Page 13 of Rebellious Hearts

“She’s head of the business development department. She’s not going to babysit you, she’s going to do herjob.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right. Convenient that she’s in a high-up position so it doesn’tlooklike you’re getting someone to clean up after me.”

Alex turned to face me. “The fact you think you needcleaning up afteris exactly why this is a good idea.”

Damn it, I’d put my foot in it.

“I’m going to call her in now, so get your shit straight and for God’s sake, put on a smile.”

I grumbled and tugged at my tie. It wasn’t tight around my neck—I sported the open top-button look and loose tie just as well as Alex did and I didn’t even need to get married to calm down. I was leagues ahead of him.

Boom.

“Marina, send in Miss Gallegos,” Alex said over his intercom.

“Right away,” Marina said, and a moment later, the door opened.

I stared at the dark-haired beauty who walked in, wearing heels, a pencil skirt, and a ruffled blouse that looked incredible against her olive skin.

When her gray eyes fell on mine, she froze.

I stared at her. “Sofia?”

“Ben…” she breathed. Her eyes flicked between me and Alex as she tried to put two and two together. “Ben Blackwood,” she said. “It’s…”

Alex looked confused. “Do you know each other?”

I cleared my throat and said, “No,” at the same time as Sofia said, “We’ve met.”

Alex’s confusion turned into suspicion.

“I mean, of course we’ve met. She works here. But we don’tknoweach other.”

Only in the biblical sense.

I flashed on her naked body, writhing beneath mine. The taste of her lips. The sound of her moans in my ear.

“Right…” Alex didn’t look convinced. “Sofia is going to Harborview with you to take care of the business side of things. She’s been briefed.”

“I received the email and the file, Mr. Blackwood,” she said politely to Alex.

The tension in the room was palpable. It was a mixture of sexual tension and what-the-fuck tension.

How the hell did this happen? The idea was to fuck and forget, and now I had toworkwith her?

Not that I could just forget about Sofia—I’d already been fighting to keep her out of my mind this weekend. But working together?

“Good, good. You two should talk, get better acquainted. I ordered the private plane. You’re leaving in the morning.” Alex glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting to get to, so feel free to make yourselves at home.” He gestured to the two armchairs that faced his desk, did up his top button and tightened his tie before he walked to the door. “I’ll see you later, Ben. Thank you for coming, Miss Gallegos,” Alex said, and then we were alone.

“Well, this is interesting,” Sofia said.

“Is that what you call it?” I was pissed at Alex for sending someone with me like I didn’t have what it took to make this work alone.

And now this.

“You sound upset,” Sofia said.

“You didn’t tell me you worked for my company,” I bit out.