Page 59 of Boost

His jaw ticked a little as his eyes worked back and forth between mine. “I think I should take over the Donavan account.”

My spine snapped ramrod-straight and I pushed to my feet. “No fucking way. This ismyaccount.”

Christian hadnevertried to override me or redirect an account his way before, and it had me shocked and panting in disbelief. “Why are you undermining me?”

He at least had the sense to look offended. “Babe, I’m not suggesting this toundermineyou, I’m suggesting it because, while Colton is an honest man, I’m questioning the integrity of Ortiz.”

“Are you fuckingkiddingme?” I exclaimed so fiercely Tian recoiled slightly. To say I was pissed, was an understatement. “You’re questioning hisintegrity,yet, you obviously weren’t concerned enough at the gala to stop me from leaving with him!”

Well over a week had passed, and Tian leaving it so long before approaching me with his ‘concerns’ was preposterous.

Despite the anger and frustration, my mind detoured to the memory of Rafael touching me in his car. An involuntary shudder rocked through me, then heat hit my cheeks as Tian’s eyes narrowed.

“I thought you were ducking out for a conversation, but neither of you returned. And what was that?”

“What?” I snapped.

“The shake. You used to do that after-”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Tian, so help me God.” I couldn’t deal with the reminder of whatweused to be rolling right off the back of thinking about Rafael.

Christian huffed and smoothed a hand across his clean-shaven jaw.

I saw the memories in his eyes. Of him and I; the free-spirited, young adults that used each other as friends-with-benefits during college. We mutually came out of our casual relationship with our friendship intact, and built Landon-Michaels PR after seven years of working our asses off but getting nowhere in other firms.

Now, both in our early thirties, our firm's success was thanks to years of commitment and honesty with each other. We meshed well, understood how the other worked, and trusted each other wholeheartedly. That was how we’d survived in this corporate world.

Tian’s little stunt of suggesting we redirect the Boost Foundation account his way was a complete slap to the face. He knew he’d over-stepped—the bashful expression told me so—yet the required apology didn’t come. Instead, he held my glare and didn’t so much as blink when I glared back harder.

“So, what were you thinking about?”

I tucked my chin back. “What? When?”

“When you shook just before.” He chuckled when my body temperature increased and coaxed a glow to my cheeks.

Pursing my lips hard, I ignored him in favor of my laptop screen. “Go away, Tian.”

“So, the foundation?” he pressed.

“No!”Over my dead body! “Why do you want this so bad?”

Was it the attention the high-profile account would bring? Tian had always been an attention-whore, but not to the extent where he’d hit me up for accounts I had personally signed.

He ran a swift tongue over his lower lip and sniffed. “I think you’re getting too close to Ortiz to retain a professional distance.”

My jaw dropped and I balked. I couldn’t fucking deny that I’d broken the client-representative boundaries; having two of Rafael’s fingers inside medefinedcrossing that contractual line, but the hell I would add fuel to Christian’s fire.

“I’m not too close,” I lied.

“I beg to differ, Gree. I saw the way you looked at each other—all sex-eyes and fluttering lashes.”

“Sex-eyes!” I cried. “Tian, you need your prescription checked.”

“I’m just trying to protect you,” he reasoned and braced a palm on my desktop to lean into my space. “I saw what men like him do to a woman like you. I fucking put you back together, babe, and I can’t stand by and watch you get torn down all over again.”

The force I pushed back from my desk sent my office chair rolling into the low bookcase behind me.

“Men like him! I know enough about Rafael to know he isn’t like Bryce. Not at all. You’re just jealous,” I accused, with a stab of my finger.

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