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“What?” Natalia nearly snatched the phone from her hands. She hated waiting. Even worse, she hated not knowing things.

After an irritating beat, Samantha handed her the phone.

Zoe: Forgive me for overriding your DND settings Professor, but I thought you’d like to know that Black Forge Films is willing to negotiate creative rights to your property.

Zoe: I’ve emailed you a draft of the agreement, and would love to discuss it with you! Whatever your concerns or questions, I’m with you a hundred percent.

Zoe: Can you feel all the possibility buzzing in the air, Professor??? This is going to be HUGE!

“She makes it sound like I’ve already agreed,” Sam said with a chuckle before reaching for a bottle of no-longer-sparkling water.

Natalia was so practiced at keeping her face unreadable that even sleep deprivation and mild dehydration didn’t cause her to stumble. Inside, anger flickered to life. Zoe should have given her the heads up. Should have let her look at the agreement first.

It was an unreasonable thought, she recognized instantly. She was not brokering the deal with Samantha. Her own words about merely bringing Samantha to the negotiating table haunted her.

“They must really want my little musings,” Samantha said after taking a glug of water and offering Natalia the rest.

Natalia declined the glass bottle with a shake of her head. Mind racing, she debated whether she should ask Samantha if she could read the terms. To make sure they really did offer final cut privilege and all the other input Samantha wanted. It wasn’t appropriate. She was too close. Too compromised. She wouldn’t give Samantha any advice. Surely that was enough to cure any ills born from a little glance. No, she couldn’t. Samantha could read something in her face and let it influence her decision.

Taking the phone back, Natalia guessed that she was checking her email, but she turned her attention away from Samantha’s screen. Deciding it was a good time to check her own phone, Natalia took it from the nightstand and pretended she had blinders on.

“Jesus, this is so long,” Samantha muttered. “I guess I’ll have plenty to read on my trip to the Keys.”

“You’re going to the Keys?” Natalia looked away from her social media alerts. “When?”

Samantha rubbed her eyes and tossed the phone on the bed. Mercifully, she’d closed out of the document and saved Natalia from making a mistake. “Next week. It’s my parents’ fifty-third wedding anniversary. We couldn’t celebrate the big 5-0. So now all of our family and friends are descending on a very fancy resort for a few days.”

Natalia let her phone drop on her bare chest. Attention on Samantha as she smoothed her messy hair back with her fingers, but only made things worse. Natalia stopped herself from reaching out and fixing the errant strand flopping over Samantha’s forehead.

“It doesn’t sound like there will be much time for contract reading. This is why you need an agent,” she snapped.

Samantha grinned, undeterred by Natalia’s sharp tone. “Looking for work?” She wiggled her brows in a way that made Natalia roll her eyes even as her skin warmed.

“That would be wildly inappropriate, Professor.”

As if finding a second wind — or perhaps fifth — Samantha scrambled back on top of her. Her face was bright and eyes iridescent. “I thought you liked wildly inappropriate, Ms. Flores.” She leaned forward and scraped Natalia’s neck with her teeth while tossing her phone across the bed.

Closing her eyes for just one second, Natalia let the electric jolt rouse her tired, sore body. Samantha had absolutely no business having the stamina of a high school quarterback. Natalia was going to be a full-body bruise or have to signal defeat. There was no doubt that she had only one option.

“There may be a time constraint on the offer,” Natalia hinted at the importance of reading over the terms carefully several times.

“Mm hmm,” Samantha replied, more interested in working her way down Natalia’s chest than listening to her.

Natalia indulged, slipping her nails through Samantha’s hair, liking the way the shaved stubble felt beneath her fingertips. Liking it too much.

Samantha’s mouth was on her hipbone and drifting toward her inner thigh. Natalia made a fist in her hair. “You’re a terrible listener.”

“Am I?” Samantha’s expression was lust and sin and hunger.

“How am I supposed to trust you to actually consider the production terms?” Natalia yanked her head back.

Samantha’s eyebrows shot up, lips still curved in an infuriating smirk. “I can multitask with the best of them. Don’t you worry about me, Natalia.”

Before Natalia could respond, Samantha captured her mouth in a searing kiss. Her confident hands skimmed Natalia’s sides, caressing every curve. Natalia responded despite herself. Her traitorous body coming alive under Samantha’s skillful touch.

With a growl of frustration, Natalia pushed her away. “I’m serious. This is important.”

Samantha’s expression softened. She brushed back Natalia’s tousled hair with surprising tenderness. “I know. And I promise I’ll look everything over carefully, okay? You’re not the only person who can read a contract. But right now...” She grinned wolfishly, hand trailing down Natalia’s chest. “I just want to make you come so hard you forget your own name.”