Page 33 of My Office Rival

“You need to go,” he gritted out. I didn’t move. I stood there with the hem of my short shirt fluttering around my legs while I watchedhim advance on me. His abs flexed as he walked, and I nearly sighed.So, so beautiful, so not for you.

“Cynthia.” He held himself stock still, just a foot away from me, his entire body tense with strain. “You need to go back upstairs,” he repeated in a low voice.

I desperately wanted him to come closer, wanted to touch him. I ached to run my fingers along the vee of muscle just over his waistband.Bad idea.I listened to my brain and not my traitorous body and scurried from the room. But not before I heard the slap of his hand against the counter and the sound of his groan.

I shut the door to my room and lay against it, breaths coming short and fast. My eyes dropped shut and behind my lids played a film made up of his soft breaths and the slide of his muscles as he had stalked toward me.

My swirling thoughts shorted out when I heard his steps come up the stairs and the door to his room creak open. I could tell he was trying to be quiet, but this house was way too old for that. He ran into something and let out a muffled “fuck.” I bit my hand to keep from laughing. I abruptly stopped when I heard the sound of his groan.Was he touching himself?Before I could question my decision, I pressed my ear to the wall.Thump. I started. Oh no. He was against the wall. I screwed my eyes shut. Was he bracing himself against the surface just inches from my head while he stroked? The image played in my head. Silky skin, that jutting cock, his arm braced to support himself. He made a low noise and I clenched my thighs together. The rhythmic sound of flesh sliding over flesh came from the other side. “Fuck.” He said it in a completely different tone, hissing the word before he let out a low moan. I jumped away from the wall.

This is so inappropriate.My face was red and my heart was pounding.This is also so hot.Somehow, I needed to go to sleep and forget this ever happened. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and picturing my opposing counsel naked was not going to make it better.

18

JASON

Ihad come way too close to crossing the line last night. I sat in my sad, little conference room and mentally kicked myself for letting the leash off my control. The diligence meeting due to start in just a few minutes would be torture.

I’d been avoiding her all morning, but I needed to apologize for growling at her last night, especially since we were about to go into a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Harris, the Argan team and the auditors. Typically, for a meeting about the financial statements, we’d be window dressing. I’d have a mid-level associate join to lead the conversation, but not on this deal. The auditors would be asking probing questions about cash movements, income, expenses, and long-term projects. And I wanted to know more. Why the rush to get this deal done? Why was the office so empty if they made so much money and had so many employees? Why did the financial statements look off? If I was going to learn anything, it would be today. Steeling myself, I strode down the windowless hallway to Cynthia’s temporary office. I straightened my navy suit before knocking.

“Enter,” I heard from behind the door.That’s not ominous at all.

Cynthia didn’t look up as I came in, intent on annotating something in what looked like the disclosures section of the financialstatements. She looked stunning today, with a tight navy T-shirt that would soon be covered by her suit jacket, and a pen between her full lips.

“Come to bother me?” She looked up. “Oh, look, a shirt. That’s a first for you.”

I blinked stupidly at her and she started laughing. “You love making things hard for me, don’t you?” she asked

A flash of heat went through me. “There’s nothing better.”

Her eyes darkened and her tongue swept out to touch her bottom lip.Fuck. I shifted from foot to foot. She had no idea how much she was turning me on.Or maybe she did.Last night, she’d certainly seemed ready to play. Ready to taunt me. The games were just as fun as the reward at the end.This is so bad.

“I, uh, just came to apologize for growling at you last night in the kitchen,” I stammered out.

“Is that what you did?” She raised a brow and tapped her pen against her mouth. “You call that a growl? I’d call it more of agroan.” She stood and circled her desk.Too close. Too close. Oh, no.Had she heard me last night?When I had stroked myself to thoughts of her letting me lift up her T-shirt and bend her over the counter?This had to stop. We were going to be friends, colleagues, nothing more.

“What’s the difference?” I asked. The sight of her perfect body in that tight shirt would be my undoing. Desire filled my head like cotton wool. I took a deep breath to clear it, but her scent filled my nose.

“A growl is more animalistic. A groan, well… I could demonstrate. If you want.”

Would she?Why had I started this competition again? I was in over my head. I’d thought she could give as good as she got, but no, she gave better.

“Oh, Jason.” She moaned the words. “Fuck, yes.” The last word came out slightly guttural, and I stiffened. I wanted to slam her against the wall, take her mouth, sink into her.And isn’t that exactly what she wants you to think about? Instead of how to beat her?

“We have to stop doing this,” I ground out.

“Doing what?” Her eyes were all wide innocence.

“Stop messing with me.”

One side of her mouth tilted up triumphantly. “Can’t handle the heat? I think you told me that you play to win.” She stepped toward me and my breaths seized. “Well, I do too.”

One heartbeat, maybe two, and I thought she might kiss me. But she turned on her heel and grabbed her materials.

“All right, let’s get this shit over with.”

She met my eyes and I could see her settling into her hard-ass, client-facing persona. “And we need to talk later. There are some inconsistencies in this diligence package, and I’m going to need more information. Your client has an insane number of offshore entities. And those are just the ones they included in the package they produced. None of them appear in the audit. Why does a mom-and-pop grocery chain need fourteen Bermuda subsidiaries?”

This was exactly what I had feared she would find. Something was not aboveboard with Mr. and Mrs. Harris, and I needed to find out what it was before Cynthia did, or she could blow this whole deal up.

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