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intrigued, an unusual expression for someone so tightly wound.

Sloane flashed back to the elevator; she hadn’t intended to mess with her then, but Frodo was definitely trying to mess with her now. If she expected Sloane to back down, she hadn’t been paying close enough attention.

“What were you going to do when you found me?” Sloane asked, taking a step forward so that the pointy tip of her heel bumped into Frodo’s more conservative shoe. “Tell on me?”

Uncertainty flashed in Frodo’s big dark eyes, replacing the confidence that had been there moments before.

Whatever she was expecting from their confrontation, it wasn’t this. Had she really expected Sloane to give up control so easily if she flashed her dimples and batted her long, dark eyelashes?

Sloane couldn’t stop herself once she smelled weakness.

How far would Frodo go if she called her blu ? She reached out, unbuttoning Frodo’s suit jacket.

“What if I fought you?” Sloane asked in an intentionally soft tone. “Would you tie me up and wait for the cops to get me?” She moved her gaze up from her waist to her eyes in a deliberately languid pace.

Sloane’s lips twitched into a smirk. Frodo’s uncertainty had turned into panic.

“Or maybe you followed me in here for something else?”

Sloane asked, suddenly realizing she might be misreading Frodo’s intentions.

Frodo licked her full lips, pulling Sloane’s attention down to her mouth. It was the moment of distraction she needed

to make her escape like a mouse slipping through the lion’s paw.

“I don’t need to cheat like you,” Frodo said, her face flushed and her words shaky.

“And yet, here you are,” she parried. “How do I know you weren’t going for the binder and I just happened to be in here?”

Frodo tried to sco , but it was more like she’d choked on a dry piece of toast. “Think whatever you want,” she said, stepping back and regaining her bearings. “Here, if you want an advantage, take it. I’m sure you’re going to need it,” she added, shoving the binder into Sloane’s hands.

Sloane watched her stride out of the hidden corner and into the main part of the library.

What the hell was that? Maybe the pressure is already getting to her. The girl is losing her damn mind.

Sloane rubbed her thumb over the binder’s frayed corner before shoving it back in the filing cabinet. She didn’t need any more advantages against these losers. Frodo was the smartest among them, and if she was no match for her, no one else would be either.

AS SOON AS Ari broke out of the library, she ran to the bathroom at the end of the hall. Grateful it was empty, she threw herself into the stall on the end and locked the door.

What the hell was I thinking? I’m not some freaking sexpot Bond villain. Pressing her hand to her chest, she willed her

heart to slow down. When she no longer feared a coronary, she pulled her cell phone out of her jacket.

Ari: Welp, that was a disaster.

Jasmine: You mean playing Jedi mind tricks with the likes of Darth Vader didn’t go how you planned??!?! I’m SHOCKED!

Ari: Very. Funny.

Jasmine: Sorry. That was my very subtle way of saying I told you so. I couldn’t help myself.

After relaying her disastrous attempt to beat Sloane at her own game, Jasmine o ered her analysis.

Jasmine: What if she wasn’t messing with you? What if she thought you were coming on to her and she was into it?

Ari’s shriek of laughter echoed o the bathroom’s white tile walls.

Ari: Are you seriously suggesting that Sloane of all people has the hots for me?! You’re crazy!