Page 34 of Addiction

“So what if you have a thing for him? He’s hot, and you’re single. And he seems to be into you as well. What is the problem here?”

There was a list of problems here. Thankfully, Navya was saved from listing them out when her first appointment for theday walked in. The next two hours flew by. Lavina handed her a cup of coffee as soon as the meeting was done. Navya had barely taken a sip when Rehana Haddad walked inside her office, followed by her two assistants. Navya’s eyes popped on seeing her. What in the bloody hell was happening?!

“Navya,habibti, I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Rehana drawled. She air-kissed Navya, leaving a trail of her strong perfume behind.

She opened her mouth to greet the model when Armaan Oshnov coolly sauntered inside her office, the same security guard following him. Everything about her froze for a whole second before various things happened at once. Her belly began to clench and unclench, her heartbeat went into overdrive, and her mind became hyper aware… ofhim.

As usual, her eyes ran away on their own, roaming over him at leisure. Dressed in a beige jacket, white shirt open at the neck and navy trousers, his hair ruffled and that sexy shadow on his jaw, he looked fabulous. Adding to his appeal were the silver designer shades he had on. He removed the sunglasses and pocketed them. His lips curved, and his eyes twinkled as he found her assessing him.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, which didn’t calm her in the least, because the first words that came out of her mouth were, “What in the bloody hell are you doing here?”

Mischief danced on his face. “I brought you another gift,moya tigritsa.” He tipped his head at Rehana.

“Another gift?” Lavina exclaimed. “Oh, so he’s the hot guy you wouldn’t tell me about earlier.”

Navya gave her a deathly glare, but her assistant was too busy ogling Armaan to pay Navya any attention. Lavina was incorrigible. Being happily married with two teenage kids, she was a huge believer in love and marriage, and forced Navya to go out on dates. And now Lavina was looking at Armaan, eyesshining in delight, the wheels of her mushy brain turning and definitely concluding that he was the very man Navya had been waiting for in life.

Armaan moved a step closer to Navya. “You think I’m hot? Nice.”

Ignoring him, she faced Rehana, who was watching Armaan and her closely.

“Hello, Rehana, what a surprise!” Navya splayed her hand in the direction of the small conference room. “Come, why don’t you and your team take a seat inside, and then we can discuss how I can help you? Lavina, please see that all of them are comfortable and offer them some refreshments. I’ll be in soon.”

When Armaan began to follow all the ladies inside, Navya caught his arm, pulled him into her office, and shut her door.

He eyed the open box on her desk. “I see you got my first gift. So, are you willing to train with me?”

“Are you insane? What are you doing in my office?”

“I’m personally delivering my second gift to you. Rehana has agreed to talk to you regarding work.”

Navya’s eyes popped. “Wait, what? She’s agreed to?—”

He ran his eyes over the length of her. “I like your look. Cut out jeans and a baggy white shirt. Oh, and these gold hoops!” He leaned forward and touched her earring. “Very chic,baby.”

Oh God, her head was swimming. His conversation was all over the place.

“I am not yourbaby.” She put both her hands up angrily. “Explain Rehana.”

He rested a hip on her desk, looking extremely comfortable as if it were his office and not hers. “Well, you told me last night that you wanted to work with her, and I made it happen.”

She threw him a glower. “Sure, I also need a silver Ferrari 488 Spider. Can you make that happen too?”

He shrugged. “It can be arranged.”

“Fuck. You’re unbelievable. Can you get serious for one second?” She couldn’t believe how nonchalant he was behaving. Like it was normal for him to take control of her life. She wouldn’t have it. “First, you forced Jacques Namura to invite me, and now you’re forcing Rehana Haddad to work with me. I don’t like this. I’m capable of succeeding on my own without your help.”

“I have contacts everywhere. Why not use them?” he stated plainly.

“My brother has contacts as well. I’ve never used his.”

“That’s plain stupid, then. Everything in this world gets done through the contacts and the relationships you develop. Not making use of them just slows down your career growth and gives others an opportunity to zoom past you.”

“I suppose that is one way to look at it. However, making use ofyourcontacts makes me indebted toyou, and that’s the last thing I want.”

He stared at her for a whole second. The heat in his gaze made her want to shift or squirm. Perhaps do both. But she steeled herself and stared back at him.

“I see how you’d want to avoid that situation, considering you still owe me a night in my bed and haven’t fulfilled that yet.”

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