Instead of backing down, Caleb leans closer until there are maybe two inches between us.I can feel the heat radiating off his body, and I refuse to let myself get affected by his breath on my lips.
“Oh, I’m so scared,” he whispers, his voice taunting.His gaze drops to my lips for a split second before meeting my eyes again.
“You should be,” I inform him.“I’m not afraid to hit below the belt.”
“I’m aware of that,” he murmurs, but his voice has gone even lower, more gravelly.
The office around us seems to fade away.All I can focus on is the way he’s looking at me, the infuriating smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.One of us needs to step back.It should be me.I should be the mature one here.
But I don’t move.Neither does he.
“Okay, break it up, you two,” Joshua calls out, not even looking up from his computer.“Save the deathmatch for after work hours.”
I jerk backward, my face heating up.Caleb just grins wider, the smug asshole.
“Professional disagreement,” I mutter, smoothing down my blazer.
“Right,” Flora says dryly from behind her desk.“Very professional.Try not to actually murder each other before the Serastra launch.”
I shoot a glare at Caleb, who’s already walking away, whistling under his breath.The sound makes my eye twitch.
But I’m nothing if not patient.
So I wait.And wait.Watching the clock like a hawk while pretending to work on the Serastra campaign materials.Caleb spends the next hour making phone calls and finalizing some details of the event.Finally, around three-thirty, his phone rings, and he steps away from his desk.After a few minutes of hushed conversation, he grabs his jacket and heads for the door.
“Need to take this call outside,” he says.
The second he’s out of sight, I look around.Flora is heading to Iris’s office, and Joshua just disappeared for a meeting.It’s just me and Steven.
“Steven,” I call out sweetly, perching on the edge of his desk.“I need a favor.”
He looks up warily.“What kind of favor?”
I nod toward Caleb’s abandoned laptop, still open on his desk.“I need to get into that.”
“Absolutely not.”Steven sits back in his chair, crossing his arms.“Eve, I’m not helping you break into someone’s computer.That’s?—”
“It’s for work,” I lie smoothly.“He has some vendor contacts on there that I need for the project, but he password-protected everything.”
Steven’s expression doesn’t budge.“Then ask him for the password.”
Time for the nuclear option.I lean forward conspiratorially.“You know that new game your son’s been begging for?Mystic Realms: Shadow Wars?The one that doesn’t come out until next month?”
His eyes narrow.“How do you know about that?”
“Because I have connections,” I say, pulling out my phone.“And I can get you an advance copy.Tomorrow.All I need is five minutes with that laptop.”Steven stares at me for a long moment.I can practically see the internal battle playing out—his ethics versus his son’s happiness.
“He did injure his foot,” he says finally.“He’s going to be stuck in bed for a few days.”
“He’ll drive your wife crazy unless he has something to distract himself with,” I agree solemnly.
Another pause.Then Steven sighs heavily and stands up.“Five minutes.And I didn’t touch anything.”
“You’re the best,” I grin, already moving toward Caleb’s desk.Steven pulls up another chair and cracks his knuckles.
“Okay, let’s see what we’re dealing with here.”The laptop is indeed password-protected, but Steven’s better at this stuff than most people give him credit for.Within two minutes, we’re in.
“Alright, you’re in,” Steven says, standing up.“Go grab whatever file you need.”
