“I think you should stay right there, Linda.” Penelope crossed her arms. “Just in case I may need a witness.”

“The only thing she’ll be witnessing is the CEO putting his new publicist in her rightful place.”

“This new publicist has already signed a contract saying that her place is actually above the CEO for the next ninety days.”

“I don’t give a fuck what that contract says.” I stepped closer to her. “I had no hand in writing it, so I’ll have no hand in following it.”

“You’re going to do exactly what I say, how I say, or there are going to be some consequences.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, I’m warning you...”

Linda stood to her feet, looking back and forth between the two of us, and then she rushed toward the elevators.

The second I heard the soft ping and the doors close, I spoke very slowly so Penelope could perfectly understand who the hell she was dealing with.

“Miss Lauren,” I said, ignoring the fact that she looked sexy as fuck in her grey dress today. “You’re going to let me into my office within the next ten seconds, or else.”

“Or else, what?” She raised her voice. “Who’s threatening who now?”

“Ten...” I started counting backwards, knowing damn well she would come to her senses before I reached one. “Nine...”

“Eight...” Her face was red. “Seven...I’ll happily join you.”

“Six. Don’t make me fucking continue...”

She stood completely still, not batting an eye.

“Five...Four...” I hesitated on four. No other publicist had ever made me think of doing something as childish as this before, but they almost always gave in to my demand. “Three...Two...”

She didn’t move.

“One,” I said, completely confused as to why she was still standing there.

“Are you ready to be an adult now, Mr. Dalton?” She stepped closer to me. “Or, since you’ve made it to the end of your childish countdown, would you like to give me a punishment of some sort?”

I simply stared at her.

“Glad we could clear that up,” she said. “Now, if you would like to follow me onto elevator so we can greet your department heads, I would greatly appreciate that. If not, I can have the IT team pull our encounter from the security cameras and show your board how you’ve treated me on my first day.”

I glanced at the security camera above us and smiled. Then I stepped even closer to Penelope, matching her step for step until her back was against the wall. “First of all, even if you did ask the IT team to pull our current encounter from the cameras, there wouldn’t be anything to see,” I said. “And that’s because by reprogramming my keypad behind my back, you’ve disabled the cameras, and the CEO is the only one who can reset them. They can’t see a goddamn thing right now.”

Her cheeks turned bright red. “Mr. Dalton—”

“Second of all...” I said, gently pressing my finger against her lips. “I’m not sure what type of game you’re trying to play, but I want you to know that you will lose every time. Every. Single. Time.”

“I’ve never lost, Mr. Dalton.” She bit my finger and I moved it. “I don’t consider my contract with your company as a game, but I’m willing to predict that you’ll eventually give in and lose to me.”

“Is that a bet?”

“It’s a guarantee.”

I covered her mouth with mine to prevent her from saying anything else, to finally alleviate the thick, sexual tension between us. She murmured as I bit her bottom lip, briefly shutting her eyes.

“This is why you shouldn’t have locked me out of my office...” I felt her unbuckling my pants. “Now you’ll have to settle for me fucking you in the hallway.”

Pushing her dress up her waist, I admired the sight of her dark red lingerie.

“I didn’t wear this for you...” she whispered, a faint blush crossing her cheeks.

“I’m sure you didn’t.” I spun her around so she was facing the wall, kissing the back of her neck. “You won’t need them for much longer anyway.” I pushed her panties to the side and slipped a finger deep inside her wet pussy, groaning as she let out a soft murmur.

I pulled a condom out of my back pocket, but the sound of the elevator stopping on the floor broke my focus.

Penelope gasped and I turned her around, smoothing her dress back over her thighs before adjusting my pants.

“There you two are!” Leo walked toward us, smiling. “I heard the CEO is about to start doing daily greeting tours for the department heads who work their asses off for him. Is that true?”

“Yes...” I was still upset about this, near-sex with Penelope or not. “Yes, that is very true.”

“Great! Well, if you two don’t mind, can I join you?”

“Absolutely,” we said in unison, and we did our best to avoid looking at each other for the rest of the day.

THE CLIENT

RYAN

Subject: Seriously?!!!

You put me on your security team’s WATCH LIST? Can you kindly inform them that I’m not a real threat and that I don’t need to be patted down or sent through the metal detectors every time I come to your building?

Penelope Lauren

Subject: Re: Seriously?!!!

You are a real threat.

You changed my keypads without my permission and you sexually harassed me on my floor because you knew the cameras weren’t watching.

I was quite shell-shocked about the latter incident and I’m still recovering emotionally...

(Penelope: 0. Me: 1)

Ryan Dalton

Subject: Board Meeting.

Please explain to me why you told the board that I would not only be making an apology for an old interview incident (I will NEVER agree to that), but that I’d re-signed a ‘no party and sex’ policy for a year?

I don’t recall signing such a contract...

Ryan Dalton

Subject: Re: Board Meeting.

That’s more than okay. I knew you were itching to sign it since you’re not really into sex anymore. :-) I saw how busy you were this past week, and since I was an Art Major, I happily drew the signature for you. (Penelope: 1. Ryan: 1)

Subject: Late to work? So soon?

Miss Lauren,

It’s currently nine thirty in the morning and that makes you an hour and a half late to work. Seeing as though this is only your third week working under the contract and you’re such a perfectionist when it comes to being on time, I sincerely hope all is well with you this morning.

If you need anything, or if I can be of any assistance to you, please let me know.

Ryan Dalton.

PS— (Penelope: 1. Ryan: 2)

Subject: Re: Late to work? So soon?

Mr. Dalton,

Thank you so much for your kind concern when it comes to a rare tardy. It seems as if someone called my new town car driver and told him to pick me up from a hotel in New Jersey this morning instead of at my actual home.

Nonetheless, I should be arriving to work shortly so we can continue working on the preparations for your live interviews. You’ll be happy to know that I invited the head of every charity you’ve ever donated to (twenty total) to join us for wine and cheese so they can watch you rehearse. I know you’ve actually never met them before so I figured them seeing you in your element (and at a nice dinner at your expense afterward) would help you behave.

PS— (Penelope: 20. Ryan: 2)

Subject: I’m impressed!

Ryan,

On behalf of the board, we are very impressed with the launch of your press tour with Penelope Lauren & Associates thus far! (And the staff loves the morning greeting tours. It makes them truly feel like part of your team.)

The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Business Journal have all printed glowing profiles on you this week, so we’re all looking forward to seeing how you’ll improve in your live interviews while announcing our global initiative.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: I’m sure this was a typo in your tech and transportation requests, but did you really mean to take Penelope’s town car access away for next week? (You also have the words “Block her ass from the building” written for the security team. That’s a joke, right?)