Page 70 of Take Her

What am I in your phone as?

He ignored me.

I don’t have much time between meetings. Take a picture of yourself for me.

I was suddenly flustered.

Which part?

You shouldn’t ask me that

he said—and I didn’t know if he meant literally, or because if he’d wanted to see one particular part of me, he would have asked, and I should trust he would.

Whichever you like. But hurry, I’m taking another meeting in five.

There was no way I could be sexy on such short notice—so I didn’t even try. I went to the back wall of his office and snapped a selfie of me looking contemplatively outside. The lighting was good and so was the composition. I was twenty-three, after all; half the contents of my phone could be in the Louvre.

Three dots bounced at the bottom of my screen for a moment, before his text came back.

The princess surveying her kingdom.

And I didn’t know whether or not he was teasing until he followed it up with

I like that.

I took another picture then, with the phone a little closer, and a little more intimate—of me beaming at his response—but I didn’t send it.

All right

he went on.

The next meeting should last for about an hour. Take three more pictures—I want a reward waiting for me when I’m through.

I frowned at the screen, unsure what to give him, and then he texted me one last time.

Moth.

It took me a moment to realize he was answering my previous question—and that made me smile, too.

Rhaim hadn’t clarified exactly what he wanted...which meant he’d be okay with what I gave him.

I did want to impress him, but I didn’t want to be the kind of girl who only had cleavage shots in her repertoire. I wanted him to be fascinated with me, and while I would behave technically, I had to believe he’d given me a little leeway on purpose.

I took three pictures in quick succession and sent him a title first:

Places I want to visit:

I took a photo of the rooftop garden a few buildings over, because it looked sun-kissed and beautiful.

I took a picture of a picture that he had up on his wall, which was black and white, but had a farmhouse in the background and a pretty horse.

And the third and final one was the hollow beneath his large wooden desk, where if I made myself very small, and he spread his legs wide, there would be room enough for me.

I was in the process of sending them off, when I heard the door in my office open.

I ran back for it, to see who’d come in, and was astonished to find a stranger there, sitting on my chair and going through the files on my desk.

“Hey!” I protested—and then he saw me, coming out of Rhaim’s domain.