"Ms. Fray," Harlan drawled, inky eyes reading off of her name plaque.
"Yes?" she managed through her tight throat.
The new CEO gestured to his office with a flick of his tapered fingers. "I'd like to have a word with you," was all he said before walking off.
Mia slid off her coat and stood from her desk. Yep. She was so getting fired. "Please, have a seat," Harlan said when she entered his office. The space was almost as big as the entire office floor. Leather sofas lined the wall of glass that overlooked all of Manhattan.
Mia made her way to the chair across from his desk, the slab of cherry wood ridiculously big. Almost as ridiculous as Harlan's chair. The tall back of the leather seat made it look almost like a throne.
He'd wasted no time in clearing the office space of the former CEO's decor. Erin had had an obsession with bulky white furniture and macrame.
Her heels clicked against the marble tile, reverberating along the rafters of the ceiling.
"Would you like a drink?" Harlan asked, making his way over to the wall of liquor.
A wall. Of liquor. In his office.
If that didn't say alcoholic, she didn't know what would.
Mia frowned. "No," she said hesitantly, eyes flicking down to her watch. "Because it's three in the afternoon."
Harlan's laugh was deep and sent goosebumps rolling down her arms. She pressed her thighs together as heat bloomed throughouther core.
"More for me then." He crossed the space with a squat glass in his hand.
"So," he said while tilting back in his throne of an office chair. "How's the boyfriend?"
Mia's brows popped. "Uh." She cleared her throat with an awkward shake of her head. "I wouldn't know."
"An ex now, I'd presume?" Harlan asked.
Mia's eyes landed on his; a whirl pool of midnight and inky waves throughout his irises. "Yeah," she said.
Humiliation washed over her as last night's events returned tenfold. Her, wasted at the bar, spilling every stupid word that popped in her head to Harlan. Her new CEO.
All because Lake had to screw Gigi.
Asshole.
Harlan nodded.
"Are you going to fire me?" Mia blurted as he sat in the throne-chair across from her. "Or are you planning on dragging this out?"
She'd called him an ass. To his face. Inadvertently, but it still applied. He had every right to fire her.
Oh god, she'd called him beautiful!
Mia was just about ready to jump off the face of the earth.
The smile that slashed across his face was wicked. His dark eyes narrowed and he ran the tip of his finger along the crystal rim of the glass. "Why ever would I do that? Oh--because you called me an ass?" Harlan tipped his head back, that smirk still tugging at his lips. "Actually I believe it was the King of Assholes."
Mia cringed. "Technically, I said those were the rumors, so..." Wow. She really wasn't helping her case.
Harlan took a sip from his glass and nodded. He was sinking back the stuff like it was apple juice.
Mia couldn't take her eyes off of his throat; the smooth skin bobbing as he swallowed. The endings of a tattoo peeked just above the collar of his black button down. The tattoo and muscles cording his neck shifted as he took another sip.
Wow.
She was about to be fired and her life was in shambles. Mia should've been having a mental breakdown, she should've been heartbroken over Lake and groveling to keep her job.
Instead, Mia couldn't stop focusing on the veins that trailed down Harlan's forearms, snaking along his smooth skin. She let her gaze wander up the muscles along his arms and settle on Harlan's lips. They were perfect--bordering on inhuman almost.
"I'm not going to fire you," he said at last.
Mia's eyes snapped up to his. "Really?" What was she doing? She should be thanking the hell out of him and running back to her desk. Not making him question his decision to not fire her.
Harlan gestured to the double doors, eyes glazed over with something she could not detect.
"Okay then," she said slowly. Mia felt as though she'd just been in a test; having absolutely no clue if she'd passed or failed. "Thanks." Mia got up, heels echoing throughout the silent room.
"Fray," he called.
Mia looked back at him over her shoulder.
"Close the door on your way out."
~~~
"Wake up," Harlan whispered against Mia's ear.
"Hmm?" She moaned as his fingertips traced the length of her jaw. They were in bed, naked limbs tangled between fresh sheets.
He held her neck gently. The rough callouses of his palms stroking her nape. Harlan bent down, his lips skimming over Mia's collarbone.
"Wake up, Mia," he echoed.
Mia jolted awake, nearly falling off of Ruth's couch. She fell back with a sigh, a line of sweat beading her brow.
Mia cursed under her breath. She must have passed out. And that dream? Mia shook her head.
Nope. Not thinking about it. Because if she started thinking about his palms on her skin, his mouth on hers, she'd never stop.
And that was a whole extra plate of drama that she didn't need in her life.
Mia's phone went off and the vibrating of the ringer made the metallic coffee table shake. "Hello?" she said. The caller wasn't in her contacts so she knew it wasn't Kallie calling to complain that Mia had bailed on dinner. The last thing she wanted to do was have to explain to a room full of people about her and Lake.
What would she even say?
Yes, Lake cheated on me. Wait! It gets better. He cheated on me with my sister, so that's pretty great. Cheese anyone?
Yeah, like that was happening anytime soon, Mia thought with a sigh.
"Mia," the person said. She recognized the deep, raspy voice immediately.
Mia sat up and scrambled into a sitting position. "Um, hi."
"It's Harlan."
His voice from her dream sizzled the air, the memory of his cool breath along her neck so real she almost forgot it was a dream.
She nodded. "Yeah, I guessed. How'd you get my number?"
"It doesn't matter," he said. His voice faded in and out as if he was moving.
Actually, if random people could get their hands on her phone number, it kind of mattered.
"Listen." His words were muffled with background noise. Loud music and laughter crackled over the phone. She strained to hear his voice.
"I need you to do something for me."
"Okay?" She replied.
She was his assistant after all.
"Bring food over to my house, Fray. We ran out and I need you to bring some more," he explained.
Oh, so he needed her to run an errand for him. Which was totally normal and professional--the last CEO, Erin, made her run errands all the time. So then why did she feel so...deflated? Oh god, did she really have a crush on her new boss?
Mia thought of his inky hair and even darker eyes, of his perfect mouth and that body.
Oh crap.
She definitely had a crush on him.
Great.
"I'll text you my address and what to buy," was all he said before hanging up. "See you then."