Compromise Me (Book Two of the Kirkland Family)

Compromise Me: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Travis dreaded the Monday to come.  At nine o'clock that morning, he entered Raw Studios...and stopped dead.

He could smell her.  Her perfume...that ocean breeze scent which always inspired images of golden sunsets on rippling water and coconut tanning lotion.  Not that his mind actually worked in such a poetic way, but Josie Kirkland usually drew out the muse in him...what little visual inspiration he had inside.  He was an auditory kind of guy.  Could hear an inspirational sound anywhere, which made him good at his job.

And he could hear her, Josie...back in Liv’s office, laughing.  The sound came closer, and he braced himself for the sexy princess to finally become a permanent part of his work days.  There be no avoiding her after all.  She was now Livie’s assistant, and she would be doing most of the grunt work...mostly collaborating with him on artists’ music.

“Oh, hey, Travis,” Josie said when she walked down the front hall and saw him.  “Good morning.  How are you?”

He narrowed his eyes, always on his guard with her.  “I'm fine.”

And it wasn’t just her friendly tone that put his hackles up.  Today...gone were the provocative clothes, the short skirts and killer heels.  No, today, for her first day at Raw Studios, she wore a tailored button shirt and a pair of navy pants with a gold chain belt highlighting the sway of her hips as she walked.  The shoes-- a pair of those platform heels chicks liked nowadays-- were still sexy and suggestive, but overall she looked like a professional.  Even her hair was swept back from her face in a twisted, braided bun at the nape of her neck.  And the fact that he noticed the little butterfly jewel clip holding it all in place meant he was studying her more than he should.

“Great,” she said cheerily, without any hint of her normal tricks.

Okay...what's going on?

She smiled and turned a corner, heading to the elevator.  Travis followed her.  Not because the coconuts lured him, but because his "office" was on the second floor.  It was more of a room where he dropped off his stuff for the day, but he had to go there first thing to get his crap squared away before hermiting himself in the studios all day.  

“Guess what?” she said as they stepped into the elevator together.  She pushed the button for the second floor.

“What?”

She smiled beautifully...again without any of her typical flirtation.  “I have a job and my own apartment, which I do not have to share with a women's liberal study major, and I paid my very first month’s rent this weekend.  Isn't that great?”

Travis stared at her like she was crazy.  “That's great?  Paying rent?”

“Yes!” She laughed.  “I paid the rent.  Not Daddy or Hannah and not with money they gave me.  Money I've been saving up for the past year”

“Really?  And you’re happy about that?”