Free Natural Blond Instincts by Jill Shalvis Page B

Wes’s junior manager in charge of conference booking. Truthfully, it wasn’t Serena’s job that got to Josh, but the woman herself.
    Not that Josh would ever admit it, but he had a thing for her.
    As for Serena…embarrassingly enough, she had athing for Wes, which he’d been doing his damnedest to ignore. “What did she do now?”
    â€œShe’s insane.”
    â€œNot insane, just…spoiled.”
    â€œYeah. A spoiled brat. ”
    Which apparently ran in the Mallory women. “What did she do?”
    Josh didn’t answer, which in itself was the answer.
    â€œDon’t tell me you asked her out again.”
    â€œOkay. I won’t tell you.”
    â€œJosh, let it go. She’s not your type.”
    â€œHey, one of these days she’s going to realize what a catch I am.”
    Josh was the baby of the Roth family, which meant that for years, ever since Wes at age twelve had first found work washing cars to help his parents pay the rent, he’d felt responsible for his little brother. It was why he’d paid for Josh’s college, why Wes had encouraged him to come work here…but as a result of Wes paving the way for him, Josh didn’t tolerate things well. Things being…well, Serena not giving him the time of day. “Concentrate on work. You have enough of it.”
    â€œIs that what you do when a woman is driving you crazy?” Josh asked. “Concentrate on work?”
    â€œYes.”
    Unfortunately, at the moment, like Josh, it was the woman at work driving him crazy, leaving him no respite at all.
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    W ES THOUGHT his date that night might give him a badly needed mental break. Irene was beautiful, sexy and fun.
    Or she had been when they’d met at a mutual friend’s party a few weeks back. But at dinner she worried about a report she’d done earlier. She kept checking her cell phone to see if it was fully charged so she wouldn’t miss any important calls. She wondered if they could stop by her office to check on something.
    When they’d met, her dedication to work had been a turn-on, but tonight Wes suddenly wished she could just…be. When they were heading toward his car after leaving the restaurant—with Irene checking through her digital organizer—she stopped walking but kept working through her schedule. “My place?”
    â€œIrene.”
    â€œYours?” She frowned and kept her gaze glued to the small screen in her hands. “I don’t think I have time to get across town and—”
    â€œIrene.”
    Something in his voice finally alerted her and shelooked at him. “Oh,” she said slowly. “You don’t want to…”
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said, while wondering if he’d lost his mind.
    He watched her walk away after they’d said their goodbyes, and pictured a different woman entirely, one with long, curly blond hair, moss-green eyes and a brilliant, shimmering smile which hid things he wondered about.
    With a sigh he went home to his bed. Alone. Where he decided to spend the rest of the weekend hang-gliding, surfing, whatever it took to take his mind off one unconventional, whimsical Kenna Mallory.
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    W HILE W ES was trying not to think about her, Kenna was trying not to think about him. On Saturday night, she and Ray met for Japanese food, and over sushi discussed her life.
    â€œTell me everything.” Ray used his chopsticks to load his plate from their shared platter. “Everything.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œLike…” He waved his chopsticks in the air. “I don’t know. The important stuff.”
    â€œWell…” Kenna sipped her sake. “This week we’re working on quarterlies, and—”
    â€œThe juicy stuff, darling. Come on, cough up details. What are the men wearing?”
    Kenna laughed. Ray shared her theory about color and attitude. “Black. Lots of