Crap!
I lurch to a stop when I reach the end of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, I steel myself before pushing open the double doors.
Henry stands in front of a large projector, preparing to begin the pitch without me.
Sorry,I mouth. All chatter ceases as his eyes bore into mine, horror etched across his face. His gaze slowly peruses from my head to my toes, and I gulp, dropping my folder onto the table and shedding my coat. As I lower the trench off my shoulders, the worst imaginable thing happens.
My top button gives way, popping off with dramatic flair. It gets some serious air behind it and I watch, helpless, as it arcs across the room in slow motion, only to strike the left eye of one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen.
Grayson Livingstone.
“Ah! Fuck!” he yells, clutching at his eye.
Fuck, indeed.
My heart slams against my ribs as I cover my mouth with my hand, totally mortified. Did that just happen? I glance to Grayson’s left, where his chief development officer must be seated, only to freeze when my gaze latches onto a familiar pair of ocean-blue ones. A dark eyebrow arches as he leans back, crossing his muscled arms over his chest, a smirk on his face.
You’re shitting me.
“I’m so sorry!” I say.
Henry sidles up to me, his voice strained. “Gemma Clarke, meet Grayson Livingstone and his chief development officer, Max Browne.”
Ah-ha!I knew the handsome bastard looked familiar.
Max Browne. As in my best friend Anna’s older brother, Max Browne. The one I’ve somehow managed to avoid meeting for thirteen years of friendship with Anna.
Not only have I potentially blinded one of the most important men in my professional career with wayward haberdashery, but not ten minutes ago, I told his partner—my best friend’s brother—that I was certain he had a tight arse.
Bloody brilliant.
Chapter Five
Gemma
The pitch flies by in a blur. I utter a silent prayer as soon as the meeting finishes, and I can’t escape fast enough. I burst through the double doors equal parts flustered and humiliated.
Louise couldn’t take her eyes off MaxorGrayson. If she wasn’t staring daggers at me, she was drooling like a Saint Bernard. And what’s worse? Max couldn’t take his eyes off me—though my exposed cleavage may have had something to do with that.
Poor Grayson pasted on a brave face, nursing his assaulted eye throughout the entire pitch, and Max… Christ, his gaze was lethal. Like I was facing a firing squad. He tracked my every move, and despite the mortification, despite everything that wentwrong, I was hyperaware of him in ways that had nothing to do with my embarrassment.
I’m not usually ruffled around men. But Max has me nervous—me!This never happens. I need to find a way to ignore my physical attraction to Max and go into this with a purely professional lens, and the reasons are crystal clear…
First, I’m working on this campaign with him, and mixing business with pleasure only ever ends in tears and HR paperwork.
Second, he’s Anna’s brother. She’d kill me. Not metaphorically—actually kill me.
And let’s not forget the most important part: Max Browne is a bit of a tosser.
Ugh. I can picture his smug, infuriatingly self-assured face right now.
At least Henry was up there with me. Nevertheless, I slapped on my bestI’ve got my shit togetherface and did what I do best. My job. Well, sex—but still, my job.
I yank my phone from my pocket, thumbs attacking the cracked screen as I shoot off a message to Anna.
Me:WTF?! You failed to mention your brother is the chief development officer working with Grayson-Bloody-Livingstone on the Gray Hotel campaign!
Her response is instant.
