Page 4 of In Bed with the Enemy

"Have it your way, then," he said, turning to leave. I slammed the door behind him as soon as he was out in the hallway and bounded my way back over to the bed. I picked up the remote to the television and looked at the screen in horror.

He had charged a rather explicit movie to my account, which was currently starting to play, and loud. "Oh, fuck!" I said, ironically in time with the girl on the screen before flipping the stupid device off and crashing onto the bed.

I groaned, because now, not only would I need to explain to the conference organizers why there was a certain charge to my room, I also had to sleep in a bed that smelled like Ethan Greene's cologne.

I reached behind me and grabbed my phone. I swiped it open and grimaced. I'd been on the phone with Michelle when I'd dropped the damn thing. It was very likely that the phone was unlocked when Ethan found it. I tried scrolling through a few apps to see if he'd messed with anything. He seemed like the sort of person that might. Without seeing anything overt, I sent a quick message to Michelle and told her I was heading to bed before putting the device on the nightstand.

I tried to shake the last hour from my head. I wanted to prepare ahead of my presentation for tomorrow, but Ethan and his stupid scent were making it really hard to concentrate. I sighed and decided that maybe a good shower would help me wash off the weird combination of embarrassment and anger that I was currently feeling.

I got myself up off the bed and made my way over to the bathroom. Switching on the light, I realized just how nice the place was, even if it was ten floors below Ethan's. The entire bathroom was floor to ceiling black marble, as was the shower encased in glass.

I played with the multiple light switches against the wall to see what each of them did and almost jumped when a portion of the mirror turned into a television and started, well, the movie Ethan had picked. I turned that off as quickly as possible as my heart continued to pound and figured I'd better just get in the shower.

I let the steam fill up the room as I shed my clothing and turned this way and that to look in the mirror. I wouldn't say I was pretty, but I also wouldn't say I was ugly. I was somewhere in the middle, which generally just landed me in the "unnoticed" pile. The large pair of silver glasses I always wore framed my face and I pulled my vibrant blonde hair up into a high bun so I didn't get it wet. It was probably the only feature I liked about myself.

It was hard to be taken seriously in this industry as a woman. I was one of just a handful of women who had graduated from MIT's engineering department with a specialty in alternative energy. Most of the time when I walked into a conference room for a presentation people assumed I was just the assistant there to set up. It didn't help that my lack of height, blonde hair, round face, and freckles across my cheeks seemed to make me look younger.

But, there was no helping any of that. Instead, I just doubled down and tried to make myself the best I could be in my field. So far, I think it was mostly working. I'd been invited to speak at this conference and give a presentation on renewable energy technology that could be implemented within the next five years on a wide scale. It was a pretty big honor and I wanted to make a good impression.

I grimaced. Especially after this morning.

I sighed as I got into the shower and tried to let the hot water peel off my feelings of embarrassment and anxiety. It wasn't going to get all of it, because there was a lot there. But, after a thirty-minute shower and fingers that looked like prunes, I felt better. I stepped out and dried off my hair and committed to getting myself prepared for tomorrow's presentation.

If Ethan Greene thought I was going to be some easy target, he was dead wrong. I'd show him exactly who he was messing with.

3

AMY

A burst of laughter rang out in the Ritz Carlton lobby and I groaned. It was far too early in the morning for such things. I'd stayed up a bit too late last night prepping for my presentation this morning and then even when I'd tried to go to sleep, I'd ended up laying in bed awake.

I'd ended up looking at TikToks on my phone, which was fast becoming my guilty pleasure as it seemed to be the only thing that got my brain to not think about work. But, the dangerous part of that app is that it seems to speed up time, and before I knew it, it was the wee hours of the morning and I knew I'd been an idiot.

I let out a big yawn as I spotted the hotel restaurant.

"Someone looks tired," a voice I knew all too well whispered into my ear and I jumped and let out a yelp in surprise.

I turned around and touched my hand to my ear as if trying to wipe off the shivers that were threatening to move their way through my body.

"Up too late last night?" Ethan asked with a smirk. "That was very naughty of you." He paused, "Seeing as you're presenting and all, today."

"Leave me alone, Ethan," I said to him, trying to act like he didn't affect me. I turned to head towards the hotel restaurant and he began to follow me. I let out an audible groan to let him know how I felt about it.

"We're on a first-name basis now, are we Amy?"

I'd made a huge mistake, because hearing him say my name like that, in his deep voice, did things to me.

"We're on a no-name basis," I retorted, trying to recover.

He chuckled. "I reserve such things for my one-night stands exclusively," he said.

"Gross," I replied as we approached the hostess. "Table for one," I said, putting emphasis on the last word.

"Make that for two," Ethan said and I damn near stomped my foot.

"No, thank you," I said, giving the hostess a look. "Table for one is great."

The poor girl looked uncertainly between us. I stood there with my arms crossed and I could almost feel Ethan's smug smile next to me. "Two's great," he said. "And go ahead and put the check under Room 2401, Ethan Greene," he said smoothly.