The Promotion (Contemporary Reverse Harem 3)

“Oh, yeah, right. That’d go over great.”

“No, Maizy. Date them all and see who you like. Sleep with them and see who’s best in the sack.”

“Ohmygod, you are crazy. I’m not a slut like you.”

She settled back onto my cushy sofa. Still naked. Unfazed at having been called a slut.

“You might not be now. But there’s hope for you yet.”

The next day at work, for some reason, Eva the bitch kept sticking her head in my cube. God, that woman killed me. I mean, one minute she was destroying me with her slow, relentless torture, and the next, she acted like we were best friends.

You couldn’t be friends with your boss.

But that didn’t mean they have to be your enemy, either—did it?

After about her tenth drive-by, she revealed her true intentions. She was probably getting a sore neck from craning it so hard.

“Hey,” she started, like she was some kind of normal person. “Guess you’re seeing my brother-in-law tonight, huh?”

Well, shit. Note to self: remind Anson to NOT tell her anything else about me. It was weird enough I was going out with a relative of my boss.

I shuffled some papers on my desk, hoping she’d leave.

But she did not.

“Um, yeah, Eva. I’m seeing Anson tonight.”

She stood there, silent. Clearly waiting for me to say more.

I wasn’t going to, though.

“Okay, then.” Good lord, she was surrendering. “I’m sure you’ll have a very nice time. You know, Maizy, I usually only introduce him to the highest quality women. But I thought—”

Was she bringing that up again? Insufferable was what she was. And I was about done taking her shit. I could be like that. Calm, cool, collected, but when you go a smidgeon too far—well, all bets were off.

“Eva, it sounds as if you feel I’m beneath your brother-in-law, and that you’re doing me a favor by introducing us. If you really do believe I’m such a bottom-dweller, maybe I should call him and cancel.” I reached for my phone.

“No!” She waved her hands frantically. I’d never seen her do that. “You misunderstood me.”

I gave her the most polite stink-eye I would muster.

Her composure returned. “Like I said, I’m sure you’ll have a nice evening.” She gracefully turned on her heel and headed back to her office.

That’s right, bitch.

Chapter 10

Anson

Damn if my sister-in-law hadn’t been all over me to call her paralegal, Maizy, for a date. I mean, I had every intention of calling. I thought she was a cool woman, very nice-looking, and I wanted to hang out with her. But Christ, it wasn’t like I was sixteen years old when I had to be prodded to talk to girls.

I didn’t know how my brother put up with her. I also didn’t know why he married her, to be honest.

I’d grabbed a cab from my office in the financial district over to the art gallery party where I was to meet Maizy. I’d offered to come by her office and pick her up, but truth be told, I was relieved as hell when she said no. I don’t think either of us wanted to run into Eva when we were together. She’d find some way to make it creepy and weird.

I was really looking forward to seeing the lovely Maizy. It wasn’t every day I met someone as hot as her, with that wavy blonde hair and long, long legs. And she was smart, to boot.

For a moment—just a split second, really—I’d entertained not calling her just to spite my sister-in-law. But how stupid would that be? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.