Holding Out For Skye (2 page)

Because of course, she’d wanted to know them better.

Skye knew she had
issues
. And an infinite list of flaws. She knew she was too weird and intense, that she had too much baggage to make a good friend. She knew she couldn’t expect other people to care for an oddity like her. She’d decided she was better off alone.

But she hadn’t counted on Cian Hunter trying to seek her out. The brunette must have told him about the time Skye told the chatterbox to zip it. It was the only reason she could think of why Cian had kept bugging her, flirting with her or
trying
to anyway after she’d shot him down several times.

She’d been surly and unfriendly. He’d been arrogant and charming.

Her stay-away-from-me attitude had only seemed to fuel his efforts to get to know her better. To her bafflement, he’d just kept coming back for
more
.

Nick and Thea hadn’t tried to befriend her after the first two times she’d rebuffed their gesture of friendship. Skye’d never understood why they wanted to be friends with her in the first place anyway.

What a small freaking world! Who’d have ever guessed she’d see them again, much less be in the same company, same
team
with them? Not her, for sure. Never in a freaking million years.

“Is there anything I need to know?” Marina’s voice jolted her out of her reverie.

Skye stared warily at Cian, Nick, and Thea, who were watching her just as cautiously except for Cian of course, who had a smug smile on his face. Oh, she so wanted to wipe that smile off his face! Skye didn’t know why but he always brought out her violent streak. Those anger-management courses would sure have come in handy right now.

She just
knew
he was going to be trouble. Skye could kiss her peaceful life goodbye.

At their continued silence, Marina’s eyes narrowed dangerously. She was a sharp cookie, she could sense some kind of tension between the four of them. “Is there going to be a problem here?”

At that, they all stared at each other and as one shook their heads. None of them wanted to get on Marina’s bad side. Especially Skye. She’d already almost thrown her job away once as it was. She had to be more careful to hold back her tongue.

“Good.” Marina had expected nothing less of them. “I see introductions won’t be necessary. Skye, Nick will train you in anything you need to know about your job. Any issues you have trouble with, discuss among yourselves, then take it up to me. I expect all four of you to cooperate and work as a team. Is that clear?” Marina stared at each of them in turn.

“Yes,” Skye replied nervously.

Nick and Thea looked at each other, then at Cian and replied in the affirmative.

Marina gave Cian a hard stare. Looked like she knew who the troublemaker in the team was. “Cian?”

He flashed her a charming smile. “No problem on my side.”

Marina stared at him a while longer at which he just smiled back innocently. She turned to Skye. “I’ll leave you to settle in then. You can take the morning to read everything in the file I gave you and grasp the schematics of your job.” She glanced at her watch, then continued, “We’ll have a meeting after lunch and go over the work assignments. Your desk is the one behind Cian’s.”

Skye inwardly groaned at that delightful snippet of information.
Oh, goody, this just kept getting better and
better
, she thought sarcastically.

“You’ll find the laptop assigned to you and office stationeries in the drawer. Come see me if you have any questions.” After one last sharp glance at them, Marina turned and left.

The moment the door closed after her, silence reigned supreme in the room. Skye looked around at her own new corner of hell. Okay, calling it hell was exaggerating a bit, okay maybe a lot, but it sure promised to be uncomfortable.

Four wooden desks were set in the small office, classroom style. They were close together but with enough room in-between for them to sit comfortably and move around without feeling boxed in.

The view beyond the glass-paned wall behind her desk beckoned to her. Skye knew she wouldn’t be able to resist taking peeks through the glass. The blinds were pulled back and she could see the waterfront from here, could see the sunlit ocean.

Skye took a deep breath and headed for the empty desk behind Cian’s. She kept her head down as she dumped her bag in the bottom drawer and opened the green file. She knew her three teammates were probably wondering what to make of her.

Of course, Cian had never been one to let sleeping dogs lie.

“Surprising turn of events, wouldn’t you say, Princess?” He’d swiveled his chair facing towards her.

During that one shared college year, he had nicknamed her Ice Princess because of her cold attitude. Skye knew she had deserved it.

When she just ignored him, he went on, “Kinda hard to be a team when one of the members never speaks. Wouldn’t want to make Marina mad now, would we?”

Sneaky bastard.
Using their boss’s name to get her to react.
Why the hell did he remember her
anyway? Why did any of them?
Skye wondered, bemused. They shouldn’t have remembered her. She had just been another face in the college crowd.
She
hadn’t given them a thought after she graduated.

Skye lifted her head and looked at him as if he were a bug in need of squashing. “Oh, were you talking to me, Flirt Prince?”

Cian had to hand it to her, she gave back as good as she got. She’d always stood up to him. Which was what had made it so much
fun
to rag her. After the initial surprise at seeing her here and learning they were going to have to work together, he was beginning to
like
this situation. A wicked smile curved his lips. Ruffling the Ice Princess’s feathers was going to be a whole lot of fun. Before he could say anything else though, Nick spoke up.

“Skye, I know we didn’t get to a good start from the last time we met but we have to work together as a team and we can’t do it without you. We are willing to try if you are. Aren’t we, Cian?” Nick gave him a pointed look that dared him to say otherwise.

Cian just shrugged. Trust Saint Nick to be the Good Samaritan and suck all the fun out of his ragging the Ice Princess.

Skye was instantly ashamed. She knew she’d never been nice to them. She wouldn’t have blamed them if they had held a grudge. Hell,
she
was the Grudge Queen—she could keep a grudge till forever and she would have understood if they had refused to talk to her at all and made things difficult for her. Instead Nick had reached out to her and made the first step. How could she do any less? They couldn’t work in a tense atmosphere. With a steadying breath, she decided to take a chance.

“Why do you have to be a nice guy?” Skye grumbled at Nick, who couldn’t help smiling. Even Thea smiled. “I owe you both an apology.” They got matching surprised looks on their faces. “I know I’ve never been very friendly to you—”

Cian butted in at that. “Try
not friendly
at all
.”

“No one asked you,” Skye snapped at him. “So keep your pithy opinion to yourself.”

“Now how can I resist not replying to that?” Cian tapped his chin, then raised a finger as if he’d been enlightened. “Oh wait, I can, ‘coz you just made my point for me.”

“
Cian!
” Nick and Thea both chided in unison.

“What?” Cian looked at them nonchalantly.

“Never mind,” Skye muttered. She tried again. “I’m sorry to both of you for my unfriendly behavior. I
am
willing to give this a go and do my best to get along as a team.” Note that she hadn’t included Cian in her apology. From his narrowed eyes, he’d gotten it alright.

Smiles bloomed on Nick and Thea’s faces. Blue eyes earnest, Nick stepped forward and held out his hand, going a step further than she ever would have. “Friends?”

Damn, damn, damn. Someone needed to protect these two from people like her. A glance at Cian told Skye he was probably thinking the same thing. It was more than she deserved. Why were they being so nice to her? Why couldn’t they be a bit more unforgiving? Hesitantly, she shook his hand. “Friends,” she agreed, resigned.

With a mischievous smile, Thea held out her hand too. “Don’t worry, we don’t bite.”

Skye’s cheeks reddened slightly as they clasped hands. “But I do,” she muttered.

“I doubt it.” Thea gave her a sweet smile.

Then they all stared at Cian who was watching them with a pitying glance.

“What?” He shrugged. “
I
didn’t get an apology.”

“And you’re not getting one either,” Skye retorted.

“I deserve an apology too!” he objected with a mock pout.

“For what? Deserve, my foot. You are exactly what I’ve always known you to be. Conceited, over-confident, overbearing, arrogant, know-it-all-playboy who thinks he’s God’s-gift to women. I don’t need to apologize for telling the truth.”

Cian tried not to smile. Well, if that didn’t tickle the hell out of him! He wondered why he was amused instead of offended. “I’m all that, eh? Good, looks like you have my number. Why don’t you give me yours and we can make it a date?” He winked at her.

Skye couldn’t believe the guy! She’d just insulted him and he was trying to get her to call him for a
date
? What was
wrong
with him? And the nerve of him, he had
winked
at her! She didn’t understand him at all. She never had.

She stared at him in disbelief. “You know what? You need your head examined.”

Thea and Nick had been watching them like you watch a tennis match; your head swings back and fro, following the ball whip across the court. Now they both laughed and Nick clapped Cian on the back. “Looks like you met your match, buddy.”

“More like a fighting opponent, you mean,” Skye corrected.

“Yeah, you’re right, Nick,” Cian answered, ignoring Skye’s words completely. “She pegged me right after all.” An intriguing smile appeared on his face. “Looks like things are going to be interesting around here.”

More like complicated and troublesome
, Skye thought, watching Cian warily. That enigmatic look in his eyes and that darn smile worried her.

He was going to be trouble, all right, with a capital T.

CHAPTER TWO

Skye stared down at the waterfront from her lofty office window. She could see people walking around, enjoying the last few days of August. The sun was shining cheerfully, it was neither too hot nor too windy from the ocean breeze, just a nice summer day in Boston. Most of the people below were tourists, enjoying the views and sights of the waterfront.

Summer was ending and autumn was almost here.
Wow, where did the
past six months go?
Skye thought.

It was an added bonus that her office building was near the waterfront. She loved the ocean, lakes and rivers, any body of water. Okay, except for ponds, she thought, wrinkling her nose. Ponds kinda wigged her out. Slimy tadpoles brushing against you. She shuddered. Yuck.

Skye often spent most of her lunch hour on the harbor walk, sitting on the benches strategically placed there, mostly just hanging out people-watching or staring at the ocean. She’d just been out there earlier during her lunch hour today.

It was hard to believe that she had made it through her first few months at Grant and Dale Consulting with no mishaps. No one had pointed a finger at her and called her a fraud for being there. The work itself was self-satisfying, her boss was great and she got along well with her colleagues.

Skye was alone in the office she shared with Nick, Thea and Cian. Nick and Thea were with Marina going over a report. It was just her and Cian in the office today. He wasn’t back from his lunch hour yet. Hence the reason why she was using the time alone to take a breather by staring out the window.

With Nick and Thea around, she didn’t feel so tense around Cian but when it was just the two of them, it was… unsettling.

Speaking of colleagues, Nick and Thea were great. They had become fast friends over the past six months. Skye liked them a lot. Nick was a totally decent guy, easy-going and considerate and kind. Thea was a real sweetheart, always cheerful and smiling.

As for Cian…

Skye scrunched up her face. She couldn’t figure him out at all, could never find her footing around him. He was charming and friendly with all their colleagues and clients. He had a way of wowing everyone he met that boggled her mind.
Everyone
liked him but he made her uncomfortable. She just couldn’t find it in herself to be relaxed around him.

She couldn’t seem to get along with him at all. Not that she tried very hard, Skye admitted to herself. He was just so… so… arrogant and over-bearing and too damn charming for his own good. He was hard to handle.

He’s not
even here and he’s still getting on my nerves
, she thought irritably. Those piercing pale eyes of his always seemed to see right through her. She’d never seen gray eyes like his, which changed shades depending on his mood, one minute silver, the next slate-gray. They were compelling eyes, which disconcerted her up to no end.

The door opened and Skye jumped, startled and embarrassed at being caught staring out, daydreaming. Knowing Cian, he would definitely comment on it.

Sure enough, he remarked, “Look who’s being lazy, the queen of smart repartees on how
I’m
the one who doesn’t work hard enough.”

“Ha, you admit my repartees are smart!”

“And you say
I
have the big ego.”

Skye could feel her hackles rise, one by one. Damn it, why did he fire her up so easily?

“I’m not the one who takes countless breaks and engages in unnecessary chitchat.” Okay, that wasn’t fair. And it was lame. So much for smart comebacks. Skye knew he pulled his own weight and she herself wasn’t the type to think a person should work nonstop without taking breaks. She knew she’d sounded like a bitch but she couldn’t help it. He just rubbed her
wrong
.

One brow quirked. “Wow, someone sure didn’t take her happy pill today.”

Skye’s lips tightened. Instead of replying, she rolled her chair to her desk, turned to her laptop and proceeded to ignore him. If she replied back, he was just going to have another comeback and they would go back and forth until a full-blown argument occurred. Some days Skye managed to pretend he didn’t exist but most of the time she got suckered into arguing with him. She didn’t how he managed that.

She heard him slide into his chair and for awhile there was complete silence as they both got on with their assigned work. But she couldn’t completely shut out his presence.

At times, she could feel him staring at her and her shoulders automatically stiffened but she never looked up.

She and Cian were supposed to be working together as partners. Yep, Marina had teamed her up with
Cian
, of all people. Wasn’t it enough she had to work in the same team as him, in the same office, now she had to be
partnered
with him as well?

Why couldn’t it have been Nick or Thea? When Skye’d tried to protest, Marina had shot her one razor-sharp look that had shut her up effectively. It was supposed to be temporary, until she learned the bells and whistles of her job. But it had already been almost six months and Marina didn’t appear to be changing her mind anytime soon.

His gaze was like a physical thing, unable to let her keep her mind on the figures on the screen. Why the hell was he
always
watching her? She wasn’t a freak-show! Though she suspected he only did it to mess with her mind, she still couldn’t stop it from affecting her. Unable to take it anymore, Skye’s head shot up and she snapped, “What?”

“I beg your pardon?” Cian’s mouth curved in a self-satisfied smile.

“You’re staring at me again.
Why
are you staring at me again?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told her with an innocent expression. “I’m just taking one of my
countless
breaks and enjoying the view out of the window. Is it my fault that you’re in the way?”

Skye’s temper flared as she wondered how someone could push her buttons so easily, so fast.

“
I’m
in the way?” she spat out. “If you expect me to believe that, maybe you got a bridge or two to sell me as well?”

“I’ll just get right on checking if I’ve got one in my repertoire and let you know.” His smile was full of charm, inviting her to smile back at him. The cranky look on her face acted like an automatic charm repellent. Undeterred, he went on, “FYI, if you didn’t know, there’s a glass-covered wall behind you.”

“Right. I’m completely unaware of a freaking glass-covered wall behind me,” she countered sarcastically. “You’d do better to minimize the ‘break times’,” she paused and narrowed her eyes at him, letting him know that she was on to him that he’d been staring at her and not at the view behind her, “and finish your portion of the work instead.”

His trademark smug smile slid on his face. “Funny you should say that because I’m all done. Hence the break.”

Skye gaped at him in disbelief. “What? But you can’t be!” She stared down at the screen of her laptop—she still had one-third of hers left to complete.

“I can and I’m about to start right on to the next one, slowpoke.” Smugness radiated from him, annoying the hell out of her.

To do their work without coming to blows, they had decided that for every account they reviewed, they’d split the work into different parts and each would take one portion and then compile it together as and when they finished reviewing it.

Skye gritted her teeth in frustration and barely refrained from tearing at her hair. It was already in tangles as it was, she should have really just pulled it up in a ponytail this morning. The arrogant, superior look on his face made her want to smack him. She didn’t know why everything he did rubbed her wrong.

In the nearly six months they’d been working together, he’d managed to annoy, frustrate and drive her up the wall on a daily basis whenever he could. After she’d learned the ropes of her job, Skye had settled in what she thought of as a good pace. Except for the thorn in her side who repeatedly disturbed that pace.

Just. By. Breathing.

“One of these days, Hunter, I’m going to get better and finish before you and you’ll be left biting the dust in my wake,” she griped, hunching back over her laptop.

“That should be interesting to see. In the meantime, Fletcher, you’re doomed to disappointment,” he chuckled.

“You’ll eat up those words when I pass you by,” she promised him, not even bothering to look up at him. The self-righteous look on his face would probably just piss her off even more. She could practically picture it in her head without even looking at him. And that wasn’t helping her, Skye realized in dismay. Damn him.

Something landed on her desk, disrupting her concentration. Skye stared at the candy bar as if it were a fang-toothed snake that could strike at any moment, then looked up at Cian warily. What was he up to now?

“What, you don’t like chocolate?” Cian knew damn well she loved chocolate. He had made it his goal in life to figure out what her weaknesses were.

“What would your airhead girlfriend say if she knew you were giving me candy? Why are you giving me candy anyway?” Suspicion glinted in her brown eyes.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Fletcher. It’s not an if-you-get-in-my-car-I’ll-give-you-candy deal.” He suppressed a smile when she flushed. “Besides who said I bought it for you?”

Actually, he had. It disconcerted him that he had bought it and half a dozen others she had a preference for, which were presently residing in his desk drawer, with her in mind. And Vanessa would go ballistic with jealousy, not to mention turn spiteful in a heartbeat. “I’m taking a break, I had a spare candy bar, thought I’d share with you like the good colleague I am. But if you don’t want it, you can just give it back.”

Eyeing him skeptically, Skye unwrapped the bar and took a big bite. No way was she giving back perfectly good chocolate. “Good colleague, my ass,” she muttered through a mouthful of chocolate. She bent her head over her laptop, once again denying his existence. That was her usual motto when it came to him. Ignore him at all costs.

“You’re welcome.” Cian hid his smile when she only grunted. He took out another chocolate bar and munched on it while studying her.

She’d been right, of course, he
had
been staring at her. He’d finished his task, then had turned to take a break by watching her, knowing she would sense his scrutiny sooner or later and give him the enjoyment of chewing his head off. Skye was intuitive that way, he thought amused. She
always
sensed when he was watching her.

She hadn’t disappointed him. This time it’d been sooner.

Sparring with her had rapidly become his preferred means of enjoyment. He often annoyed her just for the fun of it.

She pushed at her hair in a gesture that was unconsciously feminine. For a moment, Cian was enthralled. He shook the sudden haze from his mind, which if he had to admit, was happening more and more lately.
What the hell?

He couldn’t put a finger on why she intrigued him so, why he enjoyed ragging her so much. For one, she never smiled at him. For another, a snarl and snide remarks were her usual attitude towards him. Not to mention, she wasn’t anything special to look at, he thought pragmatically.

She barely came up to his shoulders. Though she had silky-looking thick brown hair so dark it was almost black and mysterious-looking long-lashed clear coffee-brown eyes
and
a bow-shaped mouth that begged to be kissed.

Startled, Cian wondered when he had noticed her mouth. He chugged it as another of his observations about her. It didn’t mean a thing, he told himself. He’d have to be dead not to notice attractive women. He
liked
women. A lot. Not that she was attractive, Cian rectified quickly.

Skye didn’t much care about her appearance, she reached for
presentable
rather than
outstanding
. Hell, she didn’t do anything to bring attention to herself. She was prickly, like a cactus—get too close at your own peril. She didn’t play games or care about holding up pretenses. Logically, she shouldn’t have caught his attention. She wasn’t his type at all.

And yet she fascinated him. More than any woman he’d ever met.

Cian seemed to have an almost desperate need to figure out what made her tick.

She was also straight-forward almost to a fault.
Especially
when it came to him.

A soft smile flitted to his lips, then faded away as he stared broodingly at her bent head. He was thinking entirely too much of Skye these days.

AN HOUR LATER, Skye was finished. She refrained from throwing her arms in the air with a
Eureka
cry. That wouldn’t be dignified. But she was just happy that she seemed to be getting better at reviewing her assigned accounts and faster as well. That meant she was getting the hang of this—which entailed, she was headed faster for the day when she and Cian would no longer be partners.

She shot a furtive glance in Cian’s direction, then stared openly when she saw he was bent over his own desk and seemed to be working. She noticed how his blue shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, defining the muscles of his back. He had a very nice back. Skye was appalled at that thought and hastily shied away from it.

Her brow creased as she tried to understand why he bugged her so much. Usually her surly and prickly attitude scared people away.
He sure didn’t look scared
, she thought disgruntled. Skye wondered what it would take to finally get him to stop hassling her.

“I’m done, too,” she called out to him. “Let’s compile this part.”

Cian turned. “Took you long enough.”

Self-righteous jerk. “Of course, some of us produce meticulous work, hence the more time.”

He snorted at that, and motioned her over, shifting to make room for her laptop on his desk. When she only stared at him, he smiled knowingly. “What now?”

“Why should I come sit next to you?” Usually he just turned around to her desk, brought his laptop along and they went through figures with her desk between them. Which was how she liked it. He had a habit of crowding her personal space.