Beg Me (Mess with Me 1)

Mya nods slowly.

That’s when her words hit me. “Wait, did you just say “I hate to lose” as if you’re sure you’re going to win tomorrow? Brat.” I tickle her and she dissolves into giggles.

I like that sound much better.

20

We’ve practiced and prepared. Our presentations are as technically perfect as they’re going to get. Which means nothing if we can’t get them to play.

“Hell of a time for my laptop to crap out.” Milo yanks at his hair. He looks like he’s on the verge of rupturing a vein. Last night, we loaded both presentations on his laptop since I’d forgotten to bring mine along. Plus, all of our files are saved on the company cloud drive so neither of us thought it was a big deal. We even tested things this morning first thing. Everything was fine.

But now his laptop has the blue screen of death. And Mr. Lavin and the rest of his team are due any moment. I can actually feel my blood pressure climbing higher and higher.

“Do you need your stress cow?” Milo teases.

“No.” Yes. But there’s no way I’m squeezing that thing anywhere a client might see.

“Don’t worry honey. My dick doesn’t mind if you use him as a squeeze toy if you get nervous.”

I hate that he can make me smile in the middle of a crisis. Because I don’t want to laugh right now. Things are falling apart!

As usual, Milo can sense when I’m about to go off the rails. He rubs my arms briskly. “Let’s not panic. It’s not like our work is lost. Just go borrow Wallace’s laptop and run the presentation from his. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

My steps are careful and measured as I walk out of the conference room but I spring into a run as soon as I clear the door. I’m trying to remain calm so I don’t freak Milo out but I’m seriously hoping these technical difficulties aren’t some kind of omen.

Wallace looks up when I reach his cubicle.

“So sorry to do this to you but I need your laptop. Milo’s is dead and I forgot mine at home. The Lavin team will be here any minute.”

He immediately starts closing the windows he’s working in. “Sure thing. I’ll switch and use the desktop in that empty cubicle across from Kevin’s office.”

My shoulders sag with relief. “Thank you. I have just enough time to log in to the company server and download the presentation before they get here.”

After Wallace logs out, I log on to the company intranet with my own username and password and start downloading the presentation. It’s graphics heavy and will probably take a few minutes, so I carry the laptop in my arms as I walk back to the conference room. The door is still ajar from when I left. The sound of angry but hushed voices reach me before I get there.

“I told you in Vegas, I’m handling everything. There’s no need for you to talk to Mya.”

My mouth drops open. I recognize Milo’s voice but then my surprise turns to fury when I realize who he’s talking to.

Andre Lavin.

I wish I could say that I stormed the room and demanded to know what was going on. But instead I look around frantically and then dive into the first open door nearby. Which turns out to be a janitor’s closet. The sharp tang of chemicals assaults my nose but I hold very still as footsteps rush past. I edge the door open and watch Mr. Lavin’s back as he strides down the hallway to the reception area. Is he leaving?

Probably. Why stay for the presentations when he obviously has some sort of backend deal arranged with Milo already?

My heart is beating so hard that I press a shaky hand to my chest as if that’ll stop it from breaking in half. Everything that’s happened over the past few weeks suddenly seems different in light of what I just heard. Milo’s utter confidence that we had this thing in the bag, his insistence that we work on our campaigns together. It’s all been part of his plan to make sure that he’s the one leading this account. If he’s been communicating with Mr. Lavin directly, then he has all the info needed to be sure his campaign is exactly what the client wants.

And I’m the trusting naive idiot who fell for it.

The laptop chimes and I look down to see that our presentations are done uploading. All this work was for nothing. That’s when I decide I’m done hiding.

I burst from the closet and march across the hall and into the conference room. Milo looks up in surprise from where he’s tapping away at his laptop keyboard.

“It’s still dead. Oh good, you got Wallace’s instead. Any trouble downloading the presentations?”

He’s talking to me as if nothing is wrong. As if nothing has changed. But for me, it’s like everything has been scorched to ash.

“I did, not that it matters. I heard you talking to Mr. Lavin. So I’m not sure why we should even go through with this presentation when you’ve already told him you’re leading this account.”