Xia hurried into the flower shop, recalling that she had some corsages to make for some girl’s sixteenth birthday party. What was with those types of parties, anyway? Didn’t girls realize their parents could be spending the money on something else?

        “You’re late.”

        Crap. Xia tried not to flinch. Of all weeks to stay on her boss’ good side, this was definitely one of them. Assuming he had a good side this week. He was a fair man, very flexible with her school schedule and any time off she wanted. His only conditions were that she didn’t slack off on the job and that she arrived on time. Xia glanced at the clock, her eyes widening.

        “It’s eleven twenty-seven,” she stated.

        “By the time you’re ready to work it will be past eleven-thirty,” he replied. “If you’re five minutes early, you’re considered exactly on time.”

        “That doesn’t make any sense,” Xia argued. “When-”

        “When I hired you a year ago, you told me that you were dedicated and punctual. Your lack of experience should have played a part in my decision to hire you, but it didn’t, because I believed you could follow through with everything you said regarding your work ethic.”

        Xia’s jaw dropped. Why, oh why did she have to open her big mouth today?

        “When you’re ready to get started, there are thirty-two corsages and boutonnieres you have to finish by end of today. Mrs. Castillo is picking them up at five. The shipment of flowers was late and arrived this morning,” he informed crisply.

        Xia’s eyes widened. “But…she’s not supposed to pick them up until tomorrow. Her daughter’s birthday is tomorrow.”

        “Apparently, her sister has a fridge they want to store the flowers in. She called this morning asking when the order will be done…she’s determined to have everything for the party in her hands by close of business today.”

        This couldn’t be happening! Xia hunched her shoulders and stalked to Dev’s office, tossing her backpack onto an empty chair by the door – her usual backpack holding spot. The phone rang, and through his office window that had a view of the entire shop, she watched him pick up the phone and begin speaking to whoever was on the other line. His back was to her, so she quickly closed the vertical blinds of his office and stomped her foot, forming her hands into angry fists.

        “Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Her petite frame shook with the effort it took to stomp her foot repeatedly on the floor. Ooh, she wanted to throw something!

        But she settled for jumping up and down twice after the stomping.

        It helped.

        “Are you done?” a deep male voice said from the office doorway.

        Xia whirled around to see her boss casually leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. Immediately, she turned pink with embarrassment.

        “You were supposed to be on the phone,” Xia accused. One of his brows lifted and she frowned. “Only really evil people sneak up on others.”

        His eyes narrowed slightly.

        Okay, times like these reminded Xia why she had been freaking terrified of him when she first applied for the job. All he had to do was stare and anyone would feel insignificant and stupid for even opening their mouth. But that was probably why he’d been willing to give her a chance…she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. She wasn’t. She just knew better than to disagree with the man who signed her paycheck.

        When her parents divorced a year ago, Xia decided to get a job to help pay for college. This was the first she’d come across to interview where the pay was actually decent for a part-timer, and the male staff didn’t try to hit on her. Not that she had to worry about that, since really there was only one other person who worked in the shop. He’d been so cold, so dismissive during her interview…

        “No experience in flowers…no work experience period…” His eyes flicked over her very, very short resume.

        He hadn’t offered her a chair once she got into his office. Instead, she had to stand. Xia was positive it was some form of torture.

        Devlin studied her for several long moments. “What’s your availability?”

        “Pretty much all days. I go to school in the weekday mornings, usually ending around ten…” Xia answered.

        He was quiet for a minute before turning away. “Thanks for your time.” But his tone of voice seemed so detached. There was no sense of sincerity there.

        “Uh…the interview is over?” Xia asked hesitantly.

        “Yes.”

        She was in shock at being dismissed so quickly that she hadn’t moved.

        “Is there a problem?” he asked after noticing that she hadn’t walked towards the door.

        “I realize I don’t have much experience-” Xia began.

        “Much?” he interrupted.

        “None-” she corrected, “-in this business-”

        “It takes a lot more responsibility than someone your age and lack of experience could understand,” he stated matter-of-factly.

        “I applied for this job because I wanted something more than salting French fries or folding sweaters at Macy’s,” Xia responded quickly. “I’m hard-working, I’m smart, I can show up on time, and I learn fast. I don’t put a half-attempt into anything I do. And if there’s someone else who’s got the experience and that same attitude who’s jumping at the chance for this job, then I can completely understand why you wouldn’t hire me.”

        He narrowed his eyes.

        Xia felt a lump of nervousness in her throat. Was that a little too self-centered to say? “Thanks…for your time.” Xia turned away to exit his office, feeling his eyes bore into her back the entire time.

        Her feet couldn’t move fast enough. Xia was halfway to the shop’s exit until…

        “Miss Lin.”

        Xia paused for a moment, turning to the source of the voice. He was leaning against the wall of the hallway leading to his office.

        “Tomorrow. Eleven-thirty a.m. sharp,” he said sternly.

She nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Was she crazy? Could she actually work for someone like him? Was it really worth all this trouble? She mentally cringed at the thought of the lecherous manager at the diner she’d applied at as a waitress…at the ditzy HR manager at the department store who must have said her name ten incorrect ways…

His voice broke through her musings, “Kozue said he’d have lunch ready by one. You can pick it up after you’ve done some assembling.”

        “Right.” Boy, was she looking forward to lunch…

==

        “Tanaka, have you talked to him yet?” Xia asked a little over an hour later. She was at the sushi bar, waiting for Kozue to finish making her unagi roll. “About…well…you know…”

        Tanaka was in the middle of ringing up a to-go order. “No, I haven’t yet. Why?” He swiped a credit card through the machine before turning to her. “Something happen?”

        “He lectured me today,” Xia declared. “I was like three minutes early, but as far as he thought, I’m late.” She frowned. “Like he’s always on time…you know I’ve come before we’re even open to the public on some days when he needed the help and he wasn’t exactly on the dot…” She crossed her arms. “I have thirty-two things that need to be finished today. And I don’t even know if I’ll finish them.” Xia waved her arm in the air. “He actually made me redo at least ten corsages today. Said they didn’t look right. He’s never done that. He was practically hovering over me the whole time, thinking I’m doing something wrong. The whole hovering thing is annoying as it is. But he waits until after I’m done to tell me it’s wrong. Why look over my shoulder if he’s not going to correct me?!”

        Tanaka chuckled. “That bad, huh?” He handed the customer a receipt to sign and thanked them for their purchase before they left the restaurant.

        “He needs help,” Kozue said decisively, putting Xia’s order into a box.

        “You need to talk to him,” Xia said.

        “I will,” Tanaka assured.

        “Soon,” Xia pleaded. “I don’t want to quit, but if he’s going to be like this every day, he’ll drive me crazy.”

        “What’s the rush?” Tanaka inquired. “It’s a busy week for you both…might as well wait until the weekend when things cool down, right?”

        Xia stared at him, swearing she was hearing things. “You’re the one who said getting laid is what he needs!”

        Kozue began to laugh.

        “Can you keep it down?” Tanaka warned, glancing around. “You don’t need to shout, Xia, I’m right here.” He glared at Kozue. “That means you, too.”

        “Of course.” Kozue’s laughter turned into low chuckles of amusement.

        “You were all for April’s idea of him getting laid,” Xia hissed, leaning over the counter. “Now you’re stalling the conversation. Why?”

        “I just think it’s best to wait out the week,” Tanaka stated.

        Xia blinked. “Wait…you are stalling, aren’t you? Because you know he’d never go for it!”

        “No, I’m just-”

        “You liar!”

        “Xia!” Tanaka gave her a hand signal to indicate that she remain quiet. “Okay. Okay…I know he won’t agree to it. It’s just not his thing-”

        “What’s he going to do if you bring it up? Shoot you?”

        Tanaka and Kozue’s heads lifted, both men giving her dark looks. Xia immediately realized what she said and covered her mouth for a few seconds. Then she pulled her hand away, whispering a ‘sorry’.

        “That’s not funny,” Kozue said quietly.

        Very, very few in their circle of friends knew Devlin Cai’s secret. Before he came to New York, he was known as Locke Koh, a freelance assassin. For whatever reason, he retired and settled in the big metropolitan city. Xia had found out by accident, when she had been kidnapped by two men who hoped to settle a score with the former assassin. Tanaka and Kozue were a little more knowledgeable – they were familiar with the assassin’s name thanks to their former lives as members in Tokyo’s yakuza a few years ago.

        “Besides,” Tanaka broke the tense silence with a grin. “He hasn’t done a hit in a while…maybe he’d miss.”

        “You can take that chance. I won’t,” Kozue stated as he began to clean up his cutting board area.

        “Tanaka,” Xia held her hands up in supplication. “You have to-”

        “All right. I will,” Tanaka waved his hand in dismissal. “I’ll come by later to ask him. Or better yet, he can come here.”

        “I’m not telling him to come here for that talk. He might lower my pay,” Xia argued.

        Tanaka rolled his eyes. “Then I guess I’ll call him…”

==

        “No.”

        “Come on, it won’t be that bad.”

        “I already said ‘no’.”

        Tanaka frowned at his friend’s stubbornness. “You know, Dev, it’s unhealthy for guys our age to go without for so long.”

        “What does that have to do with anything?” Devlin stared at his friend.

        “You don’t date, you don’t have a girlfriend, you really should do something about that. Maybe you’d stop snarling at people.”

        “I don’t-” his friend abruptly stopped, pushing his bowl of ramen away.

        It was already dinnertime, and they were in Tanaka’s office.

        “Um, you do. Xia says you must have had three or so women leave the store crying. You’re going to lose customers like that…” Tanaka shrugged. He idly tapped his fingers on his clean desk. “So we need to get you laid. You’re into women, right?”

        “Did I hear you correctly?” he glared at his friend.

        “Well?” Tanaka pressed. A part of him was afraid he’d get socked any moment. In addition to being an excellent shooter, Locke Koh was also fairly skilled in close quarter combat.

        “What gave you the idea I wasn’t?” Dev retorted before he could stop himself.

        “How about the fact that you haven’t gotten laid since we’ve known you?”

        “Is that the only reason you’re basing this on?” He could feel a headache coming on.

        “I mean, if you’re into the other team, that’s fine, too,” Tanaka said in a rush. “It might be kinda hard for Kozue and I to help you out, if that’s the case. I’m really not familiar with that scene…but maybe April knows someone…she’s got some local designer guy friends who swing that way…”

        Tanaka could have sworn that it was taking all of his friend’s self control not to reach over and throttle him. Or to connect a fist to his face. When he was greeted by silence, he figured it was safe to continue. “We’re only looking out for you. You could try speed-dating…or Kozue knows some great clubs and bars we could go to…We’d go with you, because wingmen do that.”

        “Kozue’s just going in hopes of getting laid himself.”

        “Well, yeah. That’s what wingmen do. They back up the primary and hope to find someone in the process. Haven’t you ever done this before?”

        “I don’t know…I guess I didn’t have time in between hits,” Dev said dryly.

        Tanaka grinned. “What’s the harm in going out more often? Meet women, dance, drink-”

        “Why are you still talking about this?”

        “Because you haven’t said you’ll go yet. You’d be surprised what sex does to relieve stress,” Tanaka said confidently. His eyes narrowed. “You’ve gotten laid before, right?”

        Dev covered his eyes with a hand before scowling at his friend. “I don’t-”

        “It’d be good for you,” Tanaka assured. “Guys like us really shouldn’t be alone for long periods of time.”

        “That’s why marriage exists.”

        “Okay, there are some people who marry for companionship.” Tanaka shook his head. “But if that’s how you see marriage, no wonder you haven’t had a girlfriend in a while.”

        “Did you ever stop to think that maybe I prefer my life without anyone to answer to?”

        “That’s bullshit,” Tanaka argued. “That’s a dumb excuse and you know it.” At his friend’s answering glower, Tanaka sat back in his chair. “You don’t want to invest in a relationship, so a temporary one is perfect for you. Besides, maybe once you get laid, you might actually start being nice to those women who try to buy flowers from you.”

        His friend merely reached for his bowl of ramen and began to eat again.

        “You’re not going to go through with this are you?” Tanaka asked after a moment.

        “Exactly.”

        His office was quiet for a few seconds. Tanaka abruptly reached into a drawer and pulled out a deck of cards.

        “How about we play for it?” Tanaka caught the gleam in Dev’s eyes, and shook his head. “No poker, blackjack, or any other casino card game.” Professional gambler was another part of Locke Koh. “First person to get fifty points in gin rummy.”

        Half an hour later, Tanaka gleefully calculated the total amount of points. “Tanaka seventy-five…Dev fifteen…”

        Kozue knocked then opened the door to Tanaka’s office. “Tanaka, it’s very busy in the dining room. We…” He blinked, then briefly nodded his head to Dev in greeting.

        “This Friday at nine-thirty?” Tanaka prompted with a triumphant grin.

        Kozue blinked, looking back and forth between his two friends. Tanaka rubbing his hands, looking like he was about to take over the world, and Dev with his head bowed, the bridge of his nose pinched between his thumb and forefinger.

        “We’re going to a club,” Dev said flatly.

        Kozue’s eyes widened. “Really?”