too seriously. His office looked like a war zone and he lacked finesse. But somehow the clients adored him. But he wasn’t her problem. She knew what it took to succeed. And she had the drive to get there. All Tristan had to do was stay out of her way. She squared her shoulders. “When do we leave?”
Three days with the ice princess. Tristan Dawson wondered who he’d pissed off to get that sentence. Fun wasn’t in her repertoire. It would be like carrying an anchor around Vegas. Talk about a buzzkill. A beautiful buzzkill. But a downer nonetheless. It was a real shame too, because she might actually be fun if she ever loosened up a little.
From his first day at Stellar Reach, she’d fascinated him. Her reputation preceded her. She was tough and smart and got the best clients. Simply put, she’d been the one to beat. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. If he wanted to be considered on his merits and not his name, he had to give her a run for her money.
In the early days it had been difficult. She was always overprepared and came to win every time. It also didn’t help that he’d spent the first two months struck stupid by her beauty. Her skin resembled melting chocolate and looked so soft he itched to touch her. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes dominated her face, complemented by high cheekbones and a beguiling smile. Granted, she’d never turned that soul-stunning smile in his direction, but he’d seen it before.
It hadn’t taken long to learn that her nickname was synonymous with aloof and cold. Which was a real shame because her real name suggested otherwise.
Tristan closed his laptop. “If Synthia doesn’t have a problem working with me, then I don’t have one either.” Except he’d be pretty much attached at the hip with her through the whole trip. Normally being partnered with a woman all weekend wasn’t a hardship. He loved women. All women. But this one made him insane. Made him feel certifiable. He’d never met anyone more uptight. From day one, all he’d ever wanted to do was muss her up. Just once, he’d love to see her hair out of that bun and wild. The instant heat pooling in his gut made his skin flush. Easy does it. Thinking about how to get her hair wild and messy wouldn’t do him any good. She already starred in too many of his dirty fantasies than were good for him. Not to mention that she’d flay him if she ever found out.
Their boss beamed at the both of them. “I’m glad the two of you are on board. Now, Synthia is more senior, so if any questions arise, just defer to her opinion. But I think you both can be our secret weapon on this contract, looking at both sides of the equation.”
Once they were dismissed, Tristan followed Synthia out of the office. The moment they were out of earshot, he whispered, “I won’t hold it against you that you just tried to toss me from the project.”
She halted and turned her glacial, indifferent smile on him. “I’m sorry you see it that way. I was merely trying to save you from having to do any heavy lifting. I know how averse you are to that.”
A spike of adrenaline hit him. There was no one he’d rather argue with. “Now, don’t be mad just because I get to have some actual fun and you’re stuck looking at the numbers.”
She veered toward her office and despite his better judgment he followed. “Well, my idea of fun isn’t to troll the Vegas strip clubs.”
He let his mouth drop open and clutched his chest when they reached her office. “I’m wounded, Synthia. You think that I would stoop so low? I’m a classy guy. And I want only the best. I’d hire a private service to bring the girls to me.” He winked at her.
“You’re disgusting.”
He grinned. He liked naked women as much as the next guy, but the whole strip club thing didn’t do anything for him. If he was going to see a naked woman, there had better be touching involved. He mostly just liked to ruffle Syn’s too neat, too perfect feathers. “You know, one of these days, you’re going to have to tell me why you don’t like me.”
She directed her dark gaze on him. “It’s not that I don’t like you. It’s that I’m indifferent. I do my best not to think about you ever.”
God, she was impossible. “If you say so, sweetheart. You just keep telling yourself that. In the meantime, this trip to Vegas will be really fun.”
She shrugged as if she couldn’t give a damn. “As long as you stay out of my way, we’ll be fine.”
His hackles rose. “Honey, I have no intention of seeing you the whole time we’re there.” Liar. What he wanted to do was see sexy, mussed-up Synthia in Vegas.
She crossed delicate arms over her chest and drew in a deep breath. He almost high-fived himself for managing not to sneak a peek at her gentle curves. He didn’t need that kind of torture through the rest of the day. “That will work fine with me.” Her tight, brittle scowl morphed into that brilliant smile of hers and Tristan’s brain shorted. Then she added. “Now, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Junior Warbucks.”
She turned and walked to her desk as if she didn’t give a damn whether or not he still stood there. Grinding his teeth, he left her office and didn’t bother giving her the satisfaction of slamming it.
Back in his office, Drake Murphy, the head of Stellar Reach’s legal team, was waiting for him with his feet kicked up on the coffee table.
“Make yourself at home why don’t you, Drake?” Tristan mumbled.
His friend grinned. “Thank you, don’t mind if I do.” He inclined his head toward Synthia’s office. “You and your girlfriend at it again? I could hear you from here.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Tristan deposited his laptop onto his desk and sank into his chair.
Drake tossed a Nerf basketball at his head and laughed. “Oh, but you want her to be. It’s like you’re pulling her pigtails, man.”
Tristan cracked his neck and tossed the basketball smoothly into the hoop mounted on the wall. “I don’t want her.” He impressed himself with how smoothly the lie flowed off his tongue. He was ready to claw his skin off, he wanted her so bad.
Drake laughed. “I swear, the two of you bicker like crazy people. I honestly wish you two would just hit the sack and get it over with already. It’s hard to watch.”
“Never going to happen.” Tristan narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me, aren’t you legal? Should we even be discussing this?”
“I left my legal hat at the door. Do I need it?” Drake studied his friend.
“Not that I know, but she might glare me to death. No matter what I do, she’s not warming up to me.”
Drake nodded. “Well, that’s because you’re an idiot.”
Tristan laughed. “Only sometimes.”
“You ever planning on doing anything about that?”
“Like what?” Kissing her until she melts in my arms?
Drake tossed another Nerf ball at his head and Tristan caught it one-handed. “You know, asking her out like a grown-up. Since that’s what you really want to do. This whole acting-like-a-jerk thing isn’t going
