Page 20 of Playboy Boss

Chapter Seven

Wednesday morning, on a whim, Konrad decided to take Scottie on a field trip to see the EaDo property. He’d completely ignored the fact that he’d never taken Marisol to see it or any other property since he’d set up his headquarters in Houston earlier in the year. He hoped everyone else would ignore that fact too.

Unlike his typical office attire, he dressed casually in worn jeans, a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and casual Prada shoes. Employees would raise their brows because he’d always worn a suit to work. It was his armor.

“Dress for the level of success you want,” his father always said to him. Konrad had not been a stranger to three-piece suits in boarding school and beyond. Perfectly tailored. Perfectly put together. His father insisted on it. Image was always important to him. Konrad too.

Susan wasn’t at her desk when he walked through the lobby before eight in the morning. Scottie, on the other hand, sat at her desk drinking coffee from his favorite Harvard coffee mug. It had gone missing the day before. When he saw her perfect lips latch onto the rim, though, all he could think about was how those lips would look on him. If he didn’t have such great self-control, he would have been hard with the thought.

For fuck’s sake.

He cleared his throat. “Good morning, Scottie.”

Startled, her eyes jerked up to his from her sitting position. She dropped the cup from her lips and sat it on the desk, then swallowed, making Konrad really have to get control of himself, and said, “Good morning, Konrad.”

His gaze fell to her simple black flats as she sat crossed-legged, her toes pointed to him. She’d worn a pair of cropped trousers and a striped shirt. Very French. Finally, an outfit he liked, not including the black skirt he hadn’t been able to stop musing about. Legs like hers should be shown often. Daily. Nightly… My God.

“I’m glad you’re wearing flat shoes today.” His eyes lingered over her ankles too long. Scottie surely noticed. “I’m taking you on a road trip. Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?”

Her cheeks flushed. “Where are we going?”

“To visit the infamous EaDo property.”

She hesitated. “Who else is going?”

A slow smile pulled his lips. “Just us.”

Gulping hard, she asked, “Just us?”

“You’re not scared, are you?” He should not have asked that. A-Plus Temporaries would cancel their contract if they knew how unprofessional he’d been with her since she’d stepped foot in his office. She liked it though. Had to. If not, she’d be gone on her own accord.

Scottie frowned with indignation. “No.”

“Excellent.” He spun on his heels toward his office, gratified to see her still watching him in the reflection of his glass door. Over his shoulder, he said, “Be ready in fifteen, yeah?”

Not waiting for a response, he entered his office and let the lock catch before he exhaled. He sat at his desk, musing about how damned lucky his Harvard mug was.

The feeling didn’t last long enough. The ring of his cell phone quelled the lightness he felt about taking Scottie out of the office alone. Tamsin’s face flashed on the screen. Didn’t the blow-off flowers say it all? Then again, he needed to remember who he was dealing with, although he just wanted to forget. Impossible, though. She wasn’t going to let it go, and he needed to face her. And his actions.

He groaned, letting it ring three times before he answered. “Tamsin.” He stood and walked to the picturesque window. Staring out, he waited for her hard breathing to turn into words.

“I don’t appreciate the kiss-off, Konrad.” She was irate and ready for a fight. Another one.

He drew in a long sigh. “You’re right. It was a kiss-off.”

Pausing for a moment, he could hear her surprise. “So you admit it then?”

God, she was such a lawyer. When had he not been on trial with her? “Guilty.”

Another few beats passed. “I’m willing to overlook this and figure out an arrangement we both agree on.”

He groaned inside. Everything was up for interpretation to her. But the truth was, she simply didn’t take rejection well. Unfortunately, that wasn’t open to interpretation. Their ending was inevitable. It baffled Konrad that she didn’t see it coming. Nonetheless, he had to be delicate. He had to make her see she didn’t really want him. She wanted the power to be the ender, not the endee. That was her game.

“I see other women, Tamsin. I date women regularly. I said this to you when we first got together.”

“You mean when we first fucked at your mate’s hotel?” she said, practically choking on her question.

“Let’s not make this obscene, Tammy.” He raked a hand through his hair, remembering that night he met her at the Mariposa bar at Halman Hotel. “I want to be honest with you.”

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