Page 46 of All That She Needs

"Oh, really?" His grin widened, clearly amused. "Which one?"

I cleared my throat again. "All of them."

"All those two you actually looked at?" he teased, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Three, including the skyline."

"Hmm," he muttered, pinching his chin thoughtfully. "Then you haven't seen the last one I sent. That one was taken when I was gettingreallyfrustrated trying to get your attention."

This devil. He knew exactly what he was doing, playing on my curiosity. And, of course, he knew me well enough to know I wouldn't be able to resist checking it out.

Of course, I was going to check it out—I just needed to figure out how to open his message without that dreaded tick turning into two.

"You can see it now if you want," he suggested, and I knew he was dying to see the look on my face when I saw it.

"Maybe later," I replied, though my heart skipped a beat when he stepped closer, his arm brushing against mine.

"Come on, Asha. Open it," he whispered, his tone teasing, practically daring me.

"No time," I shot back, glancing at the floor numbers as they ticked up. "The elevator will be on our floor in five seconds." Then I mentally counted to five until the doors finally slid open, while Liam chuckled softly at my reaction. Without wasting asecond, I stepped out in a rush, practically sprinting as I called over my shoulder, "Have a nice day!"

Once inside the office, I spotted Dennis already settled behind his desk. I hurried over and blurted, "How do I open a text message without the sender knowing I read it?"

Dennis blinked at me, confused. "Huh?"

"WhatsApp message. How do I open it without the sender seeing I've read it?" I repeated, feeling my patience thinning.

"I heard it can be done, but I have no clue how," he replied, looking a bit lost. "Why do you need it?"

I huffed, frustrated that he didn't have the answer. Dennis was supposed to be the tech-savvy one. "Never mind."

Stomping away to my office, I sat down behind my desk and stared at my phone, lying there so innocently. I stared and stared, until finally, curiosity got the best of me. I picked up the phone, my fingers hovering over the screen, before I finally pressed the app button. I scrolled through the messages, quickly finding his name among the clutter. Twelve unread messages stared back at me, but I impatiently scrolled directly to the last one, ignoring the rest.

As I read it, my heart pounded. There it was: a selfie of Liam, from his neck down to his thighs, lying on the bed. He wasnotwearing any clothes. Bare-chested, his muscles and tattoos were on full display, with a pillow strategically covering his most private part. My cheeks burned, and suddenly, the room felt suffocatingly hot. I couldn't tear my eyes away, unashamedly gorging on the visual feast in front of me. Was it even legal to look that good?

Okay, Asha, calm the fuck down.

Then my phone rang. I jumped, dropping it from my hand. It hit the desk with a loud thud. Liam was calling me.Oh, crap.My brain was still doing backflips over that selfie, and my hands shook as I picked it up again and fumbled with the phone. In my panic, I accidentally pressed the reject button.

Five seconds later, a text arrived.

"I bet you're blushing prettily right now." From how fast he responded, I could picture him sitting there, phone in hand, waiting for the moment I'd open his message."Can I come over and see you?"

I huffed, rolling my eyes. If there were a championship for stubbornness, Liam would win gold.

"I'm busy,"I typed back."I have a meeting in five minutes."

"I only need thirty seconds,"he bargained. I couldn't help but smile—he was persistent and, annoyingly, adorable. And hot. My eyes drifted back to the picture, as if I still hadn't had my fill. So, so hot.

I fanned myself.

"Can't. Need to prepare for my presentation. Big meeting."

"Please?" He replied.

"Nope." I replied.

"Ashaaaaa..."He typed."You're killing me."

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