Of course, the problem with that was that it was like trying not to think about elephants.As soon as you tried to stop yourself, it was the only thing on your mind.With no clear task set out in front of me, I couldn’t find a way to stop myself from circling back again and again to his stunning eyes, his huge hands –
I needed a distraction – any kind of distraction.
“So,” I asked, my voice higher than usual until I cleared my throat.“Are you going to talk to Caleb Coleman?You know, about Brody Driver fighting with Ace?”
Mr.Harvey looked up and made a brief snorting noise.“We’re not parents calling each other in to see the principal,” he said.
I nodded and looked down at my desk.Right.No tattling on each other’s kids.But…
Caleb Coleman.
There had been a very weird energy between them on the one single occasion that Coleman had been in this office.And there had been that secret call that Mr.Harvey had me set up and tell no one about.And when Coleman spoke, he seemed to do so in code – as if they had known each other for long enough that they could understand each other perfectly.
Theyhadknown each other for a long time.But they were supposed to be rivals.Enemies.
Were they… secretly dating?
It could explain a lot.And now that I knew Mr.Harvey was gay, it seemed to be the only explanation that could join all of the dots I had been seeing.
I slumped a little in my chair.
All those fantasies, dead in the water.Mr.Harvey was taken.
It was just my luck to endure the torture of an incredibly hot, successful, wealthy, gay boss sitting in very close proximity to me through the whole of every extra-long working day – and for him to end up being taken.
“We need to catch up on our other clients,” Mr.Harvey said.“We’ve let things slip while we dealt with Ridley.We need to start damage control.”
“Okay,” I nodded.I was eager to have some puzzle to work on, something to think about that would take my mind off Mr.Harvey and his very large, very strong, clearly handsome boyfriend.Oh, god.Now I was thinking about them together.I prayed the next words out of my boss’s mouth were something that would distract me completely and for a very long time.
“Let’s schedule meetings with all our existing clients and sponsors,” he said.“Come sit at the coffee table.We need to work closely on this.”
I almost choked.
But I scrambled up from my seat and managed to grab a notebook and pen, as well as my phone with its connection to Mr.Harvey’s digital calendar, almost knocking over a glass of water on my desk but saving it just at the last minute.
I hurried to move around my desk and join him, carefully stepping over the wires this time.He was already seated at the table and I needed to hurry and get over there before I looked incompetent as well as –
I tripped on the leg of the chair closest to me before I could make it to the coffee table to dump my armload of things.One second I was walking like normal and the next I was flying through the air, everything I had been holding onto soaring up with me.
I was flying through the air –
Until I wasn’t.
“Watch we’re you’re going,” Mr.Harvey said gruffly.
But his arms, supporting me over his lap so that I didn’t crash right into his knees, holding me carefully and gently as if I was a porcelain doll, didn’t feel gruff at all.
“Oh, god,” I said, knowing my face was flaring up with heat as I tried to scramble to stand up withouttouchinghim anywhere else.He calmly ignored my efforts and instead tilted me bodily, setting me back on my feet and upright as if it was nothing.“Oh,god, I amsosorry, I – I didn’t mean – I –”
“Sit down, Keaton Dunbar,” Mr.Harvey said evenly, his voice a steady rumble that neither chastised nor mocked.
I did as he told me to.
Mr.Harvey cleared his throat lightly as he began to leaf through his own notebook, full of names and contact details – I’d noticed that, much like me, he enjoyed writing things down and having physical references even though all of this could be done digitally with more ease.
“I’m really sorry,” I said.“I just – tripped, and –”
“I know,” he said.That, it seemed, was the end of the conversation as far as he was concerned.“Let’s start with the longest-standing clients and sponsors first.I’d also like to meet with a few team managers who may be concerned.”
