Toby gave a rare smile. "That's what I like to hear. Are you free to handle any commitments I manage to procure on your behalf?"
"Other than the reception Friday night, which I presume you will attend, I'm all yours. Keep on doing what you're doing."
"Really? And your bride approves?"
"Is that sarcasm? Because I'm pretty sure you and your poll were the brains behind the whole marriage thing."
"I just told you what the polls said. You took the plunge. And you're welcome. But don't be an ass. Women like being consulted."
Knox snorted. "How many years now have you been single? Also, I'm not paying extra for you to manage my marriage."
"Who's single? Apparently I'm married to my job. And, I might add, your marriage is a subset of your campaign. You may not be paying extra, but you're paying for it all the same."
"Yeah. For better or for worse."
Toby shook his head in classic fuck-me fashion. "I see what you did there, and that's about as much of this as I can take. I have to go. I have a meeting in about ten minutes with the money guy."
Knox grinned. "I thought I was the money guy."
"Point taken. However, misappropriation of campaign funds will put Jackson in a happy place, which is why you hired the money guy. And I have to go talk to him now."
Knox stood and shook his buddy's hand. "I owe you. Thanks for all your work."
"Just make sure my check clears, and I'll call it even."
"Might want to ask the money guy about that," Knox called. He shut the door after Toby and turned around, catching sight of Chloe's office. Home and garden. He hid a smile. He got why she was upset, but the reassignment wouldn't stop her from breaking her story.
And it gave him the perfect opportunity to have a little fun … in the name of housewarming, of course.
He checked to make sure Chloe was still occupied in the other room with his mom, then pulled out his cell phone.
He was about to make a florist's day.
…
Chloe's office had been invaded. Houseplants-twelve of them-delivered first thing that morning. She'd been looking at them all day.
You're just freaking adorable, Knox.
Problem was, she wasn't sure if he was being nice or rubbing salt in the wound. Either way, she'd never met a houseplant she couldn't kill, the implication of which didn't bode well for the inhabitants of the jungle she'd briefly called her office. Which was now some kind of greenhouse.
The jackass did it with a candlestick in the conservatory …
Why did he do stuff like this? Because that's who he is. She should have seen this coming. She almost wished he'd be a jerk. A real jerk-not the almost adorable kind who stole her pepperoni or mocked her with greenery. She needed him to be the kind of man who didn't turn her on and inside out. She needed a man she didn't have to convince herself not to love.
She needed a fake husband who hadn't spent the past few months not having sex with other women.
No one since her. His admittance had thrown her more than she cared to acknowledge. He'd made it clear he wasn't getting emotionally invested in their relationship, but he'd also told her he'd broken things off because he didn't believe in love. Had his feelings for her-however he chose to label them-been the reason he hadn't been with anyone else, or was it something else? Knox may not do relationships, but he didn't have the same prejudice against sex, so it had to be something else. Her mind knew that, but the logic didn't keep her heart from doing cartwheels in her chest.
He hadn't been with anyone since her. Did it matter why?
No. Because the bottom line was he didn't want to be with her-not in the way she needed. She told herself that a hundred times a day, but doing so didn't stop the threads of emotional attachment from spindling mercilessly. She needed to get the rest of her stuff from her apartment, but the reality of moving from her old life to a new one sank in more with each step. Sure, she had gained opportunities for career advancement but at what cost?
She could push, but Knox Hamilton was the kind of man who would push back. With her ability to resist him pegged a notch above zero, when he did, she'd probably fall naked and flat on her back.
And now she couldn't look away from her computer screen without seeing a dozen extra reminders of him. Because any other man would have sent a single bouquet, but Knox had made sure it was personal.
She sighed and pushed back from her desk, looking up just as he appeared in the doorway. He'd been up before dawn, off to some charity thing a couple hours away. He'd slept shirtless in sweatpants that hung just low enough on his hips to reveal rock-hard abs and a slight trail of hair headed south, and it had been all she could do to ignore him. To that end, she'd actually pulled the sheet over him a time or two, but he'd managed to maneuver his way back to indecency before she fell asleep. Turning her back hadn't seemed to help, and for that matter, neither had the sheet. She still saw him.
She couldn't forget him.
Now he was back in a suit and tie. She relaxed a notch. If he stuck to formal wear-and she kept her attention somewhere between his shoulders and his belt-she'd be fine.
"Good afternoon," he said easily. As though he hadn't turned her office into a botanical garden. Or hadn't noticed her staring below his belt, calculating all the reasons she shouldn't look there.
She swallowed. "Isn't it? A lovely day to water plants."
His mouth puckered. He was probably trying not to laugh. "They should be okay for a little while. I thought you might like to immerse yourself in your work."
"How very gracious of you. You realize you just sent these poor houseplants to their deaths?"
Now he did laugh. "Don't sell yourself short. I'm sure at least one will make the week."
"And for the rest," she said sweetly, "I know exactly what to do with the casualties." She had to press her lips together to keep from smiling at the sudden furrow in his brow. Whatever he was thinking, it had him worried. Good.
He cleared his throat. "I stopped by my mom's on the way home and picked up the guest list for the reception. I thought you might want the chance to get to know a few of these folks before the big night. And by ‘get to know,' I mean ‘start digging.'"
"That would be perfect, but are you sure you want me investigating your friends?"
He laughed. "Most of these guests, I barely know. As for my friends, I especially want you investigating them. If they're not doing anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about. Besides, you're not going to find anything by Googling them that's not already out there. And for that matter, the more you know about them, the more they'll like us both. I've found people are immensely flattered by personal knowledge. Here, come with me."
Knox stood and took her hand, then led her across the entry hall to the study. The space had wowed Chloe at first sight. Everything in it was massive, from the floor-to-ceiling, built-in shelves to the stone fireplace to the sweeping eight-foot windows complete with cozy seating. Thick area rugs decorated the gleaming wood floors. The room had a decidedly old-world feel, but with everything fresh and modern, the space did not seem to date the sleek, European-style mansion.
He offered his desk chair.
She sank into the butter-soft leather with a happy sigh.
He grinned. "You like it?"
"My chair at home had a missing wheel and was covered in cat hair."
His brow furrowed. "You don't have a cat."
"Exactly. It was hand-me-down cat hair. The vacuum made a dent, and the lint brush put in a good show, but ultimately the cat won."
"I guess it's a good thing it was replaced."
She offered half a shrug. "I kind of miss it. Things changed fast."
"I know."
She cleared her throat. "Why the tour?"
"Oh. My files. They're in the two bottom drawers on each side." He tapped the nearest drawers and pointed to the others. "Use whatever you need. Nothing is classified in here … yet. That said, most of it you'll find in public records. Business dealings and affiliations and such. Honestly, it's a bit of a cheat-sheet thing for me, and I figured for you it's a little easier than wading through the entire internet, though as per our agreement, anything of a personal nature that you find remains confidential."
Ah. A not-so-veiled reminder she could wind up on the wrong end of a lawsuit if she breathed Hamilton family secrets to outsiders. But there was a loophole. "Unless of course I can find the same information elsewhere."
He nodded. "And therein lies your advantage. It's a lot easier to find something when you know exactly what you're looking for."
"Yeah, well, there had to be something in it for me."
A predatory gleam sparked in his eyes. "Is that all you're getting out of this deal?"