by Linda Verji
“Because I’m her favorite,” Emanuel retorted, his puppy-eyes begging Sin to agree with him.
“Of course you are,” Sin agreed with a smile. She turned to Carmen to say, “Also he’s the only one who comes in without taking breakfast.”
“Oh, yeah!” Carmen reluctantly backed away.
With everyone’s ruffled feathers soothed, Sin turned to Emanuel. “The report you sent us yesterday didn’t have the figures for April’s exhibition.”
“It didn’t?” Frowning, Emanuel typed something on his keyboard then opened the file he’d sent to Worth’s office yesterday. Instant panic filled his expression when he realized that Sin was right. “Oh crap! Ransom’s going to fire me.”
“Don’t worry.” Sin grinned. “I intercepted the email before it got to him. Just fix it then resend.”
“Oh, thank you. Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” Emanuel’s relief was obvious. “Anything you need help with just let me know.”
“Actually, I’ve been trying to learn a bit about accounting.” Injecting a hopeful note into her tone, Sin said, “Maybe you could give me some tips when you have time?”
“Sure, sure. Anytime,” Emanuel offered eagerly.
“You’re sure?”
“Of course I am.” With a shy smile, he added, “As long as it’s after-hours, I’m all yours.”
“Don’t think I won’t take you up on that offer,” Sin teased. “But thanks in advance.”
Smiling, she headed back to their floor. Ah, if only Worth was as easy to manipulate as Emanuel was.
Her interest in accounting was neither sudden nor innocent. With Emanuel being the deputy for the Finance Department, there was a good chance that the company’s financial records were on his computer. If she could get access to those records, maybe she’d find something to use against Worth.
Unfortunately, Sin’s happiness didn’t last long. As soon as she turned the corner that opened out into the reception to Worth’s office, she saw the man himself. He was seated on the edge of her desk, his arm crossed over his broad chest and his eyes on his entrance.
Immediately, her steps froze and her heart dropped to the pit of her belly. Oh shit!
For a while, Worth didn’t speak, he just stared at her with those dark eyes that seemed to be x-raying her, exposing her.
Sin’s first instinct was to start apologizing and explaining herself, but one look at him and she knew that that was exactly what he was expecting. So she smiled. “Good morning, Mr. Ransom.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Good morning?”
“Yes, good morning.” She crossed the room to stand a couple of feet away from him. “Did the meetings go well? I wasn’t expecting you until mid-afternoon.”
“Is that why you’re wandering around aimlessly?”
“I wasn’t wandering around aimlessly,” she denied, amazed by how calm she sounded. She was getting the hang of dealing with Worth’s tantrums. “I went to drop off some documents at Finance.”
“Documents… really?” He watched her for a long uncomfortable moment before saying, “Is that what you’re calling coffee these days?”
“Hmm?” She frowned. A moment later, his words sunk in. He must have seen her taking coffee to the guys in finance. But when? She certainly hadn’t seen him.
Worth rose from the desk. “It seems I’m not giving you enough work.”
When he slowly prowled towards her, Sin’s heart skipped a beat. How was it possible for a man to be intimidating yet sensual at the same time? A part of her wanted to step back but the naughtier side of her wanted to meet him halfway. She settled on just standing there and staring at him.
Finally, he was right in front of her. So close there was hardly a ruler’s breadth between their toes. So close she swore that she could feel the heat emanating from his long, athletic body. Feeling more than a little breathless, she lifted her gaze to meet his and quickly sunk into the dark depths of his eyes.
So mesmerized by his gaze was she that she barely noticed what he was carrying or doing until he slapped a heavy sheaf of papers on her upper chest.
His mouth crooked into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes as he ordered, “Summarized. By tomorrow morning.”
It was like being dunked in an icy pool and certainly enough to break the spell his eyes held over her. Her eyes widened when she saw the size of the sheaf. When she grabbed the documents from his grip and quickly thumbed through them, her jaw dropped.
Her eyes wide with shock, she asked, “All of this?”
This time his smile was genuine. “All of that.”
“By tomorrow morning?” Her voice rose with each question.
Usually, she’d just take the work with a roll of her eyes, but today was different. Diana was unwell and consequently out of the office. Furthermore, Sin still had urgent, leftover work from the previous day, plus Worth was holding a staff wide meeting this afternoon where she’d be expected to keep minutes. Short of her spending the whole night in the office, this task was impossible.
“Yes.” Worth’s smile widened. “By tomorrow morning.”
With that the bastard swaggered into his office, leaving Sin staring at his closed door with shock and a healthy dose of annoyance. Half of her was tempted to dump the paperwork in the trash, but she knew it would give Worth the ammo he needed to berate her or maybe even fire her. Nah, she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. It would be funnier to see his face fall when she actually handed in the completed assignment.
As soon as she settled behind her desk, she grabbed her phone and dialed Ten’s number.
“What’s up?” Ten immediately answered.
“Whatchu doing?”
“The usual,” Ten responded flippantly. “My husband, Michael B Jordan, and I are on our way to the lottery claim center to claim my winnings.”
With a laugh, Sin corrected herself. “I meant in your real life not your imaginary life.”
“Oh!” Her friend sighed. “On the couch, stuffing myself with Doritos while I watch reruns of Family Guy.”
“It sounds boring.” Sin paused for a moment then dived in. “I think I might have something more interesting for you to do.”
“No,” her friend immediately retorted.
“C’mon,” Sin wheedled. “You don’t even know what I want you to do.”
“I know it won’t be interesting. You never give me interesting stuff to do,” Ten complained. “You’re probably gonna give me some paperwork to do for you.”
When Sin only met her statement with silence, Ten exclaimed. “Oh my God! It is paperwork, isn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t really need help,” Sin said sheepishly.
Most of the time Sin did all the work that Worth sent in, but sometimes his demands were unreasonable. Which was why she’d recruited Ten as her sometimes-assistant. Though Sin was kind of smart, Ten was really smart. Like ‘I could’ve worked for NASA if I wasn’t a thief’ smart. And she was fast. Documents that took Sin the whole day to read and summarize, would take her two or three hours tops.
With a sigh, Ten asked, “Is it a lot of paperwork?”
“It’s a lot of paperwork,” Sin confessed truthfully.
“Fine. Send it,” her friend gave in. “But you need to deal with your guy soon. This is the last time I’m doing paperwork for you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m done marking time.” Sin’s lips curved into a wicked grin. “Wentworth Ransom the six hundred and sixty-sixth is about to get struck by lightning.”
She’d wasted enough time getting to know Worth. It was now time to get down to business.
*
THE NEXT MORNING, Worth woke up to the sound of his phone pinging the arrival of an email. The moment he checked his inbox, his jaw dropped.
She finished it? Hard as it was to believe, Sin was done summarizing the report he’d handed her the previous day. The document was now in his inbox. A quick scan revealed that it was just as good as her previous work. Despi
te himself, Worth had to chuckle as he changed into his gym clothes. He had to give it to the lady; she was full of surprises.
His gym was just a building away. Within minutes he was opening the double doors that led into the multi-station hall. Given how early it was, there weren’t too many people around, which is why it was so easy to spot the woman that every man in the gym was trying to get a look at.
The moment Worth saw her, he did a double-take. Sin?
She was positioned at the corner of the hall doing lat pull-downs. Any other woman likely wouldn’t have attracted attention, but this was Sin. Everything about her was designed to draw attention. Every time she pulled the bar down, her chest heaved upwards drawing attention to her full breasts only hidden from the eye by a gray and light blue sports-bra. The muscles in her arms and shoulders rippled with each movement drawing attention to her toned physique.
Worth followed the movement of her body as she shifted slightly on her seat, lingered over her tummy. He would’ve loved to have his hand there, to see if her skin was as smooth and tight as it looked. Inevitably his gaze wandered over to her lower body. The gray, cropped leggings that encased her legs, offered him a magnificent view of her thick thighs. If he didn’t already know that she was sexy, well here was proof enough. And from the male gazes that kept sliding her way, it was obvious that he wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Still, what the hell was she doing here?
A moment later the answer struck him. This was no coincidence. She was here for him. Of course. She must’ve found out that this was his regular haunt and decided to join too. Her goal, he assumed, was to get close to him both outside and inside the office. Classic seduction tactic.
Humph! He snorted underneath his breath. Unfortunately for her, he wouldn’t fall for it. Nope. No. Never. Determined to act like she didn’t even exist, he headed to the treadmill.
Now, he wasn’t an expert at seduction or anything but if he were in her shoes, he would at the very least try to gain his mark’s attention. Maybe sidle up to the aforementioned mark, greet her and try to start a conversation.
Sin did none of that.
If anything, it seemed like she was determined to seduce everyone but Worth. When she needed help with the cable machine, she smiled at some guy with overgrown muscles. When she needed a turn at the Smith Machine, she flirted with the sweaty guy who was using it. Not once did her gaze wander in Worth’s direction.
Being invisible was annoying. But what was even more frustrating was watching all the salivating men hovering around or watching her as she did her squats. Not that he blamed them. Her round, full ass was the type of ass that could make a man religious.
A trainer wandered towards her station presumably to show her how to do a squat. When he set his hand on her lower back, something hot and wild shot through Worth. Before he knew it, he’d stopped the treadmill and was striding towards them.
“Sin!” Worth called out when he was a few feet away from the two.
The trainer was the first to turn. After coming up from her squat and setting the bar back on its hinges, Sin turned to him. When their eyes met, hers lit up. “Mr. Ransom? I didn’t know you come here too.”
Yeah, right! Worth arched his eyebrows. He was about ninety-nine percent sure that she’d chosen this gym just because of him.
However, before he could call her bluff, she introduced the trainer, “James, this is my boss, Wentworth Ransom.”
“Hi.” The trainer smiled and stretched out his arm. “Glad to meet you. I think I’ve seen you around here.”
“I’m a member. Of course you’ve seen me around,” Worth retorted, blatantly ignoring the man’s outstretched arm. The man’s ears immediately flushed a healthy red and mortification filled his features. Turning his attention back to Sin, Worth asked, “What are you doing here?”
She gave him her best duh look. “Training?”
“That’s not what I meant.” His tone condescending, he clarified, “I mean I didn’t know you could afford this place.”
Sin’s expression immediately turned frosty. “I didn’t know my personal finances were any of your business.”
Her response left him feeling more than a little dumb. Before he could come up with a fitting retort, she asked, “Did you want to use the Smith Machine or are you just here to bother us?”
Her question stumped him mostly because he wasn’t even sure why he was hanging around her. All he knew was that he didn’t like how touchy-feely the trainer was with her. So he pointed at the trainer. “I came for him.”
“Me?” Nervousness flashed in the trainer’s eyes.
“Yes, you.” Already starting to walk away, Worth said, “I need help setting up the biceps bar.”
Given Worth’s rudeness, it was understandable that the trainer wasn’t very friendly as he helped set up the machine. But Worth didn’t even notice. All his attention was on Sin. He couldn’t help sneaking glances her way, watching her, monitoring which idiots were still swarming around her, and brooding over ways to get them away from her.
Oh God! What the hell was wrong with him? He was supposed to be resisting and ignoring her, yet here he was unable to even workout because the green-eyed monster was eating him up inside. Annoyed with himself and her, he left the gym without even finishing his routine.
By the time he got home, cleaned up and headed to work, he was still heated. Given that he’d left the gym before her, it was obvious that he’d get to the office before Sin. Just wait, he promised himself. Just wait. She’d get the earful of her life. How dare she get to the office after her boss? He even practiced all the ways he was going to berate her as he drove.
But all that practice was a waste of time.
When he turned the corner that led to the open space that was his reception, he saw her there. She was seated at her desk, hard at work and looking as fresh as a daisy. What the hell? How had she gotten here before him?
She looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Mr. Ransom.”
So chocked by shock and anger was he that he couldn’t even say a word. He just angrily strode into his office. It was only after he settled in his seat that he realized that Diana wasn’t at her desk. However, before he could demand answers Little Miss Efficient knocked on his door and came in carrying a coffee tray.
“Coffee’s here,” Sin announced as she set the tray on the coffee table. Even without him asking, she explained, “Diana wasn’t feeling well today, so she asked me to hold down the fort.”
“Mm,” Worth grunted as he watched her pour him coffee.
His body pulsed, dark and hard with desire as his eyes raked over her figure. The white blouse, beige pencil skirt and brown pumps combo she was wearing was elegant and decent by office standards, yet it felt unnecessarily inviting.
Maybe it was because of the way the neck of her blouse gaped slightly when she bent giving him an all too brief view of the tops of her breasts. Maybe it was the way her skirt clung to her ass. Or maybe it was because he now knew how sexy she was beneath all that fabric. Either way, it left Worth feeling more than a little turned on. He shifted in his seat to ease the discomfort in his groin.
“Here you go.” She rounded the desk to set his coffee beside him.
Immediately her scent assailed his senses; it was feminine, alluring and intoxicating. Just like her. When she backed away from him to stand in front of his desk, he almost begged her to come back.
He had to clear his throat before asking, “What’s my schedule for the day?”
As she rattled on about all the things he was supposed to do and the people he was supposed to meet, he couldn’t help admiring her. As fake as she was, he had to admit that she was one of the most efficient assistants he’d ever had. Despite Diana not being around, everything was set up as he liked it.
She finished, “And lastly, there’s the dinner at the Embassy of India at six.”
“Is that today?” Worth asked. When she nodded, he frowned, “It’s supposed to
be black-tie, right?”
Considering that he had an appointment for five, it would be practically impossible for him to get home, change and be at the Embassy on time, yet both meetings were incredibly important.
“It is,” Sin said. Then as if she could read his worries, she added, “I’ve already asked Sir Arthur’s to send a tux here. You should be able to make both meetings.”
He was so impressed he almost said ‘good job’. Then he remembered that she was a con-woman. Without another word, he waved her out of his office. Still, he couldn’t help watching her as she walked away or to be more specific, he couldn’t help watching her ass. The sight of her full flesh cupped so enticingly by the thin fabric and swaying with her every step had sweat trickling down his spine.
Already he could see himself pulling up that skirt so he could take his fill of her. Knowing her, her panties were probably flimsy enough that all it would take was a tear to reveal her completely. Or maybe she wasn’t even wearing any. His cock jumped at the vision and his jaw clenched with desire. He could see himself bending her over his desk, his hand tightly cupping her neck and pushed his c-Jeez! He wiped his face with his palm, trying to clear his mind of its filthy thoughts. This was what Sin wanted. Him like this; hot, bothered and lusting over her. But damn it – he wouldn’t let her win. No, he could control himself. Right?
CHAPTER 8
Sin couldn’t help smiling wickedly as she prepared to go to the gym the next morning. Trying to get Worth to lust after her was more fun than she’d expected and from what she could tell it was working. Despite his attempts to act like he was annoyed by her mere presence, she’d seen the way he couldn’t take his eyes off her the previous day. She’d seen the jealousy glittering dangerously in his eyes when he’d confronted her at the gym. It had been exhilarating and it had turned her on. She couldn’t wait to force it out of him again.
It was a few minutes to six when she got to the gym. As soon as she walked in, she headed to the treadmill, inserted her earphones into her ears and began to run. Might as well get in a few miles while I wait for him.
