Emma smiled, sucked in by his easy charm like she always was. “You know that you’re a contractor, right?” she said as they stepped aside so a group of men could exit the elevator. “You don’t have to be here.”
“True, but then who would be around to tally how many times Malone and Grace sneak into the stairwell? Plus, I like to keep an eye on old man Cassidy. Gotta knock him down occasionally so he doesn’t go all crazy Roman emperor on us. Speaking of which—”
Emma held up a finger. “Do. Not. Don’t even think about it.”
“I was just going ask you if you were headed into the boss’s office, and if so, if you could tell him that I took off for the day,” Cole said, his eyes the picture of confusion.
“Oh,” Emma said, feeling foolish for her defensive reaction.
“Annnnnnd to say thank you on behalf of the entire Oxford staff for the boss’s really good mood this morning.” He winked.
Emma punched his shoulder, although she couldn’t help but smile, because that’s what Cole did. Coaxed smiles. “Get out of here, Sharpe.”
He winked and pushed the button for the elevator as she walked away.
“Emma,” he called.
She stopped, and he walked toward her, his expression more serious than usual. “You’re not going in there to break up with him, are you?”
Emma frowned, then held up her folder. “Just turning in my story.”
“Ah,” he said, relief flickering across his features.
“Also,” she said, lest he get the wrong idea, “I can’t break up with Cassidy because we’re not together.”
It was Cole’s turn to frown. “But I thought—”
“That we spent the night together after the wedding? Sure,” Emma said. “But did you spend the night with someone after the wedding?”
“A gentleman never tells—”
“Save it,” she said gently. “I saw the girl in the red dress. But my point is…are you planning on calling her again?”
“It was just a casual sex thing,” he muttered.
“Exactly,” she said smugly, giving his chest a little pat.
Cole didn’t return her grin, his expression conveying something she couldn’t quite translate.
Shrugging off the atypical encounter, she headed for Cassidy’s office. The door was open, but Emma stopped short of entering when she saw he wasn’t alone.
His eyes lifted from whatever he and the other guy had been looking at and locked on hers, and then, damn it…his eyes warmed. She actually watched his eyes heat as they looked at her.
Apparently so did the other guy, because a dark head turned around to see who Cassidy was looking at.
Emma tore her gaze away from Cassidy and smiled. “Hey, there. Lincoln Mathis, right? We’ve met once or twice but I’m—”
“Emma Sinclair,” he said, standing and moving to shake her hand.
Emma extended her own palm out of habit and manners, but in truth she was just a little dazed. Did Oxford not hire any normal-looking guys? Or was chiseled jaw a part of the job requirement?
It had been a bit like this every other time she’d encountered this guy, and Emma knew she wasn’t alone. Riley, Grace, and Julie were head over high heels for their respective men, but they, too, tittered about the unabashedly good looks of Lincoln.
The dark hair and blue eyes were pretty damn good, but it was the smile that did it. It managed to be both cocky and adorably shy at the same time. Rumor had it that Lincoln was the only guy in the city who had a black book bigger than the Bible and yet not a single bitter ex.
Women loved him. All women. Including the ones he’d dated, slept with, and then discarded. It was one of life’s great mysteries.
“You guys have a meeting?” Lincoln was saying. “I can clear out. Thanks for the spare minutes, boss. I think you’re right. We’re definitely past due for another G-spot article.”
Lincoln gathered up his papers and pen like he hadn’t just dropped G-spot as casually as someone might mention deodorant.
“See you around, Emma,” he said with a flash of boyish smile before exiting Cassidy’s office.