Who's the Boss? Read online

  “She did a good job,” Vince noted casually.

  “But...I told her to answer phones.” Baffled now, he looked around. He hardly recognized his surroundings; everything looked so good, so dean. So...uncluttered.

  “She’s done much more than just answer phones,” Vince said, somewhat accusingly. “She’s made this place, Joe. You should tell her. Thank her.”

  That Vince was right didn’t help, but how to explain what he’d known all along? Caitlin could drive him off the brink. She was sexy, and yes, dammit, smarter than he wanted to admit.

  This, he told himself harshly, was what happened when he went against his better judgment. He hadn’t wanted to work with her. Had tried to find a way out of it. But short of breaking his promise to a man who’d meant everything to him, he hadn’t found a way.

  “Here’s the general ledger that Darla called about. It’s right here, in the accounting stuff, just where it should be.”

  Joe groaned, knowing the ledger that Darla had been asking for was two weeks overdue, and one thing Darla wasn’t, was patient. He’d had it on the front desk, but apparently his efficient secretary had taken care of it for him.

  He would have to face Darla, too.

  The phone rang again, this time from a slimy used-car salesman Joe wouldn’t have turned his back on. When he realized that Caitlin had called this guy, looking for a used car she could afford, his stomach actually cramped. She’d lost her car.

  Dammit, Edmund. Why?

  He hung up on the sales-scum, then promptly took another call. It was the building electrician. The wiring in his kitchen was faulty.

  Faulty.

  Joe grit his teeth as he listened to the man explain how the entire kitchen could have gone up in flames instead of just blowing up the coffeemaker.

  It hadn’t been Caitlin’s fault—neither time.

  He was rotten to the core.

  BY THE END of the week, Joe was losing it. Really losing it. For days, he’d been making a new career out of staring at his computer. Sometimes, for variety, he swore at it.

  But the final straw came on Friday.

  Caitlin didn’t show.

  He was in his office with Darla when Vince informed him that Caitlin wasn’t coming in.

  “Good, maybe I’ll get something done for a change,” Joe said with bright relief for Darla’s and Vince’s benefit. Meanwhile, his insides sank. A weekend was coming up. Now he wouldn’t catch a glimpse of her for three days. Not one look at those huge, haunting brown eyes. Not one peek at her full red mouth that he knew damn well was more addicting than any drug. Not to mention her other notable...parts.

  Worse, he’d have no one to spar with. Oh, he could pick on any of the techs. Or Darla. All of them could be counted on to give as good as they got. Except Tim, who usually just pouted.

  But no one gave him what Caitlin did. A run for his money. A kick start to a whirl of emotional adrenaline he hadn’t experienced in far too long, which itself was good enough reason to stay clear of her. He didn’t need to feel that attachment. Didn’t want to.

  Nope. In fact, he should be ecstatic that she wasn’t coming in, and his temper stirred when he realized he wasn’t even close. “Is she sick?”

  “No.” Vince moved to the door. “She’s moving tomorrow and needs to do some stuff.”

  “What?”

  “She didn’t tell you?”

  To the amusement of both Darla and Vince, Joseph yanked up the phone and called her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were moving?” he demanded when he got her on the line.

  “What does that matter?” came her surprisingly weary voice. “But I’m sorry about today. I’ll be there Monday.”

  She hung up on him.

  The nerve. No one had ever— “Vince,” he barked as his poor tech was trying to escape. “She’s moving? By herself?”

  “Yeah.”

  He’d paid the mortgage, dammit!

  “I told her I’d come tonight to help her pack. She didn’t want me to, but I’m going anyway.” He hesitated. “Actually, she sounded poorly. I think I’ll just go now.”

  Joe swore again. Darla lifted her brows and glanced at him. The knowing light in her eyes was hard to take.

  “Fine,” he said stiffly to Vince. No problem, he was fine with it.

  Vince left and Darla smiled. “Okay,” she drawled. “Where were we? The expenses, I believe.” She lifted her pencil and smiled at him.

  “Yeah. The expenses.” He tried to concentrate. He didn’t want to think about the woman who’d set his world upside down with one sweet smile and a little chaos. Because then he’d have to admit that Caitlin’s presence wasn’t so much an intrusion as a breath of fresh air. That having her around didn’t disrupt him nearly as much as his feelings for her.

  “We agreed that you were going to capitalize—”

  And his feelings for her were driving him crazy. “I just can’t.”

  “Okay.” Darla shrugged. “I’ll talk you into the capitalization thing later.” She tapped the spreadsheet. “About the revenue.”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “I can’t.” His head dropped with a loud thunk to his desk. “This is out of control.”

  “Not you,” she said with amusement. “Not the king of all control. Smooth, unruffled computer whiz Joe Brownley, paving the way for the offices of the future...”

  “Darla?” His voice was muffled against the wood of his desk.

  “Hmm?”

  “Shut up.”

  “I’d love to, darling,” she said smoothly, sympathetically rubbing his back, “but I need your tax info.”

  “Take it,” he begged. “I need some peace.”

  “Yeah?” She pondered this as she worked on the knots of his shoulders. “Been rough, huh?”

  “Worse.”

  “Then I guess now is not the time to tell you that Caitlin did most of the grunt work on this accounting.”

  He lifted his head. “What?”

  “She’s a little math wizard, Joe.”

  “She’s a...” He closed his eyes. “I’m such an ass.”

  “Undoubtedly,” she agreed. “But stop sweating the small stuff.” She tugged him back up. “And get to the meat of it.” She tapped the paperwork in front of them. “Tax time, buddy.”

  But all he could think was that Caitlin had sounded so sad. So alone. And she’d done his accounting while he’d ribbed her intelligence, mocked her at every turn.

  “Let’s get a move on.” Darla looked at him, her eyes sparkling with humor. “Unless, of course, there’s something else—or somewhere else—you need to be?”

  Vince is probably nearly there. “Just get on with it,” he urged, needing to be sidetracked. Vince was perfect for her. Perfect.

  “Okay.” Darla shoved some papers beneath his nose. “I need you to...”

  Nice, sweet, caring Vince, he thought sarcastically. Caitlin needed someone and the superterrific, infallible, all-around-perfect man Vince was going to be it.

  Darla sighed, loudly. “Joe, you’re not paying attention to me. I think I should be insulted.”

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered, rubbing his face. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

  “You didn’t.” Her voice was kind. Amused, but kind. “But stop mooning over her. It’s unattractive.”

  “I’m not mooning.”

  “Sure about that?”

  “Yeah.” Vince would probably offer consolation, maybe a hug, and that would lead to a kiss. Dammit! Joe knew how incredibly Caitlin kissed, so he could only surmise where that would lead, and— His heart stopped, ice-cold at the thought. “No!”

  Darla smothered a smile and shot him an innocent look. “Is that no, you don’t want to expense your equipment out all in one period?” She tucked her tongue in her cheek. “Or no, you don’t want Vince to get a piece of my assistant?”

  In one smooth, angry motion, he rose and moved to the door. “She’s my assistant, dammi