Page 66 of Making Over Maris

“I’ll think about it. And Todd?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Don’t call me baby.”

She hung up the phone, reveling in the abrupt end to his sputtering.

She’d felt nothing—but nothing—at the sound of his voice. She wasn’t sure if that was because the emotions had simply run their course, if the last scene between them had killed her tender feelings for him or if her attraction to Jack had simply eclipsed her idiotic crush on Todd.

But she wouldn’t be going out with him. Not ever again.

He didn’t need to know that.

Not just yet.

Let the fucker stew in his own juice.

Turnabout was fair play. Also, it was delicious.

Adam called an emergency all-hands meeting that afternoon, which annoyed Jack to no end because he’d had plans for the afternoon that involved installing some new software on Jenny’s computer and making sure Sara witnessed every flirty look.

As he rounded the corner into the conference room, he realized all was not lost.

Instead of sitting next to Sara as he always did, he plopped down on the other side of the table—next to Jenny—and draped his arm casually over the back of her chair.

The expression on Sara’s face was priceless. She went pale; her gaze danced from Jenny to Jack and back again.

Jack tried not to smile. He knew what she was thinking.

Oh my goodness. Jack usually sits next to me. But now he’s sitting next to Jenny. He must be very hard to get. Maybe I should try harder to get him.

Excellent.

He let his fingers brush against Jenny’s shoulder. To his delight she turned and flashed him a sexy smile. He smiled back.

And then he jumped as her hand found its way onto his knee.

She squeezed.

Holy shit. Not what he expected.

It drifted higher.

He scrambled for her foraging fingers and held her still, sending Jenny a chastising frown. She responded by licking her lips.

Heat crawled up his neck.

Oh, not because Jenny was turning him on—but because he could feel the blast of Sara’s glare.

So… She’d noticed him flirting with Jenny. And it was having the desired effect.

Perfect.

He disliked the prickle of discomfort it caused, displeasing her. He was so used to trying to make her happy. But he thrust it away. This phase was critical to the plan.

And he had to stick to the plan.

It took everything in him to pretend disinterest in her.