Page 18 of My Office Rival

“Relaxed. That’s you,” I said. His towel brushed against my thighs as he passed me, and I tried to meld my body to the wall.

“I don’t bite, you know,” he said, his voice velvet-soft, and his body way too close. His breath shushed over my cheek, and an unwelcome shiver went through me.

“I wouldn’t let you bite me,” I snapped back.Where the hell had that come from?

“Oh, I think you would,” he replied. And then he was gone. I lay against the wall while he rustled around in his room, and my heart thudded.

He was just messing with me. And it was working.I was weak where he was concerned. My stomach tightened and my body came to attention when he was near.Stupid body.

I finally shut myself into the spacious bathroom and locked the door, then checked the lock. There were two sinks, a modern vanity, a soft rag rug, and a massive shower with a rainfall shower head and abench.Nice. I stripped off my sweaty pajamas and stood under the hot spray. Jason’s products were lined up like soldiers along one wall. I shoved them aside to make space for my own and happily soaped and lathered under the spray, already feeling better.

Maybe I could survive this.

11

JASON

Ihad to be the world’s stupidest man. Lettingherinto this house had been my first error. But my second? It was foolishly baiting her, which made me want her. Which was why I was currently hiding outside, so I had no chance of running into her after her shower.

I was huddled on the porch in all the warm clothes I’d packed and under a lap blanket from the couch, staring out at the endless landscape. I’d forgotten how grim the desolate fields could be under a flat, gray sky. I grimaced and sipped my coffee. This place reminded me too much of Tennessee. I’d been with three foster families during my time there, after my mom had been deemed unfit to care for me, too in love with the rush she got from heroin and later, dirtier street drugs, to take care of a baby. The first two families had been tolerable in comparison to the last. I shuddered slightly.

Don’t think about it.I was theoretically beyond that now, on my way to being richer than sin and independent. Which was why it was incredibly stupid to keep flirting with Cynthia. But damn, those lips, those curves. She was like a lightning rod, pulling me in to her every time we were in the same space. Besides, I could see I was getting toher. She was not a woman who blushed, and she could barely keep her composure in my presence.

That had to count for something. Keep her on her back foot and I could win this deal. She was a fierce negotiator. While I stonewalled, she coaxed. She’d twisted my words before, gotten points out of me that I hadn’t wanted to give. Why was that so hot? With her, going toe-to-toe had always felt electric.

“Jason!” she shouted from the kitchen. “Did you hide the coffee?”

Speak of the devil.I smirked into my cup.

She burst onto the porch not a minute later. Her fiery hair was damp and her face softer, fresh from her shower. Or it would have been if it weren’t pinched in displeasure.

“What coffee?” I asked, mildly, trying to keep from laughing.

“That. Coffee. I could smell it in the kitchen.” She pointed at my mug. I sipped again just to watch her jaw clench. “So the bag they stocked for us mysteriously disappeared?”

“Must have been elves.”

“Elves.” Her jaw was so tight it looked painful. “It would literally kill you to share with me, wouldn’t it?”

“I play to win, counselor.” And I did. This was my house, my deal, and she wasn’t going to throw me off with full lips and perfect curves.

Her eyes lit. “Game on.”

An hour later, I searched for my keys so I could stock up on groceries for the week. I’d left them on the counter, but they were nowhere to be found. Cynthia strolled into the kitchen as I tossed papers aside and searched through drawers. She was dressed in a soft sweater and leggings, with huge platform boots. Soft, sexy, distracting. My eyes tracked her helplessly as she made for the door.

“See you later.”

“Where are you going?” I narrowed my eyes at her retreating back, refusing to look at the swing of those round hips as she opened the door.

“Around. Maybe to the store. I’m going to get some coffee. Since we have an elf infestation.”

“Great. I’ll join you. Since the elves seem to have taken my keys aswell.”It had been her.Sparks kindled low in my stomach. She wanted to play. And I fucking loved games.

She frowned.Ha. Not the consequence you wanted, is it?

I shrugged on a jacket and brushed by her on the way out the door. I tried for nonchalance, but she tensed as I passed and I sidestepped awkwardly around her.Too close.The space between us felt thick.

It was the same in her tiny, economy-size rental car.Too close, too close.

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