Page 22 of Accidental Dad's Best Friend

I bite a smile, though I really want to bite her. She’s not being a very good girl right now.

“And that second room?”

Her eyes drag over to me. “Great for yoga.”

I stare at her. She stares back. Then I imagine her in a downward dog, sweat dripping down her breasts, sans the yoga pants and I have to shift in my seat. Then I take another sip of my coffee and clear my throat.

“Dry mouth, Savage?” Izzy asks as the barista sets her iced coffee flavored dessert down in front of her. Her brow is arched as she unwraps her straw and licks the tip of the whipped cream from her drink.

“Why don’t we just focus, yeah?” I tug my laptop closer to me and Izzy does the same. There’s a small smile playing in the corners of her lips. I want to kiss it off. But I can’t. I won’t. So I lean in and when I do, our knees bump.

Fuck me.

“So before we get started drafting, we need to talk about tactics.” I start in. I need to work, to talk about something boring and even off putting so I stop thinking about her.

“Tactics?” Izzy spits out. “I thought you said you'd read my blog.”

“I have read your blog.”

“Then you know I don’t need your help. Everything you are wanting me to do is my area of expertise. It’s why you’re hiring me isn’t it?”

I sit back, making direct eye contact with her. “I asked you to write this article with me because you know him. Because you’veseen the damage he’s done with his power and I think you would agree with me that he needs to be stopped.”

“But you don’t think I’m a good writer?” Izzy pulls her knee away from mine under the table. But I widen my legs so they’re touching again. She swallows…hard.

“You are a damn good writer, Isabelle.”

“Izzy,” she snaps.

“And I wouldn’t want you for the job if you weren’t. But this isn’t an article bringing awareness to readers of the fashion industry. It isn’t calling out misogyny in the workplace or politics in preschools preventing aid for kids in need of IEPs. Yes, I’ve read all your articles and they are good. Better than good. But this is your father we are talking about. Liam Sloane. Head of NBT and tycoon of the business journalism world. This is a man that goes for blood no matter who he’s cutting in the process. I know this because he prevented me from getting a job at the League. Cock blocked me basically. Blackmail. If he would do that, if he would turn his back on you for what you did at Slay, he’d stop at nothing to hold his position. So we can’t just be good journalists, sweetheart. We have to be smart journalists.”

My words are making Izzy’s lips tight and her knee tapping under the table. I can practically feel her pulse rippling in the air between us.

“Do you still want to do this?” I ask after a moment.

“Yes. But we are going to play by my rules,” she says in a stern whisper.

I let out a singular gritty laugh at that. “Your rules?”

“It will start with you keeping your hands, among other body parts, to yourself.”

Izzy jerks her leg hard enough away from mine that my knee slams into the leg of the table. I bite my lips and wince but there’s a smile behind it too.

“Anything else?” I ask through my teeth.

“It will end with me having final say about what this article will disclose about him. Nobody knows like I do what it’s truly like to live beneath his thumb. And no one knows his weak spots like I do either. If he goes down, it’s going to be because I was holding the sword.”

I open my mouth to say something when Izzy’s phone buzzes. She looks down at it and then stands up, shoving her things in her bag. “I have to go.”

“I thought we were going to work.”

“Something came up.” She slings her bag over her arm and reaches for her drink. When she does, I grab her wrist softly, forcing her to look at me.

“You are acting very secretively considering the favors I am doing you, Isabelle.”

“Then don’t do me any favors, Savage.” She rips herself from my clutch and swipes her coffee off the table. “This is a job. Nothing more.”

With that, Izzy marches out of the coffee shop. I can’t help the part of me that seems to go with her. I also can’t stop wondering what she’s hiding…

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