She'd texted Tori ahead of time so the girl could be waiting upstairs for her. Katya wasn't mentally prepared to deal with the rest of the staff. Most of them had witnessed her epic freak out and resulting race through the club. The whole situation was still embarrassing and sore.
Her roommate greeted her inside the door, then lead her downstairs. She chattered about what preparations were being made for the coming weekend and what kind of music there would be and what she was going to wear. Katya got the feeling it was more filler, that her friend was trying to avoid talking about anything real. But before she could even get a word in edgewise, she was at the hallway to Liam's office and Tori was scampering back to her bar.
Before Katya got to the door, voices filtered out to the hallway and froze her in place. Knocked her down and hurtled her through space and time.
No no no no no, not again.
“... all your fault,” Liam was saying.
“I didn't tell you to use her,” Wulf's voice said.
Katya started breathing fast, feeling lightheaded.
“You gave me her number!”
“Her card, there's a difference.”
Wait, what?
“She's like a goddamn nazi.”
“That's going a bit far.”
I am not a nazi! Am I!?
“She's taken everything and basically called me stupid.”
“Well, she's not exactly lying.”
“I just wanted someone to do my accounting – I didn't want some tiny bossy lady taking over my entire office.”
Katya felt the oxygen returning to her lungs.
“Ayumi is a CPA – she originally worked for me in accounting. She's excellent at this, just let her do her thing. Do you have my check?”
Katya almost laughed. Ayumi Nakada – Wulf's assistant. They were talking about Wulf's assistant. Not her. Ayumi, who apparently was also a CPA. She pressed a hand to her forehead and walked up to the door, gently knocking on it.
“What!?” Liam snapped. She took that as an invitation and pushed open the door. Both men stared at her for a moment and she managed a smile.
“We've got to stop meeting like this.”
Her voice lacked any kind of strength to drive the joke home, but both men chuckled. Liam hurried around the desk and grabbed the food bag from her while guiding her to a chair.
“Sorry, I tried to get him out of here before you got here,” he grumbled, shooting a glare at Wulf. The other man smirked at both of them.
“Is that dinner I smell? Wonderful, I'm starving,” he said, sitting in the seat next to Katya.
“No, no, no, this is a private intimate dinner for two,” Liam informed him. Wulf rolled his eyes and shrugged out of his jacket. She noticed that he wasn't wearing a tie, and when she looked up at him, his smile got bigger. She frowned and looked away, grabbing the bag off Liam's desk.
“It's fine, I got enough to choke a mule.”
“Which means barely enough for me,” Liam groaned, but he sat down in his desk chair and wheeled himself out so he was sitting with them.
It was an awkward dinner, for sure, but nothing could keep Liam quiet for too long. He eventually started talking, telling old surfing stories from his early twenties. Katya pointed out that she was still in her early twenties, which made everyone chuckle.
Wulf said that his early twenties hadn't been very fun. Completing grad school, building a business, taking care of a family. They both stared at him in silence for a moment, then Liam cleared his throat.
“You're kind of a downer, bro.”
When Katya finished her food, she realized Wulf was staring at her in a way that made her very uncomfortable. Liam still had a lot of hours left at the bar, so she made her excuses and went to leave. He gave her a big hug and kiss goodbye, adding to the uncomfortable feeling. She tried to hurry out without saying anything to Wulf, but of course, he never let her get away with anything.
She was sliding her jacket on and hurrying down the hallway when she heard him closing in behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, then groaned before turning up the stairs to leave.
“I don't have time to deal with you, I have to get up early tomorrow,” she told him. He walked so close behind her, she could feel his body heat. He stayed that way clear through the whole club, all the way until they were outside. Jan gave him a nasty look, but didn't say anything as they headed out of the alley.
“You sure about that? I'm still hungry, I could go for some dessert,” he said, and she nearly choked on air.
“Are you sure about that? It might wind up all over your smug little face,” she warned him.
“It didn't last night.”
She lucked out and a taxi was letting someone out at the curb right next to them. She hurried down and grabbed the door, then turned to face Wulf. He'd stayed right on her heels and she almost wound up with her nose in his collar.
“Not for lack of trying. Speaking of which, I have something for you,” she said, pulling his messy tie out of her pocket. She unfurled it and wrapped it around his neck.
“That mess better come out, this was very expensive,” he told her, leaning down close as she wrapped her hands around the ends of the tie.
“You know what else costs a lot?” she whispered, standing on her toes and meeting him halfway. His eyes were on her lips, following their movement.
“What?” he whispered back.
“My time. Stop wasting it, Wulf.”
She abruptly let go of the tie and dropped into the taxi's backseat. She slammed the door and waved at him as she gave an address to the cabbie. Before Wulf could say a witty comeback or get into the car with her, the cab was sailing off down the street, with Katya laughing the whole way.
21
“How're things, kiddo?”
Katya balanced her phone between her shoulder and ear while she moved around her kitchen. To celebrate Tori's promotion, Katya had made her roommate's favorite foods and dessert. Her dad had called right in the middle of it all.
“Good, busy. Work has been insane,” she said, kicking the dishwasher door shut with her heel before hurrying over and peering into the oven.
“That's good to hear, glad you're back at it. Your mother's got me on this low-sodium, low-carb diet. I think she's trying to kill me,” he chuckled. She laughed.
“Good for you, you need taking care of.”
“Speaking of taking care – how are your two boys?” he asked in what she was sure he thought was a nonchalant voice.
“They're not mine, and they're fine.”
“No more punches?”
“Not yet, but we're all going to a party on Saturday,” she told him.
“Sounds nice. I know I was angry, but Liam did seem like a really nice guy, pumpkin,” her dad said. She paused as she held a pot over a strainer. Where was this coming from?
“He can be, when he puts his mind to it. He feels really bad about how everything went down,” she replied.
“I know – he sent your mother flowers. She's embroidering 'Mr. & Mrs. Edenhoff' on pillowcases.”
“Oh jesus.”
“I know! It was my car that got scratched, where the hell are my flowers?”
“I thought Wulf was paying to have that fixed?”
“Sweetie, he did more than pay for it.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, tossing the now empty pot into the sink and putting her hands on her hips.
“Let's just say Daddy's got a new toy.”
“Excuse me?”