Chapter 2
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Shane
He was pretty sure Leah didn’t know the definition of fun—or definitely not how to have it while being responsible at the same time. But he was a master at it. Had been since high school. He pulled in a 4.0 and went to every weekend party he knew about. He hung out with girls and women, had fun with them, too, but still managed to make it to work on time and avoid anything too serious.
Shane had no idea why Leah couldn’t manage the same. After all, she had the body for it. And the job. Now was the time to live it up and instead, she was glued to her office chair fretting over submissions and sex scenes.
Once Kara ducked out early for the day, Shane stood and gestured to the elevator. “Come on.”
Leah blinked up at him, eyes wide with confusion. Damn, she had nice eyes. Kind of wide and innocent. The kind of eyes he’d love to see staring up at him while she had her mouth around his cock…
Shit. This was Leah, not one of the women from publicity. She’d probably never even given a blow job before. She was probably as vanilla as they came.
“Let’s go,” he said. He turned back to his desk to grab a notebook and a pen, then decided against it. Leah would probably bring her entire arsenal of office supplies, so he didn’t need to bother. “We’re going next door.”
“Next door as in…the bar?” She stood anyway, looking like she wasn’t sure what would happen if she didn’t follow along.
“Yep.”
“But Kara—”
“Is gone.” He walked to the elevator. “You coming? Grab your notebook.”
She fumbled around her desk and he chuckled when he heard something fall and her quiet curse. Well, at least she wasn’t 100% innocent. She had a mouth on her.
Which reminded him again of her lips wrapped around his cock, and he immediately went hard. Damn Leah—maybe this wasn’t a good idea. But he’d bet her she couldn’t have fun and she’d bet him he didn’t know how to work, and he hated losing a bet. He planned on following through.
She jumped into the elevator with him just as the doors closed, and ran a hand through her hair. “You know, Kara’s probably over at the bar right now. If she sees us—”
“She’ll what? Fire us—from a job we’re not even getting paid for anyway? Besides, it’s a work meeting.” He pointed to her notebook. “Obviously.”
“But—”
“Damn it, Leah. If you were half as good at relaxing as you were at arguing, you already would have won the bet.”
She glared at him as the elevator opened, but followed him through the lobby and out the front doors. The sun shone warm and bright and made him lift his head to the sky. Being an intern had its perks, sure, but he couldn’t wait for the day he could do this full-time. Preferably from a remote location with lots of sandy white beaches and Mai Tai’s. The body wasn’t meant to stay cooped up inside all day.
And it certainly wasn’t meant to stay tame when he had to look at Leah all day. Half the time he had to cover his hard on with his keyboard, when things would be a lot easier if they could just head to the copy room, lock the door, and get out some of their sexual frustrations.
Too bad she hated him. He kind of hated her too—but figured that’d only make it hotter.
He opened the door for her at the bar and watched her ass as she walked in.
Hell, maybe after she got drunk she’d loosen up and he’d see a whole new side of her. He could just scrap the bet altogether and see how loose he could make her. He’d bet Leah couldn’t have any fun, but he knew how to show a girl a good time. He might not have a ton of confidence in her to win this bet, but he had loads of confidence in himself.
He flashed a smile at the hostess and pointed to the booth in the corner. He’d prefer to sit at the bar, but a booth would be more conducive to the plan he had in mind. Despite what Leah thought, he did want to make sure he got these notes done on the story.
The hostess smiled back, all dimples and fluttering lashes. He was a regular, he’d seen those dimples before. From far away and up close. But now, they were friends and that suited him just fine. He motioned to the bar and mimed drinking a shot as they walked to the booth.
“What was that?” Leah asked.
He grabbed her arm and steered her in the right direction. No time to waste. “Shots.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
“Yes, you do. Shots are necessary. You said you could have fun. I said I could work. Are you seriously going to back out on this bet because a little tequila is involved?”
She sat with a grimace. “Tequila?”
“You’d prefer vodka? Or a mixed drink? I could—”
“No, tequila’s fine. It’s fine.”
He laughed. Sure, it was fine. Damn, maybe Leah really didn’t know how to have fun. But he’d never met a girl who couldn’t have fun after a few shots of tequila. Or four. However many it took.
Once the first shot arrived, he lifted his. “Cheers.”
“Uh…” She clinked her glass to his with a frown. “I’m not sure—”
“Drink.”
He tossed his back, watched her do the same…but a lot more slowly. Her face twisted, but he nodded. “Good. Now…sex.”
She choked on the tequila, coughed a few times, and then averted her eyes.
“I meant the book.”
Leah hastily opened her notebook and set the manuscript out to look at as well. “I know.”
Sure, she did. It was actually pretty cute that she was so intimidated by him.
“The author’s great at making the reader care for her characters, but she doesn’t just want the reader to care. She wants the reader to feel. To get turned on. What makes you root for the characters more than wishing you could be them? Feel what they feel?” He winked at her. “Especially in all the right places.”
By the time he’d finished his little speech, her mouth was hanging open. She squirmed a little in her seat, and he knew he had her. If he could actually get her to open up, to have a little fun like she promised she was capable, they could probably make decent progress on the manuscript.
She wet her lips and smiled. “I think maybe…we need another shot.”
“Good idea.” He waved to the waitress and decided on two more each.