Page 50 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"Oh." He was more observant than I gave him credit for. I took a bite then reached for my purse, grabbing some cash inside. "How much do I owe you?"

For a moment, he looked at the money in my hand, his brows creased, almost like he was confused. "What? Nothing. I, uh, had a gift card."

"A gift card."

"Yeah. A gift card I've been meaning to use."

Looking at the spread, I took in the large amount of food scattered across his desk. "Well, I'm sure it didn't cover it all."

"It was a very big gift card," he said with his mouth full.

"Um, okay, then. Thanks."

"You're very welcome. I figure if we're working late, we need to go about it with full stomachs. Because hangry Dee is..." He paused to shake his head.

"I don't get hangry.Youget hangry."

Tipping his head back, he laughed. Then choked, the coughing loud and annoying, just like everything else he did.

Sighing, I reached for his humongous cup, barely able to grasp it as I handed it to him, my eyes on his still-coughing face. Just as he reached out for the drink, my grip slipped on the wet surface of the cup, the whole thing toppling into his lap in a gigantic splash.

I gasped at the huge mess, Jared's clothes completely soaked, then held my breath at what his reaction might be. Would he be mad? Yell at me for being clumsy?

His coughing subsided immediately, his eyes widening in shock as he reflexively flung the ice cubes away from his crotch area, straight at me unfortunately.

"Hey," I said. "Watch it."

To my surprise, instead of yelling or shouting at me, he laughed, flinging one last ice cube my way. "Well, damn, Dee. I didn't know you wanted to see me wet so badly."

"What? No, I didn't."

"Talk about a chilly wake-up call for the boys."

"Oh, my God. The boys? Seriously?"

Standing up, the clear soda fizzing and dripping off him, he started unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked, eyeing him warily.

"I'm just going to work in the buff while I let these clothes dry."

"Work in the buff?" I squeaked.

He chuckled. "Well, not totally in the buff. I remembered to wear underwear today."

"Um, um..."

"Cat got your tongue, babe? Surely, it's no big deal to have me sitting in my undies next to you, right? Nothing you haven't seen before..."

"Right. Of course. No big deal at all."

"Unless seeing me in all my half-naked glory might be so unbelievably tempting to you, that I'll drive you to distraction, and you won't be able to get any work done because you're too busy drooling over my flawless man chest on display."

God, I hated him. Because I was already having trouble breathing and all he'd done was remove his collared shirt, revealing a wet, skintight undershirt that left nothing to the imagination. Before I could properly catch my breath, that was gone too, and Jared began to unbuckle his belt, something about that sound sending a lightning bolt of desire right between my legs.

Holy shit.

Turning away, belatedly realizing I'd been staring, I tried to ignore him, instead eating more of my food as I told my racing heart and heaving lungs to shut the fuck up.

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