Page 85 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"Yeah. Sure. Of course."

"And in the meantime, you can turn the lights on and make sure everything in here is still in order."

"Damn, boss. Okay."

Somehow in the dark, I managed to give her a good smack on the ass, making her giggle as she left, letting in some light as she opened the door, giving me just a glimpse of the smile on her face and those lips—those lips—that had just been wrapped around my cock.

Holy shit. For as long as I lived, I would never forget this moment. Never.

Twenty-One

Annalise

It was strange how quickly my Cordelia alter ego had become the authentic me while my real self, Annalise Stratton, was just someone I now playacted around my parents or out in society. The wig played a big part in that, but an even bigger part... was Jared.

Somehow I was more myself around that man than anyone else in my life, past or present, including my own sisters. I had no idea how that had happened. But it had. I'd done something today with him that I never dreamed of doing at work before.

Smiling, I remembered the noise he'd made, kind of a gasping sound, when I'd first taken him into my mouth, and then the guttural groan that he'd tried to stifle as he came, the way he'd held onto me, not in a demanding way, but like he needed me to help him stand up.

It'd been more than hot and sexy, which I hadn't expected. Not for the first time, I realized I was falling for my formerly beyond-obnoxious co-worker. How it'd happened, I had no idea.

Maybe it was the fact that he made me laugh. Or the fact that he didn't judge me, that he seemed to like me for exactly who I was around him.

"I agree. They're pretty cute when they're like this," Astrid said from my right.

"Hmm? What?"

She tilted her head at me. "The way you're smiling right now. I thought we were on the same page."

"Same page?" I blinked, coming back to reality.

Astrid grinned, her eyes flicking toward our parents who were standing at the front of the room. "Mom and Dad. They're adorable tonight. You seemed to be smiling at them."

I glanced at the happy couple, realizing I'd been lost in my own thoughts abouthim, not my parents. But it was easier to let her think that than try to explain my little crush on Jared.

"Oh, yeah. They are pretty cute," I said, shifting in my chair as I tried to refocus my attention on my parents who were now holding hands.

"Thirty-five years," Mom said, beaming as she looked out over her kingdom of impeccably dressed guests, all sipping champagne flutes under the chandeliers of the Astoria Club. "I've planned hundreds of parties, and they're all special. But this one is extra special. Because it's ours."

Soft laughter rolled through the room, and she continued, "Most people say the secret to a long, happy marriage is compromise. But personally, I find it definitely helps to have a lawyer on speed dial."

Dad smiled, laying on the charm with his trademark grin that could both win over a jury and a room full of Upper East Siders. Taking the mic from my mom, he adjusted his tie like he was about to deliver closing arguments.

"What can I say?" he said. "Thirty-five years with the most beautiful woman in all of New York, and I'm still pleading my case every day."

Oh, jeez. This anniversary celebration was cheesy as hell.

The room erupted in applause while my mom rolled her eyes and playfully patted his arm. "Oh, please. We both know I'm the one who wins all the arguments."

Dad laughed, looking at her with a tenderness that suddenly made the whole room feel smaller and more intimate. "You do," he said softly. "But truthfully, I'd gladly lose every battle if it means I get to keep winning at life with you."

A collective 'aww' rang out from the room as I groaned, Aria joining in from my other side.

"This is torture," she whispered beside me. "Why do we have to endure one of these parties every five years?"

Releasing a heavy sigh, I glanced at her and then Ethan, who was sitting on her other side, and I shook my head at them both. "I have no fucking idea."

Once they finished, they came and sat down at our family table which had recently expanded to six with the addition of Ethan. And then we did the happy family thing, all of us laughing and talking, doing the society routine that was expected of us.

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