Ophelia looked up at him with mild amusement on her face, pausing to consider him as though he may have been more interesting than she originally assumed.

“Thank you, Rami. Although, I wouldn’t describe what just happened as me ‘trying’ to do my job.” The look on her face turned mischievous. “You may not take me to dinner, Brad. But you may clean my floors this weekend. I just had to let my regular housecleaner go.”

I stole a glance at Alex, who was watching the exchange with fascination, but his eyes found mine as soon as I looked at him. I quickly looked away, pissed at myself all over again.

“It’s a date.” Chad sounded absolutely delighted to have been invited to clean Ophelia’s floors. I hoped he understood she was being literal and not using a euphemism.

I was almost out of the room when Alex called out cheerily, “See you this evening, Elena darling!”

I shot back over my shoulder, “Looking forward to it, Mister Chase.”

Oh yeah, you really showed him, Elena.

7

Elena

I had technically been a sex worker for five years, but I had never felt more like a prostitute than I did walking up to the building where Rami’s spare loft was.

It felt like I was doing something illicit. And it turned me on.

I texted Rami from the car to let him know I was close, so he was already waiting in the lobby and opened the front door to the building for me as I approached. It was a historic building with high painted ceilings supported by massive columns and a shiny marble floor.

Okay, so if I was a prostitute, I was definitely a high-end one, I mused as we made our way to the bank of elevators. I had no problem with it if someone considered what I did prostitution. I didn’t think it really qualified, but that wasn’t because I was uncomfortable with the idea. In my mind, it was like calling a pastry chef a cook. It wasn’t inherently wrong. One wasn’t better than the other, just a little more specific. The outcome was food, and certainly there was overlap, but they were distinct professions.

When we got in the elevator, Rami asked, “Would you like me to come in and oversee this?”

I chuckled. “I don’t know what kind of perv Mr. Chase is, but I won’t make you watch…”

He smiled and nodded graciously. “Then I’ll be back in an hour or so. Please don’t maim each other while I’m gone. Or at least, give me some warning if I’m returning to a crime scene so I can have Asha keep it out of the press.”

“Will do,” I said with a smile.

We arrived on the tenth floor, but Rami stayed in the elevator, leaving me to walk the short distance to the end of the hallway alone.

I would’ve usually opted to wear something understated, but as I was getting dressed found myself becoming more and more determined to put this arrogant ass in his place. He might have been named Sexiest Man Alive, but he was a man nonetheless. In an act of war, I had elected to wear my corseted pinup dress and my favorite strappy stilettos. Time to bring Alex Chase to his knees.