A-Hole to A-List (PR Girls & Instalove 1)

My lips pursed. “You can read upside down.”

“Yes.”

I wasn’t sure why that annoyed me. “Any other spy secrets I should know about?”

“If they were secrets, I couldn’t tell you.”

He seemed to enjoy smirking at me, which annoyed me even more. There was a strange tension in the back of my neck, and I wasn’t sure why. “Mr. Harper, we need to be on the same team here, with the same goal.”

“Andrew, please.”

As I licked my lips nervously, his eyes followed the motion. His gaze had barely unlocked from my face through this entire meeting. Was he trying to study me, or intimidate me somehow?

“I’m not a video game expert, so if you could please start me off with a list of social media and relevant websites, it would kick off my research a bit more quickly. Especially since you don’t want me utilizing the rest of the staff here.”

“Sure. That’s something I can email within the hour.”

“Great,” I said, standing up. “I’ll look into the event and the pro gamers. I think that’s all I can do until you can share more information.”

“Wonderful. Thank you, Jenna.” As he stood up, he seemed so imposing, and oddly close.

“I’ll walk you out,” I said quickly.

As we went out to the lobby, he commented, “That’s not a bad poster print over the sofa there.”

“How do you know it’s not the original?” I joked as I pressed the elevator button for him.

Andrew turned and raised an eyebrow. “Because the original is in my office at home.” As he got onto the elevator, he actually winked as the doors slid shut, leaving me standing in the lobby with my mouth half-open.

Shuffling back to my office, I honestly didn’t know if he was flirting with me or just enjoyed watching me squirm under his examination. I knew that I’d seemed nervous, and it was evident that I was relatively new here. Maybe he was the kind of guy who liked the power trip. Feeling superior.

Or maybe the way I’d been staring at him had fed his already considerable ego.

Whatever it was, my only option was to impress him, and my boss Jeremy, by finding a way to get him the coverage he needed. Taking a few deep breaths, I looked around my office, relieved that I had a reasonably-sized space so I didn’t feel closed in. The posters of oceans and forests surrounding me usually kept me grounded, but today I felt like I was floating.

Chugging the dregs of my now cold coffee, I got down to business. The rest of the day was spent lost in the strange world of professional video game media coverage, while trying not to picture Andrew’s gorgeous face.

2

_____

Andrew

Having Jenna working on PR for my company was going to be a problem.

She seemed young, maybe only twenty-three or so, although in the video game industry, that could only be seen as an asset. Her limited experience might mean that she was open to new ideas. What about open to a man who was ten years older?

I hadn’t been able to stop myself from staring at her, desperately needing to reach out and touch her delicate skin. My heart was still beating erratically as I exited the elevator and strode through the parking garage to my car.

How the hell was I going to maintain my focus and get into that VIP room to talk to the significant gamers if I could barely string two words together in front of Jenna? She didn’t seem to notice that I was practically stuttering. I’d felt like an awkward schoolboy, wanting to reach across the table to take her hand to see if she’d blush.

Pulling out of the lot, I headed to the warehouse that Terry referred to as our mad scientist lab. I tried to recall if I’d ever had a reaction like this to a woman before. Sure, I’d dated a bit here and there over the years, but there hadn’t been anyone exceptional. Momentarily entertaining at best. For the past five years or so, I just hadn’t bothered.

From a distance, Jenna almost looked mousy. But as soon as she came closer, she was so softly pretty my mind couldn’t process it all. Her silky light brown hair fell in waves around that perfect heart-shaped face. Her gentle blue eyes were so sweet as she looked up at me. Those barely contained sensual curves, so luscious and sexy. Her innocent nervousness, even though she was trying so hard to seem experienced.

I’d never felt such an immediate, dominant instinct around a woman before. I needed to wrap my arms around her, protect her, tell her that I would take care of her no matter what happened.

Yet there was one tiny sticking point that left me feeling irritated. Driving quickly through the streets, I realized that it wasn’t that she annoyed me. It was that I was clearly annoying her.