He never raised it.
Mikhail’s was always clipped, like he couldn’t be bothered to fully engage in the conversation.
Leonid’s always came through warm and unhurried, like he had all the time in the world.
I’d caught myself listening for it more than once without meaning to.
The blacked-out windows kept me from seeing inside, but they could see me if they happened to look in the lower left corner of the window where my desk sat.
My cheeks heated, and I tried to resist, but the quip was too tempting to pass up, so I thumbed a quick reply.
You’re saying you have sand fleas in your ass?
A laughing emoji popped up an instant later.
Not anymore. My ass is far too fine for those bastards.
Hmm. Gym bro trying to score a compliment or just a confident guy teasing me with his assets?
I scanned the user name. Lionheart. Cute. More clever than my Curvatious369, but I’d wanted to at least give the men on the other side a hint of my body type.
Okay, so I was a sucker for waffling. Part of me wanted to not give them any hint at all, and another part knew better.
Voices trickled out from the meeting room. I let out a squeak and jammed my phone into the desk drawer and spun around to face my computer, pulling up the calendar and typing some random shit so I looked busy.
Viktor, Mikhail, and Leonid walked out behind the four men they’d been meeting with. Tight lines framed Viktor’s mouth as Leonid slapped one man on the back and promised they’d get together soon.
I ducked my head and shifted to a real task as they approached.
Viktor stopped at the edge of my desk, dark eyes sweeping over me and my work station.
He was nearly impossible to read until he tapped one finger on the top of my desk three times. “It’s past lunchtime, Miss Stirling.”
“Yes, sir. I stayed in case you had any last-minute needs.” Rising heat eclipsed my cheeks when one thick black eyebrow arched. Of course it had come out sounding sexual.
Of course it did.
Not only were they intimidating, but they were all attractive as hell. I had about as much chance with them as a monkey did, but it didn’t stop my raging hormones every time they so much as stepped into a room.
Which was why this dating thing needed to work. I needed a sexual release, something profound that might help me survive the day-to-day as their executive assistant without my panties catching on fire.
I stood and tugged my shirt where it had ridden up in the back. “If that’s all, I’ll head out. See you in an hour.” It took the entire elevator ride and walk to the lunchroom before my face returned to normal.
My phone buzzed again, and I snatched it from my pocket while zigzagging my way to the table where Elena, my new-found best friend, sat with her salad and water.
You keep texting me during work hours and I’m going to think you’re unemployed.
I rolled my eyes and typed back. You texted me first, genius. Does that mean you’re unemployed? Please say no.
I’m so good at my job, I can multitask.
I added a laughing emoji and slid into the seat across from Elena.
“That’s an extra-big smile today. Something good happen?” With her dark hair and eyes and model-thin physique, half the men in the company stared everywhere she went.
Elena ignored them and poked her fork toward my phone. “What has brought out that smile?” Every now and then, a hint of an accent danced along her words, but I’d never been able to pin in down. Every time I asked, she brushed it off with the excuse that she’d lived so many places that the accents often blurred together.
I showed her the text message exchange. “I’m trying something new.”