Read All's Fair in Lust & War for Free Online Page B

his mom had married Bill money had lost all real value. No matter how much he’d charged to his stepfather’s accounts, or how outrageous the purchase, no one had blinked an eye. Except...
    “Not me. I went to all-boys schools. Girls were rare and always appreciated, no matter how geeky. Besides,” he said, brushing her hair back from her face, “even if you were a nerd, I’m sure you were a gorgeous nerd. I would have been just as desperate to get in your pants then as I am now.”
    She rolled her eyes, looking pleased nevertheless.
    “Whatever,” she said, looking down at her phone screen. “Whoa. It’s almost seven already. What do you say we go back and get our war room set up? That way we can start fresh in the morning.”
    “That’s a good plan. You’re just going to move your stuff into my office, right?”
    Becky froze. “I...uh...thought we should set up shop someplace public. With more space, I mean. Like, you know, the conference room.”
    “Why? Are you afraid to be alone with me?” Mark asked, half hoping that she was. He’d love to know he had that kind of power over her.
    “What? No. Of course not. I just thought we might need the whiteboards or something,” she said, pointedly not looking at him.
    “I’ve got plenty of whiteboards in my office,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but I like a little privacy when I’m working hard. And everybody can see into the conference room.”
    She picked at her fingernails. “I don’t know...”
    He couldn’t resist the urge to tease her.
    “I promise to be on my best behavior. I won’t show you my underwear even if you ask me to.”
    Becky laughed at his reference to the first time they’d met.
    “Okay. Deal. I won’t show you mine if you don’t show me yours,” she said. “But you’ll have to help me move my stuff.”
    * * *
    By the time they’d finished moving her desk, laptop dock and giant monitors, dark had fallen and the lights from the skyscrapers that surrounded them twinkled like stars.
    Becky gazed out of the window and sighed.
    “I could get used to a view like this,” she said.
    Mark came to stand beside her. “It is pretty sweet. Definitely beats the view I had at my last office.”
    “Oh? Where was that?”
    “Los Angeles,” he said.
    “Oh. Yeah... I can see how you’d get tired of looking at palm trees and bikini-clad babes,” Becky teased.
    “I was a contract worker. Which meant I was one small step away from sitting in the basement with a red stapler. The only thing I had to look at was fuzzy cubicle walls.”
    “Ah. At least I’ll always have Ryan Gosling to keep me company,” she said, motioning to the poster she’d tacked to the wall by her desk.
    “If you get tired of looking at him I’m happy to pose for pictures,” Mark said.
    Becky stepped back. “Now you want to be my eye candy, huh?”
    “Nope. I just want you to want me to take my shirt off.”
    If he only knew... But she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t even kiss him—at least not again. That morning in his office had been an aberration.
    “Dream on, buddy. I don’t sleep with the competition.”
    “I know, I know,” he said. “But you can’t blame a guy for trying. You know, if you slept with me I might not try so hard to win.”
    “Yeah, right. I’m pretty sure you don’t give up that easily,” she said, giving him a sideways smile.
    Then she turned away. It was either that or give in to the temptation to rub her hands over the hard planes of his chest.
    “I’m going to check my email and then head out for the night,” she said. “You?”
    “I think I’m just going to head out,” he answered. “I need to hit the hay so I’m ready to rock tomorrow. See ya in the morning.”
    Becky waved vaguely in his direction as he left and fired up her laptop. She didn’t really need to check her email—that was what smartphones were for. But she did need some time to get used to her new surroundings and wrap her head around the