“Don’t threaten me with a good time. I’ll throw you over my shoulder right now.”
I passed on the alcohol, but I did order a Diet Coke for some caffeine. Otherwise, there was a good chance I’d be sleeping on whatever surface Tripp secured me to at Gilded.
Once I had my drink and he had a water, I looked to the side. “I’m going to go take my spot with the other assistants.”
“No, you’re sitting with me.”
“We talked about this,Sir,” I said softly. I should’ve called him boss to reinforce our roles, but I couldn’t help playing with fire.
Fire I saw mirrored in his gray eyes. His shoulders went back as he loomed over me. “Correct. I treat you like any other assistant and let you do things for me. Won’t it be easier for you to do those things if you’re not all the way across the damn room?”
He had a point.
One I didn’t feel like arguing against since being near him would allow me to do my job better. And I would feel a lot more comfortable sitting silently with him than I would making small talk with other people.
Not all of us had media training, and I didn’t want to say something wrong that would look bad on him. I also had no interest in listening to more of the humble brags or complaints I’d overheard from others while I’d waited for Tripp.
“True.”
His brows rose with surprise that I wasn’t putting up the expected fight. “Let’s go sit.” He moved in close but kept his hands to himself. “But we’re out of here early. Because when the clock strikes midnight, I’m going to be buried in your pussy. Or your ass. I haven’t decided which. But I’ll be in you with your taste on my tongue.”
He walked away like that wasn’t an unhinged thing to say in public.
And I stood and watched him, liking the idea of all of that far more than I thought I would.
It took my brain far too long to kickstart again, and my gaze darted around to make sure no one had overheard him. The coast seemed to be clear, so my short strides rushed to catch up to his long ones.
It’s like that, huh?
Two can play at that.
It was a dangerous game. A stupid game. One that went against all the rules and boundaries I’d worked so hard to enforce.
But that didn’t mean it wasn’t fun.
Brushing his leg under the table.
A quick but seemingly innocent arm touch.
Resting my foot against his.
Calling himSiras often as possible while I forced my expression into the picture of innocence.
All the while, other celebrities stopped by to talk to him, chatting about projects and not seeming to notice or care that they didn’t have his attention.
Tony visited for the longest, and I eased back my stealth teasing to be professional. I used the time to snag whatever hors d’oeuvres went by, setting the small plates wordlessly in front of Tripp.
He passed any cheese focused ones back for me to eat.
I was nervous, not dead.
I figured Tony would leave after a bit to make rounds, but he didn’t. He stayed where he was as an EGOT award winning actor that’d been with Hullywod since its conception gave a moving speech to introduce Isaac.
The head of the agency’s speech was better still, appreciative and light as he thanked everyone in the room for the success they’d reached in their twenty years of business before promising—or threatening, as he joked—many more years to come.
He cued up the montage Tony had mentioned in his texts to Tripp, and he wasn’t wrong.
Tripp was featured a lot.
