Page 71 of The Merger

His head whips up as I move to fill the doorway.

I lift my hand and wiggle my fingers in a simple wave.

The corners of his lips twitch. He sits back, looking relieved, then he clicks a button on his keyboard.

“Hey,” he says, smiling at me.

“Hey yourself.

“This shouldn’t take much longer.”

“I don’t want to interrupt you.”

He shakes his head. “I have them on mute, so it’s fine. I’ll wrap this up as fast as I can.”

“No worries.”

He nods, then presses the button again. His brows pull together as his attention goes back to the computer. “That’s a bunch of bullshit, Charlie, and you know it. There’s no way in hell we’ll ever agree to that.”

Poor Charlie.

I toss my purse onto a chair and look around the room. Bookshelves line the wall on my left, a framed TV is mounted in the center of the opposing wall, and behind me are two chairs on one side of the door and a chaise lounge on the other.

“You can try that, but you’ll fail,” Gannon says. “If you want to waste your time, be my guest. But we’re not paying for it.” He pauses, then laughs angrily. “I’m not fucking playing.”

That’s so hot.

Gannon gives Charlie, the poor guy, a lecture to end all lectures. I listen for a while but lose interest.

His library catches my attention, so I move closer to check out the titles lining the shelves. The first section is stuffed with business-y titles about mergers and contracts and strategies. The next is filled with classics.The Catcher in the Rye. The Great Gatsby. The Iliad, Lord of the Flies, Don Quixote.The last piece is a mixture of poetry, self-help, and …is that a romancenovel?

I bend over to inspect the black-and-pink spine.Love Hurtsis written in white block lettering. I pull it off the shelf, then turn around—and stop in my tracks.

Gannon’s gaze is glued to me.

“What?” I whisper.

A smirk graces his lips.

I look at him, confused, as I walk back to the chair where I threw my purse. As I move, the edge of my skirt rides up my thigh and clarity hits me like a ton of bricks.I don’t have any panties on, and I just bent over in front of him.

My brows lift, and he grins before looking back at the screen.

“You shouldn’t be watching me,” I whisper. “They’re going to know you aren’t paying attention.”

He clicks a button again. “My camera isn’t on.”

“Ooh. So they can’t see me?”

His eyes darken.

“Is anyone else here?” I ask, biting my lip.

“Behave, Carys.” He makes a point of hitting the audio button. “You’ll have to take that up with Renn, but it’s never going to work. He’s going to call me and lose his shit and guess what I’m going to do, Charlie? I’m going to agree with Renn.”

I plop the book next to my purse. The book can wait.

Grinning, I mosey to the center of the room. Gannon’s gaze trails me like a hawk, so I face the door with my back to him and glance over my shoulder.