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I give him a frosty smile. “You do know better. I’ve asked you repeatedly to forget I exist.”
He clutches his chest and contorts his face into a pained expression. “I really wish you’d be nicer to me.”
"I really wish you’d given me just one reason to be.” I swipe my keycard over the sensor to unlock my office and then duck under his arm to step inside.
I bite back a groan when he follows me inside. It’s a small office, barely big enough for the desk, chair, and row of filing cabinets crammed into it.
I shrug out of my suit jacket and then think better of it when his wolfish smile deepens. I settle in behind my desk and wait for my computer to boot up.
My stomach sinks when he sits in the chair across from me.
He crosses his legs and winks. “Listen, no matter how hard you try to pretend I know you want me.”
“Was it the running in the opposite direction every time I see you that gave me away?” I deadpan.
He scoffs with a knowing grin. “You run because you know I’m an alpha male who loves a chase.”
I cringe at his characterization of himself as an alpha anything. He’s always been on the mediocre dick energy end of the scale. I’ll never understand what my sister saw in him. But there was no mistaking her blind adoration for him. “If you say so,”
“Come on, I remember that night like it was yesterday, and I know you do, too.”
I hold up a hand. “Can we postpone this sexual harassment session? I have a meeting to get ready for.”
I turn my focus to my computer screen and log into my account and start going through my emails. He’s silent, but I can feel his eyes on me. “You know, you really should be nicer to me.” The note of anticipation mixed in with his cryptic taunt gets my attention.
I look up from my screen and run an assessing gaze over him, trying to divine just how worried I should be.
Even though I’m well versed on the corruption of his soul, I can’t deny that Duke Tremaine is a fine-looking specimen of man. He’s tall, well-built with a crown of dark wavy hair framing his classically handsome face.
Throw in his family’s political pedigree and it was understandable why he’s considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. A lifetime of never having to prove himself, being heaped with praise simply for participating, has made him into a man with a terrible work ethic and a seriously compromised moral compass.
In a world where success was based on merit and effort alone, there’s no way he’d be a senior associate at Wolfe Construction, wearing a suit that costs more than I make in a month, twirling a Mont Blanc pen like he was born holding it.
Thank goodness his Vice President of Finance role is just a vanity position my father created for him last year after his father’s spectacular crash and burn forced his portfolio of failing startups into bankruptcy.
The job gives him a title, a salary, and all he has to do is show up, sign off on projects more competent, better qualified people manage. He spends most of his days on Twitter trying to build his profile as an influencer in the world of retail politics. He’s a natural born conniver, and in my laymen’s opinion an even bigger narcissist than my father.
And the satisfaction on his face as he watches me makes my blood run cold. But I’m not going to indulge whatever game he’s playing,
I check my laptop for the presentation I prepared. This project blends everything I’ve learned about marketing with my own natural eye for color and shape. A life of corporate branding and marketing isn’t my passion, but it doesn’t feel like settling anymore either. I’m ready to hit the ground running.
I stand and gather what I’ll need to take with me.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got a meeting with Rich Felgar.”
“Oh, yeah, I was supposed to tell you to head up to his office as soon as you get in.”
“Why the hell didn’t you lead with that?” I glare at him. I force myself not to rush and end up forgetting something.
He shrugs. “If you’d been nicer, I might have.”
“Eat shit, Duke,” I hiss and rush out the door.
I hear him behind me saying good morning to everyone I just ran past. I press the call button again, and the door bounces open. He catches up to me just as I step onto the empty elevator and press my floor and his.
“Oh, I’m going all the way up to 42 too.”
