“It’s just what we call the phase where we show off the company to the underwriters, try to convince them why our corporation is a great investment. Now would be a really good time to wow them and get their minds off of, ah…other things.”
“Okay, see you over there at four. Bring Snow White.”
Oh, for Chrissake. Was I really stuck with this girl?
He followed me out of the office, and I turned and went into mine while he headed to his meeting.
The minute I rounded the doorway, I stopped in my tracks. Snow White—uh, my new intern—was bent over, her round, delectable ass in the air, dragging a heavy box stuffed with files across the floor.
After taking a split second to admire the view—complete with yellow thong peeking up over the edge of her skirt—I noticed that her short-cropped sweater had ridden up, revealing the tramp stamp tattoo. I’d traced that tattoo with my tongue. It had tasted delicious, that very distinctive tramp stamp. A very memorable—incriminating—one.
I slammed the door shut so loud the entire wall shook. The girl almost jumped out of her skin, stumbling on her high-heeled boots and staring at me, her beautiful blue eyes widened in shock.
“Uh. Oh, I’m sorry, Jordan. I just noticed this file box on the floor over there and it looked really messy, so I figured I’d—Oh, but now I remember that Charles said I probably shouldn’t touch your stuff.”
My eyes narrowed. What kind of game was she playing? Was she flashing that tattoo at me on purpose—trying to taunt me with it and the dirt she had on me? A small ball of rage flared up in my chest.
I spoke between my clenched teeth. “Do you have any idea what’s going on in these offices today, Miss Weiss? Why the officers seem in an uproar? Have you picked up on any of that?”
She frowned, her hands clasping each other nervously. “Um…people have said there’s something weird going on, but no one knows what it is.”
“Well, thank God for that. But you know what? I’m going to tell you what it is, and you aren’t going to breathe a word to any of your little intern friends, got it? Because there’s a viral video out there on the Internet right now featuring people dressed up like characters from Dragon Epoch, and at least one of the participants is an employee of this company.”
She froze, going white as a sheet. Truly living up to her nickname now. To say it didn’t feel good to see her terrified half out of her mind would be a lie. As pissed off as I was at this moment, I wanted to scare the shit out of her. She wasn’t messing around at the sorority anymore. I could play hardball, and I wouldn’t be swayed by a pretty face.
“You wouldn’t…know anything about that, would you, Miss Weiss?”
She glanced at me and then away, starting to shake and appearing as if she might faint.
I walked toward her slowly, but she didn’t look at me. Her eyes shifted to the floor and her head bent forward, her long, dark hair falling forward to curtain her face. I circled her like a predator. She visibly swallowed, utterly petrified.
Good.
“I—” she began shakily.
“Shh. Say nothing. You are going to do everything I say and you are going to do it yesterday. The first thing to remember is that the dress code in this office is business casual, and it would be in your best interest to make sure that tattoo of yours stays covered up. Got it?”
She jumped, her head snapping up. “Y-yes. Yes.”
“And the other participant in the video…?” I breathed. I was standing behind her now, speaking over her shoulder. It was as intimidating as hell, I was sure. But I did it mostly so she wouldn’t see my face. I had to be certain that she didn’t know it was me.
April was silent for a moment—a tense moment—while I waited behind her, feeling the warmth of her body close to mine, smelling the scent rising off her hair, her pale neck. She smelled sweet, like honey. It drifted to my nose and I remembered—again—burying my face in that soft hair, that neck. Even looking down at it now, I was fascinated by the white skin, the delicate lacing of blue veins underneath, the tiny dark freckle just below the hairline. My entire body was reacting to her. Christ almighty.
“I—I have no idea. He was…some guy at Comic-Con.” Her voice was shaky, nervous.
The relief that washed over me in that moment almost floored me. Thank God. At least there was that. I still had to mop up this mess, but at least it wasn’t my ass on the line.
“I should fire you right this second,” I growled.
She faced me. “Please. I don’t know how it happened. I just—”