were in the snow, all grinning like idiots.

  Opening the bag, Ian showed me an apple, a sandwich, a bag of chips and a couple candy bars.

  “There’s also a few twenties because you need a real lunch,” Archie murmured against my ear. “Or at least money for coffee. Don’t hit the coffee shop in the lobby, they suck at steaming milk properly, go outside and across the street and less than a block down. There’s a great place, and I know they make fantastic pastries and hot sandwiches, too.”

  “Also,” Coop said, sliding his arms around me. “We got you this.” Then he held out his palm in front of me and there was a briefcase charm.

  I burst out laughing, and they all grinned. Yeah, Archie didn’t want me to go, but he was also being amazing about it, too. “Thank you,” I said, kissing each one of them, and Archie scooped up the briefcase charm. I didn’t have my charm bracelet on today, but I did have my ring and I had tucked the charm necklace on under my blouse.

  “I’ll get it added for you,” Archie offered. “Knock ’em dead, babe.”

  “Love, you,” Ian told me.

  “Love you more,” Jake murmured.

  “Love you most,” Coop said. And then we were all walking out. It was a little ridiculous that they all walked me to the car, but Jake even made me wait while he slipped me into my coat. My last sight of them was waving to me as I pulled away.

  I didn’t even make it one block before my phone buzzed.

  Archie: Love you best.

  My grin didn’t falter once on the drive.

  The butterflies, which had quieted during the farewell, roared back like helicopters as I pulled into the parking garage. Instructions told me to collect the stub and take it in for validation. I’d finished my coffee on the way to the office, and I pressed a kiss to the mug and left it in my car. I didn’t want to risk losing it.

  Then I collected my stuff, including my backpack, and headed inside. I checked my phone.

  Archie: Tell me when you’re there. Also ask for Steve or Jim when you get to security, that has to be your first stop. I asked them to look after you.

  Jake: Archie’s losing his mind, Baby Girl. Don’t worry, we’ll look after him.

  Jake: Or knock him out. Whichever works.

  I groaned.

  Coop: Ignore Jake, he’s being an ass.

  Ian: Angel, you’re going to be great. We can’t wait to hear how the first day went.

  Archie: Don’t forget to give Susan a candy bar when you meet her. Trust me, she’ll get it.

  I bit back another smile, and then fired off several quick responses to them and one last one to the group text.

  Me: Boys, be good. I’m fine. I’ll check in, like I promised. I’ll even eat all my veggies at lunch. I’m putting my phone away now because I have to go inside. Do not freak out if I don’t text or read your texts for a few minutes. I love all of you.

  Then I snapped a picture of myself blowing a kiss. It looked stupid as hell, and I sent it along with the message.

  Then I texted Rachel.

  Me: Can you keep an eye on them?

  Her answer was an image of all four of them.

  Rachel: If I must. Though whatever you just sent must be good because Jake had to adjust himself. Boy seems to be packing.

  I groaned.

  Me: You’re terrible.

  Rachel: And you love me for it. But not as much as what he’s packing.

  Me: You keep talking like that and you’re totally gonna flunk the Bechdel test.

  I was almost to the main doors when I got her response. It was just a picture of her middle finger, and I grinned.

  At least it changed the subject.

  Inside, all the jitters were back in full force as I checked in at the desk and they directed me to a set of elevators to go to the third floor, where I would meet with someone from human resources. The lady was actually waiting for me when the elevator doors opened.

  Linda was a friendly woman, probably in her forties with a hint of gray sprinkled through her dark brown hair. She had pale brown eyes, but they were filled with mirth as she introduced herself. “You’re one of our two interns this year,” she told me with no small measure of excitement. “I’m a huge fan of this program.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes,” she assured me. “We don’t always get our first picks, but we lucked out this year. So let’s get you set up, and then we’ll go up to the conference room. You’ll be with us most of the day. We have some basic materials to introduce you to Standish Enterprises and what we do here, as well as a full overview of each division.”

  As she spoke, she moved at a fast clip, and I had to stretch my legs to keep up with her. Considering she wore four-inch heels and I was in flats, I wasn’t quite sure how she managed that stride.

  “First stop is here, Francesca?” She paused a beat and gave me a glance.

  “I’d prefer Frankie.” Not that she’d given me time to introduce myself.

  “No problem, Frankie,” she told me with a warm smile as she knocked on the first door before opening it and ushering me into what looked like another larger office with four or five desks. “This is the security office on our floor. “Steve Madison, this is Frankie Curtis.”

  Steve was easily six and a half feet tall. No exaggeration. He’d tower over Jake and Ian both. He was also built broad with thick biceps that seemed to strain, even in the cut of his suit. The man offered me his hand and smiled. “You’re a friend of Archie’s, right?”

  “I am,” I said.

  “Fantastic, come on over and let’s get you your security badge, while Linda hurries off to the fifteen other things she has to do.”

  “You’re a lifesaver, Steve. When she’s done here, can you show her to the blue room?”

  “Yep.”

  Before I could say another word, Linda was gone. Soon, I was sitting down to get my photo taken and filling out the information to get a security card printed. He added the card to a lanyard before he held it out to me. Then we went over security procedures, including never letting anyone surf in behind me. If they didn’t have their own ID card, they had to have an escort.

  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to fend them off with a stick, but I promised to make sure the doors closed. Steve just chuckled at me, then had me bring up my phone an
d download an app. Archie hadn’t mentioned that Standish had an app, and I had to clear my screen of messages before I loaded it.

  The app would also double as my security card in an emergency, but Steve stressed that I would have to get them to authorize it and that would mean reporting where my card had gone.

  Note to self, never be that person.

  After that, we went over a few other things—layout of the building, different floors where I had open access, and others where I would need an escort. My head was already hurting and we still had material to cover.

  Before he took me to the blue room—which by the way, wasn’t blue—he also made sure I had his number and texting information, along with the assurance that if I needed anything to let him know. He said the next time I was there and Jim was on, he’d find me and do the same.

  Good to know.

  Apparently, Archie really had gone overboard. If it wasn’t so sweet, I might want to throttle him.

  Steve showed me where the water was and there was a coffee urn in the corner along with some snacks. Apparently, we rated because the coffee was fresh and there were croissants, bagels, and more fresh treats. Seriously, my stomach growled, even though I’d had breakfast, but I should probably wait to stuff my face until after we finished whatever was next.

  I’d just set my bag down at a chair and shrugged out of my jacket when the door opened to let Linda in, along with another familiar face. A faint grin pulled at my lips as the guy with her gave me a startled look.

  “Hey,” he said and winced. “Frankie, right? Frankie.”

  “Hey, Bryan,” I said with a laugh, and took his hand as he crossed toward me and we shook briefly. Almost as briefly as we had at the first orientation. “I didn’t know I’d be seeing you today.”

  “Ditto,” he answered, and we both glanced toward Linda, who grinned at us.

  “Like I was telling you both, we don’t always get our pick of candidates, but this year, you two made the top of the pile and we’re thrilled to have you here. I’m glad you’ve already met, because you’re going to spend the day on orientation here.”

  She turned her back to us, and Bryan rolled his eyes at me and I had to bite back a laugh.

  “Make yourselves comfortable,” she told us, and Bryan pulled out a chair near mine as she set up and then typed something into her laptop.

  I automatically reached for my backpack to get out my laptop and notepad. Bryan had his bag, but he didn’t crack it open so much as flash a grin at me.

  “I don’t think there’s gonna be a test.”

  I shrugged at him. “You never know. There might be.”

  “She’s right,” Linda agreed with me, and Bryan made a face. “There might be, but the only tests you’re taking today will be strictly inventories for human resources that we will keep on file. So, let me go over your day for you real quick.”

  Our day, in a nutshell, was going to involve multiple video overviews of the various areas of Standish to give us a good feel for what the company handled. There would be the inventories we filled out. Lunch would be catered in, and Bryan made an ooh-la-la face at me when Linda turned to pull out some menus that she offered us. Next came folders with packets of information.

  We weren’t expected to memorize it, but even though we were interns, we would be getting the full employee treatment to give us a real look at the work.

  “And once we’re done, we’ll do a quick introduction to the heads of the departments, who’ve all expressed interest in you shadowing them. Ideally, you’ll work in four to six different departments over the course of your internships, because we want to give you maximum exposure and experience. That should take us up to about four or five this afternoon. I would also advise you to not make plans most evenings immediately after your internship days, because we often go into overtime, so I need you both to be prepared for that.” Then she gave us a warm smile, as if that would make up for what sounded like incredibly long days. “We’ll try not to overwork you, but again, the best way to learn is to do.”

  I’d heard that phrase before. Plenty of times.

  “Would either of you like to grab something to eat or a drink?”

  “Absolutely,” Bryan said. “You like coffee, right, Frankie?”

  “Yeah, I can get it though.”

  Linda’s phone rang, and she gave us a little finger wave. “I need to take this. Get set up and give me five, and then we’ll get started.” Then she was out of the room.

  “How much coffee do you think she drinks?” Bryan asked me as he cracked open a bottle of the spring water and offered it to me.

  “I’m good,” I said as I filled a cup with coffee. “And I have no idea, but she probably has to do this a lot for new employees and she has other things to do, too.”

  “Point,” he said, unperturbed at me turning down the water. Bryan was a nice guy, but I didn’t think I was taking water from anyone ever again.

  Just…my guys.

  That was it.

  I sipped the coffee and then set a couple of the croissants onto a plate and carried them back over to the table, before I added what looked like cheese and cherry danishes. It was like someone had added all my favorites.

  The coffee was fantastic, too.

  “Is it just me, or is this a lot swankier than you were expecting?” Bryan asked as he settled into the chair next to mine again.

  I gave him a little shrug. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. At least so far, it’s not boring.”

  He laughed. “True story. And we have each other, so that counts for something right?”

  I grinned. “I hope Mollie got a friendly face wherever she ended up.” I needed to text her at the end of the day. She’d been happy about her law firm, I thought. Linda returned before Bryan could wind up to say anything more, and he settled back as she dimmed the lights and the first video started.

  She was serious about us watching a lot of videos.

  Holy crap.

  They had a video for everything.

  Videos on the company, and okay, the parts on the history of the company were kind of interesting. Especially the bits about Grandpa Ted. He even appeared in a few of them. I tuned out on the Edward parts. Just, no thanks. I kind of hoped Archie would be in one, but I only caught a glimpse of him in the background when they were talking about the future.

  There were videos on each department. Then there were videos on sexual harassment and on behavioral expectations in the workplace. I actually caught myself zoning out on a couple of them, until they began discussing Standish’s work on the environment when it came to land development. The company was huge with sprawling and diverse interests.

  I was the worst girlfriend on the planet. I literally knew nothing about what this company did, so I tried to take mental notes and real ones. All of this was going to be Archie’s someday, and that thought just froze me in place.

  Seriously, when he talked about the company, he couldn’t sound more disinterested, but it would be his. My stomach bottomed out, and I forced myself to focus. Maybe this internship here was the best plan. I’d at least know what he had to deal with, and maybe I could be helpful.

  How?

  Well, I’d figure that out.

  By the time we got to lunch, my head was swimming with facts and figures. At lunch, I shot off some texts to the guys so they knew I was alive, and that I’d just spent four hours watching videos about the company and my brain hurt.

  Archie: Sorry, babe, it doesn’t get more interesting.

  I didn’t say it wasn’t interesting, but I didn’t argue with him for now.

  Bryan looked about as dazed as I was, and he spent as much time on his phone as I did while we ate and we didn’t talk. I took a quick bathroom break, and then we were on to the afternoon portion of the day.

  I didn’t die of boredom.

  But I did think I strained my brain trying to store all the facts and figures. I was so screwed when it came to meeting the de
partment heads. I was never going to remember their names. Hopefully, I could check out their profiles on the corporate website.

  We made it all the way to the end of the day before Mr. Standish put on an appearance. I steeled myself for the interaction, but I wasn’t sure what stunned me more—his brief welcoming smile and firm handshake before he left Bryan and I, or the black eye he had.

  Well, that explained Archie’s bruised knuckles.

  Holy crap.

  By the time I got into the car to go home, I just wanted to go to sleep right there. Thankfully, Rachel talked to me on the phone all the way back in traffic, ’cause I was dying. My guys were all waiting for me when I got home with food, foot massages, and questions.

  I managed to answer about half of them before I fell asleep, and the next morning, I had no idea who tucked me in, just that I was sandwiched between Coop and Archie, warm and safe, and my head still hurt when I woke up.

  And that was just our first day. We hadn’t even done any real work.

  Chapter Ten

  Look What You Made Me Do

  “Rach?” I called as soon as I was in the bathroom.

  “Last stall.” Aggravation vibrated in her voice. I slid right up to the door and then squatted to pass my emergency pack of pads underneath. “I am so annoyed right now.” She took them from my fingers.

  “I’m sorry,” I told her. It definitely sucked when the period started out of nowhere. I did a quick glance around and then asked, “Are you good with panties? I actually have a new pair with me.”

  Dead silence from the other side of the door.

  I could almost picture her facial contortions. “Put away your dirty thoughts, Manning. I keep a clean pair with my emergency pack just in case.” I’d been caught unawares a couple of times, and there was very little that was worse in my opinion.

  “My reasoning was so much better.” The tartness in her tone was so much better than the earlier aggravation. “Also, the temptation to say I have a pair of your panties is really doing my mood wonders.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Keep it up, and I’ll rescind the offer.”