Chapter 1
Griff
The tap of my fingers over the mahogany desk echoed in the room. I leaned back fully in my chair, but thanks to my six-foot-six frame, I could still reach halfway across my desk. A perk of being so tall. The downside was that my broad shoulders and extreme height didn’t fit comfortably in the high-backed office chair. When I took the job, I’d requested a different one that was made for someone my size, but apparently that paperwork was buried in HR. The request had yet to be approved. If I wanted comfort, I’d have to supply my own, unless I wanted to do a mountain of paperwork.
I hated paperwork.
Perhaps I chose the wrong profession.
The work itself was something I enjoyed. In the four months I’d been with the company, I’d helped get the department back on track after a shake-up left some of the employees reeling. It helped that I had a great team underneath me. No, my boredom came from a different place.
One I’d kept buried for as long as I could.
There was no denying it now, though. The evidence was mounting up
I was lonely.
No amount of work or extra activities outside of work, including my amateur MMA fighting, could stop it. I needed… something. If I was completely honest, I needed someone.
It was a new feeling to me. A foreign one. It’d taken me by surprise, and I spent a lot of time avoiding admitting it.
From where I sat at my desk, I had a view of the rest of the office space. I could see all the way across the floor to the mailroom, which at the moment, housed a single individual casually sorting the bin of mail that had just arrived.
Taylor.
Was I lonely before he caught my eye, or had my loneliness sprung to life when I realized what it was that I was missing? At least I could guess what I was missing.
My hands flexed as the itch to take him into my arms and wrap my hands around his waist roared within me.
Taylor. Petite, twinkish Taylor was exactly what my wet dreams were made of. Had I felt this ache in my chest before I laid eyes on him two weeks ago? Or was this a side effect of seeing my dream man walking around each day, smiling shyly at everyone and turning the most adorable shade of pink on the one occasion I said hello to him.
I liked that I unsettled him.
Like a predator stalking his prey, I was on the hunt. I waited patiently until I was ready to pounce. But unlike the carefree wolf, I had responsibilities at my job, and there was a clear policy against VPs and Executives fraternizing with their subordinate employees. Apparently when two VPs in one year start relationships with their employees, HR gets all worried about lawsuits. Gregory and Mark had ruined it for the rest of us.
Now my hands were tied. As long as we both worked here, Taylor was off limits.
It was the worst kind of torture.
I knew, I could feel it in my soul, that Taylor was something special. Even though we’d never talked, I knew we’d be explosivein the bedroom. Or the kitchen. Or the forest. Or balcony. Or wherever I took him. Which, if I had my way, would be everywhere.
“Griff. You’re asking for trouble…”
I refused to let my subordinate, Sawyer, rile me up. Instead of acting like the cat that caught the canary, I turned to face him slowly. I didn’t need to feign innocence. I was innocent. I hadn’t broken the rules. That had been Sawyer and the previous VP, Mark. They were the reason for the policy change. This was their fault.
“I beg your pardon?” I said, letting the natural gruffness enter my voice. Sometimes at work I tried to tone down the sheer size of me, including the tone of my voice. Not this time. Sawyer could squirm.
“Please. I saw you staring at Taylor like he was a snack. He is single, you know.” Sawyer grinned and sat his plump ass on the edge of my desk.
“I don’t see how that is relevant. You know the policy, Sawyer.” I folded my hands over my middle, aiming for nonchalance.
Sawyer rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, but Taylor doesn’t report to you. Which means asking him out wouldn’t be against the rules. It’s fine.”
It most certainly wasn’t fine, but I wasn’t about to continue this conversation. “Did you have that report for me?” I asked.
“It’s in your inbox. The numbers came out exactly how we wanted. I updated the slide deck with the correct screenshots, so you should be good to go for your presentation.”
“Thank you.” I opened up my laptop and navigated to the email app. I reviewed the changes while Sawyer texted away on his phone, probably with his boyfriend, Mark. The same Mark we’d be giving this presentation to. Was there a conflict of interest? Probably. That was HR’s problem.
