Page 37 of Enemies with Benefits

And turned around to discover Jasper was fully dressed, too. Hell, he was so immaculately put back together, it was as if he’d had way too much experience at this.

Nope. I most definitely wasn’t going to think about how often he’d done this. I’d never been possessive or jealous about sexual partners in my life. I wasn’t about to start.

‘Are we good?’ he asked, walking towards me.

My head shot up. ‘Of course.’

His gaze raked my face before, nodding, he reached for the control and unlocked the door. ‘Good. I’ll walk you out.’

I tightened my fingers around my briefcase. This was stupid. I should welcome the chance to escape this room, to regroup. Nevertheless, when his hand arrived in the small of my back, I couldn’t help the shiver that coursed through me. I had a long hallway to traverse before I got into the lift; a long hallway where his employees would probably catch a glimpse of my dishevelled state.

‘Are you sure everything’s okay?’ Jasper asked, a frown between his eyebrows.

I started to nod, but then paused.

He leaned down, trailing his lips over my cheek before kissing the corner of my mouth. ‘There’s a quicker way out of the building if you prefer?’

I looked up, hating myself for the relief bursting through me. Then a thought scythed through the feeling. I glared at him. ‘Do you sneak all your lovers through the back door?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve done it in here. I don’t intend it to be the last time though. With you.’

I hated the spurt of excitement that sprang up in my belly. ‘The front door will be just fine.’

He smiled, and again I got the funny feeling that I’d pleased him. Mentally, I shook my head. I really needed to get out of here.

Thankfully, the office floor was less busy. And Jasper in calm, professional mode as he walked me to the lift eased my nerves. About to utter a brisk, professional goodbye, I looked up in surprise when he walked into the lift with me. ‘What are you doing?’

He didn’t answer until the lift doors shut. Then he stepped into my space again, one hand cupping my nape.

‘I need one last kiss,’ he said gruffly. He sealed his mouth to mine, tongue curling round mine in a kiss so possessive, so hot and sexy, my toes curled. All too soon, the lift reached the ground floor and the doors parted. With clear reluctance, Jasper released me. But not before he caressed his knuckles down my cheek.

‘Have a good day, Wren.’ And then, as I shakily stepped out of the lift, he added, ‘I’ll see you back here tonight at six.’

Before I could ask what he was talking about, the doors slid shut.

A little breathless and a whole lot flustered, I stumbled out of his building then paused on the pavement to check the email that had pinged into my inbox. Jasper.

Six hours until your next orgasm. We can use up three of those hours working tonight. Don’t be late.

I tried to summon all the righteous indignation I could think of. But as I hurried to my office, all I could think of was how good he’d felt inside me. How the day was going to absolutely drag until I saw him again. How quickly I could make up the extra three hours I needed.

How much I feared—with addiction stamped into my family’s DNA—that I was already way too obsessed with Jasper Mortimer’s sexual prowess.

CHAPTER SEVEN

THATBRACING,TERRIFYINGthought turned out to be the impetus I needed to block Jasper from my mind for the better part of the morning, despite my phone pinging intermittently with text messages from him. Even the perfectly valid reasoning that answering his texts could be deemed work and therefore contribute towards my six-hour accumulation terrified me a little when my heart leapt at the idea.

Perhaps fate thought it prudent to deliver me from my increasingly frantic Jasper-induced withdrawal symptoms. Because just before midday, when the door to my office swung open, my heart lurched for one giddy moment at the thought that it was him, before plummeting at the sight of the woman framed in the doorway, dressed from head to toe in designer white, complete with radiant pearls.

I couldn’t help but wonder if my mother’s inability to feel affection for me was because she resented me for choosing to earn my living rather than marry into it, as she had.

Stifling the bruising thought, I looked past her to a visibly flustered Alana who mouthedSorrybefore hurriedly closing the door. ‘Mother. Did we have an appointment?’

‘You’re not senile, Wren, you know we don’t. Just as you know the reason I don’t have an appointment for this meeting is because you’ve been avoiding my calls. You’ve left me no choice but to chance this visit. And you know how I feel about impropriety.’

I gritted my teeth, wondered for a wild moment if one of Jasper’s texts had included an invitation for a working lunch. And whether I should’ve accepted it.

No.

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