Brad’s voice dropped an octave. “During.” It came out slow and syrupy, coating me in images of his muscular shoulders and perfectly flat, bumpy abs tensing while he stroked himself.
“Well, then,” I squeaked, flames licking my middle. The memory of his soft touch on my foot blossomed a hunger that I couldn’t quench. I wanted that touch to feather up my inner thigh and then work my clit while he moved inside me.
“I should bathroom.” What was I, two? “Use the bathroom, I mean.”
“Take your time.”
“Is my drink safe with you?”
“I’d rather not have Frank show up at my hotel room with a hammer and a body bag. So yes, your drink is safe.” Though his tone was teasing, that hunger didn’t leave his eyes. His gaze tracked me like prey.
For the first time in my life, I wanted to be hunted.
Oh holy crap, this is all going tits up. I slid off the stool, stumbled, dodged the hand he held out to help me, and staggered to the bathroom with pounding lady-wood.
Ten minutes later, I was back on track. All it took was a little water on the face, a grimace at the red patch on my forehead and tip of my nose, and a thorough berating in the mirror.
I returned to my stool as a woman on a mission. No more losing my cool.
“Right. All set.” I nodded at him decisively and eyed my drink. “Fire in the hole!” Down went another gulp.
“What are these?” Brad tapped my slide printouts.
I rolled my eyes. “They are pieces of crap, that’s what they are.”
“You said it’s a presentation, right?”
“Yeah.” I offered him a world-weary sigh. “I work with this group of fairly useless guys. Their daddies paid their way into good schools, they barely got by, and then their connections got them mediocre jobs.”
“So basically, they are failing in the rich man’s game, but are too ignorant to know it?” Brad asked.
“Wow. Astute.” I melted a little as I met his gaze. He was still hot as sin. My newfound determination to stay chaste didn’t change that.
Tearing my eyes away, I continued, “I went to a mediocre school, so I got a corresponding job. I had a few offers, which were all largely the same, and chose the one with free breakfast one day a week.”
“I hate when a decision made with my stomach goes wrong.”
“Yes, exactly. It’s the worst.” I nodded solemnly. “I’m the newest member of the team. I’m also the only girl. I’m also the only one not from money. And guess what? I’m the only smart one who actually earned the job.”
“And the last one who will get promoted, if ever.”
“Probably never, that’s right. Well. The company is limping along, and the boom they saw, which prompted my hire, is now declining.”
“Someone has to go.”
“Apparently this story isn’t fresh. Right again, professor. But—”
“The conflict of the story.”
“—we have this one shot to land a big account. Land the account, and we can keep our current level of revenue.”
“And you keep your job.”
“Should I continue, or do you know the ending?”
He smiled, devilishly handsome. “Let me give it a try. You are the smartest in the bunch, right?”
I nodded. That was easily the case.
He mimicked my nod. “But no way would you be chosen to lead the pitch. So one of the other guys—the most alpha male of the bunch, I assume—was chosen. He knows how to cheat to get ahead, so he listens to everything you say, lets you do most of the work, and, when the boss comes around, claims your work as his.”
“Ha! I wish!” I said. Brad’s expression crumpled into confusion. “Nope. At least then we’d probably get the account. The boss is the leader, he asked us to give him something, I came up with a foolproof plan, and the other guys voted me off the island. They then mucked everything up, and now I’ll be presenting a bunch of garbage on slides that could’ve been done by a three-year-old. Worse, their explanations don’t make much sense, so I don’t even know…” I paused, at a loss. “I don’t even know. It’s a shit-storm, and I’m the weather guy. But I had a really good idea!”
Before I knew it, I’d launched into the nature of the product, the angle my boss wanted me to sell, and my desired angle for the pitch. Coaxed on by tequila and his polite gaze, I gave him all the details. He listened good-naturedly, never once interrupting. He even offered various sounds and mannerisms as an audience member, like a well-placed scoff or decisive nod.
When I was done, I sighed in relief and gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry for that babble-fest. I needed to get that off my chest.”
“Not at all. And I assume that even though they aren’t using your idea, they’re having you do the presentation in hopes your beauty will blind the buyer?”
My groin spared a little heat so it could rush to my face. I smoothed my hair, a futile effort. “Or something.”
“I must admit, that’s a new one. Can I see the slides?”
I passed them over. “Are you here for the convention?”