Free Working Man by Melanie Schuster

Nick. “What are you doing here?” she asked inanely. “My car is at home. I took a cab to work.”
    He gave her a gentle smile as he took her car key and handed her the rental key. “I’m taking care of you. We forgot to talk about the car situation yesterday, so I handled it.” Suddenly he turned to Toni, who was watching the scene with amusement. “I’m Nick Hunter,” he said.
    She held out her hand at once. “I’m Toni Brandon,” she said warmly. “I actually know who you are, Mr. Hunter, you’ve had some nice coverage in our home section. You do good work,” she praised.
    â€œAw shucks, you’re gonna have me all red in the face in a minute. Thanks for the kind words, but I’m going to leave you ladies, I’m about to be late for a meeting.” Without warning he lowered his head and kissed Dakota lightly on the lips. “See you later,” he murmured.
    Toni was suitably impressed by what she’d just witnessed. “You just got to town and you snagged one of the most eligible men in the greater Chicago metropolitan area. I’m impressed, woman, deeply impressed. If I wasn’t happily engaged I’d be begging you for tips for the single woman. As it is, I’m just going interrogate you because I’m nosy as hell,” she admitted cheerfully. “The café is just around the corner and I can’t wait to hear how you two met.”
    Dakota stifled a long groan and allowed herself to be swept away by Toni. She hadn’t been in Chicago a good seventy-two hours and her life was getting more and more complicated every minute.
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    Nick was actually quite pleased with himself after his day’s activities. He had taken care of Dakota’s car, gotten to his meeting on time and he was now headed to her house with a take-out meal. His office manager, Leticia, had questioned his actions, especially since she’d had to follow him to the dealership to drop off Dakota’s car and pick him up after his downtown meeting. She had looked at him in the passenger seat and made a skeptical sound with her tongue. “Looks like somebody is getting awfully involved in somebody else’s business,” she said tartly.
    â€œYeah, and it looks like that somebody is you, ” he said in a deceptively mild voice. “You need to keep your eyes on the road and don’t worry about things that don’t concern you.” There was no humor in his words and it was quite obvious he meant every one of them. A lesser woman would have shut up at once, but Leticia had known him for too long not to meddle and she felt compelled to push back.
    â€œI just hope you know what you’re doing. She doesn’t seem like your type, boss. That’s all I’m saying.”
    Nick mulled over her words as he parked his truck in front of the apartment building. He got out and reached inside for the bags of food that were emitting a delicious odor. He didn’t understand all this crap about “types.” Dakota had said she wasn’t his type and now Leticia was saying the same thing. He was a man, she was a woman and she was attractive to him. End of story. Nick liked to keep things as simple as possible, and he saw no need to clutter up what could be a perfectly nice relationship with a bunch of overthinking. He was laughing to himself as he approached the door of the apartment. “Me Tarzan, you Jane,” he muttered. Okay, maybe it’s not that simple, but it’s not as complicated as everybody is trying to make it, either, he thought.
    He pressed the buzzer in the door and waited for Dakota’s response, which wasn’t long in coming. She opened the door and leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed over her delightful bosom. She had taken her hair down and put on a pair of jeans, but she still had on the tailored shirt she’d worn earlier. Her feet were bare and the sexy toes