“Zane, could you be a dear and go fetch me the thumb drive that has my PowerPoint slides on it?”

Piper bats her eyes and tosses me a one-up type of smirk.

Fuck, I hate that she has me by the balls and she won’t fucking let go. I guess I fucking deserve the shit. I fucked three models on top of her desk, and she’ll probably never get my DNA out of that wood surface no matter how hard she scrubs it.

She wants my DNA though, I think as I sigh deeply and stand up. “What’s in it for me?” I slowly walk toward her with a sly grin on my face.

Piper rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “Um, your job, dumbass?”

I smirk. “Now is that any way to talk to your baby daddy?”

“It depends on how he’s behaving,” she says coolly but smiles underneath her tough exterior.

“Damn, that’s bitter,” I say and pretend to pull the metaphorical knife out of my chest.

“I think we need to keep work and the baby batter contract separate,” she says firmly.

“You’re the one who’s intertwining them,” I remind her.

“Can you just do what I ask?” Her voice has frustrated undertones.

“Only if you plant a little kiss on my cheek first, baby.” I wink at her.

She sighs as if she’s going to object, but then she caves. I know she can’t resist my sexy smile.

She approaches me and kisses me softly on my left cheek. The sensation of her lips on my skin stays with me well after she pulls away.

“That’s more like it,” I say with a grin.

“Okay, I’m growing impatient,” she says. “I need to get this fucking shit pulled up before the board members arrive.”

“Fine,” I say. “You are just a tease anyway.”

“Whatever, Zane,” she says and turns her back away from me.

I know she fucking likes me and my hard cock; she just wants to pretend that she doesn’t for some complicated reason. I don’t understand women, and I won’t stand here and pretend that I fucking do.

I guess she has a change of heart because suddenly her personality does a complete flip.

“Thank you, sweetie.” She giggles and I turn around, raising an eyebrow.

She waves at me and I shake my head and walk out of the room without another fucking word to her.

The weekly board meeting starts in fifteen minutes, but Piper and I are the only ones in the room so far.

I’m just glad there’s no one else fucking in here to watch her bust my balls.

I trek down the hallway with a sullen expression, staring sourly at everyone I pass by.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” I say to a guy who especially gets under my skin by the way he’s glaring at me.

“You aren’t supposed to be down here anymore,” the fucking nerd protests.

“I can do whatever the fuck I want,” I snarl and keep walking. Fuck that guy.

So now it’s apparent that everyone on this fucking floor knows about my sexual conquests with the fired models. Oh well, that dude only wishes he could bang three chicks at once.

I turn the corner and begin walking down the hallway leading toward Piper’s office. It’s at the end of the hall.

The first thing I notice is that the door is closed, which is really fucking odd given that I know with absolute fucking certainty that Piper is still upstairs in the board room.

I push open the door, not really knowing what to expect.

When I see who’s in Piper’s office, I yell out in a startle. “Holy fuck! What the fuck are you doing in here?”

Piper’s ex-boyfriend, David Brigman, is standing behind her desk. As soon as he sees me, he jumps fucking three feet in the fucking air, scared apparently shitless by my unannounced presence.

“Oh, hey, Zane,” he says and runs a hand through his sandy-blond hair with nonchalant flare.

He’s wearing a light-blue button-up shirt with a dark-blue tie, but no blazer. He’s wearing khaki pants as if he’s on his way to some fucking yacht club regalia and not an executive meeting.

David is a principle investor in Piper’s lingerie company, which means unfortunately for me, he is always at the fucking board meetings.

I want to squash that fucking guy like a bug, but I have to keep my cool around him…or at least fucking try.

“You know, Piper is going to shit a brick if she finds out you’re in her office,” I snarl.

“Well, luckily for me, you aren’t going to tell her.” David casts me a smug glance, and all I want to fucking do in this moment is punch him in the fucking face.

I watch him fidget uncomfortably. He’s fucking hiding something, and I want to smoke it out of him.

“Hey, what do you have beside you on the desk there that you shoved away really quick?”

I slowly approach David, and he licks his lips and furrows his brow. “I should be fucking asking you the same question, Zane,” he spits at me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I scoff and glance down at Piper’s desk. The contract is an inch from David’s hand, and I know he was reading through it when I walked in on him.

“You should just mind your own business before you get yourself into a world of trouble, little man,” I whisper slowly.

David clinches his fists. “You need to stay the fuck away from Piper.”

I laugh with venom. “I’m sorry, but who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? You and Piper are broken up, remember?”

“I can still protect her.” He glares right through me. I can tell that he’s pissed I know the details of their relationship.

“She doesn’t need your protection. She has me.” I stand right in front of his face.

I’m ready to brawl with this dude right here, right now. Everyone knows I’ve certainly done worse in this office.

“You are nothing to her,” David wails with laughter that sounds more like a yelping animal.

“Well, that contract speaks otherwise.” I wink at him, and he shoves me.

“Hey! Back the fuck off me.” I point a shaking finger toward his chest.

“Why don’t you make me, you fucking prick?” David is fuming, and his face flushes in the heat of anger.

“I don’t know what you think you see in those documents, but you have no fucking clue what’s going on, so you better fucking manage your temper and know your place.” I’m not playing fucking games with this asshole anymore.

David barrels past me without another word. And before I know it, he’s gone out the door. I roll my eyes and try to contain my leaping heart to my chest.

I grab Piper’s thumb drive with her PowerPoint slides on them and then look out the door before leaving.

I want to make sure David is nowhere to be found. Oddly enough, I don’t want to make a scene with him, because I know how much it will hurt Piper.

Am I suddenly growing a set of feelings? No, that can’t be fucking right. Not at fucking all. I just hate that dick, that’s all.

I square out my jaw and walk back to the board meeting, ready to knock em’ dead.