Page 14 of Exposed

Lauren weaved toward her desk and picked up her phone.

“You mean doing my job.”

Lauren held her camera up to take a picture, and I blocked it with my hand.

“Stop being so stuffy; one photo won’t hurt.” She tapped me on the chest. I grasped her palm, the spark between us was felt and we released our hands immediately.

“I move in silence, Lauren, for a reason. The reason Elijah wanted me, in this case, is not only for your safety but for the company as well. Has anything weird happened lately?” I questioned, not forgetting about the flowers someone left at the photoshoot.

“A few text messages, nothing too crazy. I think it’s an ex-boyfriend or something,” she casually stated.

“Ex-boyfriend. Why didn’t you say anything earlier? Give me his name, and I’ll look into it and let me see your phone.”

“Why?” she asked, holding it away from me.

“I need to get my tech guys to search your phone, and we can trace where the messages are coming from.” I reached a hand out to grab the phone, and she held it behind her back. I groaned in frustration, trying to reach around her, and she almost sidestepped out of the way, moving left, and I blocked her movement, and we fell with me on top of her.

“Sorry,” I apologized, out of breath, holding onto her waist.

Chapter Nine

Lauren

His lips brushed my ear, raising goosebumps across my skin. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I felt like a girl on a first date. I silently sniffed him, closing my eyes discreetly.

“Did you just sniff me?” he asked.

“Maybe.”

“Can I see your phone, Lauren, please?”

I nodded, passing him my phone, not ready for him to get up. This was the closest I’d been to being under a man in about eight months. If I wasn’t so annoyed by him, I’d ask if he was dating anyone.

“Can I get up now?” I questioned.

“Yeah, sorry.” He jumped up and reached down to help me up. I was glad I wore a pantsuit today.

A knock on the door interrupted the awkward moment.

“Yes, come in.” Josslyn walked in with Carol.

“Hi, Dominic, we came to see if Lauren was available to answer some questions with a reporter. This was last minute, and Danielle wanted to see if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Sure, of course. Let me finish wrapping things up here. Where are they?”

“The conference room,” Carol said.

“Okay, perfect, I’ll be down in a minute.”

Carol waved goodbye as Josslyn stood to wait.

“I wanted to give you the second sample; I know you wanted to practice on a body glow that had a light fragrance. I have three types for you,” Josslyn commented.

“Does Danielle know about this?” Dominic questioned, picking up the samples, twirling them around. I snatched them out of his hands.

“Of course, she does, it was her idea. Can I have my phone back, so I can go?”

He opened my phone and typed something, pulling his phone out as well.

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