Page 5 of Bastard In A Suit

Duke comes up behind me. Any closer and his groin would be up against my ass.

My eyes widen. He shifts closer to lean over my shoulder, his breath feathering over the pulse point on my neck. I grip the back of Jake’s chair for balance, afraid my legs will give out.

Forrest points to the screen. “See how the green dot has lost some of its intensity? That shows us the Wi-Fi is a bit weaker in this area of the building.”

“We’re made some modifications to minimize the effects of that,” Jake adds. “And we have some ideas for further improvement. Right, Hailey?”

“Right,” I gasp. My eyes may be locked on the iPad, but my mind isn’t on the tracker or Kyle or even how badly we’re tanking this pitch. My senses are on hyper alert, acutely aware of how close Duke’s cock is to my ass.

I’m getting ridiculously aroused. Dripping wet, to be precise.

And it feels as though Duke knows and is encouraging it all subtly.

A man like Duke Kingston has a million women at his beck and call and I’m imagining him bending me over this boardroom table.

Get a grip, Hailey, your inexperience is showing.

It’s true that my one and only relationship ended eighteen months and twelve days ago—not like I’m counting—but even I’m not naïve enough to think that someone like Duke could truly be interested in me.

“Shut it down,” Duke says, snapping me out of my reverie. His tone is so abrupt it rips me out of my fantasy with the force of whiplash.

Jake’s jaw slackens. “But we haven’t even shown you the best part.”

“I’ve seen enough,” Duke replies quickly.

Jake is about to continue arguing, but I put my hand on his shoulder to silence him. Instinct tells me Duke couldn’t care less about the footage from our “covert” tracking operations. The Case of the Lost Pencil. The missing five-dollar bill tracked to the college laundromat and tucked in a pair of freshman jeans. Our practice runs seem foolish now.

We really were just amateurs and it showed. God, this was ugly.

The bored expression on Duke’s face confirms my fears. We’ve blown it.

“This product is an absolute disaster,” he announces with a snarl. “You’ve wasted enough of my time. My secretary will show you out.”