What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

for two minutes,
and he already sees it. There’s no way the others
haven’t noticed.
Of course, Dean had no preconceived notions
about either of them. Maybe it was easier for a stranger
to see. Sam decided to believe that version of events, for
now.
“Well, I guess we’ve got a new tech guy.” David
leaned against the wall, grinning from ear to ear. “Bo,
you still gonna do any other interviews, or stop here?
’Cause I gotta tell you, I don’t see the point in talking to
anybody else.”
Bo shook his head, lips pressed into a stubborn
line. “No, he’s not the one. I’ve still got a few resumés
on my desk, I’ll start making calls.”
David gaped at him. “What?”
“You heard me. We’re not hiring him.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” Bo’s gaze darted around the room,
settling on Sam just long enough for Sam to see the
jealousy in his eyes. “I just don’t think he’ll fit in, that’s
all.”
David glared. “Bo, we have to hire this guy. He’s
perfect. He knows all the equipment, he’s got close to
sixty in-depth investigations under his belt, and hell, I
like him. Besides, you know as well as I do that no one
else who applied is anywhere near as qualified as he is.
We need him, Bo. We’re drowning in new cases since Oleander House, we need help, and he’s a fucking wet
dream for this job. Come on.”
Bo tugged on the end of his braid. “It doesn’t
bother you that he flirted with Cecile?”
For a second, Sam felt as if all the air had been
sucked out of the room. Bo’s real reason for not wanting
to hire Dean was crystal clear. To him, anyway. He
wondered just how obvious it was to everyone else. “It didn’t bother me, so whether or not it bothered
anyone else is pretty much immaterial.” Cecile crossed
her arms and gave Bo a stern look. “Anyway, he didn’t
do it again after he found out David and I are together,
so I don’t see how that would affect whether or not you
hire him.”
Grinning, David elbowed Bo in the ribs. “It’s not
bugging you that he flirted with Sam, is it?”
Bo’s blush was answer enough. He stared at a spot
on the far wall and said nothing. David’s jaw dropped,
and Sam bit back a groan.
Huffing impatiently, Cecile smacked David’s arm.
“Will you stop? Bo’s probably worried that Dean’s
going to spend more time flirting than working. Or
maybe he’s worried that Dean and Sam’ll start dating
and it’ll interfere with work.” She turned a wide-eyed
look to Bo. “Is that it, Bo?”
Bo blinked and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Uh.
Yeah. That’s pretty much it, yeah.”
David laughed. “Is that all? Shit, Bo, have you
even been paying attention to this place? Me and Cecile?
Andre and….” Sadness filled David’s eyes. “Yeah.
Well, anyway, I don’t think it’ll be a problem if Sam and
Dean hook up, and that’s a big if.”
“David’s right, it won’t be a problem.” Sam stared
hard at Bo, willing the man to look at him. “Dean’s nice,
but he’s not my type anyway.”
The glance Bo gave Sam was brief, but enough to
tell Sam that he’d gotten the message. Bo held up both
hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, y’all talked me
into it. I’ll hire him.”
“Hallelujah, the man sees reason at last.” Picking
up a pen from Cecile’s desk, David twirled it between
his fingers. “Gonna call him today?”
“I guess so,” Bo said, sounding less than thrilled.
He pointed a warning finger at David. “You’d better be
right, David. I am not going to be happy if I hire this guy
and he turns out to be more interested in dating the
entire office than getting his work done.”
“Boss-man, you can drag out the thumb screws if
I’m wrong. But I’m not.” David set the pen down, leaned over and tilted Cecile’s chin up to kiss her.
“Mmmm, office romance. Tastes like chicken.” Sam laughed as David deftly dodged the smack
Cecile aimed at his head and sauntered into the back
room. The laughter abruptly stopped when Bo stepped
close and laid a hand on his shoulder. Mouth dry and
heart racing, Sam looked reluctantly up into Bo’s dark
eyes.
For a second, he was positive Bo was going to kiss
him. He couldn’t decide whether to be relieved or
disappointed when it didn’t happen.
“Sam, did you get hold of Mr. Innes?”
“Yeah, I did.” Sam wished his voice didn’t sound
so rough. So dripping with lust. Ignoring Cecile’s
curious gaze, he plowed on. “He said he has a map of
the tunnels, he’s gonna email it to me.