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Tommy opened his mouth, brow furrowed. Under the table, I pressed into his foot—hard. His jaw snapped shut.
Ashlyn followed my gaze, nodding at the pretty woman across the dance floor who had indeed been staring at me since we got here. “Lovely choice. Are you prepared to have her sign that NDA I drafted for you?”
I gritted my teeth. “You want me to have the women I take home, to my bed, sign an NDA?”
“Well, yeah. Did you hear anything I said to you in your office? As long as you want to continue whoring your way through this side of San Francisco, you have to play by my rules.”
“And what’s my alternative? Marry some simple drone who has no opinion and even less interest in me?”
Ashlyn sipped Tommy’s beer again. “Yes. Absolutely. And please, do it by the end of the month. I bet your daddy would give me a killer bonus if I deliver their new CEO married and ahead of time.”
I growled, standing roughly with my hand wrapped around her wrist. “That’s enough. You’re out of here.” My pulse hammered at my ears as I folded her behind me, hurrying her across the room and toward the back door where the car would be waiting. She’d had her fun, and I was past the point of humoring her.
And then I heard it, muttered low and soft under the pounding bass from the DJ stage behind us. “Thank God.”
My lips pulled into a smirk, preparing to line up another wave of comments for Ashlyn to stew over when the realization hit me like a bullet.
She didn’t want to be here.
She had come here to piss me off enough to go home.
I was letting her win.
Fuck that. There was no way in hell I was letting that happen.
***
Ashlyn
“It’s Liam, Liam Macklen, right?”
Liam slowed his little alpha rampage across the edge of the dance floor. As one, we turned to find the pretty brunette from our early conversation smiling seductively up at my client. Shit… Did I just manifest this? This was less than ideal timing, I was only steps away from piling all six feet three inches of him into the car and shipping him home again. I crossed my arms slowly, letting this situation develop all on its own.
Liam was looking at me, though, not her. A funny expression pulling at the perfectly angled lines of his face. When a smile, a genuine one, began to pull at his lips, I felt an overwhelming sense of foreboding sweep over me. So much for an easy out.
“Yes, it’s Liam. What’s your name, beautiful?” He gave her his best smolder, which admittedly, was quite impressive. If you were into that type of thing.
Pretty brunette twisted a strand of her perfect blow out, eyelashes fluttering as she stepped closer. Liam released me like I was a live wire.
“I’m Elle,” Liam’s new prospect said, sliding her hand into his in the limpest handshake I’d ever had the displeasure of watching.
“I’m Ashlyn,” I said loudly, sliding my hand around Liam’s torso and offering her a curt grip of my own while I tried to ignore the flash of heat that curled low in my belly as I leaned into his side. His arms were pretty incredible, but there was something about the way his abs tightened when I leaned around him that made me want to do that again.
And again.
And again.
I was getting distracted. I dropped Elle’s silky hand before she turned those acrylics on me.
“Uh, hi, Ashlyn.” She looked between us, nervous but not backing down. “Are you two together?”
“Her?” Liam laughed, that beautiful bastard. “No, she works for me.”
I frowned as brunette slid in closer, unseating my hold on Liam as she tucked herself against him. “Do you want to dance?”
“Sorry, he’s on his way out now. Next time for sure.” I mustered my most impressive, wrathful voice, but it didn’t seem to have much effect on her. Probably because Liam had already wound an arm around her middle and was leading her out onto the pounding dance floor.
Within moments, they were entangled to the beat of the music and I was left clientless once more. I stalked across the floor, slamming my body into the booth with more force than necessary, but both Tommy and Ian grinned at me as I did.
