Let's Play A Dirty Ass Game, Mr. CEO

Chapter 38: DOING WHATEVER WE WANT

LAURA

Everything evaporated at the accusation in his voice. The butterflies. The heat of desire.

Tristan’s cold voice reminded me this was a business affair and not a fashion show for his eyes alone.

I squared my shoulders and flicked my hair behind my ears. "I don’t think you get to say that, you know. You put me in a difficult situation and ruined my schedule by moving the shoot time by two hours!"

He arched his brow, watching me with a tick in his jaw. "I apologized."

"An apology doesn’t cut it."

The photographer hurried in with the camera dangling from her neck. "Alright, are we ready?"

Tristan turned to her, adjusting the lapels of his dark brown suit. "I believe so. Ms. Hayes," he called without looking at me, "shall we?"

Grudgingly, I followed behind him to the long steel table in the room, where the plaque sat. Tristan ran his fingertip along the body of steel, as the crew finished the last minute preparations.

When his fingers began to trace the letters of my name, his eyes rolled up and burned into mine. Like a quiet challenge. The movement of his fingers was intimate in a way that hardened my nipples. I quickly tore my gaze away, my face heating up.

The photoshoot commenced with Tristan and I standing on opposite edges of the table, under the bright white lights from a large tripod, holding each end of the plaque and smiling into the camera as the photographer circled around to get the best shot. "Now scoot close together, please."

"What?" I bit out before I could stop myself, adjusting the silk scarf around my neck. "Why?"

The photographer flashed me a tight smile. "Respectfully, my job is to make sure the pictures pop out right. And that includes aligning the bodies right." Her eyes twinkle as they glide towards Tristan. "Do we have a problem with that?"

Tristan smirks and pulls me close. "Absolutely not."

"Now give me a smile, please," the photographer said, looking directly at me. My cheeks hurt from faking the smiles so hard, and my skin burned where Tristan’s fingers rested.

I shrugged him off and stood close in a way that did not make me want to lean in and inhale his distracting cologne.

Who said he could still have such power over me? Did he really think I’d fall this time? Hell no. The ball would be in my court.

My lips stretched wider in a satisfied smile and the photographer clicked away. "That’s right! Give me more smiles like that!"

A few minutes passed and it was all going well, until she asked me to do the most absurd thing anyone ever asked of me.

"There’s something wrong with his tie. Do you think you could... help fix it a bit?" She twisted her lips into what was supposed to be a pout. "Please..."

I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. Tristan had a mischievous glint in those blue eyes. His unsmiling lips moved and I barely heard a word from all the pounding in my head. In frustration, I almost asked if he put her up to this.

"Are you having fun?" I gritted under my breath, glaring at him as I took a step closer.

"Fun?" He laughed. "Maybe."

As he was still chuckling, I grabbed his tie without warning and pulled hard. He choked on his laugh, eyes growing dark.

"I guess it’s not so funny anymore." Smirking, I pulled closer and spent the next few seconds fiddling with his tie without actually knowing what I was doing.

His presence sucked in everything...including my senses. The heat of his body excited me in betraying ways.

Tristan seemed perfectly still and unaffected by this heat between us—I knew he felt it too—except for the repeated bobbing of his Adam’s apple each time his gaze slid to my lips and moved further down to my slightly exposed cleavage.

My nipples grew painfully harder with every single inch those blue eyes took off my body.

"Alright that’s enough. Looks great," the photographer’s voice broke through the tension like glass, driving us apart.

Tristan cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Good, good," the photographer commented, beaming, "your hair looks much better that way. Now get back together for one final shot."

Exasperated and wanting to get as far away as possible from Tristan, I had to endure another ten to fifteen minutes of listening to the photographer’s commands for poses which threw Tristan and I in awkward positions more often than was comfortable.

I almost collapsed in relief when it finally came to an end.

"Alright, that’s it for today. Thank you for your cooperation." The photographer’s gaze found mine, beaming. "It was wonderful working with you. You’ll hear from my team soon in regards to the photographs." Then her team packed up her tools and they were gone, leaving Tristan and I alone in the board room.

We both stood there awkwardly for a few moments—or maybe it’s just me who was awkward because Tristan stood with his hands casually jammed in his pockets, seeming unfazed.

Why did it have to be me who was squirmy?

Determined to appear just as composed, I cleared my throat and drifted away from him. "So," I ran my fingers along the edges of the plaque, "it’s official, huh? Our partnership."

"Yeah," he said quietly, "now we can do whatever we want."

I turned slowly and watched him with a level gaze. "Whatever we want. Like?"

He didn’t respond right away. He turned and made his way to the seat closest to him. As he sank into it, stretching his legs out in front of him, he never took his eyes off me.

As he relaxed into the seat, he finally gave me his response. "Anything, Laura."

Those two words were like a challenge. A sexy drawl that emboldened me more than I appreciated. Before I could think twice about this dangerous game a tiny voice in my head kept whispering about, I found myself drifting across the space to where Tristan sat.

I stopped a few inches out, leaned my ass against the table and watched his eyes trail every movement. I hesitated for a moment, then, slowly, I lifted my stiletto and began to trace the heel up his leg.

"Have you ever thought about the things that could happen when we really start working together?"

A muscle flinched in his jaw. He seemed surprised by the question, but it only lasted for a moment. The dark, controlled, calmness was back in his eyes like it never left.

"I’ve had a lot of thoughts about you," he responded smoothly, "and all the things I want to do to you." He leaned forward suddenly, causing my heel to ride further up his thigh. "But how about you enlighten me?"

My pussy clenched as heat leaked out of the sore lips and rolled down my thighs.

Good God, I might just be about to make the worst possible decision ever.