cut him off, “he apparently demands that the women in his office address him only as ‘Your Hotness.’ And when speaking about him in the third person, he wants them to refer to him only as ‘ The Hotness. ’ ”
The Derek guy, who still sat over at the conference table, snorted loudly at this.
Jason threw Taylor a look of warning. “I really don’t think—”
“—And of course there was the incident last week,” she said, cutting him off once again.
“The incident?” Sam asked, looking slightly uncomfortable.
With a coy glance clearly thrown in for Jason’s benefit, Taylor turned to Sam to explain.
“Last week, Mr. Andrews thought it would be amusing to sound the fire alarm and yell over the intercom that it was—quote—‘Time for all the cute girls to run around naked.’ ”
Jason broke into a loud coughing fit—at this point he was ready to try anything to shut her up.
He felt Taylor patting him on the back.
“There, there, now, Mr. Andrews, that’s okay,” she said reassuringly. “You don’t have to say a word. As your attorneys, we’ll do all the talking.” She turned to her boss with a wink. “Isn’t that right, Sam?”
Sam took a moment, then nodded. “Yes, of course,” he said politely. “Our firm would be more than happy to help Mr. Andrews with his . . . uh . . . issues. You carry on with that, Taylor.”
Standing by Jason’s side, Taylor smiled proudly.
“Thanks, Sam. And don’t you worry—I’m quite certain that Mr. Andrews is quickly learning that there are just some things you don’t do in somebody else’s workplace.”
She looked up at Jason with a smile that was as sweet as pie. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Andrews?”
He glared at her.
It didn’t take a genius to catch her real meaning.
THE MINUTE HE and Taylor stepped out into the hallway, Jason could control himself no longer.
“Are you crazy?”
Taylor furiously shushed him, and before he could say anything further, she pulled him into a corner alcove. She looked around to be certain they were alone, then whirled on him.
“Who do you think you are, storming into my office like that?” She pointed angrily in his face. “Do you realize how much trouble you almost got me into?”
“Wait—you’re angry with me ?” Jason stared at Taylor incredulously. “Do you realize the mess you’ve made?” Realizing that time was of the essence, he whipped out his cell phone and pushed the speed dial.
“Marty—we’ve got a problem,” he barked into the phone as soon as his publicist answered. “Listen, in about fifteen minutes, there’s going to be real shit storm—”
He was cut off as Taylor suddenly reached over and grabbed the phone out of his hand. She slammed it shut.
Jason stared at her in disbelief. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Furious now, he stalked toward Taylor, backing her up against the wall. Under other circumstances, his mind would have wandered nefariously at their close physical proximity, but by then he was angry even beyond the point of Naughty Lawyer fantasies.
“You know, I tolerated your little charade in there because I felt bad for getting you in trouble,” Jason hissed at her. “But if you don’t hand over that phone right this second, I swear I’m going to—”
“Calm down,” Taylor interrupted smoothly. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to — ” Jason managed to refrain from shouting the rest. He looked up at the ceiling and counted to ten to keep from throttling her.
“You just told those people that I’m a sexual deviant,” he said through clenched teeth. “And apparently, one with the intelligence of a ten-year-old. Those stories will be on the Internet by this afternoon.”
“Those men won’t talk.”
Jason glared at Taylor and grabbed his cell phone out of her hands. “You obviously need a lesson on how my life works, missy.” He hit the redial button. “ Everyone talks.”
“They think I was
Glen Cook
Mignon F. Ballard
L.A. Meyer
Shirley Hailstock
Sebastian Hampson
Tielle St. Clare
Sophie McManus
Jayne Cohen
Christine Wenger
Beverly Barton