“I think everything looks good here. Welcome aboard Candy.” The cute, very pregnant office manager stuck her hand out to seal the deal. Candy Grant shook and suddenly she was part of Protective Security and Investigations. “Trust me. The guys look all rough and tough but you’ll have them eating out of your hand in no time. If I were still single this place would be heaven.” Karen patted her pregnant belly. “But I think this little guy and my husband will be all the testosterone I need in my life right now.”

“I’m surprised you are getting three months maternity leave, that’s pretty generous.”

Karen started laughing hysterically. “Jameson was only going to give me three weeks so I said I’d just have to bring the kid here and breastfeed while I worked.” Karen did the Groucho thing with her eyebrows. “Nothing like the idea of reminding them what breasts are actually for to get a man to cave.” Candy smiled, she liked Karen. It was a shame they weren’t going to get to work together much beyond the two weeks of training.

“Let me take you in to meet the boss.” She tried twice to get out of the chair, and failed both times. The woman was effectively pinned by her very pregnant belly. Candy took both her hands and helped pull her to her feet.

“Thanks. I can’t wait to get this kid out.”

Candy swallowed hard on the pang of jealousy bubbling up in her. “Aren’t you excited to be a mom?”

“Oh yeah. I mean when I’m not terrified.” The woman’s shoulders shrugged.

“You’ll be great. He’ll be the light of your life.”

“I don’t know anything about babies. God, why am I telling you this?”

Candy smiled at her. The urge to hug the woman and tell her everything was going to be okay was strong but they didn’t really know each other. Still Karen looked shaken by her own admission. “Oh, I just have that kind of face. People tell me all kinds of things. Just the fact that you’re worrying about it tells me you are going to be fine. What new mom isn’t scared? It’s the ones who don’t care, who act like there isn’t anything to worry about, that always concern me.”

Karen stopped walking and stared at her. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. Thanks.”

Candy was a little surprised when Karen put her arms around her. Candy gave her a good solid hug back. Her husband used to kid her that she wasn’t capable of doing polite social hugs. She didn’t care anymore. When she hugged someone, she hugged all the way. She was a hugger, everyone could just get over it.

“God, I needed that too. Maybe we should keep you on after I come back. These guys could use someone like you around.”

“Like me?”

“Yeah, you know, stable, solid. I swear half of them forget what it’s like to talk to a woman they aren’t trying to sleep with.”

They walked the short distance to a door without a nameplate or any indication that it was anything beyond a closet. The office was small enough and evidently informal enough that a name plate would have seemed ostentatious. Karen rapped on the door and walked in without waiting for a response.

“Jameson...”

“What the hell do you want?” Candy’s eyes went wide even if she couldn’t see the source of the voice.

“I’ve got the new office manager...” Karen tried to explain.

“I haven’t got time right now. You deal with it. I’ve got shit to do.” O-kay? That didn’t sound promising but everyone else she’d met had seemed nice.

“But...” Karen tried again.

“No buts. I’m busy, I trust you.”

Karen let out a huff, backed out and closed the door. Candy blinked wondering if she had made a mistake in taking the job before meeting the man she would be working for.

Karen must have read her fears, or the fact that Candy was already backing towards the door. Her doctor had told her to get out more and suggested she get a job. Nothing too taxing but the daily routine and the socialization would be good for her. A little extra money didn’t hurt either.

But no one said anything about taking on some cranky, growling tiger of a boss, even if it was only for three months. The office manager job had looked promising and they hadn’t asked too many questions about the gaps in her employment history. Four other temp jobs had already turned her down because of them, but she had had a good feeling about this one, at least until now.

“Okay, so maybe now’s not so good. Don’t let him freak you out. He’s pure wounded alpha male but under all that, he really is kind of sweet, they all are. Just don’t tell them I said so. Seriously, I swear you’ll like it here and there isn’t a safer place to work anywhere. How many offices have their own armory and security force? Jameson is kind of a crank, but everybody else is pretty chill when they’re here. On assignment it’s a different story, but you won’t have to deal that. Any other questions you can think of?”

She said no and they arranged for her to come in Monday so Karen could show her the ropes.

“Oh, here, let me give you a key so you can let yourself in. As you can see if you have to wait for me to let you in you might be out there forever.”

“Wait, you said he was wounded, the boss I mean.”

“Oh God, yeah I should have mentioned it. Jameson is in a wheelchair. Honestly, I don’t even think about it anymore. There isn’t anything you need to worry about though. I was mostly referring to all of their precious male egos. You can’t walk two feet around here without tripping over an alpha male. At first it is all a bit much but after a while, all the growling and stalking around just makes you roll your eyes.” Candy’s heart did a little stutter step at the thought of being surrounded by guys like the ones in the books she read. Okay, they probably didn’t come to work shirtless but a girl could dream. Just the thought of it made her sigh. Then she turned bright red when she realized Karen was grinning at her. She really needed to spend more time around people if she was fantasizing out loud and in public.

“Sorry, I don’t get out much.”

“Trust me, these guys are all sweet, as long as you aren’t the bad guy. I’ll see you Monday. Just go ahead and let yourself in when you get here. And just to let you know my desk,” Karen’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Best spot in the place for guy watching.” They both cracked up loud enough that a few of the guys poked their heads up to see what was so funny. Each one was better looking than the last. They were all too young for her but she liked Karen. A couple weeks working together and who knew, maybe she’d get a new friend out of it. Her therapist would be thrilled and so would she.