Page 36 of Tell Me Something

His eyes narrowed with annoyance. “Don’t tell me it’s nothing. Ana came out ahead of you, along with that other woman. What were they saying?”

I was tired from the day, and my feet hurt. Reaching down, I took off my shoes one at a time, choosing to ignore his question because I simply didn’t have the energy for it at the moment.

As soon as the doors opened, he blocked my way and then hit for the doors to close. “Why don’t we recap in my suite?”

Part of me wanted to be by myself, but a deal was a deal. I’d promised I’d go over the conversations of the evening. I felt my heart beating double time as I crossed the threshold of his suite at this late hour. His mood was tough to gauge.

Once seated in Josh’s living room, I related all of the dialogue throughout the evening and then the tidbit about Ana being Tom’s daughter.

He didn’t look surprised.

“You knew?”

He shrugged. “I wondered why an office manager had so much confidence and that untouchable flair to her, so I asked Ken.”

Sighing, I shared my thought that Tom wasn’t aware of Ana’s true nature.

“Agreed. So now tell me what happened in the ladies’ room?”

Swallowing hard, I got up from the sofa where I’d been sitting. “I really don’t want to discuss it. It was more petty stuff, and I’m tired.”

I could tell I was pissing him off, but I didn’t know how to go about sharing what I’d overheard.

The knock at the door surprised me, but it seemed as if Josh had been expecting it. At the door, he spoke in low tones and walked back into the living room while pouring himself a drink. In his hand was a small package that had evidently just been delivered. He slid out what appeared to be a prescription bottle. After uncapping it, he took out one of the pills, and washed it down with his whiskey.

It was tempting to ask what he was taking, but it wasn’t my business. Maybe he’d forgotten his medication at home or something.

“I need you to call Henry in Mergers and Acquisitions. It’s about eight o’clock in the morning his time. He’s expecting my call about whether or not I’m purchasing the company.”

“Okay. Do I have time to change?” I already knew the answer but needed confirmation that he wasn’t in the mood to do me any favors.

“No.”

Over the next thirty minutes, I conferenced in Henry and printed out legal documents. From what I could gather from their conversation, Josh was going through with the purchase. After he signed the paperwork, I excused myself to go into the office to fax them to Henry.

I wanted to slip down to my room to change into comfortable clothes but knew that Josh would be furious. When I walked back into the living room, he was off the phone and watching me.

“Did he email confirmation he received the documents?” I asked.

“Yes. Now, come here.” His voice had an edge to it. No honey this time.

After standing there a moment, I tentatively walked over to stand two feet in front of him.

“Do you want me to fuck you?”

My mouth went bone dry. Although I wanted to be offended by his words, I became undeniably turned on by them. “What?” This was so unlike the Josh I knew thus far that I wasn’t sure what to say.

“It’s a fairly easy question to answer. Yes or no, Haylee?” He seemed to know what hearing my name on his lips did to me and was clearly using it to his advantage.

“You seem angry with me,” I worried in a soft voice.

He stood up and moved around behind me. “Yes, well, I don’t like playing games, and yet here we are.”

I’d been drinking some at the party and was dead on my feet. Even so, I was pretty sure I was missing something here. I felt his hands glide down my back and come around my waist to undo my belt. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I managed to say on a whisper.

“I’m talking about the fact that you seemed to be an open book of information all day. But then I didn’t explain why I wouldn’t fuck you earlier. After that, you started to hold information hostage.”

“I would never consider the two the same thing. I hadn’t even thought about earlier.” I felt my zipper run down my back and cool air hit my skin.