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Trust me, asshole. I’m looking.
“I have eyes. I know she’s attractive. She’s just far too valuable of an employee to risk anything with,” I bullshitted.
“Uh-huh,” he responded distractedly. “So you, uh… you said she’s your expert on the Biarritz resort? What’s the name of the place again?”
“Hotel Piera.” My mind raced, but I took a casual drink to hide it. “If you’re interested in hearing her reports, I’d be happy to have you at the office on Tuesday. That’s her first official day back.”
“Yeah?” Turner looked at her again. “Set it up, Hoult. Tuesday’s good. Noon work for you?”
“Noon’s perfect,” I said smoothly as I returned my eyes to the woman I’d just made my non-consenting pawn. Shit. I thought fast as I stared at her. She was wearing that sultry fuck-me look of hers that made me want to forget everything and just bury myself inside her, but I needed to focus and excuse myself from Turner fast.
I had a plan I was improvising on the fly as I walked toward her.
And it involved a hundred percent of her willingness to lie for me.
SARA
I barely had time to breathe let alone understand.
“Don’t look surprised. Just come with me.”
Those had been his only words before he took my hand and brought me down a grand hallway toward a marble staircase. I hastily gathered my skirt in my hand as we ascended, our shoes a noisy chorus of click-clacks that echoed up every step.
My thoughts were scrambled.
“What’s going on?” I asked, breathless once we were mostly alone on the second floor. Two vested servers wheeled a cart of dirty plates from an empty ballroom down the hall, but save for a few curious looks, they paid us no mind. “Hey.” I grabbed Julian’s forearm to bring his attention from them back to me, but I dropped it like a hot potato when I felt that rigid knot of muscle. Answers. I needed to prioritize getting answers over getting distracted by my unbelievable lust for him. “Hey. Can you please tell me what’s happening?”
His eyes slid back to me. “My colleague downstairs has his eye on you,” he said, his jaw slightly clenching when he eyed my dress. I looked down at myself, realizing that in our rush, the strap of my dress had fallen well off my shoulder. I didn’t fix it. “And I need to brief you on a lie I involved you in before he tries to introduce himself.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Julian?”
He paused hard at the sound of his name from my lips. I could tell he wanted to ask how I knew it, but it was clear that whatever he was just talking about took priority.
“You have Turner Roth’s attention. I want his. For that reason, I’d like to hire you for a very short and specific job. To be safe, we can make it a three-month contract, and I’ll pay however much your last employer offered for a full year.”
“What?” Seriously, what? “Wait. I don’t understand – what kind of job is this?”
“You’d be posing as my assistant, and by Tuesday, I’d need you to have memorized a full report on a twenty-million-dollar renovation to a resort in Biarritz, France that I’m looking to sell to Turner and Carter Roth.” He eyed the fallen strap of my dress. “I’ll also be needing you to present this information to them in a rather specific way.”
“How is that?”
“I need you seduce them.”
I stared. “Excuse me?”
“By seduce, I don’t at all mean sleep with them.”
“Thank God for that, but then what do you mean? Because I think I need a very thorough explanation,” I said. Despite my frustration, I stared unblinkingly at the way he ran his hand across his jaw.
“I have a limited amount of time to strike an important deal with the Roths,” he explained, standing close as I leaned back on a wall. “They just inherited the biggest sports and entertainment presenter in America, despite the fact that they’re by no means actual or savvy businessmen. In fact, their particular egos make it so that they feel little reason to pay attention to anything unless it involves instant gratification, generally in the form of impressing a beautiful woman. Of course, from what I’ve gathered, they lose that interest the moment they actually have sex with the woman, so your job is to be professional while also dressing provocatively and flirting enough to maintain their interest. All I need is for them to listen long enough to connect me with their business advisors, with whom I’ll actually have productive meetings. So realistically, the hardest part of your job could be done within just a few meetings.”
I stared. I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. But presuming I’d just understood correctly, I was curious, and… thrilled, even?
I wet my lips.
“Okay, so… correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re saying you want me to string these guys along with my sexual allure, and force them to pay attention to your pitch in the process?”
“Yes. But you’ll never spend any time alone with them. You’ll only ever be accompanying me during meetings and business trips, and when we’re not doing anything involving the Roths, which will probably be most days of your week, you’re free to use the resources at my office to send resumes, or work on your own projects.”
