Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1) (15 page)

He
fastened the lids on to the mugs and carried them down the hallway. Bridget
came out of her room, now fully dressed.

He
handed her one of the mugs.
“Ready to go?”

She
nodded, taking a sip. “Do you want to take my car or yours?”

“We’ll
take mine.”

He
grabbed both of their tote bags in one hand and carried them to the car while Bridget
locked up. It was only a short distance to the location of their team-building
session but the Houston traffic always ensured it took twice as long as
expected. He’d forgotten that about the city, but luckily Bridget had convinced
him to leave early.
Though their dalliance had them a little
behind schedule.

Not
that he was complaining.

* * *

When
they arrived at the complex, Jeremy and Ken were the only ones who had got
there before them.

Jack
left Bridget with them while he went to find the facilitator and see to the
sleeping arrangements. By the time he returned, the rest of his team had
arrived. He introduced the facilitator.

“First
task today is a scavenger hunt,” the facilitator said. “Clues are made up of
general knowledge as well as some questions specific to your roles. This isn’t
a race and you’ll have to work together in order to solve many of the puzzles.”

Jack
hoped starting off with a little bit of fun would engender some team spirit and
enthusiasm. Dirk and Trish, two of the safety advisors, looked like they’d
missed their morning coffee.

He
split the teams so there were people from each section in each one.

They
worked methodically through the puzzles. Jack stepped back to see who would
take the lead in his team. He wasn’t surprised when Jeremy took charge. He let
him
go,
occasionally offering suggestions and making
sure everyone had their say.

Dirk
wasn’t at all interested in taking part. “This is a waste of time,” he
complained. “It’s got nothing to do with safety.”

Jack
smiled at him. “This allows us to bond as a team. I think we could all do with
a break from the plant and a bit of fun.”

Dirk
grunted. At the next puzzle he went off on his own, refusing to listen to the
advice of the others in the team who thought the clue was somewhere else.

Jack
made a mental note. Dirk was not a team player and wasn’t willing to consider
that others might be right. He’d have to talk to him about it when they got
back to work.

The
scavenger hunt finished at midday and they gathered in the dining room for
lunch and to swap stories.

Jack
took Bridget aside. “How did your team go?”

“Fantastically.
Ken was a little too enthusiastic and I had to ask him to give some of
the others a chance to offer suggestions, but when they realized they’d be
listened to, they all took part.”

“Great.
We’ll split into different groups this afternoon for the next exercise.”

He
joined one of the tables while Bridget joined the other. It was for the best
they didn’t fraternize too much now that people knew they were living together.

Chapter 15

Bridget took a seat between Jeremy and Ken.

“What
was that about?” Ken asked, motioning to where she and Jack had been speaking.

“Jack
wanted to know how our team went.”

“Oh,
I thought he might be asking what’s for dinner tomorrow night.” Ken laughed,
thinking himself the funniest guy on the planet.

Bridget
froze. Curious questions she could handle, but not an insinuation that she
couldn’t separate her home life from her work life. From there it was a
slippery slope to being charged incompetent.

She
glared at Ken. “This is a team-building exercise, and as Jack’s
second-in-command it’s my duty to report how you went.”

“Why
would he ask Bridget about dinner?” one of the trainers asked.

Bridget
closed her eyes briefly. Somebody wasn’t up to date with the latest gossip.

“They’re
living together,” Ken explained, with a grin.

Bridget
suppressed her growing temper. If she let it go it might be misconstrued. She
took a deep breath and explained the situation. Maybe she should have recorded
it so she could just play it back without having to repeat herself over and
over.

“That’s
gotta
suck, living with your boss,” the trainer said.

She
shrugged.
“Better than going broke.”

“Isn’t
your sister, Carolina Flanagan?” Ken didn’t know when to give up.

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t
she help you out?”

“Sure,
but I’m not one to go running to my family at the first hint of trouble. I can
sort it out on my own, which I did with Jack.”

Jeremy
nodded. “I can understand that. My parents would throw it in my face,” he said.
“This steak is pretty good.”

Relieved
with the change of topic, Bridget took a bite of hers. “It is.”

She
didn’t know what Ken’s game was. Was he just stirring and didn’t know how much
was too much, or had he seen
them
holding hands at the
cinema and wanted to prove their relationship was something more?

Either
way, Bridget didn’t like it.

* * *

The
next exercise after lunch was a brain teaser, followed by an obstacle course.

Ken
was struggling to crawl under wire that was stretched at about knee height
above the ground. Bridget crawled next to him, shouting words of encouragement.
He was dripping sweat by the time he finished but he let out a holler and
pumped his arms in the air. Bridget high-fived him and then checked the rest of
the team were ready to move on.

She
was missing someone. “Where’s Dirk?”

“He
went on ahead,” Sally said.
“Got tired of waiting.”

Dirk
was the only guy in the department who’d ever given her any real trouble when
she was acting safety manager. He’d thought he deserved the job, not her.
Bridget scowled and scanned the course ahead of them. Dirk was swinging on a
bar over a pit of mud. The next obstacle after that was a huge wooden wall that
she doubted he would make over on his own. They’d probably catch up with him
there.

Sure
enough, after they had all cleared the mud pit, Dirk was sitting with his back
against the wall waiting for them.

“Need
a hand?” Bridget asked him.

He
grunted and nodded. She made him wait until last, because she was sure he would
continue on ahead of them, but afterward Sally kept him with the group by
chatting to him.

* * *

By
the end of the day, almost everyone was in cheerful spirits and telling Jack
how much they’d enjoyed themselves. Bridget was pleased with the way he’d been
accepted in to the department. It didn’t matter that he was in charge, that he
was their boss, if the team didn’t like him it would be that much more
difficult to get things done.

She
headed off to the room she was sharing with Sally and Trish.

“Bridget,
can I have a word?” Jack called.

“
Gotta
go,” she said to the other women. “I’ll see you
there.”

Walking
over to Jack she couldn’t help admiring the way his shirt clung to his muscles.

“Was
Dirk giving you trouble?” he asked.

She smiled.
“No more than usual. He doesn’t like taking instructions from me.”

Jack
frowned.

“He
was pretty annoyed when I got the acting safety manager job, instead of him,”
Bridget explained. “He’s been at the plant longer and had more experience, but
he’s impatient and doesn’t like working with people.”

“So
he has no idea how to lead.”

She
nodded. “It’s his way or not at all.”

“I’ll
speak with him when we get back to work,” Jack said. “Now what was Ken talking
about over lunch? I only caught a bit.”

Bridget
sighed. “He was trying to be funny, making jokes about us living together. I’m
not sure it was meant maliciously.”

“Are
you all right?” His voice was low and he reached out and touched her arm.

Bridget
stepped away and checked to make sure no one had seen. “I’m fine, Jack. I’ll
handle him.”

He
was quiet a moment before he said, “OK.”

She
gave him a half smile and headed for her room, wishing their relationship
didn’t have to be so complicated.

* * *

Inside,
Trish lounged on one of the beds, and in the adjoining bathroom the shower was
running.

Bridget
took out the clothes she wanted to wear to dinner and sat down on her bed.
“Today was fun,” she said, hoping for some casual conversation.

“Yeah.
We
should do things like this more often,” Trish agreed. “It’s nice to get away
from the plant every now and then.”

“Have
you got many suggestions for our planning session tomorrow?”

“A few.
It always comes down to money.”

It
did.

“Bridget,
can I ask you something personal?” Trish asked.

Bridget
tensed and forced herself to relax. “Sure. As long as I don’t have to answer
it,” she joked.

“It’s
about you and Jack. You mentioned living with him was just a convenience thing.
I wanted to check that was true. I didn’t want to step on your toes if I ask
Jack out for a drink.”

Bridget
was glad she was sitting down. Her face heated and her skin prickled, as she
tried to figure out a response. She had not expected that
at
all. “I
can’t say I’d recommend getting involved with your boss.” She was such a
hypocrite.

“I met
Lionel once at a safety conference. He seemed like a self-absorbed jerk to me.”

Bridget
wasn’t surprised Trish knew about the Lionel affair, or about her assessment of
Lionel. She didn’t know why she hadn’t seen Lionel for the jerk he was.

“So
you’re fine with me asking Jack out?”

No,
of course she wasn’t, but she couldn’t say that. “You can ask.”

“Great.
He’s damn fine when he’s out of his high-vis gear.”

Bridget
didn’t comment.

Sally
came out of the bathroom, her hair damp, and wearing a green and white checked
summer dress. “I feel so much better.”

“My
turn,” Trish said and grabbed her clothes, disappearing into the bathroom.

Sally
waited until the door closed and then said, “So, how awkward is it living with
your boss?”

Bridget
reminded herself it was natural for their living arrangements to be a hot topic
of conversation. She hoped by next week there’d be some other piece of gossip
worth talking about.

“It’s
OK. We tend to stick to our own space.” She had to remember to tell Jack about
that.

“I
like him. I can’t imagine he’d be difficult to live with.”

“He’s
pretty easygoing.” Bridget wished Trish would get out of the shower so she
could escape.

Sally
put the clothes she had been wearing in her tote bag. “I can’t believe Tanya just
moved out. It’s so inconsiderate. You must have been freaking out.”

“A bit.
I
guess love affects your judgment.”

“I
guess so.” Sally turned around. “What’s planned for tonight?”

“I’m
not sure. Jack arranged it all.”

“I
hope it’s not karaoke or something.”

“Me too.”

Finally
Trish came out of the bathroom and Bridget was able to escape. She hated lying
to everyone, hated telling half-truths, but what else could she do?

* * *

Jack
hadn’t arranged any activities for after dinner. He wanted to see what everyone
would do – who was happy to spend an evening chatting with their colleagues and
who wanted to be left alone.

On
purpose he positioned himself on the opposite side of the room from Bridget.
The temptation to touch her was too much in this casual environment, and he
didn’t want to make matters worse by forgetting they were only supposed to be
colleagues here.

He
talked to Jeremy about the emergency response team, discussed the upcoming
competition that allowed them to test their skills against other teams in the
area, and listened to Jeremy’s plans to improve them even further. Jeremy
reminded him a little of Bridget in his passion for his job. Jack suspected he
could let Jeremy have free rein and not have to worry about what he was going
to do.

When
Jeremy left to get another drink, Trish sat down next to him. “Great day
today,” she said. “Thanks for thinking of it.”

“No
problem. It’s been beneficial to us all.”

Someone
turned on the radio and music piped into the room, not too loud for them to
have to shout. Jack tapped his foot in time.

“Great
song, isn’t it?” Trish said.

“Yeah.”

“I
think
Adahy
Woods is playing at Whitewash on the
weekend. Do you want to go?”

It
took Jack a second to register what Trish had said, and then a second more to
realize she was asking him out on a date.

Hell.

“Ah,
no … thanks for the offer though.”

Trish
pouted, but didn’t seem too put out. “Don’t date team members?”

His
gaze found Bridget without meaning to. “Something
like
that.” He looked back to Trish and her expression had turned knowing.

Shit!
He had to be more careful.

“Lucky
girl,” Trish said as she stood. “But be careful, she’s been burned before.”

Before
Jack could figure out how to deny it, Trish was over talking with Sally. He had
no idea whether Trish was a gossip, whether she was spreading rumors right now
as he watched her. Bridget wasn’t going to be happy, but a small part of him
hoped it would all come out, that they’d stop having to keep it a secret.
Bridget would soon discover she wasn’t treated any differently because she was
in a relationship with him.

He
sighed. She needed more time and he had to respect that. Scanning the room,
Jack saw Dirk sitting by himself reading a book. He needed to do something to
get him involved. Dirk was part of the team and he had to start acting like it.
Jack wasn’t sure how he’d get through to him, but he had to try.

* * *

The
next morning, fueled by coffee and croissants, Jack stood in front of his team.
They were in a large meeting room that had a wall of windows on one side,
overlooking the garden. Jack planned to move things outdoors after lunch for a
change of scenery.

“
It’s
budget time and we need to decide what projects to
include for next year,” he began. “You all have ideas you want to see
implemented, so we need to work out which are the most beneficial to the plant.
I also want to hear your suggestions for improvements that won’t necessarily
cost a lot of money. This is going to be part business plan and part budget
plan.”

Around
him people nodded. He was pleased to see most had brought notes with them.
“We’ll start with the environmental section.” Jack had neglected them a bit
since he’d arrived because safety had been such a high priority.

“Do
the rest of us have to stay and listen to this?” Dirk complained. “What they do
doesn’t affect us.”

Jack
kept his expression pleasant. “Of course it does. Environmental projects might
have a safety effect and vice versa. Plus the more people thinking about a
problem, the more options we can discuss.”

Dirk
scowled, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

Jack
was going to have to take Dirk aside and talk to him after this. He wasn’t
being part of the team. He gestured for Sally to begin the discussion.

* * *

By
the time they broke for lunch, Jack’s head was spinning and he figured everyone
needed a break. He was grateful Jeremy had offered to take notes, because he
wouldn’t have been able to keep up himself. His team was not short of ideas and
most of them were good ones, but there was one common theme that ran through
the session. They’d been asking for the same things for years and kept getting
knocked back because of budget considerations. Jack asked them to review their
projects and check if they could be broken down into smaller stages. If they
only had to ask for money for one stage at a time, they might have a better
chance of approval.