Page 15 of Vicious Kingdom

“Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you?” Annaliese snorted.

She had no idea the lengths I would go to make her life here uncomfortable.

“Miss Hertz is here on behalf of her family’s company,” I intoned. “Hertz Media Group and Blitz News are collaborating on this story to gain the project maximum exposure.”

That was sure to raise her hackles. There was no way her family would let this collaboration slide without berating her. They hated me—the feeling was mutual.

And now, Annaliese was caught in the middle. A very awkward place.

“Mr. Baldwin has been very generous,” Annaliese told the reporter in her sweetest voice.

It was my turn to shift as discomfort attacked my resolve. Instead of fleeing, she was rising to the occasion.

It was true. My own media company had made a heavy donation, as had the other companies I owned but didn’t manage. Baldwin Acquisitions was listed as the second highest donor behind my media company. Blitz News was going to blast the shit out of this event—with our photo on the front page.

I wasn’t here for the damn charity. It was time to raise the stakes. As the photographer snapped pictures of us together, my arms wrapped around her, hands laying over her soft middle.

Her sharp inhale of surprise made the monster in me grin.

“This isn’t your usual scene,” she muttered.

“And how would you know?” I confronted her. “I thought you said you weren’t stalking me.”

“I’m not. Just making an observation.”

Her body was warm and supple. The curves beckoned me to explore. The white athletic material clung to them, showing off her body with a tantalizing view. I breathed through the torment, forcing myself to touch—to hold.

I bent low to whisper in her ear. “The whole world’s going to see us together.”

A delicious shiver shot through her frame. But then her tight little ass grazed against the front of my pants. My body was suddenly keenly aware of how good she felt.

Heat spread up my neck. I clenched my jaw in resistance. We were too close.

Just a minute longer.

“Such an odd thing for you to do,” she murmured, completely unfazed.

She didn’t pull away. Why didn’t this upset her?

“This charity needs good publicity,” she added, flashing another smile to the cameras.

Screw it. I pulled her closer, daring her to run from the intimate embrace.

Annaliese didn’t flinch. Not once.

With a nod to the camera, beckoning the photographer to continue, I turned into her, dropping my lips to her hair. Whatever scathing comment that was on the tip of my tongue died instantly. Her scent, bright and sweet, short-circuited my brain.

And so the camera snap-snapped.

Capturing me in what could be misconstrued as kissing her head.

Fucking hell.This was fire, and I was voluntarily playing with it—for all the world to see. I took a step back, dropping my touch. She hadn’t moved away from me.

Was she really that invested in this project? She didn’t seem to care that she was caught on camera with her family’s business rival plastered against her.

I took another step back, doing damage control as to how badly I’d just been burnt.

Maybe she thought those pictures wouldn’t be prominently displayed. I was about to tell her, to make her see the stunt would be her undoing, when another man strode over. Flannigan chose that moment to come and interrupt us. He stuck out his hand, reaching past Annaliese to clasp mine.