Protecting Her Heart (Seals Security Book 3) (2 page)

Rory had taken the time to force her way into Evie’s life or they never would have become friends in the first place. Evie reached into the fridge, grabbing out some leftover spaghetti from two nights ago when she had splurged on something besides ramen noodles or mac and cheese.

“Yes, I got it. I don’t get how they can do this to us and only give us three weeks to find a place to live,” Evie grumbled as she opened the microwave to set the spaghetti inside. She reached over to grab a paper towel to cover it with and shut the door.

“I don’t know but it sucks because most everything in the city is way too damned expensive. We pay four hundred fifty a month but most places now are upwards of six hundred. Which is way more than I can afford alone. Shit, this really sucks.” Rory was chewing on something crunchy as she talked and Evie shook her head. Rory was a bottomless pit and the crappy thing was she never gained a pound, unlike Evie who looked at something fattening and gained five pounds. The only reason she wasn’t a size twenty instead of a size fourteen was that she couldn’t afford to buy a ton of junk food or eat out.

“Yeah, it does.”

“So what made your day so awful, ‘cause I am assuming that the notice isn’t the only reason you don’t want to talk about your day,” Rory asked.

Evie let out a little sigh before taking a deep breath, listening to Rory munch on another crunchy bite of whatever she was eating. Her back pressed against the counter, she lifted her hand to run it through her red locks, wanting to cry all over again.

“I got fired and then as if that wasn’t enough, my damned umbrella broke and I had to walk two blocks in the rain because this morning I couldn’t find a parking spot close to the building because of the convention next door. Then when I get home I find out I am about to be homeless and that was my day in a nutshell,” Evie said in a rush.

“Oh damn, Evie. I’m sorry, you really did have a pretty shitty day, huh,” Rory said and she stopped munching. “Geez, why did that old geezer fire you? You’re the best receptionist he’s ever had. I mean shit, you even took his dog on walks and got his wife’s dry cleaning damn it.”

Evie felt the beginnings of a smile tilting her lips as she lifted the bowl out of the microwave, grabbing a fork and some napkins before heading to the couch. She loved that Rory called Mr. Grady an old geezer all the time. Rory had always told her she was doing too much for her boss and she wasn’t paid well enough for that. Now looking back she tended to agree and she would never allow herself to be taken advantage of like that again. Boss or no boss, she wasn’t going to run any more personal errands for an employer unless it was in her job description.

“His new girlfriend needed a job and he made up some bullshit about how I was late twice this month. It was just a way to allow him to hire his girlfriend so his wife doesn’t know he’s slipping her the sausage every day instead of working,” Evie told her as she sat down and pushed her fork into the noodles to take a bite.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right? That old coot fired you and hired his girlfriend? Seriously?” Rory asked, anger now evident in her voice.

“Pretty much.”

“Damn bastard. If I were you I would call his wife and tell her about the girlfriend. That way at least I got some payback,” Rory growled

“No, she will find out eventually but I won’t do that to someone. I just couldn’t stomach it.” Evie knew what it was like when someone else did something to ruin your life and she wouldn’t do that to anyone. Yes, Mr. Grady was an asshole but that didn’t mean she had to be the one to bring him down for it. He was bound to get discovered anyway because his wife’s brother worked in the human resources department. He would get what he deserved eventually.

“Ha, I know, you’re too nice.”

“I am not too nice. I just don’t want to tempt fate by screwing up someone else’s life. Besides, his brother-in-law works there with him so it’s only a matter of time before he catches him anyway,” Evie grunted, lifting the remote to flip on the TV to watch the news.

“Shit, what an idiot. It still sucks though. I would offer to let you live with me but until I can save up for another place it looks like I’ll be living with my mother and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Rory said, and the crunching started again, making Evie smile.

Rory’s mother wasn’t anyone she wanted to live with, that was for sure. She was frankly surprised that Rory was going to move in with her. Her mother was a drunk who tended to get verbally abusive when she drank. Rory had moved out when she was seventeen because of that very fact.

“Why are you moving in with her?” Evie asked.

“I don’t really have much choice. I was going to see if you wanted to go in together on a place actually but with you losing your job, I’m not sure the two of us could afford it. If you get a job in the next week maybe we can move in together. If not, I will be moving in with dear ol’ mum. Ugh—it even sounds horrid. Get a job quick please,” Rory begged.

Evie snorted a little laugh out. “I’ll do my best but no promises.”

Luke Stewart stared at the empty chair of his latest temp with apprehension.
Damn it,
Janet had gone to lunch an hour early without telling him,
again
.
Why the hell couldn’t he find a competent assistant?
It had been nearly eight months since Maria retired and only one of the temps the agency had sent over was in any way competent.   

Luke let out a little growl, his hand clenching on the notes he held, before he stomped back into his office. He moved toward the desk and snatched up the phone, hoping that Monica, Laney’s assistant, was at her desk and not out getting her and Laney lunch. Laney was eating in today because they were working on putting together the annual charity gala. Seals Security did one every year for several reasons. One, they wanted to give back to their community; two, it was good PR; and lastly, because his sister loved throwing formal events and they enjoyed spoiling her.

Luke couldn’t believe this was happening again. How was he supposed to get anything done with Janet leaving in the middle of the day
all the damned time?
His foot tapped on the floor as he waited impatiently. The phone buzzed once, twice and then a third time. He was just about to hang up when a soft feminine voice answered.

“Laney Thomas’s office, Monica speaking, how can I assist you?”

Luke felt a relieved sigh escape him. He had to have this proposal done and he still needed to go over the three reports from the Brantley security briefing that he was holding in thirty minutes with Eric and Craig over at Brantley’s office.

“Thank God you’re still here. Can you please type up a proposal for me?” Luke asked, his voice curt as he held the phone with his shoulder and grabbed his suit coat off the back of his chair, slipping it on. Then he reached out and grabbed his keys off the desk beside his computer, shoving them into his pocket before picking up the notes and his reports.

“Why can’t
your
assistant do it?” Monica asked, her frustration clear in her voice.

Not that Luke could blame her; over the past eight months while he went through one incompetent assistant after another, she’d been the one to pick up the slack. At least three times a day she was loaded down with his needs as well as his sister’s and it was wearing on her. Monica was good at her job but she was stressed out because her workload was almost doubled lately.

Laney had promised to murder him if Monica quit on her like she’d threatened a little over two weeks ago. It was the fourth time this month she’d stayed late to work with him. Thankfully, she was almost family so her threat was really all bluster but he still felt bad making her work so much harder.  If he wasn’t heading to the briefing he would just type the proposal himself but he didn’t have time today.

“She left for lunch again without telling me and I need it done for the client meeting I have when I get back. Please. I know it’s going to mean working during lunch for you but I really need this typed up to present to the client.” Luke leaned back on the edge of his desk still holding the papers.

“Ugh–
fine.
But you need to get a new assistant again because this is getting ridiculous. How many is this now? Seven? And that’s not even counting the first two that we actually hired instead of going through the temp company,” Monica grumbled into the phone and he could tell she’d shifted because her voice was garbled for a moment.

“Nine actually.” Luke exhaled noisily, trying not to lose his temper thinking about it because he was beyond frustrated by current events.

How damned hard was it to find a decent personal assistant in a city this size? Apparently it was impossible. The first woman he’d hired had called out six times the first three weeks she’d worked here and the second and third ones had been too busy trying to get him into her pants to do her job. His sister Laney had suggested the temp agency at that point hoping that they would find someone who knew what they were doing. The first one they sent over, a man named Tim, had done his job and stayed on for about three months. Luke liked him and he was efficient so he’d offered Tim a position with the company but Tim’s wife was offered a higher paid position with the law firm she worked for and Tim had quit to move to New York with her. 

Luke hated to see him leave and the next six temps they’d sent over were beyond incompetent. Janet, the current one, was the best of the bunch but she tended to leave without telling him and she didn’t care if he needed something done by a certain time. He’d talked to her about this habit last week and she’d agreed to tell him before she left in the future, but here they were a week later and she’d left without telling him
again
.

“I know and Laney’s supposed to be interviewing some soon but this week is really hectic with the finalization of the gala venue as you know. Hopefully we can find someone decent in the current pile of applicants.” Luke set down the papers, rubbing his hand over his forehead, trying to relieve the headache he suddenly had.

“I sure hope so because I am sick of doing your assistant’s job,” Monica growled.

“Look, I know this is hard on you and I’ll make sure that your bonus this year compensates you for the added work. I’m sorry that I can’t offer you a fat raise to go along with it but opening the office in Texas has us stretched a bit until we get it set up. All the hiring bonuses and the costs for the building are eating into our profit margin. I don’t want to get into a situation where we have to take out loans from the bank.”

The set up of that office was stressing him out even if Eric was the one flying back and forth to do all the hiring and working with the contractors. Luke was glad he didn’t have to deal with that on top of everything else he had to do at the moment because he wasn’t sure that he would be able to handle it if Eric hadn’t wanted to deal with it.

“I know you’re trying but it’s getting to the point that I can’t handle it all during the day and end up working late. It’s not the money, Luke, it’s the time. I like having a life and when I’m working late every night I can’t have one. Look,
it’s fine
, just bring me what you need typed up and I’ll get it done before I run out to get Laney and me lunch.” Monica didn’t wait on him to reply, she just hung up on him.

Luke shook his head, a little grin splitting his face. He must not be that threatening if she was hanging up on him or maybe it was because of the way he let Laney treat him that made her sure she wouldn’t lose her job for being rude to him. Setting the phone back in the cradle, he grabbed the notes. Checking the time to see it was just after eleven, he realized once he ran this downstairs he should have just enough time to get it to Monica and drive over to the Brantley building. Damn, he’d have to go over the reports at the red lights as he drove over.

He shrugged; it couldn’t be helped. Craig and Eric would hopefully be more prepared to give Brantley a better summary than he could. Why the man needed them all to report to him was beyond him anyway. Luke didn’t really care why he insisted they all attend the monthly meeting; as long as he paid them triple the consultant fee, he didn’t really give a shit.

Heading to Laney’s office, he entered to find Monica missing from her desk and a sense of panic overtook him.
Where the heck was she?
He’d told her he needed it done when he got back.

“I hear you’re harassing my assistant again,” Laney said from behind him, making him start a little as he turned to see her standing behind him. Her face was creased in a happy smile that seemed to reside on her face most of the time now that she’d married one of his best friends. He’d been wrong to try and keep them apart and if he’d known how happy Craig would make her, he never would have tried to stop him from being with her. Not that he’d done it out of spite, he’d just been worried that she would end up with her heart broken because he never expected Craig to fall in love with her. His interference had nearly cost them both their happiness and he regretted that.

“I wouldn’t be if mine hadn’t left the office again without telling me,” Luke grunted, still wondering where Monica was.

“Well, I sent Monica to get us lunch–”

“Damn it, Laney! I needed her to type this up before one when I have a meeting with the client. Didn’t she tell you?” Luke rumbled, his hand smacking against the wood of the desk they both stood in front of, making Laney jump before she glared at him.

“And if
you’d
let me finish instead of yelling the roof down you’d know I was hungry and told her I would draft it while she was gone. If I weren’t waiting on a call from the caterer for the gala so I can finalize all the meal options, I would have gone myself. So calm the hell down.” Laney stood with her hands on her hips and a scowl covering her brow.

“Sorry, I’m just a little short-tempered today. I can’t understand why replacing Maria is so damned hard. I guess I’m going to have to ask for another temp to be sent over,” Luke said, feeling a little bad that he’d yelled at Laney. It wasn’t her fault that his assistant had done her disappearing act again.

“Just wait. I have two interviews set up this afternoon, maybe one of them might work. They both sounded good in the phone interviews. Although I wish like hell Tim could have stayed, he was fantastic,” Laney muttered, reaching out to take the papers he was holding. Luke handed the notes over without complaint, keeping the reports.

“Yeah, you and me both.” Luke glanced at his watch, realizing he only had ten minutes to drive over to the Brantley building. “Shit, I have to go. Let me know how the interviews go and if one of them is even halfway decent, please hire them because I can’t take never knowing if Janet will be at her desk or missing in action anymore.”

“Will do,” Laney said, waving him off as he rushed out the door and headed to the garage.