Page 15 of Crush

I pushed to my feet and jammed my hands onto my hips, shoving out my chest. I refused to let him intimidate me as I knew I looked nice. I had been doing office-based stuff and so had dressed appropriately, having googled it a few weeks ago. If he’d told me I would be on site, I could have come prepared. I had a walk-in wardrobe and therefore an outfit for any occasion.

I managed to keep my tone light. “OK so for site work, we’re talking about boots, jeans, and a sweater? Isthatwhat you imagine me wearing?”

A thoughtful expression crossed his face but the context of it was hard to read. I watched as a slow smile tugged at his lips. “You don’t want to knowwhatI imagine you wearing, Amber.”

The way he said that sentence was pure sin and before I could reply, my nipples tightened in my bra. My body’s reaction wasnotwelcome, how could I be so turned on by words alone?

Max had managed to fluster me and my mouth parted but my tongue felt like lead. Maybe it was smarter not to respond to that.

The space between us suddenly felt sexually charged and he must have felt that too, I could see that flicker of desire in the amber pools of his eyes. I hated how the prospect of his words suddenly fired me up so much.

He eventually recovered, his expression switching again to that of the boss, “As I said, I want that report by Sunday at the latest and make it good. I need to give Jonny an update on your progress. Wouldn’t want Daddy to cut you out of your trust fund for being a disappointment, would we?” he drawled beforeturning away and striding towards the door. I felt like saying ‘That’s Lord Swift to you’ but held my tongue. My father thought the sun shone out of Max’s backside for some reason.

I flipped him off behind his back but at the sound of my iPhone ringing, he turned with raised eyebrows, catching me. Shit.

Quickly withdrawing my finger, I ignored the call, and leaned over my desk, pretending to read something on my screen.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Max questioned with a semi-amused expression.

Shooting him my starchiest look, I replied, “No. I’m working.”

Max nodded his head with a hint of a smile, “It’s about time.” For once I didn’t detect any sarcasm. After one last look, he turned and left.

I plopped down on the chair behind me feeling hot all over. I needed to have words with my body. She needed to be let out of her cage, but Max Hunter was and never would be the one to free that side of me. After that first day of meeting him and the unwanted emotions I’d felt at his nearness, I knew I would have to keep him at arm's length.

So, I would be my best bitch and annoy the hell out of him. An angry man would mean loss of control and therefore easier to manipulate or fight. I had learnt that from the best of teachers.

One day I would get the better of Max Hunter and I would milk the hell out of it.

Three

Max

At last, Wednesday was approaching its end. After spending part of the afternoon kissing Roger Beresford’s arse, I was in the mood for a drink.

Upon entering the restaurant, I was hit by a hum of excited conversation and jazz music. It was busy, but the minute I arrived, I saw Gabriel propping up the bar. He looked his usual dapper self in Hugo Boss.

“Why the suit? You expecting company or is this for my benefit?” I asked as I joined him. Most people were there to eat, but my best friend and I met there mid-week regularly to shoot the shit. It was a tradition of ours.

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at me. “I had an interview today,” he explained, knocking back his whisky. He then called the barmaid over with a curl of his fingers.

Gabe, as he preferred to be called, was finishing his last exams before becoming a blood-sucking lawyer. He was the brightest of all our friends and had all the personality traits to enter the legal profession. In addition to intelligence, he was shrewd, stubborn, andextremelythick-skinned. It wasimpossibleto offend him and believe me, we’d all tried. He did have a temper but it took persistence to make him lose it; something I excelled at.

As Gabe turned back to face me, he cocked a brow as I dealt him a shit-eating grin. “So, you didn’t scrub up for the elusive Leonie then?”

Leonie was a friend of Gabe’s younger brother Asher. She had recently started to rent a room in their apartment. As a ‘favour’ so I’d been told. I thought that excuse rich all things being considered. If there was one thing Gabe didn’t do, it was favours. Not unless it was a two-way street. He had helped to initially speed up the alcohol license for the bar Beresford was trying to shit on. A returned ‘favour’ for my assistance at the planning office when Gabe turned the basement in his apartment building into a gym. One of many buildings in London owned by the Knight family.

Leonie or Leo as Asher called her had arrived on our regular guys' night when we’d been at Gabe’s to watch the footy. All our friends had banged on about her for days afterwards. I’d been indisposed when she’d arrived, sharing a golden moment with a joint in Gabriel’s bathroom. Something that was disallowed by my pristine, health freak of a friend. When I’d finished my smoke, she’d been in her room and hadn’t come out again that night, much to my annoyance.

“Adam says she has an arse like the North Star,” I added to see his reaction.

His brow creased, “What the fuck doesthatmean?”

“Wise men want to follow it,” I replied with a toothy grin.

He rolled his eyes at my crap joke. I knew he fancied the shit out of her, that’s why he’d cockblocked all his friends saying she was off limits. It wasn’t like him to be territorial over a girl, so Leonie must have been special.

Gabe adored women the way I did, horizontally. Feelings rarely made an appearance. And I wasn’t being a dick stating that fact. Any woman I hooked up with knew the score and were usually on the same page. If not, I respected their decision and walked away. Gabe was the same. It was just about sex. There wasneverany deceit toward who we got involved with, the arrangement was mutual with the terms agreed upon upfront. Ihatedliars, especially ones who manipulated women into bed with fake romantic attempts and empty promises.

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