Page 15 of My Office Rival

I had to smile. “Yeah, I was taken aback too. Everything they could make chicken-themed,they did.”

She glanced around the space again before settling herself at the dining room table. She set her phone carefully in the middle. When she looked at me, her eyes were hard and her mouth was set. It seemed that the pleasant small talk was over.“Gerald told me yourteam denied our last request for materials. You’re supposed to be cooperating.”

“Iamcooperating.” I didn’t want to turn those materials over because there was something off in them. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “You’re going to make this more difficult than it needs to be, aren’t you?”

I sat down at the table.Might as well start now.We’d be across from each other every day. In windowless conference rooms, with nothing but time.Fuck. I leaned in and held her gaze. “Just as difficult as it needs to be.”

“Jason. This is a negotiation.” She spoke the words slowly, like I was a small child. “These companies are merging. There are no winners and losers here.”

I barked a laugh. “There are winners and losers in every deal. And when it closes, you know exactly which side you’re on.”

“Your reputation is well-deserved,” she said bitterly.

At her words, my blood ran cold.Reputation? I immediately feared the worst.Pretty boy’s gonna get his ass beat.The shadows of my past reared up, and my heart started to pound. Someone knew. Someone knew about the drugs and my family and the shame of real, true poverty. I kept my face carefully blank.

“Reputation?” My voice came out rough.

“Forget about it.”

My breath sawed in and out, and I tried to deepen it, to calm my racing heart, tamp down the panic that was rising in me.Why is it so critical that no one knows about your past? I pictured my old therapist asking me.Because this isn’t me.I wasn’t those people. I had no tie to them and their cruelty and their circumstances. I wanted nothing to do with that life. I hated them. We didn’t share holidays, we didn’t call, hell, we didn’t even share a last name. I’d seen to that on the day I turned eighteen. Jason Elliott hadn’t existed until that day.Fuck. Cynthia meant something else. She must. But I needed to keep my guard up.No sleeping with her. No hint of impropriety.This job was my ticket to a new life. I wanted to be cleansed in the fires of hard workand money, piles of money. I wanted to belong to this world where wealth whispered. I’d made it here, and I was holding on with both hands.

She flicked me a dirty look. “You drive me insane.”

“I know.” I winked, even though I felt like screaming, and watched her jaw tic.

At least I had firmly established this boundary. Despite our night together, Cynthia was getting the work version of me. I played to win. Soft brown eyes and flaming red hair were not going to sway me from that course.

“What happened to the man I met last night? He was reasonable,” she finally said. Her lips were pursed in annoyance.

“Last night was a mistake,” I replied. It was the truth.Because, now, with her in front of me…it all came roaring back.I had a brief flash of her arching up to me, her soft cries of pleasure, the way she’d felt when I pressed into her.“And if we’re going to room together, we need house rules.”

She leaned back in her chair like she owned the place. “Go ahead, counselor.” Her eyes were hard, challenging. “Hit me with the rules of engagement.”

10

CYNTHIA

Jason dropped a notebook and pad of paper on the table, and sat down across from me, all cool confidence and hard edges. Not like that softer man from last night. He’d been…notniceexactly, but magnetic. I sat back, mirroring his confident pose. He tapped the pen against the table and considered me with a cocked blond brow. Jason was a real piece of work. His laughing eyes, his quick wit, it had all pointed to a man with depths.Guess not. He was just like he appeared on conference calls—a perfectionist hard-ass.

His blond hair waved slightly and his shirt was rolled up at the sleeves. The devil off duty.Lucky me. He uncapped the pen in preparation for whatever bullshit list he was about to give me.

“First, our managing partners and colleagues can never know,” he said. I rolled my eyes at his serious expression.

“Like they would care,” I shot back.

“It’s in the ethical rules. We could be fired for rooming together.”

I almost laughed, but he was utterly serious.Paranoid much?“Then move out,” I replied.

“I can’t.” He leaned over the table, eyes intent on mine. “I booked this house and I’m staying.”

I mirrored his pose. I was not taking shit from this guy. “I am too.”

His nostrils flared slightly. “So we need to make it work,” he said, sounding utterly reasonable and entirely infuriating. “Unless you think you can’t handle being this close to me?” He smirked. “The walls are really thin. And I sleep naked.”

I swallowed hard, and he watched me react, those blue eyes scanning my face.Get it together. He’s just messing with you.I had to start giving as good as I got, or he was going to run roughshod over me.

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