“Stop calling me that,” I say, clearing my throat. “Nothing. Nothing’s the matter. I’m here for work.”
“Right.” He chuckles. “No wonder you were ogling my dick.”
I almost choke on my own saliva. “I wasn’t looking at your dick.”
“Uh-huh …”
“Well, you should’ve warned me, then,” I say.
“What? That I was taking a shower? Couldn’t you hear the water running?” There’s a slight hint of a smile on his face, as if he’s mocking me.
I grind my teeth, sighing. “Whatever.”
He squints and his brows draw together. “Are you blushing?”
Oh, god. “No.” Of course, his comment makes me blush even more.
The left side of his lip curls up into a smile. “Yeah, you are.”
He comes to stand in front of me, still half-naked, droplets of water running down his tattooed pecs. For some reason, all I can think of is my desire to be one of those droplets. Or to lick them off. Jesus, what is wrong with me?
“Like what you see? Or should I say saw?” he says with a grin.
My eyes widen as they connect with his. He looks at me with such a playful, sexy gaze that I lost the words I was about to say. Why does he have this effect on me? I shouldn’t allow it. It’s not good.
I turn on my heels and attempt to escape the situation, but he grabs my arm. “Hey, wait. Don’t go.”
“I can’t do this,” I say, sighing.
“But you’re supposed to help me. You promised, remember?”
I frown when I look at him and his doe-eyed look. He’s doing it again … tempting me to do something I know I will regret. “I can’t be your PR lady when you’re acting like … like …”
“Like what?” His eyebrow rises as if he doesn’t understand.
“Like, argh,” I growl. “You know what you do.”
“What do I do?” he says, chuckling.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know how big of a douche you are.”
“Thanks,” he says. “I guess I deserve that for wanting you to work with me.”
“You think it’s just that?” I say.
“No … but …” He sighs. “Well, if you don’t want to do it, fine, go ahead. Leave if you want.”
He grabs a bottle of water from the table, opens the cap, and chugs back the entire contents of the bottle.
I take a deep breath and think about it for a second. The problem is that I’m not sure I want to be here. I’m really confused because I hate what he did, but he looks like he needs help. Plus, my boss will fire me if I don’t take on this job, so I guess I have no other choice.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
I sigh and turn back around. “All right.”
The genuine smile appearing on his face puts me a little more at ease. “Really?”
I step in front of him and point my finger at his chest, tapping a few times. “Only if you promise to stop fooling around.”
“With who? You? Because that’s gonna be real hard.” He winks, which makes me roll my eyes.
“No, I mean those girls you bring here, Chris. You can’t do that. You know the press watches your every move.”
“Oh …” He smirks and hides a laugh by coughing.
“What?”
He turns his head toward me sporting a cheeky smile. “I think you’re just jealous.”
I frown. “What? Are you serious? No.” Even though I say no, my face is turning completely red.
“Hmmm … if you say so,” he muses.
“Chris, I mean it. No girls. Not in here.”
“All right, fine.” He grabs another bottle of water. “God, I’m so fucking thirsty. It’s so hot in here, don’t you think?”
His comment makes me check him out, just when his towel is about to drop down.
“Be careful,” I say, pointing at the towel.
“Why? I don’t give a fuck.” He shrugs, and then grins when he sees my widened eyes. “But apparently you do.”
“Chris!”
“I’m just stating the truth here,” he says. “You and I both know there’s something between us here, and if you’re gonna work for me, then we’d better clear it up.”
“There is nothing between us,” I say.
“I can almost feel the burn from you spitting fire at me, sis.”
“If you don’t stop calling me sis, then I’m going to be spitting something else at you soon.”
“Oh, so angry,” he says, making a face that gets my blood boiling.
“And I’m not working for you, I’m working with you, but only if you stop ruining your own image.”
“Hey, girls aren’t ruining me.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Do you remember this?” I hold up one of the papers that had his name in caps over a picture of a hooker getting into his car.
“Ahh …” He scratches the back of his head. “That.”
“There are plenty more.”
He holds up his hands. “It’s not what you think. I don’t normally do that.” He points at the newspaper. “But I was in a bad mood back then.”
“You bring back girls here all the time. Don’t think I didn’t notice because I read newspapers too, especially when it comes to clients.”
For a second, I think I almost spot a flush of embarrassment on his face, but then it’s gone in a flash. “Hey, I need my release too, okay?”
I make a face. “Please spare me the details.”
He grins. “You don’t know the half of it yet. The best parts. The parts where I provide immense pleasure.”
I can’t help but think he wants to tell me all the ways he has sex just to impress me. He knows exactly how to get under my skin.
“I don’t think I want to know the rest,” I muse, tucking the newspaper back into my bag. “Look, the best thing we can do now is start with a clean slate. Have you do some charity work, you know, the basics.”
“Right …” His eyes lower as if he’s too ashamed to look at me.
“It’ll work out.” I touch his arm without realizing it as my natural desire to cheer people up takes over. “As long as you listen to me.”
“Yes, mistress,” he jokes.
I sigh. “I have a lot of work ahead of me.”
“I’m easy to work with. You’ll see,” he says with a smile.
“I doubt that.”
“Why?”
“I know you,” I say.
“Oh, really?” he jests, stepping closer. “You think you know me? You think you know how to handle me?”
“I do, yeah. I’m not just your sister, if you can remember.”
“Oh, I remember all right.” The way he says it, as if he thinks about our past all the time, gives me the jitters. “I remember you getting all riled up just by being near me.”
“No, I wasn’t.” My skin turns completely red again. Goddammit, why do I always let him get to me?
“Yes, you were. You couldn’t believe I came close to you,” Chris says. He grabs my arm and pulls me closer. “I remember there was a time you didn’t hate me. I remember when you actually wanted to be near me. And I remember much, much more.” He’s wearing a devilish smile on his face as he moves closer, holding me tight as if he’s afraid I’ll run when he opens his mouth. Maybe I will because I don’t want to hear it.
“I know you want to avoid it,” he says.
“No, what I want to avoid is you pissing me off when I have a job to do. In case you didn’t notice, I wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to take you on.”
“But I’ll take you,” he growls, alerting all my senses.
“As a client!” I yell. Dammit, he’s infuriating.
“Right …” He winks again. He’s not taking me serious at all. “You don’t want to admit you just can’t handle this hotness.” His finger goes up and down his own body.
“Oh, please, you’re not the only guy I’ve seen naked,” I say.
“But you’ve never seen one with these abs.” He flexes them. “And I bet you’ve never been overwhelmed by seeing a dick, specifically mine.”
My jaw drops. “I was not overwhelmed, asshole! I’m just shocked you care so little about what should remain private. Like that dick of yours flying around the room.”
“Be careful, it might hit your face if you keep going.” He laughs. “It’s already very jumpy with you being here. Especially considering the way you started to drool.”