Miami After Hours

Totally unoriginal.

But then again, who could blame her? She’d been face-to-face with the man, able to see all his features from his dark eyes to his extremely appealing mouth.

“Angela.” His smooth voice snagged her attention from her reverie and she looked at him beside her. He motioned her into a room that was already full of people. She estimated at least a dozen tables had been arranged for dinner. Angela instantly recognized several men, including the mayor and a city council member. “Come, I’d like to introduce you around.”

Daniel introduced her first to Ashton Rollins, the president of Prescott George. Angela wasn’t surprised a Rollins led the organization. They were well established in the community and had been for years. The Rollins estate on Fisher Island was even mentioned in the tour she’d taken when she decided to move here.

Surprisingly Ashton came alone.

Angela was shocked that some socialite hadn’t snagged a catch like him. She, however, wasn’t interested. Despite the appeal of his millions, he was a little too stiff for Angela’s taste. He wore a classic suit and silver tie, and didn’t have Daniel’s same pizzazz or style.

To her delight, Daniel introduced her to the governor and his wife, along with a few other affluent members of the community, before he eventually went off to talk to several of his friends, leaving Angela to fend for herself. She opted for a glass of wine and was standing in line at the open bar when a wife she’d encountered earlier commented from behind her.

“And how did you manage to land a playboy like Daniel?” the woman inquired.

Angela spun around. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, do tell,” the woman gushed. “It can’t have been easy gaining Daniel Cobb’s attention. Several of us—” she motioned to a group of at least half a dozen women who were gathered in a semicircle a short distance away “—have been trying to set him up for years with our girlfriends and have never been successful. What’s your secret?”

Of course they would assume she was his girlfriend, because that’s who wealthy men brought as their dinner dates to events such as these. But Angela had to clear the air. She didn’t want to be disingenuous. “Daniel and I aren’t dating.”

The woman touched her chest. “You aren’t?”

“No, we’re colleagues at his real estate firm.”

“So you’re single?”

The way she said it made Angela feel like it was a dirty word among these women.

“I had no idea,” the woman muttered and quickly rushed off to speak with the other women in the group.

“Ma’am, what would you like?” the bartender inquired. It was Angela’s turn to order.

“Chardonnay, please.”

Angela glanced toward the group of women and several of them were either outright glaring at her or giving her the stink eye. Was it really so horrible that she was single? What did they think she was going to do? Go after one of their husbands?

She was not interested in being anyone’s side piece. For her, it was all or nothing.

* * *

“Who’s the vixen you brought with you?” Joshua DeLong asked Daniel when he finally escaped a torturous conversation with an older member of the organization.

Daniel raised a brow. “Vixen?” He didn’t like Joshua’s word choice, but at least his friend had deigned to dress appropriately for the evening in trousers and a suit jacket sans tie. But then again, had Daniel ever seen Joshua in a tie?

“Yeah,” Joshua said from his side. “She’s pretty hot and all the women here are green with envy. Look around.” He inclined his head to two distinctive groups of women that were staring at Angela as if she were a leopard about to steal their young.

But Daniel wasn’t worried. “She can handle herself. I wouldn’t have brought her to Cobb Luxury Real Estate if I thought some insecure socialites could get the better of her.”

“It’s like that, huh?”

“Yeah, she has some skills. Skills that just need some refinement.”

“And you’re just the man to do that?” Joshua queried.

“Get your head out of the gutter, my friend,” Daniel said. “Angela’s my employee, nothing more.” And with that, he moved in her direction.

But before he could make it there, Angela had already headed to one group of women who were giving her the evil eye. She didn’t seem in the least bit put off by their less-than-receptive greeting. He thought about going over to save her, but instead stood back and watched.

Five minutes later, Angela had the women laughing and talking and pretty much eating out of her hand. She’d handled their animosity and their concern that she might be a threat to any one of their marriages with gracefulness.

Daniel was proud not only to have her on his staff, but to have her on his arm tonight.

He walked toward them. “Ladies,” he said as he inclined his head toward the women. “Mind if I steal her away?”

“Certainly.” One of the other wives beamed at him.

Once they were away from the group, Daniel whispered in her ear. “You handled that marvelously.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Did you doubt that I would?”

Daniel shook his head. “Not at all. You know how to handle people.”

“I do,” she replied. “You included.”

* * *

Angela didn’t know what made her say it, but she’d definitely been flirting. She’d let Daniel know in no uncertain terms that she could take him on any time of day. But was she really ready to do that? Theirs was a working relationship that tonight had crossed the line. Would there be any going back?

Since the dinner was about to begin and everyone was finding a seat, they did the same. Daniel and Angela sat at a table with eight other people. She hadn’t met the man immediately to her right and Daniel wasted no time introducing them.

“Angela, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Joshua DeLong. Joshua is a relatively new member to Prescott George.”

“Nice to meet you, Joshua.” Angela offered her hand, which Joshua pumped enthusiastically while looking her straight in the eye. She liked him and those blue eyes of his immediately.

Joshua DeLong was certainly the heartbreaker type with those baby blues, but at least he hadn’t sized her up like he wanted to take her to bed like some of the married men had tonight. A few wives had a right to be worried. If the wrong single woman had been here tonight and not Angela, there might have been some deals made that had nothing to do with business.

“Joshua is our charity outreach and public relations chair,” Daniel said.

“And what does that entail?” Angela inquired.

“Are you familiar with Prescott George?” Joshua asked.

“I am.”

“Every year we support a deserving foundation or charity, and they benefit from our fund-raising proceeds.”

“That’s wonderful,” Angela responded. “Do you already have this year’s recipient in mind?”

Her enthusiastic response to the project caused Joshua to smile. “Sure do. Ever heard of The Aunt Penny Foundation?”

“No, tell me about it.”

“The Aunt Penny Foundation provides mentoring and counseling to high school seniors who are in need of assistance. I’ll be meeting with their representative shortly to go over the details.”

“Sounds like an excellent organization to support,” Angela said.

Joshua jabbed his thumb in Daniel’s direction. “I like this girl. She’s a keeper.”

* * *

That’s exactly how Daniel felt. Even more so as the evening progressed. Since Angela had been at the firm, they’d rarely discussed anything personal. And with his laser focus on work, he hadn’t given her much thought other than recognizing she was a beautiful woman.

But tonight, it was like he was seeing her for the first time.

Throughout the four-course dinner, Daniel and Angela had their heads together in private conversation.

“So you’re from here?”

“No,” Angela replied, “my folks live here. My father, Eric Trainor, is a professor at University of Miami.”

“And your mother?”

“Ella, she’s a high school principal. And my sister, Denise, is in graduate school studying for her PhD in education. So as you can see, all the members of my family are academics. My parents wish I’d be more like my sister. They find it hard to believe that I can make a living being a real estate agent given my history.”

“Do tell,” Daniel said, leaning in closer.

Angela turned to face him. Sitting so close to Daniel, she could smell just a hint of his aftershave and it filled her senses. Daniel was impossible to ignore. He was the kind of man who drew attention, and that’s exactly what he was doing to her this very moment. She normally didn’t speak about her family to anyone, but tonight she was being more open than she had been in a long time.

“I’m sure I’m not the first teenager to want to take off for parts unknown, see the world.” She shrugged and reached for her wineglass, which somehow was refilled every time she sat it down.

She took a sip.

“Your parents didn’t approve?”

She shook her head. “No, they thought I should stay in college, but I wanted to live a little, see the world. And I did. I ended up bumming around Europe for a couple of years, working odd jobs, until finally coming back to the States.”

“But you didn’t ever go back to school?”

“No. I’d already seen what it was like to live on my own and didn’t want the regimented lifestyle that being in college required. And so I went from one job to the next, until I worked as a receptionist at a real estate agency.”

“Same as Myrna.”

“Indeed. I learned a lot and realized that I had what it took and I could make the same sort of commissions I helped the broker and agents make. So I signed up for real estate class immediately. Passed the state test on my first try because I think I was finally passionate about something other than men, clothes and shoes.”

A smile creased his face. “Are you a shopaholic?”

Angela held up her hand. “Guilty as charged, and I have the closet bursting at the seams to prove it. But I’ve since calmed down because there are some goals I want to achieve.”

Daniel leaned back. “Talk to me about them. What are your long-term plans?”

Angela beamed. “To not only become a successful agent, but to one day open my own agency, same as you.”

“Quite lofty goals.”

“But not impossible ones,” Angela responded quickly.

“You’re stuck in the twentieth century!” A loud voice boomed through the room, interrupting their conversation.

Daniel knew the owner of that voice.

Joshua.

He glanced behind him and saw that Joshua had indeed left the table. And Daniel didn’t need to guess who he was yelling at.

Ashton.

Daniel wiped his mouth with the napkin from his lap. “Excuse me for just a moment,” he said, and quickly left the private dining area.

He found Joshua and Ashton both standing outside the open doors. “Do you have any idea that everyone can hear you?” Daniel snapped, closing the double doors behind him.

“I’m trying to explain to this dinosaur that he’s stuck in the Stone Age,” Joshua replied. “We need to be capitalizing on all the positive press that a social media blitz and good press could do for The Aunt Penny Foundation. Hell, for us, too, but he refuses to see it.” Joshua paced back and forth as he ranted.

“There is no such thing as good publicity,” Ashton replied, calmly. “Not in this day and age. Are you so blinded by your animosity toward me that you can’t see that? Prescott George is about lifting people up. All the press knows how to do is bring people down. Furthermore, now isn’t the time to be discussing this.”

“You have to know how to spin publicity,” Joshua replied, “which clearly you don’t but I do. I’m a master puppeteer at getting the press to report exactly what I want them to.”

“Like the fact that you steal other people’s money?” Ashton said. “Did you give them that tidbit, too?”

Joshua steamed beside him and Daniel thought he might deck Ashton, but instead he turned to Daniel. “Tell him.” He pointed to Ashton. “Tell him I’m right.”

Both pairs of eyes turned to Daniel. He hated that Joshua was putting him on the spot like this.

“I think both of you are upset right now and need to let cooler heads prevail,” Daniel returned. “Ashton is right. Now isn’t the right time to discuss this.” He watched a smirk cross Ashton’s face. “But I think Joshua’s suggestion merits further discussion.”

“You’re agreeing with him?” Ashton wasn’t happy that Daniel wasn’t taking his side. It was clear that Ashton was not a fan of Joshua’s. Daniel had long since suspected that he thought Joshua was an interloper who’d smooth-talked his way into the organization. It certainly had been one of the younger members who’d invited Joshua to join Prescott George. If Ashton had his way, Daniel was sure there would be only legacy members. But it was a new dawn and a new day, and Ashton was soon going to realize that Prescott George had to change with the times.

“I’m keeping the peace,” Daniel said. “As leaders of the organization, you both need to go back in that room and show them there is no friction.”

Ashton huffed, but opened the doors and walked back in while Joshua fumed outside.

“Why do you always try to play mediator?” he countered to Daniel. “Eventually you’ll have to choose sides. Mine or his.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “How about neither?” he responded, and turned on his heel and walked back into the room.

When he returned to the table, Angela asked, “Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “Yes, everything is fine. Just a difference of opinion. Sometimes we men get rather loud.”

But Daniel feared this wasn’t the end of Joshua’s beef with Ashton; he suspected that the stakes were about to get significantly higher.

* * *

His mind was elsewhere, Angela thought when Daniel returned to the table. She tried reengaging him in conversation, but it was clear that the night was over. She supposed she should be thankful that the electricity she’d been feeling earlier in the evening had cooled. She’d felt stirred by Daniel, and that would never do. He was her boss who’d asked her to accompany him to a business dinner. She mustn’t forget that.

As the evening came to a close, Angela and Daniel said their goodbyes, and shortly after they were seated back in the town car.

“Would you like us to drop you home?” he asked her.

“I left my car at the office, remember?”

“Oh, of course. I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I’ve been a bit distracted this evening.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not. It was incredibly rude of me. Allow me to make it up to you by following you home.”

“Follow me home?” Angela’s heart began hammering in her chest. “That’s not necessary. I’ve got it.”

They drifted into a comfortable silence until the driver eased the town car next to hers in the garage. Daniel requested he keep the engine idling and turned to face her. “I had a really good time tonight.”

“So did I. Thanks again.” Angela didn’t wait for his response and quickly opened the passenger door. She wasn’t sure what was going on between them, but she wasn’t sticking around to find out.

She was in her car within seconds and was about to pull out when she saw Daniel had rolled down the rear window and was motioning to her. Sighing, Angela lowered the window. “Yes?”

“I’m following you home.”

“I told you that’s not necessary. I’m a big girl.”

“You are, but I’d feel more comfortable, so we’re just going to follow behind you.”

Angela rolled her eyes. She didn’t want Daniel to see where she lived. Her apartment building was ordinary and certainly nothing like the luxury ones they sold. Now he would know that she was merely acting and dressing like she was one of them. He’d see she was a fraud. But she had no choice because he’d already raised his window.

When she arrived at her apartment building thirty minutes later, Daniel was still behind her in the town car. She sighed when he exited the vehicle and turned off the engine.

Oh Lord!

He came around to the driver’s side of her car and opened her door. She exited, but all she could do was stand there, holding on to the door. For what—support? Or to escape back inside so she wouldn’t be faced with the potent magnetism that exuded from Daniel’s every pore?

“You really didn’t have to do this,” she began, but he placed an index finger over her lips. Angela sucked in a deep breath at the light contact.

“I understand why you didn’t want me to come, Angela, but it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Daniel glanced up at the building. “Before my parents divorced, I grew up in a middle-class community. It was a far cry from where I live now.”

“Yeah, well, some of us can’t live as upscale as all that,” Angela responded.

“I know that. So be proud of who you are and where you come from.” He reached out and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. Doing so brought his sensual mouth entirely too close to her own. “It’s made you who you are.”

She glanced up at him. And in that moment, she wanted him to kiss her. Oh, how she wanted it. She would instantly surrender if he tried.

Instead his hands moved from her hair to slide across her cheek. “Get inside safe and I’ll see you at the office on Monday. Nine o’clock sharp.”

All Angela could do was nod and walk with leaden feet to the door of her apartment building, feeling as if she’d been kissed even though he’d barely even touched her. And that could only mean one thing. Trouble.

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