“Good.” He nods approvingly. “Don’t you remember the first hackathon?”
“No! Why?”
“Oh shit, yeah. I forgot you forgot.”
“What?” My eyes are saucers. “Spill it!”
“The guy wasn’t short of female attention. He tried to keep it discreet—actually he didn’t try that hard—he had at least two different women that week.”
I swallow hard and try to respond. To say what? It’s hardly breaking news.
“It was just a dumb mistake.” I muster some bravado. “Forget I mentioned it.”
Oh my God. I’m such a dumbass. Wolfe is only making moves because we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, and not in Vegas. Out of the hackathon crew, I’m the most viable option. Most of the team are guys, Wendy is just out of college and too busy thinking aboutGame of Thrones, and Taylor is already tethered to a boyfriend.
Would his gaze wander in my direction in Vegas if he was surrounded by those glamazons he’s photographed next to at “events”? Not a chance.
My face must spell out shock because Matty’s brows knit together. “Luce, what were you thinking?”
I manage a smile. “That’s the thing. I wasn’t. How long can I play the amnesia card?”
“Oh, you can milk that for months.”
I steal a glance at Wolfe.
He’s out on the lawn, holding court with the team. The sunlight catches his chiseled jaw.
It’s a face that commands attention, even when my brain is screaming,Retreat, retreat!
What the hell was I thinking? I’m not built for office romances, not with anyone, let alone with the man in charge.
Priya can pull it off. She had a thing with a guy at work, but she’s able to neatly slot lust, work, and love into tidy compartments. It only got messy when she discovered the guy was also “compartmentalizing” another woman at work.
I’m not built for that kind of drama.
A guy like Wolfe will chew me up and spit me out, taking what he wants and leaving me to gather the remnants of my dignity.
Our eyes meet, and he smirks. Matty’s words echo in my head, and I can only imagine the other hackathons. The audacity of the man. He thinks he can use me for the week. What a total bastard.
Heat rises in my cheeks and I turn away, busying myself by smoothing out my bangs.
“Five minutes till we regroup!” Taylor calls out from the brainstorming area, her voice cutting through the chatter.
A smug smirk spreads across JP’s face before he saunters into the mansion. I glare back, giving my best death stare.
That’s the last time I get involved with Wolfe. I must stay professional, avoid Wolfe, and focus on the job. I’m not here to become tomorrow’s gossip around the water cooler. Doesn’t matter that we had a “moment” in the hall, getting tangled up with a ruthless guy like Wolfe, especially as my boss, would end in disaster.
JP
Following a string of calls to Vegas over lunch, I step onto the lawn to assess my team’s progress. But Lucy’s absence is glaring.
I find her in the kitchen, staring into the freezer as if she’s expecting a frozen chicken to engage her in conversation.
“Lucy.”
She whirls around, shutting the freezer with a slam. She shoots me a look that could freeze hell.
So we’re doing this dance again? Two steps forward, one step back.
