Page 44 of Blackmailing the Bad Girl

Chapter Eleven

Four weeks into the friendship thing, Nik had come to the conclusion that he was his own worst enemy. What the hell had he been thinking? He didn’t want to be friends with Summer. He wanted to take her to bed and make love to her until he forgot everything. Forgot who she was, what she’d done…

Other women were out of the question. He just wasn’t interested. He couldn’t imagine kissing another woman, let alone taking one to his bed.

He’d only survived this long by staying out of her way. Once he’d realized just how hard the friend thing was going to be—unfortunately, not as hard as his dick—about half an hour after he’d made the suggestion, he’d reorganized his schedule. And he’d managed to find a whole lot of meetings he had to attend in person, in other countries. So he’d spent most of that time away from the office, just popping back now and then to make sure she was okay, that she didn’t have any of those problems he’d told her to talk to him about.

He’d had to come back now, though. It was his mother’s birthday tomorrow and there was a gala at the Ritz. And he couldn’t not attend, though he hated big parties. His mother was not taking this birthday well.

A knock sounded at his door, and a moment later, Summer popped her head around. “Do you have a moment?”

“Of course.” Or an hour or three, if she was willing to spend them in his bed, wrapped around him, with his dick deep—

“Nik?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking about…business.”

She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

Hell, they didn’t need to go to his bed. They could do it right here, in his chair. He’d been having this recurring fantasy, ever since he came across her that day, spinning.

She looked relaxed, almost happy. She’d put on weight and her skin and hair glowed. And she’d also bought some new clothes, simple ones that suited her. Today she wore a black pencil skirt that hugged her hips and finished just above the knees and a blue silk tank top that matched her eyes and skimmed her breasts.

She was fucking beautiful, and she was his goddamned friend.

Though now that he looked closely, she did have a frown on her face. She rubbed at the little line between her brows. Then she licked her lips, and heat shot to his groin. “There’s something different about you,” she said.

“Is there?”

“It’s your clothes. You’ve stopped wearing jeans to work.”

He couldn’t face wearing a suit and tie, but he was now within the dress code provided by his HR department. Dark gray pants and a white shirt. He’d even tucked the shirt in. “I thought I’d better start abiding by my own rules.”

She smiled, and something twisted inside him. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”

“Is that what you came in to see me about?”

“No.” She shifted from foot to foot, a sure sign she was uncertain about whatever it was she had to say. Curious, he kept his mouth shut and waited.

“You know you said I could come see you…if I had a problem?”

“You have a problem?”

“Sort of. And you might be able to help me with it.”

“Go ahead.” She sounded definitely shifty. Was she going to ask him to break the law? Receive stolen goods?

“I have this friend. Hey, don’t look so surprised, I do have friends. Anyway, Danny is my oldest friend. I’ve known him since we were kids.”

Was this the man she’d been with the second night she was out of prison? When he’d done his stalking thing? He wanted to ask, but didn’t want to give away the fact that he’d been there that night. She might think it was a little…creepy. Hell, itwascreepy.

“And…?” he prompted when she went quiet.

“He has this girlfriend.”

That was good. He just stopped himself from smiling.

“He really likes her. Plus, they’re doing this…work thing together and he can’t afford to break up with her. It will mess everything up.”

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