Page 31

“Can’t handle the pressure?”

“Oh, I can handle more than you think,” he said, his eyes dropping down and back up my body.

My cheeks warmed and I looked away. Clearing my throat, I diverted the subject away from his meaning. “So, what do you do?”

“I’m mainly in analytics on the floor below. What about you?”

I gestured behind me to the coffee maker. “Right now, I’m the errand girl.”

He winced. “They must be a bit harder on you up here on the CEO floor. We barely had to do any errands. But when they did dole them out, we rotated who got stuck with the task.”

“We?”

He came around to lean against the table, facing me. His shirt stretched across his muscles when he crossed his arms. He wasn’t big, but he definitely wasn’t scrawny either.

“Yeah. There are three of us on the floor below. I don’t think I’ve seen an intern be placed on this floor before.”

“Huh.”

He ignored my eloquent response, thank goodness. “We should grab drinks sometime.”

“She’s nineteen,” Erik growled from the doorway. “She can’t drink.”

Wyatt stood upright but didn’t jump to give his attention to Erik.

“Wow. I had no idea,” he said, smiling at me.

Behind him, Erik looked like he was about to explode. “What are you doing on this floor?”

Wyatt turned with an easy smile. “Sorry, Sir. Miss Brandt wanted me to drop this off to you. I was on my way to your office when I happened to see Alex here and thought I’d welcome her to the team.”

Erik took the thumb drive Wyatt pulled from his pocket. “You can leave now.”

“See you around, Alex.”

I smiled and waved at Wyatt before he disappeared around the corner. Erik however, remained glued to the floor with his pissed off scowl still in place.

“You’re just so desperate to lose that hymen, aren’t you?”

I rolled my eyes and clenched my fists. I should be used to his comments, but they still pissed me off. “Not every girl talking to a guy is trying to have sex with him.”

“He sure wanted to fuck you.”

“Good for him.” Sarcasm bled into my words.

Erik’s posture relaxed and he crossed his arms, a small smile playing on his lips. Unlike Wyatt, Erik’s arms clearly strained against the material, showcasing spectacular muscles. On cue, my body heated like the traitor it was.

“What?” he began. “Was he not rich enough to pay the ten thousand for your virginity?”

“Stop being an asshole.” I turned back to his coffee to hide the blush staining my cheeks. “What are you doing here anyway?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

Hearing steps, I turned to find Ian walking in.

“I came to check on my coffee,” Erik answered, undeterred by Ian’s presence. “You were taking too long.”

I grabbed the mug and set it down with a thud, sliding it across with a condescending smile. “Sorry, Sir.”

“Hey, happy people,” Ian greeted, his eyes volleying between us.

Erik snatched up his mug and harrumphed a response to Ian before leaving.

“Is he always such a dick?” I asked before thinking. Shit. Ian was Erik’s friend and the other half of the company that was employing me and I’d just called his partner a dick. I cringed. “Sorry.”

I stared wide-eyed as Ian’s head fell back and he laughed long and loud. When he got control of himself he pretended to wipe tears away before focusing his intensely gray eyes on me.

“It’s totally okay. And yes, he’s usually pretty gruff. Hell, that dick went in with Jared and got me a prank Christmas gift. Set me up to take boudoir photos with a blind date.”

I should have been surprised by Ian calling his business partner a dick, but ever since working here, I’d gotten to know him, and discovered he’s unapologetic about who he is and rarely curbs anything about himself when around others.

“Joke was on them because she was hot as hell.” He cocked his head to the side and stared at me. “But Erik seems to have a soft spot for you.”

“Great,” I deadpanned.

Ian went to the fridge and grabbed one of the prepared salads. “Hey, some of the best sex of my life came from that blind date, even though she drove me bananas. She kept arguing with me about every damn thing.” He shook his head like he was baffled someone wouldn’t just fall in line with him. “Just wouldn’t admit I was right.”

“Well, I don’t plan on sleeping with Erik.”

Ian pointed his fork at me with a smile. “Good. Stick with that. Maybe if you say it enough you might have a chance of it not happening.”

I stared slack-jawed as he walked out of the room.

He was wrong.

I would never sleep with Erik Brandt.

13

Alexandra

“Miss Russo, welcome to Bergamo and Brandt,” Erik greeted the stunning brunette.

My mind went back to the bitchy blonde who had dismissed me as she walked into Erik’s office. She’d looked like a badass boss lady when she walked in too, but everything about Miss Russo’s demeanor was different and I liked it. She came in and acknowledged Laura and me with a smile before reaching out to shake Erik’s hand.