Chapter 13 - Harper

We are professionals. This is fine. I feel a wave of nausea come over me as I walk out of his office but I push it down.

Why would I volunteer?!

I should have just kept my mouth shut. I’ve been trying to avoid spending time with him, and now I’m going to be stuck in close quarters for almost two weeks! Is that why I said I’d do it? I can try to lie to myself and say it was because other people have families and holidays, but a part of me knows it’s because of Zach. I see Rosie poke her head up from her cubicle and I walk over.

“What was that about?” She whispers. “Everyone was in his office.”

“The Latif file. They’ve moved the deadline to January 2nd.”

Rosie’s eyes widen. “Can they do that?!”

I shrug. “Apparently. I’m working through Christmas.”

“What!”

“Yeah, no one else was volunteering. It’s not so bad, I’ll take some time off in January to make up for it. I have to put a team together so if you want some overtime and great holiday memories just let me know.” I know my voice sounds unusually cheery.

Rosie’s eyes narrow. She searches my face and then her lips tug upwards. She sits back in her chair and crosses her arms with a triumphant grin.

“He’s working, isn’t he?”

“Who?” I ask innocently, even though I know who she means. She rolls her eyes.

“Zach!” She whispers. “I can see right through you, Harper, you are unbelievable!”

I grin and throw my hands up. “I’m a professional, Rosie. I’m just a slave to the job, is all.”

“You’re a slave to something,” she says with an eyebrow raised. I laugh and walk away before someone hears us, or before Rosie makes me face things I’m not ready to think about.

Back in my office, I flop down on my chair and let out a sigh. Maybe Rosie is right, and I’m just doing this to be close to Zach. That’s the last thing I need - to complicate this, this.. whatever this is. It’s been hard enough to keep my distance since the party, and now it’s about to get a whole lot harder.

I shake my head. Who am I kidding, of course I said I’d do it because of him. The second he said he was working through I knew I’d volunteer. It just took a couple seconds to work up the courage. I can tell myself I’m a professional, I can tell myself I care about the work, but in the end I know I said yes because I haven’t stopped thinking about Zach since the night we slept together. I was sitting right where we had sex, right where we were when he was inside me. The past two weeks have just been one big daydream with a few self-love sessions featuring Zach and that big cock of his.

I close my eyes and try to push out the thought of him. When I said I’d volunteer he looked right at me. His gaze just pierced right through me and I could feel myself getting wet. If one look does that to me, how am I going to survive two weeks working side by side with him?! The last time I had a full conversation with him we ended up sleeping together in his office!

There’s a knock on the door and it makes me jump up. My eyes fly open.

“Zach, hi!” I say, my voice just a little bit too forced. He walks in and closes the door behind him.

“Thanks for volunteering to work,” he says in a low voice. “I know it’s not easy to give up your holidays.” I nod. My mouth is dry. He sits down across from me and places his hands down on the armrests. He’s staring at my desk and it looks like he’s trying to think of what to say. Finally he raises those deep brown eyes and looks right at me. He takes a deep breath and speaks again.

“I thought that since we’ll be working together we should lay out some ground rules.”

“Ground rules,” I repeat slowly.

“Yeah, ground rules.” His eyes flick down my body and then back up to my face and I feel my core heat up instantly. I try to keep myself from reacting, but my cheeks predictably start to flush. “What happened between us was.. unexpected. It was great! Don’t get me wrong!”

He pauses, and I feel my lips twitch upwards into a smile.

“Zach, please,” I start gently. He glances at me. “We’re both adults. We had sex and it was fun, but now we need to work together. I understand that. I’m not looking for anything from you, or with you.”

He takes a deep breath and nods. “Great. So we understand each other.”

“We understand each other,” I repeat. I understand that you look incredibly sexy in that suit right now. I take a deep breath and try to smile.

“You’re an important part of this team, Harper. I wouldn’t want anything to get in the way of that, and I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

There’s a silence between us and I feel like he wants to say more, but nothing comes out. I turn to my computer screen.

“You’ll send that information through today? I’ll get a start on it as soon as I get it and come up with a plan of attack. I’ll start getting a team together that can work with us.”

He goes back to being the serious, stone-faced executive I knew last week. The moment between us has passed, and I feel both relieved and disappointed.

“That’s great, Harper. Have a team list and program on my desk by the end of the day.”

“Done.”

He turns around and I watch the way his pants grip his ass with every step until the door closes and he’s out of view. I slump back in my chair and let all the air out of my lungs.

This is fine.

I can do this.

This is definitely fine.