Page 48 of Mark my Words

I quickly passed by the other genre editors’ offices, keeping my head down as I approached the back wall that held half a dozen small conference rooms. I rarely used them, only sneaking off occasionally if Isobel was meeting with someone in her office, and I couldn’t be bothered to walk to the coffee shop down the street.

They were small, housing a round table with four chairs and a small bookcase filled with office supplies. Checking over my shoulder to ensure I wasn’t drawing any unwanted attention, I chose the room in the corner closest to the storage room. The door was cracked open and appearing unoccupied, so I quickly flipped the magnet on the door that indicated a meeting was in progress.

The office manager only required people to schedule the larger conference rooms ahead of time, so these were first come, first serve, but they all appeared unoccupied. It always struck me as odd that the main conference rooms had glass walls, and these were like glorified closets without any exterior windows, but I was thankful for their privacy.

My phone chimed with a text as I sat down in one of the chairs and started pulling out my laptop.

Isobel: Adrian told me Sam was starting edits today. Maybe you two should schedule some time to get through some chapters together.

Kristine: On it. We’re comparing notes right now.

Isobel: Thank you for being so agreeable toward working with him again. I know it’s not easy to accommodate working with other teams.

Yup, Isobel, spending alone time with Sam was a real hardship. I wasn’t sure how I’d survive it.

Kristine: No problem. At least he’s not as stupid as Dickhead.

I probably shouldn’t be winding her up, now knowing that she was most likely fucking said dickhead, but I didn’t want her to think I enjoyed working with Sam as much as I did.

Isobel: Be nice to him.

Kristine: I can be a professional.

Isobel: No nicknames.

Kristine: Too late. Spamela stays.

Isobel: Adrian will be pissed off if you’re mean to him, and I’m not dealing with that tantrum.

Just cuff him to your bed, and I’m sure he’ll get over it—was what I wanted to type, but I wasn’t supposed to know that they were doing kinky shit in their spare time.

The door opened inward as I sent her an angel emoji and quickly shoved my phone back into my bag.

“Your caffeinated beverage, ma’am.” Sam grinned, pushing the door closed with his foot and passing my stainless-steel insulated mug across the table. “Ready to get down and dirty?”

“Sam,” I scolded with a roll of my eyes, but I found myself glancing at the height of the chair across from me and gauging if we could shove it under the door handle to keep it closed.

“I’m just teasing you. Lighten up, Kris. We’ve managed to keep it PG at the office this long. I think I can hold out until later.”

“Later, huh? Already got plans for me, Mr. Langley?”

“Always, Ms. Willard. Maybe we can break into your little black box again and try some things you don’t want to show me.”

“Uh.” Fuck. The blush couldn’t be stopped as I pursed my lips together and held my mug to my face. Damn him for throwing my brain right back into the gutter.

“Ah, I can see you’re thinking about it,” he teased. He hadn’t pushed further on what was inside the box before now, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

“I thought we were working.” My voice was a little strained as I tried to redirect him, but now I was running an inventory through my head of what I could show him inside my black toy box. I already knew he’d be a quick study.

“We are,” he shrugged, putting his bag on the table and pulling out his laptop. He grabbed a small notebook and pencil, setting them in the middle of the table before he closed his bag and tossed it into the corner. “You want to use mine?” He gestured to the sleek silver piece of equipment. “It’s got a larger screen than yours.”

Rub it in that my department didn’t get new tech when they rolled it out, Sam. “Must be nice to roll with the big boys over in MAST,” I teased.

“Like you couldn’t get IT to give you one of these if you wanted to,” he laughed. “I’m sure if you went down there and intimidated them in that skirt, they’d find a way to sneak you one.”

“You act like I just terrorize everyone in the office daily.”

“Not everyone,” he shrugged, but I could tell by the grin he was trying to rile me up.

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