Cree

---

“Interesting view.”

I groaned internally and clenched my fists as tight as I could given that they were currently buried in the commercial grade carpet under my tasteful, wood veneer desk.

I would recognize that masculine voice anywhere. And the droll, casually condescending tone instantly sent me into a rage. I tried to fight that, reminded myself that he wasn’t worth the aggravation.

Failed.

I prided myself on being a calm person, one in charge of my emotions and my reactions, but all of that went right out the window when he was involved.

If my heart hadn’t already been pounding, sweat beginning to bead around my forehead, I had no doubt those things would have happened. Unfortunately, the exertion from crawling under my desk had taken care of the first two, so now all I had to worry about was the annoyance that hearing his voice brought.

And why the hell was he in my office anyway? Probably wanted to get my opinion about a deal, which actually meant get me to do his work for him.

No freakin’ way.

“Can’t you see I’m busy?” I bit out sharply, cringing inside when my voice came out muffled instead of firm as I’d intended.

“Is that what you call it?” Aaron Sarda, his Royal Highness, Prince of the kingdom of Medina said.

I groaned again, this time out loud, but then quickly cut off the sound. I didn’t doubt Aaron had heard it. For a self-involved jerk, he was remarkably good at picking up on what happened around him, and I hated the idea of giving him more fodder.

I also hated the fact that he was standing behind me, undoubtedly staring at my butt peeking from under my desk, but that ship had sailed.

I remembered then that all of my good pants were at the cleaners, so this morning, in a moment of faith and desperation, I had gone with a pair of navy slacks that were a size too small, ones I’d held onto just in case I might one day fit in them again.

I released a bitter chuckle, uncaring that Aaron would hear it, not doubting for a moment that he would.

Just my luck that he would come in now, get the full view of my way too big butt in my way too small pants.

But such was the case, which was no surprise when I thought about it.

In addition to being an incredible jackass, Aaron also had an impeccable sense of timing, one that usually involved catching me in some unfortunate position.

Today being an excellent case in point.

“Are you going to stay down there all day?” he asked, still droll and smug like always.

I didn’t bother to dignify his question with a response, and instead continued groping under the desk, intent on completing my task. I had dropped a pen—my favorite pen—and I wouldn’t leave it under my desk, though had I known Aaron would choose now to make an appearance, I might have reconsidered.

Still, I kept myself focused, stretched a little bit farther, all the while praying that my pants wouldn’t give out. Finally I wrapped my fingers around the heavy barrel of the pen.

Then, as gracefully as I could, I crawled from under my desk and hoisted myself up from the floor.

I was grateful there was no mirror in my office, though I wouldn’t need one to know that my usually burned-caramel-colored skin was reddish underneath, my forehead damp with sweat, the curls that I had spent more than a reasonable period of time trying to perfect completely in disarray.

I ignored that truth, and instead pressed my jacket down as tactfully as I could, adjusted my pants, and then sat in my office chair.

I executed the moves relatively smoothly, especially considering that I did so under the watchful and incredibly taunting gaze of Aaron freakin’ Sarda.

After a moment, I glanced at him quickly, something that only sent my irritation ratcheting that much higher.

I looked like a sweaty puppy, and Aaron—as always—was pure perfection.

If I’d ever had any doubt that life wasn’t fair, Aaron would have laid it completely to rest.

To say he was handsome would be to remove all meaning from the word.

Aaron was beyond handsome.

A tall six four, perfectly proportioned, and even more perfectly muscled, sun-kissed bronze skin that spoke to his Mediterranean heritage, as did his dark hair. Features that were perfect, eyes that shifted from green to brown, depending on which color would be more devastating at any particular moment.

Yeah, there were no two ways about it. Aaron was the most handsome man I had ever met personally, and one of the most handsome men I had ever seen.

And he knew it.

I usually hated false modesty, but would have welcomed it from Aaron. At the very least, it would have been a step up from his complete lack of anything that could be called modesty at all.

It was irritating enough that he was breathtaking, smart—something I only grudgingly admitted—on those rare occasions he deigned to apply himself, filthy rich, freakin’ royalty for goodness’ sake. That he had to know it, wear it with such absolute pride, made it that much worse.

But, I was a professional, here because I was good at my job and not because of a pretty face and a title. And Aaron, as awful as he could be, was a colleague, and this was my workplace. So I put my personal feelings aside, resisted the impulse to get into it with Aaron, and resumed working on the contract I had been drafting.

From the corner of my eye, I watched as Aaron gracefully folded his body into the chair opposite my desk, his cool gaze leveled on me, assessing, judging, and, as always, finding me lacking. Yet more fuel to the fire he had sparked. Like he had the right to look down on me because I was just a hardworking attorney and not royalty, or some beautiful woman who was princess material?

He didn’t have the right, but that hadn’t stopped him before, and wasn’t stopping him now. I’d earned my place here, and no one, not even Aaron could take that from me. More than anything I wanted to ignore him but with each second that ticked by, I knew I needed to get rid of him if only for my own sanity.

“I didn’t invite you to sit down,” I snapped.

“And I didn’t ask if I could,” he shot back without pause.

The groan I had cut off earlier morphed into a curse that I only barely managed to swallow back. I tightened my grip on the pen, though. It was only when I realized snapping it in half would merely prove Aaron had gotten under my skin that I loosened my grip.

Aaron might drive me insane, but I wouldn’t have him knowing it.

I read another paragraph, mostly to annoy him, and once I was done, I took my time returning the cap to the pen, placing it just so atop my desk, and then finally looking at him.

The hint of annoyance in his face made me smile.

The prince certainly wasn’t accustomed to waiting, so I did my best to make him do so if we ever crossed paths, and I savored the opportunity whenever it arose. It was petty, but he had earned it.

I looked at him, waiting, but certainly unwilling to ask the first question. In a lot of ways, this was familiar to me. I couldn’t remember how many times Aaron and I had played this particular game. Which made “collaboration,” one of our law firm’s buzzwords and thus something we were forced to do far too much for my liking, difficult. But then again, to Aaron, “collaboration” involved doing nothing but showing up and still getting showered with credit.

It was enough to make me sick, but I didn’t let it get to me, or at least tried not to. Still, when it came to these interactions with Aaron, there was a pattern to be maintained, and I would uphold my part. I viewed doing so as a personal responsibility, and I didn’t take those lightly.

Aaron and I had worked together at the firm for six years, and in those six years I had watched people bend over backward to accommodate him, and if only to provide some small corrective, I refused to do so.

It had only taken him a couple of months to figure out that I would not be joining the Aaron Sarda Ass Kissers Brigade, and since then we had fallen into a comfortably adversarial relationship. Which made him showing up unannounced that much more surprising. Most often when I would cross his path, I’d have forewarning, usually in the form of an email seeking my help without ever actually asking for it. Irritating as hell, but those messages gave me time to put myself in the correct frame of mind to deal with Aaron.

So, despite my better judgment, my interest was piqued about why Aaron had sought me out.

Still, I didn’t ask the question and waited for him to speak.

I could see he was testy, but he was also stubborn, though probably not as stubborn as me, so he held out for several seconds longer, more than a minute if my estimate was correct. I couldn’t bank on it, because when I was with Aaron, time, pretty much everything but him, seemed to lose meaning.

In fact, I was surprised he had managed to sneak up on me. I had been preoccupied under my desk, something that made me want to roll my eyes again when I thought about it, but for reasons I couldn’t quite explain, I was always acutely aware of his presence. I could be in a room with the four hundred other lawyers who worked in the firm, and the minute Aaron walked in, I could almost sense his presence, feel that jittery, wired, engaged feeling that only he created.

Too bad that feeling had let me down today.

“When are you going to the announcement?” he eventually asked.

I must have started to zone out, because it took me a moment to process his words.

“Why does it matter?” I responded when I finally realized what he was talking about.

The firm’s executive committee had scheduled an all-hands meeting for the afternoon. That was uncommon, but then so was Aaron reaching out to ask me a question about something he didn’t have to.

His nostrils flared slightly as he exhaled, the only sign of his temper that I saw. Small, but still a sign that I had won, a victory I would revel in.

At the same time, some small part of me marveled.

How was it possible that something like a slight exhale and flared nostril could make an already perfect man that much more perfect?

I didn’t have the answer, so I decided to ignore the question.

“It starts in twenty-five minutes. We should go now so we can get reasonable seats,” he said.

“We?” I asked, incredulous. There was no place in the universe where Aaron and I would in any way constitute a “we.” So why the hell was he using it now?

I didn’t know, and Aaron didn’t seem intent on answering. Instead, he ignored my question altogether.

“Wipe your forehead off and grab a notepad. Then let’s go,” he said.

Without waiting for a response, he stood, regal in his bearing, looking every bit the prince that he was.

I, however, sat flabbergasted, wondering what the hell was going on. I was also pissed. How dare he come in here, order me around, and then expect me to comply without question?

Some small part of me knew I was reacting irrationally, but I couldn’t seem to control myself, not when it came to Aaron, and definitely not when it came to a pushy Aaron.

I had more than half a mind to tell him exactly where he could shove his order, but common sense stilled my tongue.

Much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. At this firm, appearances were everything, and it was important to put on the right face, which included being twenty minutes early for a meeting.

I risked glancing at Aaron, knowing that doing so would send my blood pressure up ten more points, but unable to resist.

His expression was completely unflustered, but it didn’t fool me. I could feel his smugness, even if he didn’t show it.

I scowled at him, something he returned with a cocky lift of one corner of his mouth. Then I stood, discreetly dabbed at my forehead with a few of the tissues I kept on my desk, and brushed my hands over my hair.

A quick glance in the office window gave me enough of my reflection to see that I looked okay, though even through the glass I could see my annoyance. I made a concerted effort to clear my expression, still unwilling to show Aaron that he was getting to me.

Once I was satisfied with my appearance, I grabbed my pad, my lucky pen, and walked toward my door.

I did all this without looking at Aaron again.

First, I didn’t need to see his self-satisfied gloat.

Second, if I looked at him, I wouldn’t be able to resist telling him that I was leaving now because I wanted to and not because he had insisted. But voicing those words would be a win for him, so I held my tongue and began walking down the hall, the mystery of his visit still one I wanted to solve.

Aaron easily fell in step behind me, his long strides eating up carpet as we propelled our way toward the elevator.

I kept my eyes directly ahead, trying to ignore his presence behind me.

Knowing full well that such a thing was impossible.

Aaron could be adored, as he was by many, hated, as he was by seemingly only me, but one thing he could never be was ignored.

Even now, as I tried my hardest to keep my attention away from him, almost everything in my body was attuned to his presence.

I hated that reaction, hated the power he held over me, and hated even worse that I could do nothing about it.

But I couldn’t.

I chalked that up to just another twist of fate, one designed to make knowing Aaron that much worse.

I pushed the Up button and when the doors opened, I silently got on the elevator with Aaron not even an entire step behind me.

He pushed the button for the top floor, and the doors closed smoothly as the car began the ten-story cruise.

During the ride, I tried my hardest to ignore Aaron, focus on calming myself, but doing so was impossible.

Which was a real problem.

Our firm prided itself on congeniality among colleagues, but that was so much lip service. As with everything in life, this firm was about performance, getting ahead, and if I was going to do that, I needed my head screwed on and in the game, and not preoccupied with Aaron.

I was grateful when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

A good-size crowd was already beginning to form, but I didn’t look at Aaron and only nodded at a few people as I made a beeline for my favorite seat.

Second row, third from the edge.

It put me in a perfect position to see the executive committee, be seen by them, but also not be the center of attention. It had taken me years to work out the perfect position, and over time, it had come to mean more to me than I wanted to admit. It was silly, relying on something as unimportant as a seat for confidence, but I needed any boost I could get. Like always, I felt a rush of relief when I found the seat unoccupied.

Relief that was completely destroyed when Aaron sat next to me.

I’d hoped he would leave me, go and mingle and schmooze and bullshit and do all the stuff he was great at—stuff I just so happened to be a failure at—but again it appeared I had no such luck.

He sat beside me and stretched one of his long arms out on the back of my chair. He hadn’t even had the decency to leave a seat between us.

Still determined to ignore him, I leaned back, but immediately sat up again, knowing that this arrangement was intolerable.

I thought of myself as an easygoing person, but with Aaron, nothing could be further from the truth.

And I could admit to myself—but only to myself—that the zing of electricity that went through me when my back touched his arm was something I absolutely could not deal with.

It was hard enough as it was to concentrate with him close, but him close and touching me would have made doing so impossible.

I considered moving, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Aaron wouldn’t send me running away with my tail tucked between my legs. He wouldn’t win.

Some part of me, a big part of me, suspected that this was what was behind his impromptu visit. I tried my best to hide it, but I wasn’t naive enough to think that Aaron didn’t know that he got under my skin. He probably intended to do just that, thought he could use my emotions against me.

He was going to be sorely mistaken.

I looked over at him. “Do you mind?” I said, nodding toward his arm on the back of my chair.

“Yes, I do mind,” he replied.

He didn’t bother to look at me as he spoke the words.

I had the childish, yet almost irresistible impulse to push his arm off the back of the chair. I couldn’t do that, wouldn’t, and I also wouldn’t ask again. Getting riled up this close to a meeting would only hurt me.

Besides, there were several other things much worse than being in his company, though I was having a hard time thinking of them in that moment. But I was strong, I could get through this, and most of all, would do so without letting him know how much he got to me.

So I sat ramrod straight, my hands primly tucked on my lap, my eyes looking at everything in the room except Aaron.

I hoped it looked good on the outside, because on the inside I was reeling.

But I wouldn’t show him that.

Not ever.