Five minutes later I was sitting next to Eleanor, who was diligently typing away when King finally emerged. I felt safe in the fact that my coworkers were there. It meant he couldn’t say anything about what had just happened between us. He stood in the doorway for a full minute, and I could practically feel him staring a hole in my skull before he spoke.

“Gillian, cancel my afternoon meetings. I have a family emergency I need to attend to.”

“Of course,” said Gillian, a mixture of concern and nosiness marking her features. “Is everything okay?”

“It will be,” King replied stiffly before he strode right by her and out of the office. Once he was gone, I felt like I could breathe again. My brain was a scramble of thoughts as I tried to make sense of the morning. King had obviously been going through a tough time, and his behaviour was a moment of weakness. I was just glad I had the strength not to let it go any further than it did.

For the next few hours I plunged myself into work, keeping my head full of numbers and appointments so as not to think about my boss. Every time I found my mind wandering to the way it felt when he touched me, or how intoxicating it was to have his mouth on my skin, his lips sucking, I forced myself to concentrate on data. Data wasn’t sexy. It was dull and flat and two-dimensional, and the perfect bucket of cold water for my wandering imagination.

I didn’t see King for the rest of the day, nor did I see much of him for the following few days. I went out with Eleanor and Gillian for lunch and avoided our strange bathroom chess games. He never called me out on the fact that I was avoiding him, which was a relief. And after a while it became easier to simply concentrate on being good at my job, rather than cultivating a surreal friendship with my boss.

When it was finally Eleanor’s last day, Gillian and I got together to organise for a cake to be delivered to the office. There wasn’t a big going-away party, because Eleanor had stated firmly that she didn’t want one, and you didn’t eff with Eleanor’s wishes. I thought the least we could do was get her a cake, especially since she’d been so helpful training me into the job.

It was just after five when a couple of the other admin workers came over to our area to share the cake. We’d ordered red velvet, since that was Eleanor’s favourite. I stood chatting with my coworkers, a paper plate in hand, when suddenly I felt his presence. He’d been ignoring me somewhat, though I couldn’t tell if it was because he was embarrassed by his drunken behaviour or angry at me for shutting him down.

In my peripheral vision I saw King come to stand behind me. He observed the gathering, which was comprised mostly of women, and I pretended I hadn’t noticed him. Then I felt his hand lightly touch my elbow, followed by his breath on my ear.

“Alexis, can I have a word in private, please?”

I turned my head to him slightly and nodded, my posture stiff. “Sure.”

He gestured for me to follow him into his office. Once I was inside, he shut the door. I still had my cake in hand, and found myself clutching the paper plate like a life raft, no clue what this was all about. Was I going to be given my marching orders? No, it couldn’t be that.

King stood in front of his desk, leaning back against it and folding his arms as he eyed me. I wore a grey pencil skirt and a modest cream blouse, an ensemble I’d never be caught dead in outside the office. It was like a costume, something that made me feel like a different person, someone who belonged here in the City with the privileged and educated. King wore a navy suit with a slim red tie. He could have been a politician if he weren’t so handsome.

I always wondered if men felt like they had the upper hand when they wore a suit. It certainly seemed that way to me.

“We can’t go on like this,” said King.

“Like what?” I asked, playing dumb.

“You know what. You’re avoiding me, I’m avoiding you. There’s an…awkwardness. I don’t do awkward. I want to go back to the way things were.” His huff of annoyance almost made me laugh. I swear, sometimes he was a terrible communicator, like a frustrated kid or something.

“Your behaviour the last time we spoke was worrying to me. I was trying to help.”

“And I wanted you to help.”

“Not in the right way, Oliver.”

His eyes flared when I said his name, and I couldn’t tell if it was because he liked it or because he didn’t. Before I knew it, he stepped away from the desk and came towards me until there very little space left between us.

“I’ve missed you,” he confessed.

My expression softened. “I’ve missed you, too.”

He levelled his eyes on me, his attention wandering over my features. “Can we put it behind us?”

I thought about it for only a moment before answering, “It’s already forgotten. Put her there, buddy.” I held out my hand to him, and his lips twitched as we shook.

“So, is there enough cake left for one more?” he asked, smiling.

“Of course,” I answered, and with that we went back out to join the others.

***

It was difficult getting used to not having Eleanor around at first, but I quickly got the hang of things. Soon enough Gillian and I were a team to be reckoned with, and although we didn’t click quite so well as friends, we were perfect for each other when it came to work. Gillian was the best organiser, and I was the best bilateral thinker. In other words, I could see the bigger picture and was good at figuring out problems or working my way around time-sensitive emergencies. And when it came to this particular industry, there were a lot of those.

It was fast-paced and exciting, and no two days were ever the same. I also began to see how addictive King’s job could be. He always said he only made decisions based on evidence and fact, but a lot of the time the whole thing felt like a bit of a gamble to me. There was a thrill to his position, not to mention a great deal of power, and I could certainly see why he’d chosen a banking career over playing piano like his mum.

We began having lunch together again, and often King would have a drink. I hadn’t noticed it at the beginning, but it was now clear to me that he was pretty big into his liquor. Not in a way that seemed like he had a problem, but in a way that made me think it could easily turn into one. I supposed he needed something to deal with the stress of playing with millions of pounds on a daily basis.

It had been a long week, and I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend of doing nothing at all. I’d arrived home with Indian takeout, changed into my pyjamas, and settled in front of the TV. The forkful of chicken korma was literally halfway to my mouth when my phone began ringing. Sighing, I put it down and answered the call. King’s name flashed across the screen. As soon as I hit “accept” and held it to my ear, he began to speak.

“Please tell me you have a valid passport.”

His statement got me curious. “And if I do?”

“If you do, you can have another bonus. Gillian just called, almost in tears, might I add, to tell me she’s lost hers and won’t be able to get a replacement for at least three working days. She’s being emotional, and I don’t like that. You’d swear she ran over my cat or something.”

“Oh,” I said, brow crinkling. “You have a cat?”

“Turn of phrase.”

“Right.”

I was unsure if I should laugh or start to panic. I now understood what was going on. All week Gillian and I had been planning King’s work trip to Rome. He was supposed to be meeting with some businessman who owned a chain of hotels, and who insisted on face-to-face business dealings. All of this was being done on behalf of a mysterious silent investor of King’s, and Gillian was supposed to be going along on the trip. The idea of me going had never even come up. Until now, that was.

“I need you to come to Rome in Gillian’s place, Alexis.”

My voice was quiet when I responded, “Do you think that’s wise?” We’d both been doing so well at keeping things platonic. Going on a trip and spending lots of one-on-one time together could potentially mess with that.

“At this point, I don’t have another choice. There’s too much work for me to handle alone. I need you.”

It struck me that he wasn’t telling me I had to go. He was leaving it open, giving me the option to say no. I couldn’t say no, of course, but that didn’t mean I didn’t appreciate his sensitivity. We both knew that alone time outside the confines of the office was pretty shaky territory for us.

I let out a breath. “I’ll come. The flights are for ten in the morning, right? Do you need me to contact the airline and change the name on Gillian’s ticket?”

There was definite relief in his voice the next time he spoke. “Thank you. And yes, that would be hugely helpful.”

“All right. I’ll see you in the morning, then.”

“See you in the morning, Alexis.”

We hung up, and I just sat there for a minute, my appetite for Indian takeout momentarily lost, which was so not okay. Indian was my favourite, damn it! The idea of going to Rome was exciting, don’t get me wrong, but the effort I’d have to expend keeping myself in check with King was scary. There was no denying we had a connection, and it was only amplified when we were alone together.

This trip was certainly going to be an interesting one.

***

I packed my swimsuit.

I wasn’t sure why, because I was fairly certain it wasn’t even going to be very warm in Rome at this time of year, but I packed it anyway. I hadn’t been to the beach in who knew how long. Maybe I could fit in a trip while King was meeting with the “suits.” That’s what I’d started calling them, because they all looked the same to me, just a bunch of walking Hugo Boss advertisements.

King had his driver come collect me from outside my building that morning. His bags were in the car, which it was my job to have checked, and apparently he’d meet me in the VIP lounge before boarding. Well, I was sitting in that very same lounge, and there was still no sign of him. I was beginning to worry, since our flight was supposed to board in just twenty minutes.

In order to pass the time, I pulled out my phone and checked my emails. It was a pleasant surprise when I saw one from Bradley titled “Some Pictures from the Shoot ;-).” Opening it up eagerly, I quickly downloaded them and started to browse. There were a couple from early on in the day, showing me with the other models. Then I got to the ones of me and King, and I paused. They were…well, I wasn’t quite sure how to describe them. All I knew was that they weren’t what I needed to be seeing right then, especially since I was trying to keep my hands off the man.

The first showed me straddling him as he sat on the chair, leaning casually back and staring up at me with unmistakable heat in his eyes. Wow. Now I understood what Bradley had meant when he said we photographed well together. It was only a picture, and yet you could practically feel the need pouring out of both of us. Either we were really good actors, or we wanted each other…badly.

I swallowed and scrolled to the next one, where we stood by the studio window, King’s arms around me and his lips at my ear. Seriously, this was more like porn to me than fashion. Without consciously realising it, I was squeezing my thighs together, my skin growing hot as I sat there, remembering. There were about ten pictures in total, and I flicked through them more times than bears mentioning. I was studying the one of me on King’s lap again when someone suddenly spoke low in my ear.

“What are you looking at?”

Startled at hearing his voice, I jumped and turned around, clutching my phone tightly to my chest. King chuckled and gave me a suspiciously amused look as he held out his hand. “Let me see.”

I snorted. It was pretty fucking elegant. “Noooo.”

A moment later, I took in his appearance properly, noticing that he was still wearing the same suit from yesterday. He looked more tired than I’d ever seen him, and he smelled like a brewery. It was so disconcerting that I failed to notice him lunging for my phone and pulling it from my grip. I watched as his fingers zipped across the screen before he handed it back to me. Forcing myself to look down, I saw he’d forwarded the pictures to his own email.

“That was a dirty move,” I complained.

He gave me a wry look. “I’m in those pictures, too. I have every right to see them.”

Well, he had me there. Still, it didn’t take away my embarrassment. Those photos were verging on soft-core porn, and he was my boss. It was so many levels of wrong, I couldn’t even begin to count.

This was why I needed to say no to Bradley’s propositions in future. Note to self: Don’t give in to the mischievous pixie boy next time. My cheeks began to flush as King came and sat beside me, pulling out his phone. It was ridiculous, because I was never normally embarrassed about sex stuff, but with King everything was just opposite land. I never quite knew where we stood with one another. I was silent as he focused on his phone, and I didn’t even have to look to know he was accessing his email and downloading the pictures he’d just forwarded.

God, I kind of hated him in that moment.

I tried to ignore him, but as the minutes ticked by, I lost the battle. Turning, I found his lips curved in what appeared to be a smug smile. The photos were displayed on the screen of his phone, and King kept scrolling back and forth, perusing them at his leisure as though taunting me to say something.

“Just delete them,” I sighed.

He glanced at me, brow arched. “Why would I do that?”

“Because we look stupid,” I huffed. We didn’t look stupid. We looked insanely hot for each other, which was exactly the problem. King was about to speak when an air hostess’s voice announced the flight was ready to board. I picked up my carry-on, noticing that King hadn’t brought anything with him other than a slim black briefcase. All of his things were in his checked luggage.

He gestured for me to go ahead of him, and I self-consciously smoothed my hands down the back of my skirt, wondering if I had a visible panty line. I’d always had this sixth sense for when someone was looking at my arse, and right then it was telling me that was exactly what King was doing. Was he actively trying to make this trip more difficult?

He leaned close, his mouth at my neck as he said, “I think we look fascinating.”

Fascinating. Right. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Once we were seated on the plane, King closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Despite his earlier playfulness, something was obviously up with him. I studied him a moment, then asked, “Care to share?”

One eye opened. He didn’t say a word, so I continued, “You’re wearing the same suit from yesterday, and you smell like you took a swim in a brewery. This isn’t like you.”

He sighed. “You’ve known me a couple of weeks, Alexis. You have no idea what is and isn’t like me.”

“Look, I’m not trying to be nosy. I’m just concerned, that’s all. You’ve been drinking a lot, and coming from someone who used to work in a bar, I know a problem when I see one.”

“There’s no problem,” said King.

I stared at him, disbelieving. If he wanted to fool himself into thinking he didn’t have a problem, then fine, I wasn’t going to push it. Getting up from my seat, I reached up to the overhead compartment and pulled out my carry-on. It had a brand new set of travel toiletries inside, including a mini-toothbrush.

“You can use these if you’d like to go freshen up,” I said stiffly, holding the set out to him.

He looked up at me, not taking it. A long moment of silence passed, his light eyes turning stormy. Finally, and without saying a word, he took the toiletries and left to use the bathroom. About ten minutes later he returned, looking a little better than he had. Though if the smell of him earlier was anything to go by, he must have been suffering from one hell of a hangover. The flight progressed in silence, as I focused on reading a magazine I’d brought with me. When the air hostess stopped by to ask if we’d like anything to eat or drink, I practically held my breath. There was an array of alcoholic beverages available to order, and I just knew King was considering them. Instead, he shook his head, and the woman moved on to the next passengers. Well, that was a relief.

Before I knew it, we were landing in Rome. After we departed the plane, I went to collect our bags from the carousel, while King excused himself to the bathroom. By the pale look on his face, I thought he might be going to throw up. I knew I was right when he found me several minutes later, a little of the colour having returned to his cheeks. Perhaps he’d now learned his lesson not to overdo it in future.

A car was waiting for us outside, and drove us to a hotel a distance from the city near a place called Ostia. King had insisted on staying there because it was one of his favourites, and I could see why. It had an outdoor swimming pool and beautiful gardens, which got me excited. I had to remind myself I was there to work, not for a fancy holiday.

Rummaging for the folder of documents Gillian had sent me via email last night, I retrieved our booking and presented it to the receptionist, while King stood back, his phone held to his ear as he carried out a work conversation. I was vaguely aware of the receptionist informing me we had adjoining rooms as she handed me the key cards. King must have seen the WTF look on my face, because he lowered his phone for a second to explain, “It’s easier this way. Gillian always books adjoining rooms so that we don’t have to go traipsing halfway around hotels to find one another.”

And then he was back on the phone. Well, that was…convenient. A bellboy came to take our bags, and before I knew it, I was alone in my room, flopping down on the bed and wondering what I’d gotten myself into. We didn’t have to meet with the clients until dinner, and Italians ate late, so that gave me a couple of hours to rest up. I lay there for a while, tired, because no matter how short the journey, flights always seemed to drain me of energy.

In the end, I decided to treat myself and run a bath. I enjoyed a nice long soak and got out only when my fingers had started to turn to prunes. Wrapping a white fluffy towel around my body, I grabbed another and scrunched my hair dry. Usually, if I just towel-dried my hair and didn’t brush it, it went really curly. Just as I was laying the black dress I planned to wear to the business dinner out on the bed, I heard a soft knock on the door that led to King’s room.

Before I had the chance to react, the knob turned, and my boss stepped inside.