Page 43 of Hot to Trot

This was a test he had to pass.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

TWO DAYS LATER, Scarlet pushed through the glass door of the police station, relieved no reporters lurked outside. Seemed as though her stint as news item of the week was over. They were on to drunken heiresses who had a botched face-lift and a child actor who just got out of rehab only to wreck their expensive ride while driving under the influence.

"Hey, Scarlet," Roz called from her desk behind the faux-wood front counter. "How are things at Phoenix?"

Scarlet shrugged. Not good. But she didn't want to admit she'd utterly failed to engage the guys' interest in acting. They were way more interested in the way her butt filled out her tight black pants. Very different from her Jewish matriarchs. Tomorrow night, she would wear a gunnysack. "Fine. Just taking some getting used to."

"That bunch has been there for only about two weeks. Sometimes they need a sort of decompressin' time before they open up. Or that's what Trudy Cox says. She teaches GED there. You met Trudy yet?"

"Not yet."

Roz opened her mouth, but Adam interrupted her. "Scarlet, come into my office and we'll talk."

He turned into his office like a dictator. Guess she'd play the part of obedient subject. She was, after all, under his authority... which pissed her off. She shouldn't have to toe the line for any man.

"Coming, dear," she called, giving Roz a wink before heading toward Adam's office.

Roz chuckled.

"Close the door." He didn't bother to shift his gaze from the computer screen. He seemed grumpy, which should have made him less appealing. It didn't.

She nudged the door closed with her foot and settled onto one of the standard-issue office chairs in front of the shiny teak desk. "You sure that's a good idea?"

He gave her his attention. "Why not?"

She arched an eyebrow.

"Good God, I'm not going to rip your clothes off, throw you over my desk, and have wild sex with you."

She didn't say anything more, mostly because the scenario he'd painted made her pulse race. Desire snaked low in her tummy, uncurling and spreading its warmth. She shifted on the chair. “Unlucky me.”

He shot her a withering look. “Not going to happen, Miss Rose.”

Her desire fell apart and disappeared. Instead a little dart speared her heart. Didn't he want her anymore? Of course, they'd agreed to not doing any sort of sexual hokey pokey, but to be so cold to her hurt.

"Tell me about yesterday." He resumed his preoccupation with the computer, moving the mouse, clicking and scrolling. His eyes narrowed in concentration.

Something about his dismissal annoyed Scarlet."Well, after I passed out joints to get us in the zone, we took turns acting out scenes from our favorite porno flicks. Then after we all got off, I left. They loved it. I must commend the judge on finding such afulfillingcommunity-service project for me."

No response. Not a flicker in his eyes or a jerking of his chin. Oh, he was a cool customer.

"Maybe I should give the class a whirl. Sounds... educational and... stimulating."

Scarlet shrugged. “Hey, I’m a sure thing."

Adam slid the keyboard beneath the desk, pushed his chair back, and gave her his full regard."Okay, so really, how did everything go?"

"Badly." She crossed her arms as she crossed her legs. Today she wore a strapless denim number by D&G that hit her upper thighs with a cute flounce. She'd paired it with strappy sandals and a cheetah-print scarf at her neck. She'd left her hair down, and the deep red waves brushed her collarbone. It was a hot look. She'd hoped to have Adam with his tongue lolling out.

Obviously it hadn't worked.

"Why?" he asked, folding his hands across his flat abdomen like a principal addressing a student he'd caught cheating.

"Because they couldn't stop staring at my assets long enough to do any of the exercises I wanted them to try. They looked at me blankly before giving me a once-over and making come-jump on-this expressions. They weren’t interested in acting at all.”

Adam lifted his eyebrows and then his gaze raked her, much like her students had. "Maybe you should wear a sweater or sweatshirt.”

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