Yeah, like the idea that Preston had the hots for him and wanted to spank him and have sexy fun. Nope, wouldn’t want anything like that to happen. Even in my head, I sounded sarcastic. “Do you want me to email him then?”
“No.” That answer shot out of Preston before I could even take a breath. “I’ll figure something out.”
And I was going to bug Lane and see if he knew more about Casey. Might as well make sure if pushing Preston in his direction was a good idea. It was too late for lunch, but if I remembered things right, I’d seen tattoo guy go to the coffee shop down the street for a midafternoon pick-me-up several times. It might work out well for both of us; I’d get caffeine and gossip, and Lane would get a peek at his crush.
“Alright, I’ll leave that part up to you. And if you want, because I’m feeling very generous, I’ll even look through part of the IT applications that come in.” That would be miserable, but if it helped get Preston a social life I would do my best.
“You actually want to help hire someone?” Preston didn’t bother to hide his shock. He looked like he was ready to start planning for the zombie apocalypse.
“Want to? Hell no, but if I can narrow down the list before you start making calls, that might help.” And might earn me some brownie points for the next time I drove Preston nuts.
“Okay, maybe, depending on how many we get in. I’m hoping this time a few more take five minutes to look us up and actually see what the company does before applying.” Preston gave a half-smile and shook his head. “Some of those conversations were very awkward.”
Rolling my eyes, I scoffed. “The damned company is named Leashes and Lace, how in the hell that doesn’t stand out I’ll never know.”
Preston laughed. “That one poor guy thought it was some kind of specialty pet product company.”
Thankfully, I’d been spared the task of talking to them, but Preston had started to groan every time he’d needed to speak with another applicant. I’d said he needed to delegate some of the work, but he’d said he didn’t want an admin until it was absolutely necessary.
We had a small HR department, two women who actually spent most of the day doing weird stuff with the benefits people and insurance that no one else wanted to understand. So once he hired someone he wouldn’t have to babysit the rest of the process, but it was still time-consuming.
“Maybe we should make everything more clear in the next ad?” I wasn’t sure how, though. The company logo was a pair of panties with a dog collar and leash, for crying out loud.
Preston shook his head, clearly seeing the ways it could go wrong. “No, I think you guys would have entirely too much fun designing the ad in that case. We might end up banned from posting on the online job boards.”
“And we’re back to you’re no fun.” He needed to get laid.
Rolling his eyes, Preston wasn’t offended. “Someone has to be the grown-up around here.”
“Not it.” I had enough real shit going on outside of the company to agree to be an adult there too.
Chuckling, Preston shook his head. “I didn’t think you were going to volunteer. You want to go over the spreadsheets before you go, or do you have class?”
I groaned. “No numbers today. I have all kinds of shit to do tonight, and I can’t use my brain cells now. Depleting them before I start class would be a terrible idea.”
Rolling his eyes, Preston didn’t seem to find me funny. “They’re not batteries. But I’ll let you escape this time.”
Perfect. I had coffee to drink and a Lane to quiz. “See you later, then. I’ve some new stuff to put on the blog. I was going to start posting the pictures from today as soon as Roman sent them in, but do you think I should wait?”
“It might be a good idea, but I want to see the reaction to the new line. Just tease it with a caption that it’s not a done deal yet, but they’re getting a peek anyway.” Preston waved his hand around. “You can play it off like you’re doing something naughty, they’ll love it.”
I smirked. “Because they love me. I’ll just tell them you’re going to spank me or something for showing them things that I shouldn’t be.”
Preston laughed. “Thanks. Glad to be the bad guy for you.”
Smirking and giving him a little wave, I hopped up to go track down Lane. I’d seen him earlier writing his blog post, so I was hoping he hadn’t left yet. Coffee and a sexy man was just what my afternoon needed—even if the man wasn’t for me.
Chapter 5
Roman
“Landry Photography, Roman speaking.” Answering the phone when I didn’t recognize the number was my first mistake. Not hanging up immediately was the second. My only excuse was that I was just getting back in the apartment and juggling bags when the phone rang.
“You changed your number.” The accusing tone set my nerves on edge.
Shit.
“Yes, that’s what happens when your number gets blasted all over the internet as a sexual deviant.” I’d gotten calls from everyone from local daytime talk shows to people wanting to save my soul. A new phone number had been the easiest way to shut them down.
