Penelope gasped and I turned her around, smoothing her dress back over her thighs before adjusting my pants.

“There you two are!” Leo walked toward us, smiling. “I heard the CEO is about to start doing daily greeting tours for the department heads who work their asses off for him. Is that true?”

“Yes...” I was still upset about this, near-sex with Penelope or not. “Yes, that is very true.”

“Great! Well, if you two don’t mind, can I join you?”

“Absolutely,” we said in unison, and we did our best to avoid looking at each other for the rest of the day.

THE CLIENT

RYAN

Subject: Seriously?!!!

You put me on your security team’s WATCH LIST? Can you kindly inform them that I’m not a real threat and that I don’t need to be patted down or sent through the metal detectors every time I come to your building?

Penelope Lauren

Subject: Re: Seriously?!!!

You are a real threat.

You changed my keypads without my permission and you sexually harassed me on my floor because you knew the cameras weren’t watching.

I was quite shell-shocked about the latter incident and I’m still recovering emotionally...

(Penelope: 0. Me: 1)

Ryan Dalton

Subject: Board Meeting.

Please explain to me why you told the board that I would not only be making an apology for an old interview incident (I will NEVER agree to that), but that I’d re-signed a ‘no party and sex’ policy for a year?

I don’t recall signing such a contract...

Ryan Dalton

Subject: Re: Board Meeting.

That’s more than okay. I knew you were itching to sign it since you’re not really into sex anymore. :-) I saw how busy you were this past week, and since I was an Art Major, I happily drew the signature for you. (Penelope: 1. Ryan: 1)

Subject: Late to work? So soon?

Miss Lauren,

It’s currently nine thirty in the morning and that makes you an hour and a half late to work. Seeing as though this is only your third week working under the contract and you’re such a perfectionist when it comes to being on time, I sincerely hope all is well with you this morning.

If you need anything, or if I can be of any assistance to you, please let me know.

Ryan Dalton.

PS— (Penelope: 1. Ryan: 2)

Subject: Re: Late to work? So soon?

Mr. Dalton,

Thank you so much for your kind concern when it comes to a rare tardy. It seems as if someone called my new town car driver and told him to pick me up from a hotel in New Jersey this morning instead of at my actual home.

Nonetheless, I should be arriving to work shortly so we can continue working on the preparations for your live interviews. You’ll be happy to know that I invited the head of every charity you’ve ever donated to (twenty total) to join us for wine and cheese so they can watch you rehearse. I know you’ve actually never met them before so I figured them seeing you in your element (and at a nice dinner at your expense afterward) would help you behave.

PS— (Penelope: 20. Ryan: 2)

Subject: I’m impressed!

Ryan,

On behalf of the board, we are very impressed with the launch of your press tour with Penelope Lauren & Associates thus far! (And the staff loves the morning greeting tours. It makes them truly feel like part of your team.)

The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Business Journal have all printed glowing profiles on you this week, so we’re all looking forward to seeing how you’ll improve in your live interviews while announcing our global initiative.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: I’m sure this was a typo in your tech and transportation requests, but did you really mean to take Penelope’s town car access away for next week? (You also have the words “Block her ass from the building” written for the security team. That’s a joke, right?)

Let me know.

-Leo

THE PUBLICIST

PENELOPE

I stared at the subject lines of my most recent emails, unsure of whether to laugh or sigh.

Subject: Never thought I’d see the day when “Ryan Dalton” was likeable. Good job!

Subject: Congratulations on making Mr. Impossible possible!

Subject: What type of drugs did you slip into his system?

Subject: Are you fucking him? (People are wondering if that’s your secret, but you can trust me with the truth. Are you?)

Over the past thirty days, Ryan had tested everything I thought I knew about being a publicist. He was definitely stubborn, beyond arrogant, but he had a soft side that reared its head occasionally. A soft side that did nothing to ease the sexual tension between us.

He was now up fifty to thirty in our game of “Who Can Drive the Other Person Insane the Best,” but he made it his personal mission to drive me home at the end of every day. We went at each other’s throats during our morning strategy meetings (He still had problems refraining from saying the word ‘fucking’ in mock interviews), but he insisted on treating me to lunch every afternoon. And even on nights like tonight, when he was refusing to work on the “atonement interview,” he volunteered to pick up some dinner for us in the meantime.

It was moments like those that should’ve made me feel guilty about using him as a muse for all my late-night fantasies, when I often fell asleep with my fingers buried deep in my pussy. I should’ve been ashamed of picturing him fucking me in the middle of our mock interview sessions instead of giving him my complete attention. I was a complete and utter fraud by purposely buying real lingerie and wearing it under my dresses, hoping he would notice.

I stood up from the boardroom table and looked outside the window. There were only sixty days left in my contract and I was honestly wondering if the two of us could possibly be friends after it was all over.

Or, at least have sex again...

The sound of my phone ringing interrupted my thoughts and I looked at the screen. Sean.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hello, Penelope.” There was a smile in his voice. “This is Penelope Lauren, my supposed best friend, right?”

“It is.” I laughed. “I’m sorry I haven’t been returning so many of your calls and messages. “What’s going on?”

“Not much. The stock market has been kicking my ass, I’m still waiting on you to volunteer to buy me a Tesla, and Sarah and me had sex the other day. We’ll probably continue doing that with each other for awhile and um...Yeah, that’s about it. Nothing new.”