from the club. There was almost no chance of him finding us together.
But still… it’s not impossible.
“Ash,” I whisper in her ear, running my fingers down her arm to wake her. “Get up, babe. Time for work.”
She groans. “Five more minutes.”
I brush my fingers through her hair, and she wiggles her nose. “Why are you so awake this early in the morning?”
“Time to get up,” I say, my lips inches from hers.
“You could find more creative ways to wake me,” she says with one eye open, a silly grin plastered on her face.
I slide my hand down her stomach and between her thighs. We’re both still naked and wrapped in my sheets.
“Well, don’t stop. Make me come.”
I kiss her sassy mouth and plunge two fingers inside her. Ash moans into my mouth, thrusting her hips to match the pace of my fingers.
“Can you be quiet?” I ask between kisses. “Because I need you to be a good girl and not scream.”
“Yes,” Ash whispers.
She grabs a pillow to stifle her moans, and it doesn’t take long before she comes on my fingers.
“Good morning to you, too,” she says and then kisses me.
After an awkward ride to work with Sloan and Ash, I’ve spent the last few hours hiding in my office. Sloan hasn’t bothered to pop his head inside. Every morning, we usually go through our daily schedule while we drink our coffee. Not today. He stepped off the elevator with me this morning, and I haven’t seen him since.
No one gives a cold shoulder better than Sloan and Ash. She must have learned that shit from her brother because when those two want to ignore you, it’s like you don’t even exist.
“Mr. Banks.” My secretary’s voice booms through the speaker on my desk. “I have Max Carter on the phone for you.”
What does that asshole want? Sloan is barely speaking to me because of what Max said to him last night at the strip club. He made promises to Sloan that he can’t keep, all to undermine my relationship with my business partner. I hate this guy. He’s a rich asshole who has never heard the word no, and now he’s hellbent on getting me on board.
I finish typing the last sentence of my email and then say, “Put him through.”
I hit send and shove the keyboard in front of the monitor as the phone rings on my end.
“Max,” I say with forced enthusiasm. “What do I owe the pleasure?”
“We got off on the wrong foot, don’t you think?”
“No, we got off fine.”
He snickers. “What’s it going to take to close the deal?”
“Remove the clause about my algorithm.”
“Look, I get that you’re trying to protect your IP, but it’s an algorithm.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t be pushing this hard to get your hands on it.”
“I didn’t want to do this,” Max says with an attitude. “But do you want Sloan to know you’re fucking his sister?”
My chest feels like it’s going to collapse. I sink back in my chair and consider my next response carefully. How the hell does he know about Ash and me? He couldn’t have possibly seen us at the club dancing… and kissing. We were on the other side of the room from them, out of sight.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say after a long pause. “Ash is like a sister to me.”
“Make the deal,” Max says. “It’s good for all of us. And it will be good for your friendship with Sloan.”
“Don’t fucking threaten me, asshole. I’m not fucking Sloan’s sister.”
Is that all I’m doing with Ash? When I asked her what we’re doing, she didn’t seem to want more than sex. Ash doesn’t even know what she wants, so where does that leave me?
Is this a fling? What will happen when she’s back in her apartment in Studio City? There are too many unknowns when it comes to Ash. And I don’t like having unknown variables in my life.
“You have until Monday,” Max says. “Is your algorithm worth more than your friendship with Sloan?”
Of course not.
“You have it all wrong,” I say. “I’m not with Ash.”
“I have proof,” he spits back.
How is that possible?
“This deal is good for all of us,” he says. “I’ll expect your answer by Monday.”
Before I can answer, the line goes dead.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ash
I step a foot inside Vinnie’s office and then back out. My palms are slick with sweat, my shirt suddenly too tight as I hover in front of his door. He’s on the phone.