Chapter 3: MOVE IT

"You've been in there ten minutes, Rick. We should have left for the conference ages ago," Paul reminded me when he entered the bathroom without knocking and stood with his arms folded on the other side of the shower glass.

"Get the fuck out of here or I'll take another ten. You're really testing my patience this morning. I have no idea why the hell I have you around, sometimes."

"You have me around to ride your ass about getting to where you need to be when you need to be there, if Jed can't achieve that," he retorted in a sharp, confident tone. I could hear how pissed I'd made him by how he'd reminded me why, and it made me chuckle.

"Tell me, Paul... am I pissing you off?"

"You know you are," he snapped, indignantly.

"Good, then that makes two of us who aren't pleased. Now you know how it feels when you want to do something, and someone has other ideas."

Glaring at me, he banged the glass shower cubicle with the side of his fist in frustration and headed for the door. "Get your ass in some pants and meet me downstairs in five," he called over his shoulder sounding totally worn down by me.

As he left, he swung the bathroom door shut and the loud bang it made ring in my ears. I snickered before I stepped out the shower because he was usually unflappable and yet I'd managed to rile him. But as reluctant as I was to admit it, I knew he was right, I did need to haul ass. Knowing it and doing it when I could fuck with Paul's usually calm exterior had been too much of a gift to ignore though.

***

"Eight minutes, Rick," Paul muttered when he saw me leave the elevator after looking at his watch, "Don't complain to me if all the great lines have already been spoken by the others by the time we get there."

"Calm the fuck down, will you?" I huffed, running my hand through my hair. "Jesus, Paul are you on your period, or something? You've got that bitch voice down to a tee today." I stated scowling, as I stroke past him, exited my building and climbed into the waiting black SUV by the sidewalk. Paul climbed in beside me and Jed took the front passenger seat beside the driver. I stared across the street out of the tinted window barely holding back a grin when Paul sounded so super pissed as he huffed out a breath. I knew I'd gone far enough and was just careful enough to remain on my side of the line because I knew if I'd pushed him any further there was a distinct possibility, he'd lose his temper altogether and leave.

I'd have paid to see Paul lose his cool, but I knew there weren't many other men who'd be as discreet and put up with my temperament the way he did. And I'd still needed him for the meeting.

When I took a sideward glance toward him he noticed, crossed one leg over his knee and turned his body away from me.

"Oh come on," I goaded. Without answering he continued to stare out his passenger door window and ignored me. Usually, he tried hard not to show how annoyed I made him but when he couldn't suppress how I'd made him feel, I felt a pang of remorse.

When I saw how hard he had fought to contain his anger and frustration, I figured I'd needed to bend my own stubborn ways just enough to appease him. There was no way I could have lose his temper with me without us having an all-out argument when I'd had such an important public appearance to make in front of the press.

Those disagreements between us didn't happen often but whenever they had in the past, the aftereffects of the row had been nuclear and had hung in the air between us for days.

Fortunately for him, I felt rough enough to let it slide - the indigestion I had, coupled with the pounding headache from my hangover, made me slightly off form and that made me drop the tension and build a small bridge between us.

"Look, I'm sorry I chewed your ass this morning, but you know waking me up when I've not had enough sleep irritates the fuck out of me."

"And I'm sorry you agreed to the interview so early in the day, Rick. It was your idea to get it over with by 10:30 am."

I sighed, "I know it was, but I got drunk and those girls... well let's just say I had a strenuous workout like I haven't had in a while."

"You're not getting any younger. Maybe you should pace yourself better. This is the third time this week we've had a run in. And your moods have become more difficult. Your name calling isn't warranted when you're the one behaving like a diva," he said in a serious tone.

I busted up laughing because he was right. I'd gotten so used to doing what I wanted, when I wanted, that sometimes I'd forgotten exactly why I came into the business in the first place. He was right, it was my job and Paul always had to prompt me to do it instead of me taking responsibility for the tasks I'd agreed to take on.

"I hear you. Work first and always, play comes after. Gotcha."

Paul turned his head and gave me a pointed stare. I stared back with what I'd hoped was the same seriousness in my expression. When Paul was satisfied I'd meant what I said, he gave me one sharp nod. "Apology accepted." Moving on swiftly he lifted his briefcase, unclipped the locks. He took out the notes he had made. "Now that's been dealt with, let us get the facts straight so you don't make an ass of yourself again today."