“Yes!” I hiss, pulling in a fist pump. “I knew it.”
“I agree, that story sounds beautiful.” Halle sighs, halfheartedly chewing on her raspberry licorice. I go to ask her more about what she thought, but my sentence is cut short.
“Mr. Thirteen incoming,” Jasper whispers before he spins in his chair.
“Mr. who?—
“Rosebud.” The sweet, smug voice comes from behind me and I physically shiver, forcing myself to hide any reaction from my face as I spin to give him a bored look. I’m instantly hit with his charming boyish grin, his deep blue eyes sparkling as he drags a bottom lip through his teeth.Good God,it’s like my pussy could sense his closeness because just looking at him makes me want to go for round three.
“Stalking is a felony in the State of New York, pest.” I look back to my computer and continue as though I wasn’t having some kind of chemical reaction to him.
“Don’t flatter yourself, baby, I’m here for business.”That stupid, sexy bastard.
My eyes dart to Halle and Jasper, who look like they are trying to hold in their laugh. Halle just smiles wide, mouthing,Baby?I blink at her slowly, hoping she can hear the scolding in my silence.
“Chris is ready to see you now.” Steph pops her head around the corner before I can retort, and Caleb looks in her direction with his usual shinning smile, thanking her before he turns back to me.
“See you around, Rosebud.” He winks before heading into Chris’s office and closing the door.
“I hate his stupid pretty face,” I mumble, I thought, but it didn’t go unheard.
“Ilovethat pretty face. Have you sat on it yet? I bet with a cheeky mouth like that he’s great with his tongue.”
“Agree.” Jasper sighs. I turn in their direction and see matching expressions of lustful longing before their eyes look at mine, armed and ready for a million and one questions.
“You two are the worst.” I just roll my eyes at their chuckles, turning back to my gold-winning query and opening my emails to reach out to the author. “He’s…average.At best.” I don’t know why I feel the need to lie, but I pray that God doesn’t strike me down for howmuchlying I’ve been doing lately.
“Ohsure.Your cheeks are pink and feathers ruffled because he’saverage.Girl, the tension is so thick between you two it’s hard to breathe.” I let that go unanswered, not trusting anything else I could possibly say to hide how badly the sexed-up pest affects me, and the three of us settle back into our busy schedules.
The rest of the day is thankfully uneventful, Jasper and Halle succeeded in getting me out of the office on time and I agreed to head to Pucks with them, if only because it is close to our work building and I could really use a drink.
However, like the universe is screaming,Fuck you, Rosie,as loud as it can, the moment we make it into Pucks, I see them. Noah, Caleb, Lucas, Ethan, Jessie, and surprisingly, Matt.
“I thought catch-ups were Monday.” I elbow Lucas as I stride up next to him at the bar. He finishes placing his order before he turns a gentle smile in my direction.
“Rosie.” He dips his chin in greeting, handing his card to the bartender. “It is, but Matt hasn’t been able to make the last few and tonight was a rare night he had off, so we made an exception.”
I turn to place my order as Lucas searches the room. “I’m here with work friends, not the girls.” He sips his beer, shruggingas if he couldn’t really care less. He opens his mouth to reply when we are rudely interrupted.
“I know you’re obsessed with me, Rosebud, but this is getting out of hand.” Caleb forces himself to my side, slinging an arm over my shoulder, which I waste no time in brushing off. “You were the one who pointed out the illegality of stalking, after all.” Lucas just shakes his head before taking as many of the drinks he can carry back to the table with the guys, thankfully not thinking twice about Caleb’s flirting, considering it is a continued pattern from him for the better part of the last seven months. But I swear it feels like I haveI caved on my rule and got absolutely railed by the sex pestwritten across my face. I do my best to shove, shove,shoveit all down.
“Please, if I’d known beforehand you’d be here, I would have actively avoided you.”
“I love it when you tease me.” He leans his face closer to mine, his body nudging into mine and again, I have to suppress the physical reaction. His deep blue, almost-purple eyes glitter with mischief, and the way his lips tug into a smile has me biting my bottom lip to suppress the sounds that want to leave my mouth.
Why is he so fucking hot?
“Careful, Rosie, you keep eye-fucking me, you might spoil our secret,” he whispers close to my lips, where my eyes seem to have snagged, and the bartender calling my name is the only thing that seems to pull me out of the trance. Stupid period hormones have me wound so tight it’s almost unbearable. I turn without saying a word, thanking the bartender and taking the drinks, heading straight for Halle and Jasper. Based on their matching smirks, I’d hazard a guess that Caleb is following me.
“Jasper.” He thrusts his hand out in Caleb’s direction, who takes it eagerly, shaking it like he couldn’t be happier to make anew friend. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.” He batts his eyelashes and I nearly barf at his desperation.
“Down boy, he bats for the ladies’ team.”
“Don’t be jealous, Rosebud.”
I feel my jaw crunch as I narrow my eyes at him. “Can I talk to you?In private.”I grunt out the end of the sentence and walk in the direction of the bathrooms, where the hallway to them is narrow, dark, and quiet.
“Begging for alone time? You know what your begging does to me.” He looms over me and I have somehow managed to have my back pinned to the wall, with his right arm resting on the wall above my head. He reaches his left hand up to pull on a curl before tucking it behind my ear.
