Page 77 of Off Her Game
She shrugged, trying to appear unaffected when he rubbed against her hip as he slid into his seat.
“I’m starved.” He politely greeted the blonde next to him. Tori barely held back the urge to shift her body just a little to the left, to push herself into him and keep his attention on her, not the blonde.
Lunch service began. She chatted with the senior editor of an online tech magazine seated next to Jake until the guy and Jake launched into an economics debate. Her interest in the conversation dropped. She picked at her food in silence but noticed the perfectly manicured blonde magazine editor next to Noah kept angling herself to allow him a view down her low shirt. Maybe it wasn’t on purpose. An editor important enough to end up at their table had to have worked her ass off to get to this position and rest her reputation on her professionalism.
Tori grabbed her water and tried not to pay attention when the editor erupted in laughter and leaned intimately toward Noah. Noah’s body stiffened as he leaned away from the editor and into Tori. His face flushed red and he jerked away from Tori, which bumped him into the editor’s legs.
His granted the lady an apologetic smile. Every bit of care to keep the attraction between she and Noah secret vanished. Bad time for jealousy to rear its head.
Jake asked Tori, “How’re you holding up?”
“What?” Her cheeks heated in a you-caught-me blush. “Great,” she forced out followed by a fake smile. Feminine giggles erupted next to Noah. Tori clenched her teeth. This had to be her imagination.
“We’re in the home stretch.” Jake’s gaze bounced from her to Noah for a moment. His voice dropped to a whisper, “You will keep it together.” He turned away to chat with the male editor again.
The blonde editor reached across the table to get the pitcher of water from the center of the table and brushed Noah’s chest with her arm. Whether intentional or not, Noah’s hand jerked, knocking over Tori’s water. It soaked both Tori and Noah.
Noah jumped up with a gasp. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
Noah stared her shirt. Oh, crap. Take two on wet T-shirts. This time, the shirt was soaked lower than her chest.
Waiters appeared to take care of the mess.
“Why don’t we go dry off,” Noah suggested. He grabbed her arm and escorted her out of the room.
She yanked her arm free once outside the luncheon hall.
Noah took her hand and pulled her into a vacant conference room. Once inside he closed the door.
“Admit you were flirting with the blonde editor,” she said.
“She’s the senior editor ofWired.I wasn’t flirting. I was trying to avoid her touching me.”
“Oh?”
Noah massaged his forehead and mumbled, “This is insane.”
“What’s insane? That fact you were flirting with someone to make me jealous on purpose?” She let her gaze drop to his groin. Bad decision. The hard length of him pressed against his zipper. Her cheeks flushed hot.
“There’s nothing going on with…with…whatever the fuck her name was. I’m no good at flirting.”
“Sure as hell looked like you were rocking it.”
“I’m trying to help launch a game. Apparently, whatever the hell was going on with flirting or talking charming is a part of it.”
“Flirting, then, is a part of the marketing plan?” Her eyes narrowed. She put her hands on her hips. “You’re saying me having a slightly transparent shirt might be a good thing? I think the editor next to Jake might have the hots for me, or be into staring at this wet mess.” She waved at her chest. “You think I should push ’em up a bit more before we go back and be sure to lean his way to ensure he gets a good show? It’s for the game, right?”
Anger and something far more potent flared in his eyes. “No.”
“It’s okay for you, but not me?” She poked him in the chest.
He leaned in toward her, pressing her flush to his chest and caging her against the wall with his hands. Her body went haywire. Lust. Hope. Want. All the emotions tangled in her chest, strangling the breath from her lungs.
He hit her with blistering eye contact. All she could focus on was the feel of his hard body pressed against her chest. Heat rolled off him, or maybe it was coming from the fire storming through her. She dragged in a deep breath.
“This isn’t the right time for us to hash anything out. But we are going to talk about what you think you overheard to make you freak the fuck out.” He scowled at her even as he stared at her lips.
Her eyes fluttered shut and she grew still, unable to take more than shallow breaths while his breath tickled her face. She whispered, “We need to hash, Noah. Whatever’s going on here isn’t a small problem. But not now.”
