A Sultry Love Song

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A smirk touched Joi’s lips as she took in the shocked expressions of the two men. “Good morning, gentlemen.”

Roosevelt offered a nod and a grunt in response. Joi quickly gathered that the older man wasn’t a fan of early mornings.

Marco, with the large ring of keys in hand, returned her smile. “Good morning, ladies. I see you’re here bright and early.”

Joi stood, and the rest of her staff followed suit. “That’s the Citadel way. Show up early, stay late, get the job done right.”

His facial expression changed, revealing that he was impressed. “I like that attitude. Give me a few moments and we can all go inside out of this cold.”

Karen and the guards formed an orderly line behind Joi, and waited while Marco fit the key into the lock. He then swung the door open, and Joi led her team into the heated interior of the bank building.

Relieved to be inside, Joi led Karen and their guards as she followed Roosevelt to the employee break room. There, everyone hung their coats in the small closet, before reporting back to the main lobby area.

Joi looked around for Marco, but didn’t see him. Assuming he’d already disappeared into his office for the day, she focused on getting her team prepared for their first day on the job. This was a lucrative contract, and she aimed to show Marco, as well as the bankers he reported to, that Citadel was very capable of serving all of their security needs.

When the four of them were all seated in chairs in the waiting area, Joi began her daily briefing. “Ladies, this is our first day at Royal, and we want to make it as smooth as possible.”

“I’m ready to start the cybersecurity hardware and software setup, but my assistant won’t be here until nine.” Karen slipped her hands out of her gloves and tucked them into her purse.

“Fine. Just do what you can until she comes in.” Joi snapped her fingers, remembering the small boxes in her blazer pocket. Extracting two, she extended them toward her guards. “I almost forgot. These are for Veterans Day. Thank you for your service, ladies.”

Each woman took a box. Yolanda opened hers to reveal a silver charm bracelet filled with patriotic charms. “Thank you, Joi. It’s lovely.”

A smile touched Joi’s lips. “It’s the least I can do. My grandfather was an Army vet. He served at Normandy during World War II.” She’d gone to the cemetery yesterday to place a bouquet of red, white and blue flowers on James Lewis’s grave, but decided not to mention that, in order to keep the conversation light.

Once Yolanda and Jackie had tucked their bracelets away, Joi proceeded with the briefing.

“Jackie, I’m assigning you to the vault and the periphery around the offices. Yolanda, you’ll be patrolling the lobby and the parking lot. We have about half an hour before the bank opens, so spend that time familiarizing yourself with the layout. Did you all look over the maps I gave you?”

Everyone indicated that they had.

Joi spent a few more moments explaining the day’s tasks to her guards, then sent them to their posts. Karen had already disappeared into the branch manager’s office, so Joi left the lobby in search of Marco.

She stopped in front of his office door, which was slightly ajar. She glanced inside the room and saw him sitting at his desk, poring over a stack of paperwork.

She raised her fist to rap on the door, but before she could, his head jerked up.

His eyes locked with hers, he gave her an assessing look. “Ms. Lewis. Come in, please. I’d like to talk with you.”

She eased the door open and stepped inside his office. Just as it had been the last time she’d come here, she felt overwhelmed by the masculine presence in the room. The decor, with its dark paint, wood paneling and hulking desk, seemed to be a reflection of the virility and power exuded by the man who occupied the space.

“I’m impressed with you and your staff being so early this morning, but that really won’t be necessary in the future.” He leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the desk.

“Whatever you think is best, Mr. Alvarez.”

“So, is there no way I can get you to call me Marco? Or have you forgotten my request that you address me by my first name?”

She shook her head, because she clearly remembered his request. She also clearly remembered the heady feeling he aroused in her, and she knew getting too informal with him would be a bad idea. “I remember, I’m just not comfortable with it. At least not yet.”

He tented his fingers. “Fair enough. We’ll revisit it another time. But there is something I need to ask you. It may sound personal, but it’s really not.”

She could feel her brow furrow, and the tension rising up her spine. “What more do you want to know?”

“More than the stiff response you gave me before.What have you been doing these last six years? You seem very different from the woman I remember.”

She felt her shoulders tense. From the way he’d made the statement, she couldn’t tell whether he thought the current version of her was an improvement. Pushing that thought aside, she answered his question. “Let’s see. I was fresh out of college. Since then, I’ve studied martial arts, gotten my black belt in Tae Kwon Do, became certified in self-defense and, oh, got a cat.”

His brow hitched at the last part. “A cat?”

“Yep. She’s all gray and her name is Misty.” In reality, she didn’t have a pet, but if telling him that would satisfy his nosiness, so be it.

A slight smile turned up the corners of his mouth, brightening his otherwise stern countenance.

For a moment, she smiled back, thinking she’d succeeded in getting him to lighten up. Her hopes were dashed when he spoke again.

“So, have you dated much?” He fixed her with a penetrating, almost accusatory stare.

Gazing back into the pools of his dark eyes, she sighed. “No, I haven’t. Not that that’s any of your business.”

“That’s true, it’s not my business.”

She stared at him, wondering what he was playing at. “Then why did you ask? And what does that have to do with anything?”

He ran his fingertips over his chin. “I’m trying to establish trust. But I don’t know if we can ever have that as long as you refuse to talk about Ernesto.”

She closed her eyes, so he wouldn’t see her rolling them. “This again? I already told you, I don’t want to address it.”

He leaned back in his chair, and kept his gaze steady. “Eventually, you’ll have to tell me why you ran, Joi.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “Well, today isn’t the day.”

She knew that if she remained in his office, they might end up arguing. As she’d told Joanne, she had her entire staff to think about, and Citadel needed the Royal Bank contract. So to avoid getting into a conflict with him that might jeopardize her company’s future, she turned and strode out of the office.

As she made her way through the corridor toward the lobby, she wondered how she could possibly be attracted to a man who was so contentious and stubborn.

Darkly handsome or not, Marco Alvarez was trouble, and Joi knew she had to keep things strictly professional between them, no matter how hard that might be.

* * *

The last customer of the day left the bank around fifteen minutes before closing time. Once he knew the closing duties had been completed, Marco let Roosevelt and his three tellers go home for the day. Citadel’s guards departed right after the bank staff.

As he made his rounds of the bank’s interior in preparation to leave, his thoughts swung to Joi. He hadn’t seen her since she’d stalked out of his office earlier, and he assumed she might have left for the day. She’d made it clear she hadn’t liked his line of questioning, and had spent the rest of the day avoiding him.

From what he gathered, Joi would be present at the bank for at least the first two weeks, to get her guards adjusted to their new position. Joi’s partner, who was apparently the tech guru, had yet to make an appearance. He had no indication she ever would.

As he turned the corner of the corridor near the vault and his office, he spotted Joi. She was seated in one of the chairs in the waiting area, with a pair of earbud headphones in her ears. She didn’t seem to notice him, as her full attention was on writing something on the metal clipboard that lay across her lap.