Page 16 of My Office Rival

“I can handle it,” I scoffed. “You think a little nudity is going to throw me off? Think again.” I smiled coolly. His eyes sparked.Oh no.

“Noted,” he said with a grin. “Regardless. No one can know we’re staying here together. I’m not risking it.”

Damn, he was persistent.“You’re such a goody two shoes. Not to mention paranoid,” I replied. No one was ever going to find out we were staying together. His face tightened.

“Write. It.” His eyes were hot on mine. I’d been subjected to this same treatment by him on our last deal. I had muted the conference call and screamed into a pillow. Jason Elliott was ruthless and single-minded.

“Fine.” I scribbled it out and tossed the paper back down. “But rule number two is that I need privacy, and that includes for my documents and my phone calls. You could walk in on me at any time.”

He tapped a finger on the table, considering me. “You’d have your own room,” he said. “Though we’d have to share a bathroom. I think there’s a desk in your room. And a working lock.” He raised a brow. “Is that good enough for you, princess?”

“Lucky me.” This whole house was supposed to be mine. I imagined strangling him where he sat.

“And the company isn’t bad.” He gave me a half smile. I narrowed my eyes.Is he flirting? No, thanks. We were rivals, and I didn’t trust his smiles. As soon as I let my guard down, he would pounce.

“Just promise you won’t come into my room without permission,” I said.

There was a zing in the air as I said the word permission. Hunger flashed through his eyes and then disappeared. I shivered. Wow.Being the sole focus of his attention was…hot.Now is so not the time, brain. Keep it in your pants. Like really, really deep in your pants. Oh no, deep. Like Jason had been last night. Help.

But all he did was nod and scribble the rule down on paper.

“I have shower priority,” he said.

“Absolutely not.”

“I was here first.”

“Going to need to do better than that, counselor. Repeating points is the sign of a weak negotiator.” I grinned at him, and his lips quirked.

“Okay, I’ll shower at seven a.m., and you can have it from eight a.m. onwards. Deal?”

I nodded. That gave me forty-five minutes, and hopefully I would never see him naked.

He looked up from the paper. “Anything else you want to add? Should I check in with you before I use the bathroom?”

“Very funny.” I struggled to think of something else to add. I wanted this man firmly in a box. But I was so tired and so sick of sparring with him. I just wanted to crawl into bed and forget about everything for a few hours.

“No sex.” The words came out of nowhere, and I jerked my head up.

“Sorry, what did you say?” I asked.

“I said we can’t have sex.” He repeated the words slowly.

My face flamed. “Uh, don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on it. We are very much on the same page.”

His tongue ran across his lower lip, and my gut tightened. My brain knew I could never be naked with him again, but my body clamored for a second round.

“Good. Because I was worried.”

“About what?” I let out a small laugh. “Did you think I’d jump you? I have some self-restraint.”I didn’t. Not really. Or I wouldn’t have slept with him in the first place.

“Then it should be no problem.” He shot back. His jaw was tight. He looked almost offended.Well, you started it.

“No, no problem at all.” I held his gaze for a second, trying to see the man I’d seen flashes of last night and tonight. The man who had smiled at me, who had let me come inside. Nothing. This was the real Jason Elliott. The guy who made a game of demanding documents at eleven p.m. Cold through and through.

I shook my head and wrote it down.

“Rule Number 4: No sex.”

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