Page 20 of Fiancé for Hire

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Edward was saying.

“Why? I think we’ve said all we need to say to each other,” Antika whisper-shouted. “I’d be totally fine with never talking to you again.”

“I wanted to wish you luck with your new man,” he said, then chuckled. “I’m sure whatever’s going on between you two won’t last long. I’ll admit that you clean up nicely, but I’m sure he’ll lose interest like I did.”

Her assistant growled under her breath, sounding like Drevon felt, but then she must’ve remembered he was standing behind her.

“Um…maybe I should have you wait for Antika in her office,” she said quietly, pointing behind him.

“Actually, this is fine.” Drevon moved past the petite woman and walked into the staff lounge like he owned the place. All conversation stopped, and two sets of eyes turned to him.

Antika’s eyes widened. “Drevon? What are you doing here?” she asked, her gaze bouncing from him to the basket that he was holding and back to his face again.

“He wanted to surprise you,” Megan hurried to say. “Isn’t this wonderful?”

Drevon was so busy eyeing the guy who was standing too close to Antika that he hadn’t even realized that Megan had followed him into the room.

“Hey, baby,” Drevon finally said, and stepped to Antika.

Holding the basket in one hand, he slipped his other around her waist. He pulled her closer and boldly placed a lingering kiss on her glossy lips. What he hadn’t expected was the powerful, charged energy that shot through him at their connection, but he tried not to react.

He eased his mouth from hers just as she slowly opened her eyes, a dreamy look gleaming in her dark orbs.

“Hi,” she said sweetly, and Drevon couldn’t help but chuckle. The way she was looking up at him—as if he hung the sun and the moon—had him sticking his chest out. With just a smile and a greeting, she had managed to make him feel like a king.

“Hold up. Your new guy is Drevon Ross…the model?” the man that Drevon assumed to be Edward said.

“And you are?” Drevon asked with as much disgust in his tone as he could muster.

The guy had the nerve to grin and hurried around the table with his hand out. “I’m Edward. I’m Antika’s…” he stopped abruptly, and lowered his hand when he realized Drevon had no intention of shaking it. “I’m one of the district managers here. Nice to meet you.”

Instead of responding, Drevon turned his attention to Antika. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No, no. I’m glad you’re here,” she said quickly, then smiled and pointed to the bouquet of cookies. “Are those for me?” she asked.

“They are.” He set the basket on the table closest to them. There were three round tables in the space, a small kitchenette, and a striped sofa at the far end of the room.

“I can’t believe you brought that many cookies here,” Antika said on a laugh.

“I know how much you like them and figured you’d want to share with some of your coworkers.”

He had purchased the largest bouquet the bakery had, and it held thirty large cookies in different shapes and flavors. The happiness he saw on her face made him want to buy a damn cookie factory. Her beautiful smile lit up the room, and Drevon loved that he was the one who put it on her face.

To think that all it took was a visit from him and a ton of cookies to make her happy. He’d clearly been dating the wrong women. Normally, it would take an overseas vacation or at least some jewelry to impress the women in his past.

“You guys dig in,” Antika said to the small crowd gathered near the door and grabbed small plates and napkins from a nearby cabinet.

Drevon hadn’t seen the others arrive. They piled into the room, most dressed in business attire, while a few college-age students were more casually dressed. Everyone talked at once, and a couple of people asked to get a photo with him. He obliged and hoped that his presence there today would earn Antika some brownie points with her team and coworkers.

People grabbed a cookie, thanked Antika for the treat and then left, but a handful hung around chatting.

As he posed for a photo with two young ladies, he heard Edward talking and laughing. But then he heard him mutter in a hushed tone, “There’s no way I’ll believe that she’s dating this guy.”

Drevon stiffened and anger simmered below the surface. He didn’t look up to see who Edward was talking to. Instead, he glanced at Antika. She glanced at him, but quickly turned away, not before he saw the hurt in her eyes. She must have heard her loser ex-boyfriend, and that only pissed Drevon off more.

He moved toward Edward. “What did you just say?” he asked, a lethal tone in his question.

How the hell was this guy a manager? He clearly lacked common sense if he had the audacity to say something like that to the guy standing next to him. Especially with Antika in earshot. Granted, he had whispered the words, but if Drevon and Antika heard him, other people did too.

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