Page 80 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"Jesus. You're not making this any easier, this whole trying to be a gentleman."

"But remember? I don't want you to be a gentleman?"

There was a sudden noise that drew our attention, making my heart stop for a split second as I waited to see if someone might appear on the deck. Jared quickly stepped out of the tub and grabbed my bikini bottoms for me, handing them over. While I shoved them back on—not an easy feat to put on a wet swimsuit—Jared wrapped his towel around himself.

Once I was covered, my heart slowed from its frantic beat. Now, there was no proof that we'd done anything. And thank goodness Jared had reacted so fast, because a second later, Chris opened the door and walked out, heading straight toward us.

"Hey, guys," he said when he neared. "I take it you can't sleep either?"

"Yeah," Jared said. "Insomnia sucks."

"Sure does," I agreed, stifling a fake yawn. "But I'm exhausted now. So I think I'm going to head in."

Without waiting to see what Jared would do, I flung my towel around me and said a quick good night. It was cowardly, for sure, but I needed to get away.

We'd completely lucked out that time had been on our side. If Chris had come out a few minutes earlier, he would have had an eyeful, seeing Jared's head between my legs. Or any later, if I'd had my way, Jared's cock would have been in my mouth.

Damn.

As I went up the stairs, an unexpected thrill shot through me. Living life on the edge was kind of fun. And a mind-blowing orgasm certainly didn't hurt.

Twenty

Max

As I rode the elevator up to work on Tuesday, all I could think about washer. And the absolute certainty that I needed to tell her the truth about who I was and what I was doing at her company. All day yesterday I'd thought about it, during the bus ride back in the morning, staring at Dee's head once again, wishing I could be the one sitting next to her, and then during the rest of the day off for Insight Ink which I'd spent working from home, trying to catch up on Echelon work.

That's why I stopped her from doing anything more in the hot tub. I knew without a doubt she'd be pissed as hell if she found out later that she'd gone down on Max Sterling without me telling her. She'd be mad enough as it is. But that? I'd probably get a knife to the stomach.

Thoughts of Dee consumed me, all night, all day, remembering the feel of her body, the taste of her, the way she'd looked and sounded with my head between her thighs. Fuck. I couldn't think of that right now in a crowded Manhattan elevator.

Finally, I made it to our floor, and I made a beeline to my desk, happy to see Cordelia already seated. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since I'd last seen her, but I'd missed her like crazy. Man, I had it bad.

"You're late," she greeted me as I sat down.

"I am," I admitted with a shrug. "So what are you going to do about it?"

She sent me a look, a stern frown that was fucking hot, but there was a teasing light in her eyes that gave her away. Turning back to her computer, her back ramrod straight, I couldn't help laughing.

This had the potential to be the best time of my life. Never had I even considered hooking up with any woman in the office. It was unprofessional and could only lead to complications. But for this woman next to me, I was willing to take the risk and dive head-first into the unknown. What an unknown it was, though, playing the part of fucking Jared.

Taking my cue from Dee, I got to work, checking my few emails, which were night and day compared to my real email load. Even filtered by my assistant, it was still a monster task to get through everything.

A message popped up on my screen and I leaned forward to read it.

"Thanks for the flowers yesterday. That was really sweet."

Smiling, I quickly wrote her back. "Sweet flowers for a sweet girl."

"I am NOT sweet."

I could feel that all caps word through the screen, and my smile grew even more. She was so much fun to mess with. "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not. You're sweeter than I am."

Was I? And if that was the case, was that a good thing? While I pondered what to say to that, I felt a presence approaching and turned to see Veronica. The way she strode toward us, all business with a deadly serious look on her face, I almost had to remind myself that I was actuallyherboss. Veronica wasfantastic as my employee, but seeing her from this angle was certainly a different perspective.

"How was the retreat?" she asked once she reached us, making Dee whirl around in surprise.

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