“I’ll call you,” Xander said.
As Cindy exited the office, the doors swished closed, and Harper adjusted the suit bag in her hands.
“No! Not the suit!” Xander said, with a hand across his face, as if he was a vampire, and the suit bag Harper had draped over her arm was the blazing sun.
Harper sighed. He refused to keep suits in his office, so she had to keep them stashed in a closet up in the apartments Axis Management had above their offices and they went through this routine whenever she had to get him one. “You know I wouldn’t bring it if it wasn’t for a good reason.”
“Nope, didn’t see it. I’m sure I have a meeting somewhere.”
Harper shook her head and watched as Xander tapped his keyboard and frowned.
“You locked me out of the system!”
“You gave me executive privileges for this reason. Go shower, the car will be here in half an hour.”
“I’m expecting Erik, and there is that meeting with the Martin Group, and I have to go paint a wall or fix a fence.”
“No way out of this one. I told Erik you weren’t available tonight. He’s going to see you at one tomorrow. Ares is Zooming with the Martin Group from the hotel.” She put the suit in Xander’s hands. “And Mr. Montague, you have never fixed a fence or painted a wall.”
“Are you so sure?” his voice purred.
Harper smiled. This was the side of her otherwise serious and dour boss that few people got to see.
“Positive.”
He had created a popular scheduling app that had made him his first million, and he designed a sleeker better satellite phone for military operations that made him another million and other things, but Xander didn’t own a hammer.
“Is there no way he can get here?” Xander pulled back his hair into an elastic band. In another second, his rock band T-shirt hit the floor, revealing his tight abs and broad shoulders.
“Ares doesn’t like you doing these things, either,” Harper said. She turned away as Xander’s hands went to his waistband and walked down the corridor with the muted, dove grey walls to her inner space.
When they had been going over plans for this building, Xander had insisted she had a space of her own, and Harper disagreed. She followed Xander wherever he went during the day and when he was in his office on this floor, she was at her desk, just outside. A wholly separate space for her wasn’t necessary, but after having this retreat for a few months, she loved it.
She’d had this office done in what she thought of as an “ocean light” theme. The walls were light blue, the curtains in soft pink and framed photos of beaches were scattered around the room. A standing desk and a comfy chaise that doubled as her bed when she worked through the night were the only pieces of furniture in the room. From the closet next to her bathroom, she pulled out a red sparkly gown and kicked off her flats, replacing them with heels. She hung the dress on the bathroom door and started her make-up.
“Are you sure he can’t get here? We can’t send the plane?” Xander appeared in her bathroom doorway with a towel wrapped around his waist.
Harper met Xander’s steel eyes in the mirror. The press called him the “Prince of Darkness of the Business World,” and with his pale skin, powerful features, and that long black hair, it was a title he nurtured.
“It’s a security threat, so the whole airport is closed. He had to do some sweet talking to leave the airport and go to the hotel. He’ll be on the first flight out as soon as they have cleared the threat.”
While Xander was the Prince of Darkness of the Business world, Ares, his brother and co-CEO, was known as the Archangel, having a reputation for never saying no to a request for a donation or a photo op, never refusing an invitation to a charity function.
“Not this one,” Xander said, taking the gown from her and walking out of the room with it in his arms.
As she finished making up her eyes, Harper smiled, being used to Xander’s whims. He had a reason for everything he did.
“Wear this, tonight.” Xander held up a light purple A-line gown. As he dangled it in his hand, Harper saw it was asymmetrical. The front of the skirt would be slightly shorter than the back.
“It’s lovely,” she said.
Opening a drawer, she selected a pair of earrings and went to put her hair up.
“I saw it and thought of you,” Xander said.
As their eyes met in the mirror, Harper’s pulse raced. He was always surprising her.
“Are you sure there is no way out of this? They don’t even feed you at these things.”
