They both knew she was coming from behind, but she was slogging away, refusing to give up. If she truly did a spectacular job this Friday, the race would be more even. Her lack of knowledge about working in this region would be overlooked.
In a way, it pleased him. Competition was something he thrived on, the closer the race, the better. There was something exhilarating about someone who fought back. It wasn't an everyday occurrence. Most people avoided conflict. Mercy didn't avoid conflict, but she wasn't an expert either. The cold shoulder proved it. Amateur move.
For now, Lukas had a report to finish. To have the upper hand, he needed to do as much work on the system side as possible, if he was going to have better suggestions, and a reasonably accurate argument for why her suggestions on the application side were unreasonable. If this was her big slam-dunk, he couldn't sit there and say he didn't know.
Likely the weaknesses would come with the legacy systems. It would be time well spent to hang with the real engineers, the people who knew these systems inside out.
"You're plain not going to be able to make me look bad," she said sharply as he returned to his desk.
"You do a fairly good job of that on your own. How does the adage go, 'beware of throwing stones in glass houses?'"
With tightly drawn lips, she turned around again to face her computer. "Goes both ways, honey," she said under her breath. It was fully intended to be derogatory. Guess they were going there. Again, amateurish.
"Then again, if you are proposing something that is technically unfeasible… Well, it isn't going to look good."
There was a stiffness in her shoulders as she paused with her typing, then she continued, writing furiously.
Instead of consulting with him, she took her questions to the engineers, which in and of itself was a bad move. Granted, she got the information she wanted, but she made it clear she was refusing to work with her partner. It wouldn't hold her in good stead in the long run.
As he predicted, Mercy was running herself out of the race. But it all depended on how good her presentation would be, and from quizzing some of the engineers after, it might well be impressive. She was talking artificial intelligence, which was cutting edge. That type of functionality was still in exploration stage, being run out of their office in San Francisco. Being from LA, it wasn't unreasonable that she had a good relationship with that team. It could well be that she would be proposing the first large-scale implementation. Mr. Lee would be impressed.
Sitting by his computer, Lukas was drumming his fingers on the desk. He had to respond to this as a proposal, and he'd had in-depth discussions with the engineers here, who, of course, knew what artificial intelligence could do, but weren't experts. The whole system would have to be re-engineered around such a substantial change. It was the way of the future, though. Mercy was bringing the future to the presentation this afternoon.
Beside him sat two printed copies of the network diagram, so he needed a proposed system where the AI could slot in. It was too complex to put on a PowerPoint. More research was needed, but it gave an idea of the system requirements. Mercy would not be leaving him in the dust. He would hold up his end with regards to what she was proposing. She wouldn't be expecting that.
Rolling up the copies, he carried them like a baton in his hand, walking to the kitchen where he would make himself a coffee to take into the meeting. Little Miss Sunshine was there, doing the same.
"I am going to decimate you today," she said with a smile.
"Are you? Are you sure?"
"Your little games are certainly not going to put me off."
"If I'm accused of playing games, then what are you doing?" he said with a smile. "Doesn't matter. If you knew me, which you obviously don't, you would know that I am always well prepared. If I wanted to put you off your game, I could."
"Oh really? Do your worst."
"I know you're going to propose an AI solution." The defiance in her face faltered only a fraction. "Running behind my back, trying to propose something like that without telling me is asinine." He took a step closer. Again, she refused to back down. "But if you want to play games, we can play games."
"Do your worst."
Having no intention of doing this when he walked into the room, he reached the paper roll over to her knee and slowly drew it up the inside of her thigh, lifting her skirt. Slowly, it rose higher and higher, showing more of her thigh. He wasn't sure exactly why he was doing this, but his heart was hammering heavily in his chest, and her defiance refused to relent. This wasn't how he normally played the game. In fact, he couldn't really justify that this was a game, but he just wanted to shake those steely defenses of hers. Maybe he just wanted her to bend a little.
"I could report you for that," she said.
"That would be unsporting. You told me to do my worst."
"And you assumed, what? That I would be humiliated by you lifting my skirt? Too flustered to do my presentation? If you go on my Facebook account, you can see a million photos of me in my bikini. Nothing you do affects me in the slightest."
She would have to prove that by not tattling on him. It wasn't perhaps the most heinous crime, but she could make things unpleasant for him because of it. And yet, he'd still done it, and it had been thrilling. His body was still charged with it. And yeah, he could probably not help himself checking out her Facebook profile that night.
7
MERCY DIDN'T GIVE a fuck about Lukas lifting her skirt. She was not the kind of girl who got humiliated by that kind of crap. But there was one little problem. She felt a burning trail of heat running all the way up her leg where the roll of paper had traveled, even touching her pussy. The slightest touch left heat behind it.
It persisted when everyone walked into the room for the meeting, and it flared even fiercer when Lukas took his seat, his eyes piercing hers. His play had failed. It actually made her work harder, and she was going to kill this presentation.
The problem was that there was a trail of fire leading up to her pussy, and it refused to relent. It wasn't like she was dripping wet and would make a spectacle of herself, but she couldn't realistically say she was unaffected by his move. It just hadn't done what he'd expected.
Taking every bit of that energy, she put it into her presentation. Lukas could only glower at her. She was killing it. Maybe she should thank him after. Lukas being a douche gave her that little bit of extra kick to drive this puppy home. She could see it on the faces of the other team members. They were excited about her proposal. Even Mr. Holland had a slightly amused expression.
"What do you think?" he said, turning to Lukas.
'Yeah, Lukas. What do you think?' she wanted to say and turned serenely to him.
"Well, I've done some preliminary network designs. The problem is with the legacy systems. If we can solve those, and the AI functionality is stable enough for the kind of service levels this project needs, then it's feasible."
"We need to know that for sure. We only have weeks left. I can extend it a little in light of what we are suggesting, but I need to know the AI component is ready to deploy."
"I'll get onto it," Lukas said.
The bastard was riding on her coattails, claiming some of the glory when he really didn't deserve it. Unfortunately, she just couldn't say so. He had snuck around her back to ensure this wasn't a total loss for him. The cunning bastard. Always wheedled himself out of trouble, didn't he?
Still, the glory was hers. Her discussions with the AI team back in the states assured her that it was ready for a limited deployment. If that turned out not to be true, she would be utterly sunk. This would come back to reflect on her. Lukas still had that distance he placed between them, so this was her way to shine or die. Guess he just didn't do the big risks. Too careful and considered.
The rest of the afternoon finished on a high. The trail up her thigh eventually subsided and she felt herself return to normal. She even bought herself a slice of cake to celebrate. After work, she had a drink at
the hotel bar, but that was it. There was still so much work she had to do. Her proposal had made their project infinitely more complex and Lukas was also not giving up, intending on chasing her every step of the way.
The point was, though, that she was running ahead and he was chasing. Everything that had gone wrong up to now had been erased. Winning this role seemed more in her grasp than ever.
After a morning spent reading as much as she could get her hands on with regards to designing AI applications, Mercy decided to make her way to the office. If she were honest, she would have to admit that she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. As exciting as it was proposing this, she now had to work out how to deliver it, and they were definitely in unchartered territory.
With the time difference, the San Francisco office was still working and she called to ask part of their team, if not the whole, to come over and help with the proposal. They were discussing it and would let her know the details on Monday, which actually meant Tuesday here. Some help would be coming, but she wasn't sure how many.
Facing away from her desk, she was sitting with her arms crossed, staring out at the harbor. In the busyness, she had forgotten she was in Hong Kong for a moment. And with the way things were going, she wasn't going to get any exploring time. Maybe a couple of quick trips here and there. The giant Buddha was a must-see apparently. At some point, she would have to make time, but right now, she had work to do, and not enough space to do it.
Grabbing a pack of post-its, she wandered to the boardroom, where she had enough space to work. Brainstorming was how she worked and right now she needed to work out what needed doing. Staring at the table, it was like a blank sheet. It was the rough brainstorm, and then a more refined one would be on the wall behind her.
Pulling off the pen cap with her teeth, she started writing. It was easier just to let her thoughts flow as they wanted. A second post-it note went down, and so did the pen cap. For about half an hour, she focused on one cluster, until a noise distracted her. Lukas was there, wearing a black coat ending at mid-thigh, jeans and a white shirt. She'd never seen him look so informal before. Couldn't help himself being stylish, even wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Never would Lukas allow himself to look sloppy.
Then again, she had dressed in her normal blouse and skirt, like any normal business day. As far as she was concerned, it was a normal business day—without being bothered by everyone else in the office. Unfortunately, Lukas couldn't extend the courtesy.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Brainstorming," she said pointedly. "I know you're such a fan."
Leaning over the table, she placed one of the post-its on the far side of the cluster, noting that Lukas' eyes immediately went to her ass. Well, well. That was curious. "Been checking out my bikini photos?" She really should make those private. A friend had posted them and it had ended up on the part of her profile that was public.
His eyes narrowed, but he didn't argue. That was the thing about Lukas, he prided himself so much on not lying, so he couldn't bring himself to lie now. He'd been drooling over her pictures, had maybe even touched himself.
Mercy smiled and looked down at her post-it notes, placing it even farther away. Again, he watched her. "Oh, you have it bad."
"Have what bad?"
"You've got a hard-on for me."
Again he refused to lie, but she could tell he wanted to.
Leaning over the table again, she arched her back and gently bumped her hips into the table. "Ah, ah, ah," she groaned. "There's a picture. You lose."
"You're a bitch," he said and walked away, his coat flaring slightly as he walked. As per normal, he tried really hard to be cool about this, but she had him.
"And don't forget it," she called after him with a smile. Guess his little raising-her-skirt play backfired spectacularly. Lukas Heimer was hot for her and he didn't like it one bit. Obviously, she would be teasing him mercilessly. Actually, she was surprised he hadn't run out the door. She could hear him inside their office.
Had he really touched himself while looking at her photos? She wanted to know and would probably ask him later. Somehow, the king of cool, who was so calm and collected was coming a bit undone. There was something infinitely exciting about that. This game had taken a turn and the ball was now in her court.
"What you doing in there, Lukas?" she called with another smile. "I hope nothing HR would seriously reprimand you for."
She could hear him swearing and she chuckled.
Problem was, that little trail up her inner thigh was back. Her insides were tensing just thinking about what he probably wasn't doing in there. The idea of him touching himself, of being driven to touch himself, sent a thrill of energy through her. Obviously, she couldn't be stupid and waste this upper hand he had so much as given her.
Leaning over the table again, she felt a thrill deep inside her, driven by the image she'd just teased him with. Her insides clenched in anticipation. Damn it. Hopefully, she hadn't just set a trap that backfired on her too. Even as the thought hit, she knew she had.
8
EXHALING DEEPLY, LUKAS waited for his computer to connect to the network. Contrary to what Mercedes Wright believed, he hadn't spent the night slobbering over her Facebook profile, and what kind of person has photos of themselves in a bikini on public view? It would perhaps be a lie to say he hadn't imagined her in a bikini, but that was purely on her mentioning it.
And now this teasing, well, he did perhaps deserve it for what he’d done to her the day before. She was giving as good as she got.
Getting in his files, he opened the report he'd been working on. Going the route she had, this project was infinitely harder, but also substantially more exciting. The competition wasn't ready to deploy AI, so this put them eons ahead. It also meant so much more work for themselves. Apparently she had people coming. That remained to be seen. It could be that this flight of fancy failed, and he would have to prepare a pared down technical solution as a back-up.
His report before him, he got absorbed in the section he was developing.
It was silent in the office, nothing being heard from the boardroom. For all he knew, she could be asleep under the table. But he knew she wasn't. Organization might not be her strong suit, but she worked hard. No doubt she was diligently making a mess on the boardroom table.
Unwelcome thoughts snuck into his head. The visual she'd given him was stuck in his head whether he wanted it or not.
And then she appeared at the door, walking barefoot into the room. It was incompatible with her business-like dark pencil skirt and blouse.
"Managing to get anything done?" she asked.
"Yes, as opposed to what you believe, not all men are overcome by lust at the very sight of you," he said tartly.
"Eyes don't lie." Sitting down, she crossed her legs, an action he couldn't fail to notice.
"Perception certainly does."
She exhaled audibly for a moment. "I think the AI functionality, as part of this solution, needs to be very specific."
"Naturally," he said and crossed his arms.
"So the question is, if we gear it towards processing or reporting."
"I think reporting would be more valuable," he said.
"But processing would make the system quicker."
"Balance of value, I think reporting would still be more useful."
"As much I would like to argue with you, I can't," she admitted.
"So you argue with me for the sake of it?"
"Who doesn't argue with you for the sake of it?"
"Most people."
"You're so annoying, I can't see how they could stop themselves."
They stared at each other for a moment.
"I'm going to lunch," he said. "I'm hungry. Care to join me?"
"Asking me on a date?"
"Hardly."
"I could eat."
"I'm getting Hainan chicken."
"Lead the way," she said and rose. There was a fluidity in her movement. "I'll
need my shoes."
The urge to argue itched along his skin, even as there was nothing to argue about. He still wanted to argue. Instead, he reined himself in and stood by the security door and waited for her. She wore a black jacket to match the skirt when she appeared, and sneakers. Her attire for the day didn't extend to heels, it seemed. "Interesting choice in footwear."
"Thought I might go for a walk later," she said. "Or be overcome by a need to run," she continued more quietly. Lukas rolled his eyes as he pushed the button for the ground floor. "Mr. Holland will be so proud of us for cooperating."
"Going to lunch together doesn't really count as cooperating. You're actually going to have to tell me what you are doing if you're going to make that claim."
"Thanks for implying that I am hiding what I am doing."
"You are hiding what you are doing."
"Really, because my brainstorm is still written all over the whiteboard mere feet away from you. I don't know how much further I could get from hiding."
"How am I supposed to make heads or tails of that mental spew?"
Now Mercy rolled her eyes. "Do I need to point it out to you like a child?"
"Do you have a habit of assuming people will understand what is in your disorganized head?"
The elevator pinged and they stepped out into a silent lobby. The street outside was anything but silent. Noise came from every direction and there were people everywhere, darting in and out of shops, crossing the street, and talking on their phones.
Lukas led her to a small restaurant he'd found the previous week. It didn't look like much, with the cheap furniture, lurid plastic chopsticks and worn condiment containers, but the food was mouth-watering. The place was crowded and the only free table was along the back wall. "Two Hainan chicken," he said to the waitress wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a cartoon cat on it.
Mercy sat opposite him at the small table. "So why do you want this job?" she asked.
"I like Asia. Why do you want it?"
Seduction in a Suit: An Office Romance Collection Page 102