Chapter 2

After the meeting, everyone hurried out as usual.

I clutched my laptop, my legs heavy as lead, and stared at Victor, who was still sitting at the head of the table.

He was in no hurry to leave.

His head was down, and his fingers flew across his phone.

Two seconds later, the phone in my pocket buzzed.

I hid in the break room and opened our chat with shaking hands.

K wrote, "Baby, calm down. Your boss is a lunatic no woman would ever want. Don't waste your energy on him."

"My poor baby. Mwah, mwah."

"Your legs are so pale. I already saved the photo. Blushing.jpg."

I stared at the shameless messages, then pictured Victor's murderous face in the meeting room.

I nearly spat out my coffee.

He was calling himself a lunatic?

The CEO of a multinational company was secretly a horny pervert who saved pictures of his online girlfriend's legs?

Once the shock wore off, Victor didn't seem nearly as intimidating anymore. If anything, I wanted to tease Mr. Ice even more.

Besides, as long as I didn't go too far, he probably wouldn't fire me.

After six months of getting chewed out, how could I pass up an opportunity like this?

I leaned against the break-room wall, a smile tugging at my lips.

My fingers flew across the screen as I typed, "But K, I'm still so upset. I don't think I can stay at this company much longer. If you send me a photo right now of you in your white shirt with the top three buttons undone, I'll feel a little better. It's fine if you don't want to. I'm going back to work."

Sent.

I closed the chat, crept to the corner of the office corridor, and peeked around it.

Sure enough, less than thirty seconds later, the meeting-room door flew open.

Victor strode out, looking grim, and headed straight for the executive washroom at the end of the corridor.

Several employees greeted him nervously along the way, but he didn't even nod. His face was tense and stern.

Knowing what our terrifying CEO was about to do in the washroom almost made me laugh out loud.

I started counting down in my head.

Three, two, one.

My phone buzzed.

K sent a photo.

I opened it and stared.

He'd taken it in front of the washroom mirror and carefully cropped out his face.

It was exactly what I'd asked for.

Three buttons of his expensive white shirt were undone, exposing his collarbones and sculpted chest.

With his pale skin and the harsh bathroom lighting, the sight instantly made my mouth go dry.

The message read, "Three buttons. Are you happy, baby? Don't ignore me," followed by a pleading-face emoji.

I took a deep breath and forced my racing heart to settle.

Then I grabbed my mug and casually headed toward the washroom.

As I passed the men's room, I nearly collided with Victor on his way out.

His hands flew to his collar, quickly fastening the buttons.

Even the Windsor knot in his usually immaculate tie was slightly crooked.

He saw me.

Panic flashed across his face. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to explain, then thought better of it.

"Ahem."

Victor quickly lowered his hands and put his usual icy expression back on.

He gave me a sharp look.

"Ella, why are you wandering around during work hours? Don't you have anything to do?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at his perfectly serious expression.

I lowered my head meekly and said with exaggerated respect, "I'm sorry, boss. I'll revise the plan right away."

Victor snorted and strode past me.

I watched his broad back disappear down the hall, laughing hysterically inside.

Go on. Keep pretending.