“Right. Right. I can do that.” Panic made my fingers clumsy on the screen. I swiped twice before I managed to make a single word. “They’re my dead father’s best friends.” I hadn’t told Lila everything about them, but I also couldn’t keep my mouth shut. Talking helped me process, and I had to get these words out.“They’re going to fire me. I’m so dead. They’re twenty years older than me. I can’t believe I did this.”
The music in the bar changed from an upbeat duet to a melancholy jazz number.
It was like the world itself mourned the death of my career with me.
“Breathe, Harper. It’s going to be fine. I’m sure they’ll understand it was an accident.” Lila patted my hand, but a concerned frown disagreed with her words.
My phone pinged, and a new message popped up in the private chat.
“Oh god. Here we go.” I rubbed a hand over my eyes to clear them.
Julian:What’s this? Harper, are you propositioning your bosses?
Lila snorted as she read the message by leaning across the table. “Doesn’t sound like he’s too upset.”
“It’s Julian. He never takes anything seriously. They’re my bosses.” Too old for me by standard conventions. Out of my league with their seriously hot looks. My dead dad’s best friends.
All these reasons were why I shouldn’t be attracted to them, but that one message from Julian had me rethinking everything.
A second message appeared.
Dante:You remember we’re your bosses and this is highly inappropriate behavior?
Julian:I prefer inappropriate. And scandalous. And I’d like to peel that lingerie off you with my teeth.
I choked on my own spit when I tried to swallow. Heat pooled in my belly and spread so fast I clenched my thighs together to keep from leaking all over the booth.
Alexander:Bold move, Harper. I did not expect this from you.
Disappointment laced every word.
I shook too hard to be able to send anything back. My apology sat half-finished in the box, but before I could even send that, another string of messages appeared one by one.
Julian:I believe we need to discuss this in person.
Dante:Agreed. Office romance is forbidden in our company.
Alexander:Return to the office immediately.
“Oh, shit.” Lila polished off her wine and slid around to my side of the booth. “Harper, I’m so sorry. Here. Let me tell them it was my fault.”
I pulled my phone away, clutching it to my chest. “No. I have to go. I’ll talk to them in person. I can’t…I can’t explain over a text. And Alexander gave me an order.” Disobeying him wasn’t possible. I sent a single text. Three words.
On my way.
The thread went silent. My heart did not. If it could have, it would have torn free of my chest and took off for parts unknown.
“I ruined my life.” I swiped at the tears falling freely down my cheeks and scooted out of the booth. I still wore my businesssuit, which made it easier to slide off the slick vinyl. My legs shook when I stood, but I lifted my chin.
Lila slid her arm around my back. “I’ll come with you. It was my fault. All of it. I told you to send the message.”
“I should have paid attention and made sure it was going to the right person. It was my fault for not getting out of the private thread.” I had kept that thread open too often, hoping for a message from them. It was pathetic how often I thought about them, all three of them. Every message gave me a little boost.
God, I was pathetic. And I would face the consequences myself. “Thanks, Lila, but I really want to do this on my own.”
She took a long look at my face before nodding. “Okay. Do you want me to drive you?”
“Sure.” She’d had fewer drinks than me and was still under the limit. I might have been a little too loose to be safe. My steps steadied as we walked out into the night air.
