I turned to see a man standing by the open door to my office, looking at Cara with a heated expression. I tried to think back to when it had been opened and remembered her taking a restroom break about an hour earlier. Since the office had been cleared out, she’d probably left it open in her haste to return.

And, now, we were being interrupted because of it.

I immediately felt the loss of her touch as I watched her step away and greet the unknown man, “Tyler! What are you doing here?”

His eyes held mine for a brief second before meeting hers. “I was worried. It’s after eight, and I hadn’t heard from you, so I went looking for you. Some janitor said you hadn’t left for the day, and he let me up the elevator.”

Someone is getting fired.

She closed the gap between them and took his hand. “I’m so sorry. We were just going over some of my duties and responsibilities, and time must have gotten away from me.”

“While feeling your boss up? Is that one of your new responsibilities?” he asked, his voice harsh, as his steely gaze drifted back to mine.

“Oh! No. I mean, I was just being helpful. An old trick Melissa showed me when I’d pulled the same muscle after pitching during my freshman year.”

“Right,” he replied, nodding slowly.

“Forgive my rudeness,” Cara interjected, completely oblivious to the obvious tension in the room. “Tyler, this is Mr. Cavenaugh, my boss. Mr. Cavenaugh, this is Tyler Rhodes, my boyfriend.”

He held out his hand first, a slight smirk tugging at his lips, and he waited for me to reach for his outstretched hand. He clearly thought he had something to prove to me—perhaps that he was the better man, the front-runner.

Who knows?

But whatever great competition he’d conjured up in his mind, he believed he’d win the instant I succumbed to his handshake.

“Nice to meet you,” I said slowly, gripping his hand as tightly as he held mine. If we were animals, I believe this would have been the part of the intro where we marked out territory with piss or some shit.

“You as well,” he replied smoothly. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to steal back my girlfriend for the remainder of the evening. She looks a little malnourished.” He laughed, glancing down at her with a wry grin.

“I’m fine. Really,” she insisted, her cheeks flaming red at his bold words.

“Go ahead,” I replied, shifting my stance, as my hands went to my pants pockets. “I insist. We’ll figure the rest of this out tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyes roaming mine for some sign of indecision.

“Yes, quite sure. In fact, I have plans of my own. You’d better be on your way, so I won’t be late.”