Free Insatiable by Lucy Lambert Page B

kids ready for bed (I let them use my bed and I took the couch) I’d had an idea. I brought up one of the magazine stills.
    Then Anne showed up. “Hey!” She gave me an expectant smile.
    “Hi,” I said.
    “So...?” Anne said, looking around my cubicle. She ran one finger along the false wall, tracing over my calendar as she walked around my desk to see what I was doing.
    “I’m trying to think if I should change the wording a little,” I said.
    Anne leaned over my chair and squinted at the ad. She nodded approvingly at the layout, which was her work.
    “You know what? I don’t think you’ve ever been interested in more than the artwork before. What are you looking for?” I asked.
    “You had another meeting with Vaughn Ward last night...”
    “Yeah?”
    “Just the two of you, alone in his house. Vaughn Ward, the 17 th sexiest person alive, and you, alone.”
    Yeah, and I can still feel the prickle of his stubble on my lips, I thought, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “So, what?”
    “So, details , of course! Come on, you can kiss and tell with me!” Anne said, grabbing the back of my chair and giving it a little bit of a shake.
    “Who said anything about kissing?” I said, my throat tightening. “It was a business meeting. A consultation.”
    Anne went still behind me. I could sense the inner workings of her mind, trying to figure out what my tone meant. “Was there kissing?”
    “There was coffee. He made me coffee. A latte, actually,” I said. It had been a good one, too. I thought about how I’d remarked to him how surprised I was he could do that sort of thing himself. And then how he said he liked surprising me.
    “He made it himself? Like with his own hands?”
    “Yes, Anne, he ground the beans between his fists and used his own inherent hotness to steam the milk.”
    “You know what I mean!” she said, giving my shoulder a playful swat. We both laughed. I knew I should tell her that I needed to work (because I wanted this over with as quickly as possible) but it felt good to gab a bit.
    “Yeah, sorry. Yes, he made it himself, he didn’t order it or anything. I just can’t figure him out,” I said, turning a bit in my chair so that I didn’t have to crane my neck all the way around to look at her.
    “Do you want him to kiss you?” Anne asked.
    “What sort of question is that?”
    “An honest one.”
    “No,” I said. “I don’t. He’s just another flirt who thinks he can get any woman he wants. He just happens to be incredibly wealthy and handsome, too.”
    “Is he ever!” Anne started gushing. She actually clasped her hands to her chest. She walked back around to the front of my desk and stared dreamily up at the tiles in the drop ceiling, as though Ward’s angelic face might deign to look down on her.
    “Have you been doing more research on him?” I said, wondering how much time she’d spent last night going through gossip sites and Google image searches.
    “So much research!” she said, unabashed. “That man is so hot! I’d eat him up. Every last bite. And then I’d ask for seconds.”
    “You’re adorable,” I said, smiling. Although there was also this tiny flair of some feeling inside my chest. It took me a second to recognize it. Jealousy. The kind that made me want to tell Anne to knock it off.
    “If it were me instead of you last night, oh, Quinn, you don’t even want me to get started...”
    “Get started on what?”
    We both jerked at the unexpected interruption. Vaughn Ward stood beside my corner cubicle, one arm resting casually along the top of the false wall. He wore a nice grey blazer with a white shirt on underneath. No tie. The top button was undone.
    When Anne saw who it was, she actually said, “ Eep! ” her eyes going wide and her cheeks warming up enough to glow.
    “Mr. Ward!” I said, standing up. I felt the immediate need to tidy my desk, even though it was already pretty clean. I also felt the need to reach up and touch my hair