Page 13 of Enemies with Benefits

‘Before you dramatically hang up on me again, let me remind you that your continued failure to engage with me only brings Bingham’s closer to being in breach of contract.’

‘I’ve read the file. Nothing in there remotely suggests a breach,’ she said tightly, and I got the feeling I’d upset her by that family comment.

Bloody hell.

I tried to get my head back into business mode. ‘May I suggest that you read the paperwork again. Carefully.’

Silence greeted me and I imagined her bristling, those eyes flashing with low-burning anger. I wondered what she’d look like in full blaze. God, it’d be glorious.

‘I graduated university at the top of my class. You know this because you came sniffing around, trying to headhunt me, remember?’

‘I remember you turning me down flat and accepting an internship at a much more inferior company.’ That still grated, but it’d been the first inkling for me that, all these decades later, the Binghams were still as bitter about the fallout between our families. Now I knew the depths of my father’s ruthlessness, I wasn’t surprised. ‘Do you regret that decision?’

‘Not for a single moment. So I can only conclude you’re trying to insult me by insinuating I would’ve missed something as crucial as a break clause in a contract.’

I took a beat to formulate my reply because this was where it got tricky. Saying anything negative against Perry might backfire. And as much as I liked tussling with Wren, the project I’d worked my arse off for needed to be kept on track. ‘No offence intended. But the clause is there, I assure you. I can courier over a copy if you’d like?’

‘Now you’re implying I’m sloppy with paperwork. And blind, too?’

‘You seem hell-bent on taking offence no matter what I say. A meeting will resolve this quickly enough, don’t you think? Even if it’s so you can put me in my place?’

‘Inviting me to prove you wrong won’t work, either. I don’t need my ego stroked.’

It was time to pull out the big guns. ‘I suggest you make time in your schedule. I’m not losing this deal because of some chip you’ve got on your shoulder. I expect to see you in my office tomorrow.’

‘Or what?’

‘Or I’ll have no choice but to make good on my promise. You’re already mired in unwanted publicity. Divorcing yourself from this deal at this late stage is going to bring nothing but unwanted attention to Bingham’s.’

‘Are you threatening me?’

‘I’m laying out the course of action I’ll be forced to take if you remain intransigent. The ball is in your court, sweetheart.’

She hung up.

Despite the two-nil score against me, I wasn’t overly disgruntled. She hadn’t earned her position by being dismissive of a potential lawsuit. Not that it’d come to that. For starters, I wasn’t champing at the bit to becometheMortimer incapable of closing my division’s biggest deal yet. The labels my father had callously and frequently branded into my skin were enough.

No, I was willing to bet my very treasured vintage Aston Martin that Wren would make contact. And if not...

I smiled grimly to myself as I swivelled in my chair to enjoy my multimillion-pound view...

If not, I’d take delight in becoming a very significant pain in her delectable backside.

The break clause wasn’t in the contract.

Jasper’s insinuation that I’d missed something had spurred a wild need to prove him wrong. After a two-hour search, I’d given up and headed home. Nothing in the electronic or paper files showed Perry had agreed to an early break clause. Sure, there were several clauses—all dishearteningly skewed in favour of the Mortimer Group—peppered within the contract but nothing that stated what would happen if Perry changed his mind about proceeding with the Morocco deal. Because he hadn’t planned on it? Like my father, had he gone into this with unshakeable hubris, only to fall?

My heart twisted in dull pain and a little shame for assuming his culpability. He wasn’t here to defend himself. And for all I knew, Jasper had twisted his arm into agreeing to this deal. The man was clever enough.

And not just with his words.

My heart skipped a beat and shame deepened, but for a completely different reason. Our heated verbal exchange had sparked something to life inside me. Something that, hours later, made me feel restless.Needy.I’d been spoiling for an argument. Then ended up spoiling for something totally different. Something to ease the ache between my thighs.

Like his mouth. His fingers.

His cock.

I pressed my fingers into my eyes, hoping to erase the image of him looking far too handsome for my sanity at the party. But the images simply reeled...of him caging me against the maze hedge. Of him on his knees, enthusiastically bringing me to an insane climax. Hell, even watching him suffer with that incredible hard-on had turned me on. God, what the hell was wrong with me?

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