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"My job requires me to do both."
She returns to her chair, resting her arse on it once again.
Yes, all right, I've been admiring her arse instead of looking at her face. Can't help it. Her figure-hugging skirt makes it impossible for me to ignore her shapely bum—and her shapely legs, not to mention those sexy lips. Everything about her body entrances me.
But I haven't seen her naked yet.
"Wake up," Avery snaps while smacking her palms together to make a sharp noise. "You're doing it again, Lord Sommerleigh. No sex at the office. That means no talking about it, no thinking about it, and no attempts at seduction."
"No thinking about sex? Not sure how you mean to enforce that rule." I roll my chair forward to fold my arms on the desktop. "Considering what we did yesterday, it's too late to scold me for thinking about sex. I've thought about little else ever since our phone-shag episode."
"Are you deaf? I just told you no sex talk in the office."
"But you just talked about it. When you laid down your no-sex-talk edict."
She throws her head back and growls.
I've never heard a woman emit that sort of noise before. It makes me randy, which seems strange. But I never second guess my lustful impulses. Maybe that's part of the reason I wound up embroiled in a scandal.
Avery shuts her eyes, blows out a breath, and reasserts her businesswoman demeanor. "Did you notice anything weird about our date last night?"
"Weird? No. I thought it went rather well."
"It did. But no one looked at you funny."
"Was I meant to give a stand-up comedy performance? No one told me."
She rolls her eyes toward the ceiling and shakes her head. "You are hopeless. I'm trying to help you save your company, but you can't stop cracking jokes and flirting with me."
I sink back in my chair and rub my hands over my face. "Sorry. I know you mean to help, but I have no idea what you were suggesting."
"That nobody looked at you funny. If you were as much of a disgrace as you think, surely someone would've thrown you a disapproving look."
I consider her statement for a moment until I realize the truth. "Yes, you're right. I've been getting dirty looks from the Duke of Wackenbourne's mates, and other people either refuse to look at me or lift their noses and turn away. But no one did anything of the sort in the restaurant—that I noticed. Of course, I was distracted by the bombshell sharing a table with me."
Avery laughs. "Bombshell?"
"That's what you are, darling. Don't deny it. Men must climb over each other to get to you and beg for the honor of a date with the most beautiful woman on earth."
"You're laying it on awfully thick."
"Laying what on? If you mean compliments, I'm afraid I cannot and will not stop doing that. It's all true."
She analyzes me for a moment, her eyes faintly squinted, and I'm sure she means to understand me. But then she crosses her legs, balances her portfolio on her raised thigh, and starts tapping the toe of her shoe in the air again. "Let's get down to business, Lord Sommerleigh."
"I'd love to do that with you."
"No flirting." She wags a finger at me, but her lips form a slight smile. "Behave yourself, or I will…I don't know. Do something. What would make you stop flirting?"
"You could drag me to a funeral, I suppose. Even I would never try it on with anyone during a somber occasion like that."
"So, short of a funeral, I have no way to discourage you."
"Afraid so, pet. It's a reflex, remember?"
"That's part of your problem." She stops tapping her toe and instead drums her fingers on her portfolio. "You need to talk to that Jenkins man. He's your biggest distributor and—"
"Yes, yes, I know. But if the bloke won't talk to me, I have no idea how to get through to him."
