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“Your lipstick.”
It’s called ‘Nude Touch’. It barely qualifies as ‘color’. I know he’s flirting, and doing a pretty poor job of it, and even though there’s a desk between us, unlike earlier, when he insisted on getting way too close and sitting right beside me, I still feel uncomfortable.
“We’re in the middle of something here, Miles. What do you want?” Hunter’s voice is harsh, and I step back in surprise. I’ve never heard him speak to anyone like that before… not even when he came out of his office and found Miles sitting on my desk.
Miles looks down at him. “I remembered what I came to see you about.”
“Oh?”
“I got the point that we’ll need to take on new personnel if we pick up any extra work from Palmerston’s, but did I hear it right that we won’t be employing people on a permanent basis?”
“Not to start with, no. Everything’s very fluid at the moment, and I don’t want to commit the company to anything long term.”
Miles nods his head and rests his hands on Hunter’s desk, leaning over it slightly. “Okay, but in that case, we’re gonna need to look at our freelance contracts.”
“Why?”
Miles stands again and looks at me, rolling his eyes, like we’re in some kind of co-conspiracy against Hunter, and then he puffs up his chest, a slightly smug smile on his face. “Because we haven’t employed any freelancers for years. We need to make sure the contracts are up-to-date.”
“I know we do.” Hunter leans back in his seat, looking as relaxed as you please and gazing up at Miles, like he hasn’t a care in the world. “Or rather, you do, Miles. Because that’s your job. You shouldn’t need my help with a minor issue like that, and it’s up to you to ensure all our employment contracts are up-to-date. Of course, if you can’t handle it…”
“I can handle it,” Miles says. “I just thought I should make you aware…”
“I already was.” Hunter tips his head slightly, raising his eyebrows. “Was there anything else?”
“No.”
“Fine. In that case, if you don’t mind, we’re busy. And next time you come into my office, damn well knock.”
Miles looks like he wants to say something, but thinks better of it, and without another word, he turns and leaves.
Hunter sits forward, letting out a long sigh, and then he looks up at me, a frown quickly forming on his face before he gets to his feet.
“Hey… are you okay?”
His voice is concern itself and I gaze up into his molten brown eyes, trying to remember how to swallow.
“Y—Yes.”
“You’re not, are you?” He grabs his chair, pulling it closer and then gently places his hands on my shoulders, sitting me down.
I shift forward to get up again. It feels wrong to be sitting here. But he crouches in front of me, his hands on the arms of the chair, so I can’t move.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Livia?”
I stare into his face, worry written in his eyes. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Then why do you look so… so scared?”
“B—Because you were angry.”
He leans back, his shoulders tensing, his muscles clenching, and then he takes a deep breath. “Are you saying you were scared of me? Because you know I wasn’t angry with you, don’t you? I wasn’t raising my voice to you, Livia. I don’t think I could.”
He sounds almost fearful and I want to reach out, to touch him and reassure him that, even if his tone startled me, I’m not scared of him. I know he’d never hurt me. I don’t know how I know it, but I do.
“I—I…”
“It’s Miles,” he says, getting to his feet and pushing his fingers back through his hair. “He has that effect on me.”
