The PlayBear Billionaire: A Bear Shifter Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

swallowed again, licking her lips, and Alex fought down the rising rush of desire that flowed through him at the sight. He opened the fridge. He couldn’t understand just why he wanted Daphne so much—she was pretty, it was true, and he knew that her pheromones played more than a small role in his attraction to her—there was something about her that goaded him and charged him up, that made him want to devour her, fight her, protect her, in equal measures that confused him.
    “Water,” Daphne said, her voice strained. “If I go back to the office smelling like alcohol...” Alexander chuckled.
    “They’ll think you had a drink or two with me to soften me up. Perfectly fair in the world of nonprofits, Daphne.” He took out a bottle of water anyway, setting it on the countertop while he served himself a well-watered jolt of whiskey. He was not at all the type of person to get drunk at the office—but he needed something to keep him occupied while Daphne was in the room, and he’d be grateful for it after she left.
    He crossed the room and handed Daphne the bottle, taking his own drink with him and sitting back down behind his desk. For a long moment, he watched her drink from the bottle, trying—and failing—to keep his mind away from the gutter. He took a sip of his whiskey and exhaled.
    “Daphne, do you think that there’s a way that you can get rid of me without getting into trouble or losing your job?” Daphne’s eyes widened and she set down the bottle of water, staring at him for a moment.
    “I swear, Alex, I’m not going to try and force you to do things you don’t want to do…”
    Alex smiled.
    “You’ve already coerced me into doing things I didn’t want to do,” he said, raising a hand to forestall either apology or counter. “If I had had a real problem with it, I wouldn’t have had any qualms about helping you to lose your job.”
    “So why… do you want me to drop you as a spokesperson?”
    Alexander took a deep breath and another sip of whiskey.
    “We have a problem, you and me,” he said slowly. Alex took in the pink of Daphne’s blouse, the crisp black of her blazer. When she had gone into his office he had noticed the way her jeans fit her perfectly, somehow managing to leave little to the imagination while being completely appropriate. “Part of the reason you annoy me so much is because I’m attracted to you.” Daphne sat back in her chair, her face going first red and then pale and then red again as she processed his words.
    “You are?” she asked, her voice soft and shocked. Alex wondered if he should have said something else—if he had overplayed his hand. Daphne could, in theory, make a lot of trouble for him just by knowing he was attracted to her. But for the moment, there was something refreshing about the honest shock on her face. In for a penny… he thought wryly.
    “Surely I’m not the first guy on the planet to notice you’re incredibly hot,” Alex said, smiling slightly.
    “Well—no, I mean—but you’re—and I’m—I…” Daphne took another deep breath and Alex couldn’t quite suppress the amusement he felt at how flustered she had become.
    If she doesn’t terminate our working relationship immediately , he thought to himself, I could have a lot of fun making her flustered as often as possible .
    “You’re this gorgeous billionaire, and I’m just… I’m a plebe. I’m a nobody.” She shook her head, laughing slightly. “I’m the kind of girl you’d just sleep with after a charity event and give a fake number to.” Alex almost cringed, remembering that that very thought had flicked through his mind the night he had met her—and that he had done something very similar with another woman later in the same evening.
    “I didn’t do that the night of the charity event,” Alex pointed out. “I figured that you would be the last woman in the world to let me get away with that.” That was the beginnings of his frustration with her—that