Talking Dirty with the CEO - By Jackie Ashenden Page 0,16
know, like, to do.”
But Marisa just stared at her. “You ran out on him, didn’t you?”
Busted. Big time.
She fixated on her screen again, searching for a better way of putting it. “Not so much run out. More like I had to get home urgently.”
Marisa threw up her hands in disgust. “I don’t believe it. When you find a guy like that, you do not run away from him. You stick to him like glue. Especially if the sex is fantastic.”
A thread of irritation wound through Christie. She hadn’t wanted to stick to Joseph like glue. Yeah, he was as hot as hell and the sex had been amazing, but relationships were about more than great sex. You had to have things in common. Stuff to talk about. Okay, so they’d bonded over the stereo but you couldn’t talk about that kind of thing forever, right?
Besides, she didn’t even want a relationship right now. She had her job and her friends. She didn’t need a man to make her life complete.
Christie stabbed at one of the buttons on her mouse. “I didn’t want to. The sex was great but I don’t think we’re compatible in other ways.”
Marisa snorted. “Do the other ways even matter? Great sex is great sex.”
She had a point. Sex with Greg had been…well, comparing that with her experience with Joseph was like comparing an original old master to a copy painted by apes and then photocopied one million times. Harsh to Greg probably, but then the two experiences were so different they weren’t even the same thing.
Stupid to think about, though. She and Joseph hadn’t even swapped numbers, and there was no way in hell she was going to turn up at his apartment out of the blue.
“I can survive without great sex,” she said primly.
“You can survive without what?”
Both women looked up to see Ben, their boss, standing by Christie’s desk.
Oh, great. Had he overheard? Christie wanted to sink through the floor
“Hi, Ben.” She gave him a strained smile. “I was just saying that…uh…I can survive without texts.” She mimed texting on her phone.
Pathetic, St. John. Pathetic.
“Really?” Ben replied, a genial look on his face. “And here was I thinking you were talking about sex.”
Ben did a mild-mannered-reporter act that was very convincing, but underneath he had a mind like a steel trap and nothing escaped him. The steel trap snapped shut now. “Don’t you have work to do, Marisa?”
Marisa rolled her eyes. “And I’m gone. Catch you later, St. John.”
As Marisa left, Ben turned his attention back to Christie. “I read your dating piece.”
A thousand butterflies started doing the macarena in her tummy. She tried to act nonchalant. “So it was okay?”
“Actually, Chris, it was better than okay. It was great. I’m impressed.”
Christie swallowed and the butterflies scattered. “Oh. Oh, that’s…that’s awesome, Ben.”
“Yes. Awesome was just what I thought.” Ben’s mild-mannered reporter abruptly morphed into shark editor. “Which means you’ll be up for the launch of Ashton Tech’s E-Slate next week.”
She froze, terrified and thrilled in equal measure. “You sure you want me to cover it?”
Ben leaned against the desk. “Of course.” His brows rose skyward. “Are you sure you want to do it?”
“Oh, yes! I mean…uh…sure.”
He laughed. “Good. I’m going to give you the interview, too.”
Interview? What interview? “I thought it was just the launch you wanted me to go to?”
The shark grinned. “The mysterious Mr. Ashton will be there and we’ve been granted an audience with the man himself.”
Holy crap. The trepidation turned around and settled into outright fear. “But I thought he never gave interviews?”
“He doesn’t. He’s only doing a handful. Total Tech is one of the lucky recipients.”
Christie swallowed. This was a big deal. The biggest. Joseph Ashton was the largest fish in the technology pond. He never did media stuff. Never.
No wonder Ben looked like the cat who’d not only gotten the cream but swallowed the whole freaking dairy. This interview was a huge coup for the magazine.
“Yeah,” Ben said, clearly seeing every one of Christie’s thought processes. “It’s a big deal. Think you can handle it?”
This was her chance. Her moment. Her opportunity to leave reviewing the latest online war game and stupid dating website for dust, and get her teeth stuck into some real tech journalism.
This was thrilling. Exciting.
And it scared the crap out of her.
“Yes,” she said before she could change her mind. “I can. I promise you I can.”
“Good. You’re a great writer, Chris. I’d like to see you nail this one.”
She grinned. Grinned till her