Page 91 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

The clock kept ticking, and still no Jared—or Max—making me wonder if he'd show at all today. Maybe he'd gone back to his real office, deciding he'd had enough of kicking it with all the little worker bees.

Trying my best to actually work, I put my head down and attempted to answer an email. And that's when he finally deigned to grace us with his presence.

With a knowing smirk on his face, he strode in carrying several big boxes of donuts, everyone rushing to help him unload, gasping and oohing and aahing over his generosity.

I gave him a hard eye-roll because it was almost like he'd known that I'd found out, and this was his attempt at buttering me up, buttering the whole office up maybe.

"Hey,Dee," he said, emphasizing my name for some reason. He handed me a small bag while giving me a cheesy wink. "Sorry I'm late. But I had important business to attend to."

"I think you were running late anyway, so you stopped to get donuts on the way as a cover."

"Wow, you really think I would do something like that?"

"I know you would."

"Just look in the bag,Cordelia."

With a huffy sigh, I did as he asked, and I found my favorite kind of donut in there, pink frosting with sprinkles.

"There are two of them, just for you," Jared, er, Max, said. "Hope you enjoy,Cordelia."

"Thank you, I guess,Jared."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Why so sassy today,Cordelia?"

"I'm not sassy. And why do you keep saying my name like that?"

"Like what?" he said innocently.

"Emphasizing it."

He compressed his lips together, and we ended up in a strange staring contest, the sounds of conversations fading behind us. I could see he had something on his mind, something he wanted to say. Which was so odd.

Iwas the one with something huge to say. Not him.

Scooting his chair closer, we were knee to knee, and I took a moment to examine his face, his features, those same features I'd been falling for before I knew his real persona.

And sure enough, they matched up with Max Sterling.

In the middle of the night, I'd brought up photos of them both and compared them, but it wasn't the same as doing it in person, up close, and in the flesh.

"I know who you are," I hissed.

It was almost like my words were a slap to his face, the way he reacted with a flinch. He blinked a few times, most likely in shock by what I'd said, and this just further cemented my case. Because if he'd reacted with confusion, like he had no idea what I was talking about, that would have shown his innocence.

But instead, he knew exactly what I meant.

He recovered quickly, though. I'd give him that. One didn't become as successful as Max Sterling without being able to think on their feet.

Leaning in closer, he caged me in with his hands on my armrests. "Oh, yeah? Well, I know whoyouare."

Talk about a punch to the stomach. Not that I'd ever been hit in my life. But this had to be what it felt like.

Never in a million years would I have guessed that anyone would figure out who I really was, let alone Jared/Max.

"I have no idea what you're even talking about," I managed to say.

Coming in breathtakingly close, he whispered near my ear, "Cut the act,Annalise."

---