Oh my God, Silvie. Can you be any more obtuse!
When I was done scolding myself, I joined Jared in a snicker, though I wasn’t sure why he was laughing.
“Not exactly. We had a fling. I think she was a ‘sleep my way to the top’ type of girl. She’s at the top now and she does a fucking fantastic job as DOO, but she still has this drive for power. Anyway, you don’t want to hear about that.”
“I don’t?” I drank the rest of the champagne as I leaned against his desk. I tried to look casual, but my groin was on fire. How the fuck was I going to be PA to this chiseled god of a man?
Jared laughed again, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out some aged Scotch. He tilted the bottle my direction, but I waved him off.
“I’m DD tonight.”
“Ah, good old, designated driver. Guess you’ve been that for Steven ever since—”
His eyes met mine and a pang of grief struck me. He was going to say, ever since Dad died. It was true too. When I was 16, Steven was 28 and went into the dregs of alcoholism. He’d been clean for about 2 years now—well if you can consider social drinking clean. But he wasn’t downing a bottle of bourbon every night like he used to, calling me at 2 a.m. from the bar and asking me to bring him home.
“I’m sorry.” Jared’s hand cupped my elbow and I shuddered. Did he even know what he did to me?
“I’m sorry. Vicki seems a little…”
“Bitchy? Yeah… Women.” He rolled his eyes as he sipped his drink.
“Not all women are like that.” I have a half grin which I was certain after letting it out looked more like a seductive smirk. I could have smacked myself. Now I knew I had to approach Steven about a different assignment. I blanched, until I looked up at his face.
Desire laced his gaze as he cocked his head. “Yeah? How so?” He kept his brown eyes fixed on my face as I formulated a response, hoping I didn’t look like an idiot.
He knew I had a crush on him since high school when I asked him to prom. He had politely declined, saying he was nearly thirty and would stand out at a teenagers’ dance. I was crushed, but at least I’d given it my best shot.
“I mean… Maybe you just haven’t met the right girl?” I set the champagne flute on his desk and planted my ass next to it. My long legs stretched out beneath me; I was so glad I’d chosen the short skirt. I watched his eyes travel down my body to my feet then back up to land on my face. I swallowed hard, my heart thudding in my ears. What the fuck was I actually thinking flirting with Jared?
“And what type of woman do you think I should meet?”
He stepped closer. I could smell the intoxicating aroma of his musky aftershave. And I could feel the pool of moisture growing between my legs at his proximity. Part of me wanted to run, fear that he would inevitably reject me once again taking over. But part of me wanted to see where this went.
“I mean, I think you need someone with no ulterior motive. Someone sweet and kind. Someone who looks up to you and respects you for who you are, not the position you hold.”
Jared’s tongue slid across his bottom lip before he took another drink of his bourbon. “Someone who could pleasure you in ways you can only imagine.” Did I say that? Who the fuck was I tonight? And what was I doing?
The lust in his eyes went from zero to sixty in two seconds flat. He stepped closer yet again, and I felt my body respond.
“Someone like you?” he asked, his eyes zeroing in on my lips. I licked them nervously.
“I— uh.”
“Sil! There you are.” Steven’s voice broke the tension between Jared and me. I turned around to see his frantic face.
“We were just talking about Monday!” I blurted out, hoping he hadn’t heard the context of what we were talking about. I noticed Jared smirk and take another drink.
“Sil, Mom fell. We have to get home. She can’t get up. Fuck, I knew this would happen.” Steven’s hand flew to his forehead.
I offered a sympathetic look at Jared and started for the door.
“We can continue this discussion on Monday.” Jared called after me, sending a shockwave through my body I wasn’t ready for. Had he taken me seriously?