Cree

---

I woke up the next morning far more refreshed than I’d thought I would be.

In fact I had a spring in my step that hadn’t been there for years.

And all thanks to Aaron, or more accurately, the opportunity he was giving me.

I’d thought about it the night before, and morning hadn’t changed my conclusion. I always felt compelled to prove myself, felt the near unshakable need to show that I was good at something, was more than just average, and this was my chance. Aaron wasn’t going to make it easy, but the difficulty would only make my eventual triumph that much sweeter.

He’d thought that kiss would shake me, but the exact opposite had happened.

Yes, it had been awesome, explosive, but it had also been clarifying.

He expected me to fall at his feet, swoon at the handsome prince.

I couldn’t wait to show him just how wrong he’d been.

I made it to the office in record time, and prepared my morning coffee mostly out of habit as opposed to need.

Every part of me felt charged, the battle to come giving me energy I might not otherwise have had. I used that energy to make quick work of my other tasks, and then turned to the proposal.

I hadn’t gotten anywhere yesterday, but today was a new day, and I was determined to proceed.

“Cree, do you have a moment?”

I looked up at the sound of Daniel’s voice and smiled, nodding at him to enter.

“For you, sure,” I said.

I dropped my pen and looked at Daniel as he approached.

“May I sit?” he asked.

I nodded and he sat, and despite myself, I couldn’t help but think of how differently Aaron would have handled it. Reminded myself to thank Daniel for always being a gentleman.

He studied me, his brown eyes smiling.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I don’t know. You just look different.”

“How so?” I asked, smiling at him as I took a sip of water.

“I don’t know. I just figured going against Aaron would be a little bit difficult, but you seem to be handling it okay,” he said.

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask why he thought it would be difficult, and I felt a little defensive at the implication. If Daniel didn’t think I could handle Aaron, I wouldn’t have a shot with the executive committee. But I knew I was overreacting, so I swallowed my initial reaction, shrugged, and then smiled. It was best not to get into this with him anyway.

“Oh you know how he is. It’s—”

“How is he?”

A split second before I heard the words, I had felt a sizzle of awareness, had ignored it. And had been wrong.

Aaron walked into my office and sat next to Daniel, not bothering to knock, ask if he could enter, or seem in any way concerned that he was interrupting a private conversation.

“Daniel and I are having a conversation. I’ll get in touch with you later,” I said before turning my attention back to Daniel.

The smile in his eyes had gone, and he looked slightly panicked, something I wanted to frown at, though I kept that reaction to myself as well. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder why Daniel was reacting that way. Aaron wasn’t his boss and certainly didn’t deserve any extra deference. But the way Daniel was acting told me he hadn’t gotten the memo.

“A private conversation that involves me. Should I not be involved?” Aaron asked.

Again he looked perfect, elegantly dressed, head tilted arrogantly, like an answer to his ridiculous question was something he deserved.

I was in no mood to give one, but apparently Daniel didn’t share that opinion.

“Sorry, Aaron. No harm, no foul. Cree and I were just shooting the breeze,” he said.

I wanted to tell Daniel that he didn’t owe Aaron any explanation, but in the next moment he stood.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Daniel said.

I nodded my good-bye and watched Daniel leave, feeling a sense of disappointment that I knew was outsized, but one that I couldn’t deny.

“If he keeps doing that, I’m going to think he doesn’t like me,” Aaron said, his sarcasm making it clear he couldn’t care less.

“What can I say, Aaron? Maybe something about you makes people want to run away,” I said.

“Perhaps. But I noticed you didn’t run away,” he shot back.

And it would be a cold day in hell before I did. Rather than tell him that, I reached for my pen. That lasted for all of ten seconds. I put the pen down again and looked at him.

“I didn’t run away because this is my office. The place where I work. So if you need something from me, you might try email. I’ll get back to you when I have a free moment,” I said.

I looked down, not expecting Aaron to leave, but proud of myself for at least having made that point clear.

“No, I prefer personal communication, face-to-face, upfront, skin-to-skin,” he said.

My sex tightened, my body again going back to the night before, the feeling of him pressed against me.

My body was a traitor, one that was ready to throw itself at Aaron’s feet.

My mind was not.

I ignored his double entendre, my reaction to it, and instead focused on him.

“So you’re not going to leave until you have whatever conversation it is you want to have?” I asked.

“You catch on quick,” he replied, flashing me a cocky smile that made me want to do him grievous bodily harm.

“I wish I could say the same of you. What do you want, Aaron?” I asked.

“That’s not very collaborative of you, Cree,” he said, ending with a little tsk.

I could have reminded him that we were competitors, that it was him pushing for all of this together time, but I didn’t take the bait, refused to take the bait, and instead I stayed silent, seething inside, but not willing to give him the upper hand.

“Aaron, I have a very busy afternoon. So unless there’s something I can help you with…” I said, trailing off before I primly folded my hands atop my desk.

He was not going to get to me. I refused to let him get to me, and I hoped the expression on my face told him that.

He waited a moment, then smiled.

“Fine. We’re meeting tonight at seven,” he said.

“I’ll check my calendar,” I responded.

“I already did. There’s nothing on it. My office at seven,” he said.

He didn’t move immediately but instead held my gaze, practically daring me to contradict him, knowing full well that I couldn’t. I could feel my fingers curling into a fist, but I froze, refusing to allow Aaron to see my anger, though I was certain he knew how I felt.

Just like I was certain he didn’t care.

I knew exactly what he was doing, and though my mind raced to find a solution, I knew there wasn’t one. I could blow him off, but that would look like I was afraid, and I couldn’t have that.

Or, I could go, but that would be giving Aaron what he wanted, a circumstance that was equally unappealing.

Aaron didn’t wait until I worked out my dilemma. He stood, then sauntered away without another word, leaving me stuck with my anger.

I paused for a moment to again curse the firm’s public calendars. What a stupid idea, one that I had always hated, but hated even more in this moment because it didn’t give me a chance to argue.

Only after I thought about that particular piece of idiocy did I consider Aaron and how he had been so high-handed again, come in and told me what he wanted without asking if that worked for me.

No surprise there, but I was annoyed nonetheless.

Still, I looked for the bright side. Going to his office tonight would be a tacit acceptance of him bossing me around, but it would provide another opportunity too.

I’d been certain Aaron wouldn’t address the night before, at least not during this busy hour in the afternoon. But a meeting at seven, that provided a perfect opportunity, one that would allow me to remind him that I wasn’t to be toyed with, and certainly not to be underestimated.

The annoyance that had been there faded, and I smiled, willing these next hours to pass quickly so that I could begin to put my own plans into play.

---

Aaron

---

What the fuck had I been thinking?

That was a question I’d asked myself far too often in the past couple of days, and all because of Cree.

And again, my good intentions, the ones that had seemed so thought out at the time, had proven to be for naught.

I had gone to her, planned to discuss what happened the day before like a rational adult.

Of course, that plan had gone right out the window when I had heard her and that little shit Daniel chatting away like old chums, and about me no less.

I couldn’t give less than a care what Daniel thought about me, but Cree’s tone, one that was simultaneously disgusted and dismissive, had set me off.

And again, I wondered at the reason why.

I acknowledged that she had made no secret of what she thought of me, how little she thought of me, and yet I still found myself annoyed, actually caring that she seemed to think so little of me.

Then when I walked in, saw them looking so chummy, him at least having the decency to be embarrassed at having been caught, Cree having no such issue, I had been stuck, annoyed, irritated beyond all reason.

I would definitely have to get a handle on that.

Cree had the capacity to get under my skin unlike anyone I had ever known, but I needed to stop that from happening.

The question was how?

Everything I tried seemed to backfire, and though I hadn’t gone into this with the best of intentions, I’d hoped we could get past that since I’d proven my point. Whatever she might have thought before, she could no longer doubt that I was a worthy competitor. But even with that, she seemed to have no desire to cut me any slack, try to meet me halfway.

Which meant I needed to stop trying to do the same.

By the time I made it back to my office, I had resolved that this was going to end, and tonight.

Cree was trying my patience, but that didn’t matter, wouldn’t matter anymore.

I felt some degree of resolve, at least enough calm to settle down and get through the rest of the afternoon.

I’d deal with Cree when the time was right, but until then, I was going to focus, keep my wits about me, not allow her to get me off my game. But when the time came, she’d know once and for all that I wasn’t to be trifled with.