“You made me dangerous, now you’ll have to face the consequences.” I swallowed, suddenly aware of how quiet the office hallway must be, how glass, even dimmed, still had ears. Thankfully, it was lunch hour, and at this time, the office was practically empty.
“We have a meeting in ten,” he said, back to business. “Fix your lipstick, Samantha.”
I smirked. “Yes, sir.”
When he opened the door, Harper was sitting on her desk. She didn’t say a word, just looked up from her laptop, arched one perfectly sculpted brow, and gave the kind of smirk that said ‘I know exactly whatyou’ve been doing’, and I’m choosing silence. Theo paused. Adjusted his tie like it hadn’t just been used to pull my mouth against his. She typed something on her screen without looking up again.
“Meeting in eight, Theodore.”
He nodded and walked off. His shoulders squared, and his head held high, as if nothing had happened. I stared at the door for a long second, then whispered under my breath, “Great. Now she knows too.”
The walls of Hayes International were officially full of secrets. And I had lipstick to reapply. I walked over to the small mirror by my bookshelf, caught my reflection, and actually laughed. “Corporate goddess,” I muttered. “With freshly fucked hair.”
There was a heat still buzzing under my skin, part leftover arousal, part adrenaline, and all of it screaming one thing: What the hell are we doing? I fixed my lipstick. Reapplied some concealer. Smoothed out my blouse the best I could, tucked it back in, and found the strength to stuff everything that had just happened behind a mask of perfectly poised professionalism.
Hayes’ rule #3: Never let them see you sweat.
By the time I grabbed my notebook and walked out of the office, I was every bit the International Business Strategist they’d hired. Straight back. A calm smile. Lip gloss. But when I walked into that boardroom and saw Theo already seated at the head of the table, tie fixed, jaw set, and his eyes flicking up just long enough to meet mine, I felt it all over again.Every look. Every touch. Every secret under this roof.
I slid into my seat across from him, keeping my expression neutral, even as the memory of his mouth between my thighs pulsed through me like a live wire.
“Good afternoon,” Max said as he entered, shuffling a stack of papers. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
Yes. Let’s. Before I lose my shit.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
theo
I was halfwaythrough my second espresso when Harper knocked once and stepped into my office without waiting for an answer.
That’s never a good sign.
She closed the door behind her like she was sealing a vault. In one hand, she held her tablet. In the other, a folder with my name on it. "Good morning to you, too," I said, eyeing the folder like it might detonate. Harper didn’t smile.
“We need to talk about yesterday.” Right. That. I leaned back in my chair, trying to look unfazed. “If this is about the stock briefing?—”
“No. This is about the way you dimmed the glass in Samantha Hayes’ office for twenty-two minutes and forty-seven seconds.”
I blinked. “Wait, you timed it?”
“I am your assistant. It’s literally my job to know what you’re doing when you forget you have eyes onyou.” I rubbed a hand down my face. “So… are you here to scold me?”
“No,” she said. “I’m here to cover your ass. Once again.” She set the folder down with the precision of someone placing a trap. Inside was an HR disclosure form. The kind that allowed relationships between peers. Providing evidence that they were declared and disclosed, and all proper chains of command were respected.
“In short,” Harper said, “if you want to continue hooking up with Samantha, she needs to be reassigned to another direct report. She can’t work under you.” I stared at the form. I didn’t touch it.
“And you think I’m ready to be in a relationship with her?” I asked, voice lower than I meant it to be. Harper’s expression softened, but only a little.
“I honestly don’t care if you want to be in a relationship with her, but if you’re going to be hooking up with her during office hours and within the office building, you need to do something about it. It doesn’t matter that this is your company now. She is the daughter of the literal owner of this place, and you need to be careful.” I let out a breath, long and slow. “Fine, I’ll think about it.”
“No, Theodore, you need to do something about it.” She let out a frustrated breath. “Are you talking to me as my assistant or as my friend?”
She looked me dead in the eyes. “Do you want the friendly version?” She asked, and I nodded.
“You can’t be fucking around with SamanthaHayes, pun very much intended, without expecting to get fucked over. So you need to take care of yourself.” She left without saying another word. That was Harper’s way, never overstaying her welcome, just dropping truth grenades and disappearing like smoke.
The truth was, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. It had started out as fun, electric, unexpected. I promised myself a long time ago that I didn’t want to be involved in another relationship where I get to the point of thinking about engagement, marriage, and all that shit that already didn’t work out for me.
