: Chapter 2

Xander stares at her ass as she sashays from the room, her dark curls bouncing with every step she takes. As soon as the door is closed, he flashes me a grin. “She was cute, right?”

I glance at the envelope on my desk. The papers she just delivered need my attention. Any further delay in this merger is going to make me gray before I’m forty, which is only two years away as Xander likes to remind me.

He flops into the chair opposite my desk. “West?”

I glance up, running my tongue over my bottom lip. “What?”

“I said she was cute.”

“Kind of.” I shrug and use my letter opener to slice open the envelope.

He scoffs. “Kind of? I saw the way you looked at her.”

My head snaps up. Yes, I was acutely aware of the flush on her cheeks and the way her bright green eyes sparkled with defiance. I also noticed the bead of sweat running down her slender neck and wondered for a brief second what it would be like to lick it from her olive skin. “I didn’t look at her like anything,” I bark. Within these walls, I pride myself on being a professional. Unlike my partner here, I don’t openly salivate over women every chance I get.

He laughs, throwing his head back far enough that I see the tattoo peeking out from beneath the open collar of his dress shirt. “Relax, buddy. She wouldn’t have noticed. But I know you too well.”

I snort but otherwise don’t respond.

“Yeah.” His voice drops an octave, and he leans forward, placing his hands on my desk. “You had that look in your eye. The one you get when your cock is twitching in your boxers.”

“Fuck you.” I concentrate on the papers and try to ignore him.

He sighs dramatically. “What’s crawled up your ass today? Are you pissed at me for something?”

I’m pissed about a lot of things. Mostly this goddamn merger that he’s preventing me from dealing with. I glare at him. “You’re clean shaven.”

He runs a hand over his jaw. “Yeah, Zeke was bitching about my stubble.”

Tension works its way into my neck and shoulders. “You shaved for him?”

He rolls his eyes. “It’ll grow back by tomorrow. I shave all the fucking time, West.”

I clench my jaw, grinding my teeth together.

He cups my chin in his hand, his strong fingers flexing against my cheek as he forces me to look into his bright blue eyes. “And if you’re pissed about me shaving, I think it’s time we try to find a new addition to our little unit, don’t you?”

I try to shake my head, but he holds me still. “We said we wouldn’t do it again.”

“I know what we said, but come on …” He tightens his grip on my jaw. “We’re really giving up?”

“How many women have there been, Xander? Twenty? Thirty? I’ve lost fucking count.”

His fingers slip from my face, and he runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “Twenty-two.”

I stretch my neck in an attempt to alleviate the tension there, but it doesn’t work. “Let’s not add another to that particular body count.”

“Maybe number twenty-three will be the one?” His hopeful smile and puppy dog expression make me wish I shared his enthusiasm and his sunny outlook on life. Too bad I’m a realist.

I shake my head. “I can’t do it again. It’s too much trouble and it never fucking works out.”

“It doesn’t have to be so much work, West. The NDAs. The contracts.” He throws his hands in the air. “We could simplify things a little, you know?”

A frown furrows my brow, and my temples start to throb. “The fuck?”

His eyes soften and he leans across my desk, tracing a finger over my jawline. “It doesn’t have to be another fucking merger is all I’m saying, West.” He nods at the mountain of paperwork in front of me.

I swallow down the ball of emotion lodged in my throat. Anger and frustration eat away at my insides, and this man right in front of me deserves none of it. But the goddamn pressure of this Grayson News Corp merger is making me crazy. Sensing he’s not about to let this go, I change tactics. “It’s not good for Zeke … he blames himself every time. I can’t stand to see him tear himself apart when it ends.”

Disappointment flashes across Xander’s face, and I feel like a jackass for putting it there. But he knows I’m right. He stands straight, stuffing his hands into his suit pants so that the already tight material stretches across his groin. The outline of his huge cock stares me directly in the face, and I run my tongue over my lip. That simple action makes him smile. “Then stop acting like a jealous asshole because I shaved.”

I clear my throat. “I’m not jealous. I’m fucking stressed.”

“All the more reason you need some pussy,” he says with a wicked grin. “How about we go to the club tonight? The three of us? You need to relax, buddy. And Zeke … well he’s wound tighter than a coiled spring.”

I sink back in my chair.

“It’s Friday night. Wall-to-wall pussy,” he adds with a chuckle.

I sigh. “Fine. Make the arrangements.”

He winks at me. Cocky fucker. “Consider it done.”

Xander heads out, and I return my focus to the papers on my desk but call out as he reaches the door. “Hey, Fitch.”

He turns, his smile bright, probably because I used his nickname. “Yeah?”

“You look way better with some scruff on your face.”

He barks a laugh and disappears from view.