Page 13 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

Jared's elbow nudged me. "You good?"

"Yep. All good," I lied.

"Come on, Dee. What's wrong?"

How did Jared, of all people, pick up that something was wrong? Maybe it was the alcohol in me, maybe it was temporary insanity, but I leaned in closer to him and whispered in his ear. "I kind of lied to Mona about the expensing it thing."

Pulling back, I searched his face for his reaction to see his brows shoot up. "What do you mean?"

Leaning in again, I told him how I'd actually paid for everything, that I, uh, had a lot of room on my credit card and wanted to treat my co-workers for once. "And now, I'm worried Veronica will find out and it'll become this whole big kerfuffle."

Jared laughed. "Kerfuffle, huh? That's not good. Well, I happen to know from my billionaire friends that you just met that Echelon Enterprises has taken over this whole place tonight, and they're picking up the tab for everyone in the entire building."

I gasped so loudly that all my co-workers swiveled to look at me. And to my shock, Jared saved me from having to answer their questioning gazes. "Dee just found out that the big bad boss Max Sterling is picking up the tab, so we should order every damn thing on the menu."

There were gasps and exclamations all around, a few people play fighting over the tablet to order more. The volume was turned up on everything, the music, the conversation, the room about ready to burst with excitement.

I didn't know what to think, a huge part of me relieved that my little problem had been so easily solved... solved by Jared. The last thing on earth I wanted was to be beholden to Jared. It made me feel weird, almost guilty for how I'd been treating him. And I hated it.

He nudged me again. "Relax, Dee. Problem solved. And now you don't have to max out your credit card either."

"Thank you," I said, only a little begrudgingly.

"Hey, we should do some karaoke."

"What? No. No way. Never."

"I'll make you a deal."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll do it if you do it."

"Only if you go first," I said, the vodka clearly having an effect on me.

"I'll go first. But you have to promise you'll do it after me."

"Um..."

"Shake on it. You have to promise."

What the hell? Why not? "Okay. Fine."

He held out a hand, and I reluctantly grasped it, expecting his palm to be cold and clammy and annoying, just like the rest of him. But instead, I was shocked by the jolt of warmth that surged through me at his touch, which was both firm and gentle at the same time. The way his hand enveloped mine, the sheer size of him, the strength he seemed to hold back.

My breath caught, and I looked up into his eyes, suddenly aware of the electricity crackling between us. No, no, no. It was purely my imagination. I could never in this lifetime have chemistry with fucking Jared.

The music stopped, and I jerked my hand away. "Your turn," I said quickly.

He smiled at me before he stood up, Mona swooping in to take his empty spot, bouncing up and down on the couch like an excited little kid as Jared took the stage.

A familiar riff rang out, and I groaned. God, no. Jared was about to sing his favorite INXS song, "Need You Tonight." The music kicked in, and Jared strutted to the mic with the swagger of someone who had clearly practiced this in the mirror far too many times, making me groan again.

This was torture. Jared just lived to torture me.

He started to sing, his voice surprisingly smooth and sultry, drawing the attention of every single person in the room. It was impossible to look away as he struck just the right balance between playful goofiness and genuine intensity.

I glanced at Mona beside me who was mesmerized. But she managed to tear her eyes away from Jared—Jared!—for a second to whisper in my ear. "You have to admit he's kind of cute."

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