Read Online Dare Me: A Dark Billionaire Romance by Evelyn Troy - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Evelyn Troy
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little over a week before was only a dozen or so floors away from him. If he came into her section for whatever reason—to talk to her boss, or on his way to another department—he probably wouldn’t even notice her, Jasmine thought resentfully. He would walk right past her, could probably even be introduced to her again, and wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. He’s a billionaire, Jasmine thought as she worked on yet another project that had been shifted to her because her colleagues had “more vital” work to do. He’s this important CEO with more money than sense; he’s probably slept with a hundred women by now and can’t remember a single one.
In counterpoint to these bitter self-reflections, Jasmine couldn’t help the flashes of memories of their hours together; the genuine way that Harper had praised her, the feeling of his hands trailing over her body. He had been legitimately interested in her, and had genuinely enjoyed spending the evening with her—Jasmine knew that she wasn’t deluding herself about that. But whether his interest and enjoyment were simply something that he took for granted, or he had figured out her deception, he was clearly not interested in her now.
After a long meeting, Jasmine found herself back at her desk, simmering with indignation. Her work had once more been called into question, and she had had to bite back angry retorts when her boss asked if her head was really “in the game” on the presentation she was preparing for another colleague. She wanted to blurt out that she had slept with the CEO of the company a week and a half before, so maybe that was the cause of her distraction. She wanted to say that if her boss was so concerned about the damned presentation, he should get the person who was actually delivering it to work on it, instead of adding it to her already endless to-do list.
When the subject of covering the front desk for the department secretary’s lunch came up, Jasmine had known without having to even wait to hear it that her name would be forwarded. “I’ve got a lot on my plate,” she had protested, keeping the tone of her voice as polite as possible.
“You can get Dmitri to log you in remotely and just work from there. Take your lunch hour afterwards.”
“Even during the lunch break, the phone rings constantly; I’m not going to be very capable of actually getting work done if I’m routing calls every two minutes,” Jasmine had said, smiling to take the edge off of her words. “You told me earlier this week that this is a very time-sensitive project—I want to make sure that it’s done to standard and to speed.”
“I have the highest faith in your abilities, Jasmine. I know you’ll get it done.” Funny how he has the highest faith in my abilities when he’s asking me to do something that’s going to derail every project I’m on, but whenever I’m actually able to devote all my energy to something I’ve got it all wrong.
Checking her phone, Jasmine saw that she still hadn’t received any contact at all from Dominic. Bile rose up in her throat and she sat back in her chair, considering her options. She could just forget the whole thing, chalk it up to one of those experiences that you have that you only tell a few close friends about if you mention it at all, and move on with her life. But for Dominic not to at least have given her some indication that he didn’t intend to call her or arrange any further meetings with her left a bitter taste. The abuse she had taken in the meeting seemed only to make his neglect even more obvious.
She worried at her bottom lip, looking at her computer screen without quite seeing it. Suddenly, the chime that announces a new email started her out of her resentful, bitter thoughts. Sitting up, she opened it to see it was a missive about an upcoming business partnership: a new client with deep pockets. Jasmine’s resentments and bitterness crystalized into something
In counterpoint to these bitter self-reflections, Jasmine couldn’t help the flashes of memories of their hours together; the genuine way that Harper had praised her, the feeling of his hands trailing over her body. He had been legitimately interested in her, and had genuinely enjoyed spending the evening with her—Jasmine knew that she wasn’t deluding herself about that. But whether his interest and enjoyment were simply something that he took for granted, or he had figured out her deception, he was clearly not interested in her now.
After a long meeting, Jasmine found herself back at her desk, simmering with indignation. Her work had once more been called into question, and she had had to bite back angry retorts when her boss asked if her head was really “in the game” on the presentation she was preparing for another colleague. She wanted to blurt out that she had slept with the CEO of the company a week and a half before, so maybe that was the cause of her distraction. She wanted to say that if her boss was so concerned about the damned presentation, he should get the person who was actually delivering it to work on it, instead of adding it to her already endless to-do list.
When the subject of covering the front desk for the department secretary’s lunch came up, Jasmine had known without having to even wait to hear it that her name would be forwarded. “I’ve got a lot on my plate,” she had protested, keeping the tone of her voice as polite as possible.
“You can get Dmitri to log you in remotely and just work from there. Take your lunch hour afterwards.”
“Even during the lunch break, the phone rings constantly; I’m not going to be very capable of actually getting work done if I’m routing calls every two minutes,” Jasmine had said, smiling to take the edge off of her words. “You told me earlier this week that this is a very time-sensitive project—I want to make sure that it’s done to standard and to speed.”
“I have the highest faith in your abilities, Jasmine. I know you’ll get it done.” Funny how he has the highest faith in my abilities when he’s asking me to do something that’s going to derail every project I’m on, but whenever I’m actually able to devote all my energy to something I’ve got it all wrong.
Checking her phone, Jasmine saw that she still hadn’t received any contact at all from Dominic. Bile rose up in her throat and she sat back in her chair, considering her options. She could just forget the whole thing, chalk it up to one of those experiences that you have that you only tell a few close friends about if you mention it at all, and move on with her life. But for Dominic not to at least have given her some indication that he didn’t intend to call her or arrange any further meetings with her left a bitter taste. The abuse she had taken in the meeting seemed only to make his neglect even more obvious.
She worried at her bottom lip, looking at her computer screen without quite seeing it. Suddenly, the chime that announces a new email started her out of her resentful, bitter thoughts. Sitting up, she opened it to see it was a missive about an upcoming business partnership: a new client with deep pockets. Jasmine’s resentments and bitterness crystalized into something
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