Page 26 of Playing Flirty

“Hey, babe.” Patrick slipped an arm around my waist, which was out of character.

I leaned into it and wiggled, trying to get comfortable, but I couldn’t seem to find the right fit. Instead, I pulled him to the couch and turned to Shaun and Neema. “So, wedding arrangements. Did you really need my help?”

Shaun pressed his lips together. “No, but I sensed you needed mine.”

I huffed out a sharp breath.

Shaun clenched his jaw until his expression resembled his brother’s. “Rose and I need to knock out a report before we getstarted. It shouldn’t take too long. I started it at work already.” He opened his laptop and patted the seat beside him. “Markham wanted her to stay late… with him.”

I resisted a shudder at the mention of Markham’s name. “To meet a deadline. Which is normal, I think.” I scooched next to Shaun and read through his draft.

Shaun grumbled. “You should report him.”

“For wanting to work with his employee?”

“It’s the way he looks at you when he requests it.”

“He’s… It’s nothing…” I left the sentence hanging, unable to think about Markham for too long. I’d become so good at avoiding him at work that I managed to avoid him in my thoughts too. I tried shrugging it off, but my heart raced with discomfort. “He’s my boss. What am I supposed to do?”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” Neema said.

Patrick inhaled a breath through gritted teeth. “Has he touched you?”

I shook my head.

“Any weird texts or emails?”

I shook my head again and bit at my cuticle as my anxiety grew.

“So, he just… looks at you?” Patrick’s jaw relaxed. Before I could nod, he continued, “Well, babe, if I were you, I’d let it go. He hasn’t done anything wrong, has he? Not anything you can prove. You’ll look bad.”

I nodded. Perhaps Patrick was right… but my sinking stomach said otherwise.

William spun around, his right hand still clenched around his mouse and his face filled with harsh lines. “She’ll look bad? You’re worried she’ll look bad instead of worrying about her well-being or whether she’s comfortable or happy?”

Even in our heated rivalry, I’d never been on the receiving end of that heavy tone. I lifted my gaze to meet William’s. His eyes were as dark as the night.

“The industry is small. Building her career is part of her well-being.” Patrick side-eyed William for the briefest of seconds and then turned to me. “Use them to gain experience and then leave. It would be a different story if he’d actually done something. My dad knows him from golf. He’s married with two kids.”

A low sound came from the back of William’s throat, which, against my will, caused something inside me to flutter. And then his gaze met mine, hard and determined.

Whatever had fluttered inside me full-on started flying.

“If I were you, I’d—” He paused and blew out an angry breath before mumbling, “Pathetic.”

Beside me, Patrick stiffened, and his face turned a mottled purple. Placing a hand on his arm to mollify him, I sucked in a deep breath and ignored the way my entire body seemed to hum. I wasn’t sure whether William was talking about Mr. Markham or Patrick, and I was even more unsure about what was going on here as a strange tension settled between the two men. If I let it linger any longer, I’d suffocate under its weight.

“Like I said, it’s nothing. How about we get started?” I turned to Shaun and widened my eyes. “I’m sure we can finish this report later.”

Understanding my expression, he nodded. “Yeah. It’s almost done anyway.”

Neema must have picked up on the tension too because she jumped into action and started setting up Dungeons & Dragons, her favorite game. It was, by far, the thing about her that shocked people most.

Oh, you were a lingerie model?Makes sense.

You were the guitarist in a band?Totally believable.

You fell asleep in Turkey and woke up in Greece, and you have no idea how it happened?Still completely believable.

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