Page 15 of My Office Rival (Keep Your Enemy Closer #2)

JASON

I pulled up to the nondescript office building off the highway before Cynthia did.

I’d made a point of leaving before her. Keeping her on her back foot started now, had actually started this morning with her shower supplies.

Until she showed up half-naked in the kitchen.

Unwelcome desire burned low in my stomach.

I frowned as I crunched over the wintery grass, the weak morning sun filtering over the nearly empty parking lot and the beige building. I hate small towns . Give me crowded trains and slush puddles over this blandness.

“Jason,” he said and shook my hand, his grip just this side of politely firm. Tough guy . Okay.

“Gene, good to see you,” I replied, my tone clipped. Asshole Jason started now. And it was so easy to sink into that familiar coldness. I could practically feel the icy waters stifling my emotions, smoothing my demeanor.

“I’ll show you to your office,” he said and turned, leading me through the door and down a silent, beige hallway. Closed doors, no art, more carpet. This would be a long few weeks.

We stopped in front of a door at the end that looked like all the rest. “We cleared out a small conference room for you. Bathroom’s just across the hall, and Argan’s lawyer will be in the conference room at the opposite end.

We figured better to separate you.” He gave me a smarmy grin.

As if I would attack her just because she works for the other side? This guy was a piece of work.

“Thanks,” I said, and pushed open the door.

“Jason,” he added. I stopped. “We need to get the best deal.” His brows drew down. “It’s imperative. I will settle for nothing less. And we want this done fast. Mitchell is aware. We want to push the closing date up by a month.”

I nearly gaped. A month ? That was lunacy. We were already going to work around the clock to meet the current timing.

“That a problem?” Gene asked.

“No issue. We’ll discuss a new date with the Argan team,” I lied smoothly. Yes, it’s a fucking problem. What was the rush?

“Great, glad that’s handled.” He gave me a self-satisfied smile and disappeared down the hall.

The room was small, but there was a window looking out onto the back of the building. Grass fields, air conditioning units, and endless sky.

I heard Gene give Cynthia a tour and show her to her office, probably the farthest away she would be for the next few weeks.

If only Mitchell and Nisha knew . I grimaced.

They could not find out about our roommate situation.

Mitchell would lose his shit. My professional reputation would be called into question.

For someone who already skated the thin line of respectability as it was, I couldn’t afford the partners looking into my private life.

No one knew about the broken family I came from, no one knew why my answers to firm questions about my background had been so vague.

Yep, that’s right, mom’s a drug addict. Correct, I’ve been raised in three foster homes.

No fucking way. Was I a little paranoid?

Maybe. But I was so close to opening my own firm that I could practically see my name on the door, and I wasn’t about to lose it.

So no, none of my superiors could find out about our lodging arrangement, or the dirty thoughts I was having about Cynthia in today’s skirt suit.

I shook my head, as if I could erase her, and shrugged on my suit jacket.

She and I would be opening the due diligence this morning.

Sitting across from her in a tiny conference room should be fun .

I strode down the hall, letting my professional mask settle over me as I saw Cynthia coming toward me from the other end.

I gave myself ten seconds to admire her curves under her skirt and the swing of her hips as she walked confidently in her heels.

Ten seconds and then we stopped in front of the conference room door.

Her hair was pulled up and her eyes were bright.

“Jason.” She gave me a curt nod, like I hadn’t run into her in the kitchen this morning.

“Cynthia.” I inclined my head.

“You ready for this?”

“I’m always ready.” I gave her a cool smile.

We pushed open the conference room door and arranged ourselves on opposite sides. I spread my papers out before me like a general going to war, and Cynthia did the same. I leaned back in my chair, waiting for her to speak first, and she leaned forward, elbows on the table. This should be fun .

“I’d like to start by discussing the number of diligence requests we made that have not yet been addressed by your team. First, we still haven’t received the audited financials. Those are critical to this process.” Her words were cool, but her face was tight.

“They’re not available yet.” They were available, but there was some shady shit in them, and I wasn’t turning them over to her until I had spoken to the auditors.

“I know they’re not ready yet for last year. For prior fiscal years, they should be available. We need them. ”

“You’ll have them. When I’m finished reviewing.” I gave her a cool smile and saw her jaw clench.

“There should not be this much hold up for basic materials.” Her eyes shot fire, and I almost laughed.

“We’re doing our best.” We were not doing our best. In fact, we were being about close-lipped as it was possible to be and still keep the deal alive.

“The litigation disclosures are also suspiciously light. One lawsuit in the last two decades? That’s unheard of.

” She was right. I’d been surprised too.

Companies got sued all the time for dumb things.

My clients had one lawsuit from their very first year of operation; a slip and fall that had been settled.

It was suspicious as hell, but there was no way I was telling her that I agreed.

“Your team has everything I have available.” It was the truth.

“Stop. Stonewalling,” she hissed. “You are the most frustrating man on earth.”

I leaned in, watching her eyes widen as she took me in. “Ask the right questions and you’ll get the right answers.” I winked, and I knew she saw red.

We continued like that for an hour. She asked. I did my best not to answer. She was getting annoyed and trying not to show it. That’s right, sweetheart. You thought I was bad before? You haven’t seen anything yet. I needed this deal and this money, and I would go right through her to get it.

At the end of an hour, she had shucked her jacket, and I watched her pace the room in a tight white T-shirt and those sky-high heels.

She never teetered, just kept driving her points home with relentless focus.

Every time she turned away, I traced her curves with my eyes.

Her ass in that skirt. The dip of her waist before it flared into those perfect hips.

I wanted to sink my teeth into her. Fuck.

The feel of her, those hips filling my hands as I dragged her over my cock .

Maybe I was being a perv, but I didn’t care.

If I could only have that one night, I wanted to revel in it.

She finally made her last notes and gathered her materials. “Well, Jason. I’d like to say this has been productive, but I think we both know it’s been a waste of time.” Her eyes flashed.

“I enjoyed it,” I replied with a small smile.

“I’m sure you did.” I heard her mutter “asshole” under her breath, and I almost laughed. If she kept making things fun, I was going to keep being difficult.

We ended up at the door at the same time.

She went to pull it open, but I got there first, reaching around her to grab the handle.

My arm brushed her waist, and she startled, turning.

Her deep brown eyes were wide and her face flushed from our sparring.

She looked sexy as hell. Undone, wrung out.

I bit my lip, the pain keeping me from reaching for her. Her eyes shot to my mouth.

I swayed forward, just like she had that night in the elevator, inexorably drawn to her. I breathed her in, inhaling the clean scent of her hair and my body wash ? The thought of her slipping the lush product over her bare skin had my groin pulling tight with need.

“Did you use my body wash?” I ground out.

“Oh,” she said and reddened. “ Someone moved my shower products, so I was forced to make do.” She glared up at me and I smiled.

“Yeah, sorry. Couldn’t resist,” I said with a wink.

“This isn’t over,” she shot back.

“Bring it on.” I leaned in a little closer, watched her eyes fly wide, watched those plush lips part.

“Jason.” Her voice came out shaky. “See you at home.”

I dipped my head. This was bad. So very bad. Because, despite all my jokes and innuendo, nothing could happen between us. But that look…fuck. It said Cynthia really did want more than just one night, and now it was forbidden. If only that didn’t make me want it more.