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She responds immediately.

“I can’t stop thinking about you either, Julianna. I can’t wait to get into the office this afternoon.”

“As soon as you arrive, I’m fucking you. Do you understand? I want you to show up wet and ready for me. We’re not going to waste time.”

“You sure have a high libido, madam.”

“Call me madam one more time and you’ll ensure some role-playing on top of your lay.”

“All right, madam.”

How am I supposed to focus on my morning emails and whatever meeting I have before lunch with images of Secretary Alessa taking me on my desk again?

I’m thinking of the sounds she makes, the way her body accommodates my vigorous ideas of love when someone storms through my door.

“You stupid bitch.”

No one knows how to kill a fantasy like Presley Bradford.

“Problem, Presley?”

She stands before my desk with that petulant look she thinks makes her look serious, angry. Yeah, right. Presley is a genius ina lot of areas, namely making me money, but she’s not a good actress. “Your libido is going to get us sued, idiot.”

“If this has to do with HR, I’ve already cleared it with them. So has she.”

“Tell me what the fuck you’re thinking? It wasn’t supposed to go this far when I bet hertoleratingyou, not fucking you! You were not supposed to drag her into your public life.”

I’m not in the mood for her lectures, but I doubt she’ll stop if I ignore her. “What the hell is this about? You made your grievances clear already.”

“Did you see this?” She holds her phone out to me. A text from our mutual PR adviser has sent her photos of Alessa and me, taken by the press at last night’s party. Isn’t she gorgeous in that blue dress I had to refrain from tearing apart so I could get to her body beneath? She looks even better on my arm. Her aesthetic is so luxurious, so effortlessly sophisticated that I could easily see the headlines announcing that she’s my fiancée. Not that I’m thinking about that.

“Is there something embarrassing about these photos? I’d love to hear it.”

“Whole articles are being written about you two right now. This is worse than when you dated that actress last year.”

“You mean the one I dated because I knew a producer?” It was genius. That beautiful, sensual woman tried to play hard to get until I revealed that card. She wanted into a big summer blockbuster movie? Well, I happened to have gone to college with such a producer. I could easily introduce them, but it would be easiest if she were my girlfriend. Before Alessa, it was some of the best sex I ever had in my life. When a woman bargains like that, it’s always better—especially when she realizes how much she likes it.

“Cut the crap. Do you know anything about this girl? Besides what the background checks tell you?”

“Other than what she chooses to share, that’s all I need to know.”

“Is she even clean?”

My cheeks flush red in anger. How dare her? “You didn’t have these thoughts when you sent her my way Friday night?”

“Like I said, I didn’t think you’d fuck her! Let alone make her your main squeeze, Jules!”

“How? If she has gonorrhea, I might have it either way, right?”

“Throw some Chlamydia and syphilis on there too, sweetie. I’m sure you’ve heard about the outbreak in Portland.”

“This is absurd.”

“Really? ‘Cause I know you have the self-control of a bit-”

“If you’re about to say ‘a bitch in heat’ I will actually hit you, Pres.” I let the anger wash over me as she realizes how far she had gone. Too far. Good. Let me see a little shame on that angular face you’ve chiseled with Ozempic and a plastic surgeon, Pres! “I’m sure you practice only the safest sex with your stripper friends, yes? The ones you pay to rub their bare genitals on your face during lap dances.” It’s one of her kinks. Ask me how I know.

She furrows her dark blond brows at me. “I’m not as cavalier with my health as you.”