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BRADY: You first. I thought you wanted to be CEO. If you don’t want the job, then…
Bastard. Shooting one last glare across the room, my thumbs stilled. I’d been caught. Apparently the future CEO was supposed to pay attention.
A tug of guilt played across my stomach. I pushed my hand at the pain, grimacing as I loudly placed my phone on the conference table in front of me. My action announcing that I was doing my part, that I was doing my job. The device immediately vibrated, the clicking drawing more than Brady’s eyes this time. I snatched it quickly, my eyes flickering over it before shoving the phone into my pocket once more.
The speaker at the front had stopped, his face pale as he watched me nervously. Waiting. My neck grew impossibly hot as each of them turned to look at me.
“I’ll get it later,” I said simply. Gesturing for my speaker to continue on. He did so eagerly, his voice immediately turning back into white noise.
My phone vibrated again, and when I looked across the table, Brady watched me with a shit-eating grin.
Brady: Oh, you most definitely need to get it.No one likes a sad puppy CEO.
I didn’t dignify that with an answer. Especially when both of us knew that it was the painful truth. It’d been a long time, and Ashlyn Grove was the worst kind of temptation. Beautiful, smart, and her heart was bigger than every goddamned person in this room combined, mine included.
I liked her, more than a little. The mix of excitement and nervousness that rushed through my veins made my head light. Blinking, I stole another glance at my text chain with her.
ASHLYN: Don’t let me distract you. I’ll see you tomorrow.
I couldn’t stop the slow smile that curled my lips. Salads weren’t much. But they were a start. And I was going to make sure they were going to be the best salads she’d ever had.
***
Ashlyn
This time when I arrived at Leden’s building, Rose Tate, as Liam’s assistant introduced herself, was waiting for me at the enormous reception desk. As we walked, she quickly explained that she’d been Daniel Leden’s assistant before his son took the office, and while she’d been a bit prickly the other day, I found her to be warm and reassuring as we let the elevator whisk us to the top floor.
Stepping out, I felt good. With Rose at my back and a nice, boring meal of lettuce ahead of me, I was excited to show Liam what I’d figured out. Even if it made my fingers hum to think about. I knew that it wasn’t an original idea or even all that wholesome. But it would work. I could feel it in my bones.
Liam Macklen was handsome, wealthy, and strategic. But I was a step ahead this time. I could’ve almost cackled at the boost in confidence I felt as I let Rose usher me into his office.
And that’s when my confidence went flying out the room like a freshly released balloon. I could actually feel my body sink, my joints becoming warm, gooey, as I gaped at the man I was supposed to be meeting with.
He was wet. Very wet. And his perfect body was on display, the trousers hung low on his hips as he tugged a soft blue shirt over his shoulders.
I gasped. “What are you doing?” I choked out, my eyes, as if on their own power, roamed his torso, following the neat lines of his chest to his belly, the perfectly sliced muscles there rippling as he tugged the shirt forward to button it. And let’s not forget the V at the base, the very muscle that sent my entire lower half into a tailspin that even my vibrator wouldn’t be able to wash from memory.
I dragged air into my lungs, proud I hadn’t stumbled upon seeing him like this. Incredibly, Liam blushed, his tanned cheeks coloring followed by the flush of pink that trailed down his neck to his chest to the fine dark hair tapering down to his… I had to get a grip on myself. I forced my gaze up.
“You’re early. Did Rose let you in?” he said, the blush still reddening his tan cheeks, but he met my eyes boldly, not turning away, not hurrying his fingers from where they began to button his shirt.
“Yes, of course.” Did he think I’d just forced my way in, expecting to see him like this? Christ, his hair was damp, the dark strands curling over his ears. I clamped my knees shut, cursing my lack of sex life even more now as my body roared to life at the sight of him. At the way those big hands moved so slowly down his front. I’d never wished to be a shirt before today.
“I’m sorry about that, Ashlyn. She knows that I have my workout before lunch, I just got out of the shower. She must’ve mixed up our timeframe.”
Sure. I thought back to Rose running me his personal cell and her eagerness as she escorted me herself up to his office.
A smile curled my lips. At least I knew I had a fan. Even if she was meddling a bit, it was endearing.
“It’s okay. It’s not like I haven’t seen a man getting dressed before.” I’d had a few flings in college but had been a serial monogamist during my time since graduation. Dragging my gaze away from the man before me, I looked around his office, hoping for something to start a conversation.
Salads. Focus on the salads.
They were neatly stacked on his coffee table beside a couple of water bottles and forks still wrapped in cellophane. I plunked myself down there, leaving my client to put the rest of his muscles back behind clothes so that we could focus on the matter at hand.
“Which would you prefer? The Caesar or the Cobb?” I asked him, trying to ignore the sound of fabric being maneuvered.
He finished the buttons on his shirt. “I’ll eat anything that doesn’t eat me first. You pick.”
