Cassidy #5
He winks at me. “Yes, exactly. I think… there’s a conversation we all need to have.”
The emphasis on all makes panic claw up my spine, and I gasp, shaking my head.
“I can’t,” I plead.
He frowns. “Why not? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t… I think—no, I know that I’m a hypocrite. I need… I can’t, it wouldn’t be fair.”
His entire face goes blank. “What?”
“I got so angry at Isaac,” I explain, the words tumbling out without permission. “For hiding things. For making decisions for me. For not telling me the truth.”
Heat floods my face, as understanding hits his.
“And now I’m sitting here listening to you explain basically the same thing, and I’m not angry at all.”
Harlan stares at me before sighing deeply. “Little luxury.”
I immediately hate how much I like that nickname.
“Feelings aren’t rational.”
I open my mouth. He points at me, and I close it again.
“Isaac was your friend,” he says softly. “You trusted him differently. From your side, what we had was professional.”
I mean, it’s true.
Harlan is my boss.
My mentor.
“Only from my side,” I whisper, the words leaving my mouth before I can stop them.
The office falls silent, and Harlan goes completely still. Something dark flashes across his face, his scent pouring with possessive alpha energy.
“Yes,” he says roughly. “Only from your side.”
“Harl—”
“The biggest regret of my life occurred a week ago.”
I stop breathing as his gaze locks onto mine.
“I should have kissed you that day.”
The world tilts. “What?”
“The day you walked out of this office, the day you cried over me. The day I let you think you were the problem.”
My heart pounds.
“I should have stopped you. I should have kissed you senseless.”
My jaw drops. “Harlan!”
His eyes darken. “Don’t look so shocked, little luxury. It’s what Silas did. He wasn’t the coward I am.”
I stare at him, completely gobsmacked. Because there are a lot of things I expected Harlan Mercer to confess today.
That wasn’t one of them.
And honestly, I think I quite like it.
Unfortunately, liking it doesn’t stop my life from imploding because of it.
“Harlan,” I say carefully. “I don’t know what to do from here. We still have work to do, and we’ve got to—”
He snorts, and I duck my head in embarrassment.
“That’s your response?” he asks, chuckling still.
“It’s a valid response.”
“It’s not.”
“It is,” I insist. “We have deadlines. The campaign review is on Tuesday. I still haven’t finished the—”
“Cassidy, let your brain rest, love,” he says calmly. “I am taking the rest of the day off.”
I am so confused. “What?”
“I can’t focus,” he says with a shrug.
I glance around the office, half-wondering if it’s because of the mess in here.
“Because of the investigation?” I ask instead.
His expression goes completely flat. “No.”
“Then—”
“Because of you.”
My mouth snaps shut.
Oh.
Oh, no.
Oh, goodness.
This here is the problem. This is what he needed to avoid.
“I’m so sorry,” I say quickly.
He raises a brow. “Now, since I am unable to function here, I’m going to need you to come with me, too. We’ll both have to leave.”
I stare at him. “We both have to leave?”
He nods. “Yep. We’ve got a… meeting to have, with the others. Silas will be there. Evander. Isaac. They are joined at the hip, you know.”
I shake my head immediately, trying to figure out what to even say.
“But it’s a work day.”
He waggles his brow. “And we’re meeting work colleagues. Hell, we could use my business card and go to a restaurant if we wanted.”
I gasp, horrified, shaking my head, causing him to laugh properly.
“Is your complaint about having a group meeting or that it’s taking place during work?” he asks.
I bite my lip. “Well, the group meeting makes me a little anxious, but we need to have it. But I can’t leave work, not after already being accused of… stealing.”
He nods. “Well, then I need you to trust me as your boss. I will cover things, and nothing will come back on you whatsoever, okay?”
“It’s hard.” I twiddle my fingers, trying not to annoy him, but I feel ill at the thought.
“I know, little luxury, but you’ll be fine, I promise,” he says. His expression softens, the gentleness in his voice making my chest ache. “You do not have to earn your place here every second of every day.”
I immediately look away.
“And what about it causing problems?” I mutter.
“I assure you, little luxury, the problems have already arrived.”
I groan and drop my face into my hands.
This is a disaster.
My mates are a disaster.
My life is a disaster.
Strong hands wrap around my wrists and gently pull them away from my face.
When I look up, Harlan is smiling at me.
“We’re leaving.”
I blow out a breath. “Fine.”
His smile widens. “Really?”
“Really.” His smile is infectious.
“Excellent.”
Then he offers me his hand, and I take it without thinking about it.
His fingers tighten around mine, and he tugs me up from the sofa, not letting go for even a second. He quickly grabs my bag before I can and leads me out of his office.
I expect him to drop my hand the moment we’re in view of the rest of the staff.
He doesn’t.
I don’t know what to make of that. Or the fact that I really, really love it.