What You Need(31)
“My old man is a dickhead. He said Jonesie had to pay rent if stayed there. So Jonesie’s been crashing somewhere else.”
That caught Kiley’s attention. “Did he go home?”
“I doubt it. His stepdad getting outta jail is what made him crash with me.”
Even as I was trying to place the ages of these kids, four more showed up: a chubby white boy, a lanky black boy with a younger black girl who looked to be his sister, and another man/boy with dreadlocks who I guessed to be part Native American.
“Seems you got your wish, DeMan. There are enough people to play three on three.”
The kids all started talking at once and their level of energy hit me. It had been a lifetime for me since I’d been around teens—I’d preferred the company of adults even when I’d been a teen myself.
Kiley clapped her hands. “Before we do anything, this is Lennox. She’s my roommate and she’s here to help out.”
“Roommate?” Dreadlocks said with a snicker and elbowed Juice.
“Or is she your girlfriend?” Juice asked. “Because I’m gonna be pissed if I’ve been usin’ my best moves on you, Kiki, and you play for the other team.”
The group laughed.
Before Kiley—I had to remember to call her Kiki—answered, the group’s attention zoomed in on something behind me. Kiki and I turned at the same time.
Her “Holy shit” summed it up perfectly.
Brady Lund stood fifty feet away.
Chapter Nine
Lennox
‡
No freaking way.
“Isn’t that . . . the guy who got ditched at the sushi joint?” Kiley asked.
“Yes.”
“And he’s your boss?”
“Technically . . . no.”
“Then why is he here if he’s not tracking your ass down to finish some paperwork or some damn thing?” she demanded.
Good question. Why was he here? A thought occurred to me. “What’s the name of the organization sending a volunteer?” I asked Kiley.
“LCCO. Why?”
I groaned. I’d seen that name on inner-office memos. “That stands for Lund Cares Community Outreach. That’s Brady Lund. CFO of Lund Industries.”
“You’re kidding me, right? Why is a CFO wasting time doing community service?” She paused. “Not that it’s a waste of time, but damn, Lennox. We never get the bigwigs to help out. It’s usually the bigwigs’ wives or lackeys or employees on probation.”
I knew that. So I was equally confused. “Did you list my name as a volunteer?”
“No.”
So there was no way Brady knew I’d be here. This was just one of those weird coincidences.
Wasn’t it?
Or fate, some ridiculously romantic voice trilled inside my head.
I mentally snarled at it to piss off.
“Come on.” Kiley nudged me with her shoulder. “Follow my lead, even if it doesn’t make any sense.”
Right. Last time she said that? I ended up hungover and could barely say the word “kamikaze” without barfing.
As we approached him, Brady wore that sexy smile and never took his eyes off me.
My stomach had no reason to turn somersaults.
“Mr. Lund,” my roommate said when we were ten feet away. “I need you to give Lennox a big hug like you haven’t seen her in weeks. I’ll explain afterward.”
Brady didn’t miss a beat. He actually closed the last few feet between us and gathered me into his arms. “Good morning, dancing queen.”
His hard chest was warm and solid against my cheek. And did he have to smell so good? I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Here’s the breakdown, Mr. Lund. I’m Kiley Kinslie and I work in the Hennepin County Outreach program. I had no idea the LCCO would send their best and brightest to volunteer. While I’m grateful for it, there are two things we need to address ASAP.”
“Go on.”
“First, since you and Lennox know each other, and I don’t need my boys drooling over her, let’s go with the story that you two are in a relationship and that’s why you’re here volunteering. Second, if these kids find out you’re Richie Rich, it’ll be twice as hard to get them to accept you.”
“Sounds logical and that works for me. How do you know Lennox?”
“We’re roommates,” I said. I tipped my head back to look at him, but couldn’t quite make my arms release him. “And I don’t see how this will work.”
“What part?”
“Any of it. You’re . . .” All that and a bag of supersized chips, baby. “You. You scream da man.”
“Seriously? As in da man keeping them down?”
I blushed. Back to insulting him at every turn. Way to go.