Chapter 3
Chapter Three
The Next Day
Bella
Stressed is an understatement. Eli’s just called to tell me that I was going to be working with all of them and wanted me to meet them upstairs.
I hop in the elevator and hit the button when Addie steps in.
Her eyes run over my disheveled appearance.
I’ve even made an effort this morning by spending more time than necessary straightening my naturally curling red hair.
Yet even I know that I look run-down. Nothing can hide the weary-looking eyes and the bags that hang under them.
“You okay?” Addie asks.
“Yes, just so much going on. I am having issues outside of work as well. It is just getting to me, and now I find out that Latham will be sharing my office with me. I can barely think in his presence. How the heck am I going to get any work done?” I ask her, pinching the bridge of my nose and blowing out a breath in frustration while tapping my foot.
I need a drink, some hard liquor. Everything is going to shit.
“He isn’t that bad,” Addie tells me.
Still, I doubt he is going to be as well-mannered as he is around me and tolerant of me bossing him around. I know we are going to clash.
My phone starts ringing, and I glance at it, my breath lodging in my throat. My brother is calling, and I refuse to answer his call, especially being within hearing distance of Addie.
Halfway up, it rings again, and I reject it again. Brian is far from rational, and if he is calling, it means he is out of prison again, making me wonder why he is out early and what he wants with me.
“Ex?” Addie asks, nodding to my phone.
“I wish. He would be easier to deal with. No, it’s my brother,” I tell her.
She looks confused before realizing who I am talking about. “The one that was in prison?”
I hate talking about my family, and my brother is a touchy subject, seeing as everyone believed he’d killed my father in our teens.
We didn't have the best upbringing, and I struggled with not giving him what he wanted.
Helping with his rage was not worth risking my life. He was irrational and reckless.
“What’s he want?” Addie asks.
“What he always wants. Money and time, possibly wanting me to bail him out again,” I tell her just as the doors open.
All three impossible men are standing there. Though I now know their names, just not sure who is who. The Viking god is Latham. His name suits him.
“Finally. Bella, can you show Latham to your shared office and find a place for these two to work? And when you are done, come see me, please,” Cyrus tells me.
I nod to him before he wanders off with Addie, leaving me with three intimidating men towering over me even though I am wearing heels.
I am furious. Just how the hell am I supposed to work with them and have them all on the same floor?
They give me the creeps; working with this Latham person would be impossible.
I can already tell he is a cocky, infuriating man by the smirk on his beautiful face.
I stare at them, looking them over, trying to figure out where to put the other two.
"Xavier," says the blond-haired one.
He is all muscle but leaner, and who wears a tank top to a corporate business?
He holds his hand out for me to shake, and I grip his fingers, giving it a little shake.
I don't want to touch them. My thoughts run rampant with a desire I haven't felt in ages. His blue-green eyes are watching me. He has flames tattooed up his exposed arms and over his chest, and my god, he smells nice. The man beside him clears his throat, and I realize I am still holding Xavier’s hand.
I hastily drop my hand, forcing my gaze away from him to look at the man beside him.
"Blaine," he says, offering his hand, but I fold my hands across my chest, wanting nothing more than to get away from them.
Blaine is just as intimidating.
Where did Eli and Cyrus find these men? At the gym? Did they live there?
They definitely don’t look like they belong here. I give him a once-over, trying to be discreet. His eyes are so dark they are endless pools of black with short cropped dark hair, his fringe falling in his eyes that twinkle oddly back at me.
"Bella," I tell him, tearing my gaze from him to look at the one I know as Latham.
His hair is longer, his skin darker, the color of mocha, and he reminds me of a Viking with the way his hair is braided neatly.
Damn, I wish my hair was that long. I want to run my fingers through it.
It sits just above his lower back. He has high cheekbones and thick eyelashes, his eyes gray like storm clouds, yet they are set hard as he glares at the other two men.
Does he not like them? I thought they all knew each other.
"Well, shall we head down?" Latham asks, motioning toward the elevator.
I nod, pulling my head from my daydreams, shaking off the strange feeling of dampness between my thighs. I push the button, and they step in and seem to take up all the space in it, forcing me to be pressed against Blaine.
I try to reach around Latham to press the button to the floor we need to go to but only manage to press into his back.
"Space, seriously. Move over and stop rubbing up against me," I snap, becoming quite overwhelmed.
Latham presses the button before turning around to face me. I want to shrink under his intense gaze. Something tells me he is dangerous. Something sinister that makes my skin prickle, and a cold shiver runs up my spine. Suddenly, I shut my mouth, finding I can’t speak while he watches me like that.
"Well, now, don't you have quite the temper?" Latham says, and I glare back at him.
He presses closer, his scent overwhelming me.
"Someone has their panties in a knot. Would you like a hand with them?" he asks, and I gulp.
His hand moves to my hip and his fingers play with the waistband of my black slacks.
"Try it, and you won't have a hand," I warn him.
I knew this impossible man would be a nightmare to work with, and he is now proving it.
"I could always use my mouth," he says, smiling deviously back at me.
His smile is breathtaking, and I suddenly forget how to breathe before coming to my senses.
"I could always have you fired for sexual harassment. Eli and Cyrus don't take kindly to men harassing their co-workers here, Latham. Keep that up, and you won't last the day," I warn him.
He smirks and goes to say something when my phone rings again. I answer it using any distraction to break the weird eye contact.
"I have been calling you all morning. Where the fuck have you been?"
I should have checked the call before answering. Latham is still staring at me, and he cocks his head to the side, his eyes narrowing. He steps away, and I see Blaine watching me curiously too.
"Do you mind?" I ask him.
He presses his lips in a line and turns around.
"Bella, where are you? I will come see you," my brother snaps at me over the phone.
"That is none of your business. When did you get back out?"
"You don't talk to me like that. Don't forget what I did for you. You still live in the same place? I will be waiting for you when you get home," he says before hanging up.
I shudder at the thought. My hands shake as I jam my phone back into my pocket when the doors suddenly open.
Latham hops out, and I step out after him. He is watching me with a strange expression, and I notice the other two looking at me with the same look.
"Who were you on the phone to? You seemed…" he doesn't finish. Instead, his eyes dart to Blaine over my shoulder.
"This way," I tell them, ignoring his question.
I walk down to my office before shoving my key in the lock, my hands trembling, knowing my brother would be waiting for me when I get home. Blaine suddenly takes the keys from me and unlocks my door after I fumble with them embarrassingly. He pushes the door open.
"Geez, what happened here?" Latham asks, and I feel my face heat.
My office is a mess, with piles and piles of paperwork everywhere. I never seem to have time to file anything. I am becoming swamped with more and more work. I could actually use someone to share the workload, but why him?
"Yeah, sorry about that.”
Even the smaller desk is littered with paperwork. They look around, and Blaine pulls a stack of papers off the couch before sitting down.
"Where do you work, exactly?" Xavier asks.
"You sure this isn’t the filing room?" Blaine adds, and I roll my eyes.
"I don't have much time, and Troy, the old manager, was not very good with filing either," I admit.
"So, you need a secretary?" Blaine asks.
"No, I am fine. I know where everything is… Don't touch that," I squeak, rushing over and slamming the door shut on Latham's fingers as he goes to pry the drawer open.
"Ouch, what is in there?" he asks.
"Nothing that concerns you," I tell him, locking it with the key.
"Well, until we figure out what to do with these two, they can help sort out this bloody mess," Latham says.
They get up and start rummaging through everything.
"I don't need help. I already said it. If you don't like the office, ask Eli to put you in another," I tell him.
"No, I am fine here, and you do need help. Look at it. How can you work in this? " Latham says, looking at my trashed office, the bin overflowing with paper coffee cups.
"Is your house this messy?" he asks.
"God no, that means I actually would have to live in it."
Plus, at home, I can be the freak I am with my OCD.
I usually avoid the office and work around everyone else or elsewhere, choosing to just come in here and leave the filing before walking back out.
I prefer to work in the conference room.
When I was given this office, I opened the door and didn’t know where to begin sorting it without having a meltdown.
Man, if they saw my house, all they would smell is bleach.
I am rarely home anyway with my workload.
Mainly just to change out of my clothes.
I have lost count of the times I have fallen asleep in the conference room and had to race home to get changed.
"You aren't home much?" Latham asks, grabbing a stack of files and sorting them alphabetically.
I grab the next stack, doing the same.
"No, my hours are horrendous," I admit.
"When was your last day off?" Blaine asks, sorting my desk.
It makes me nervous having them in here sorting stuff.
"Sundays, but usually I take work home with me," I tell them.
Yeah, I am that boring. The only thing I am good at is my job. I work my ass off to prove I can do this job, and I am not about to let them ruin it with their godlike looks. They are going to be a distraction.
"With our help, hopefully, you can have more time off," Blaine says.
I don't answer. I don't want time off, especially with my brother out. That would just give him more reason to force himself back into my life.
"How about you go get coffee and then come back?" Latham says.
"Do I look like a coffee bitch?" I snap at him.
How dare he dismiss me from my own office even if I rarely used it?
I hear the other two laugh at my words, and Latham raises an eyebrow at me.
"Regardless of what you look like, you need help, and I am offering it. So go get coffee. We will take care of this disaster," he says.
I shake my head. I am not being kicked out of my own office by some newcomer who thinks he can do my job better than me.
"Get it yourself," I tell him, folding my arms.
He smirks before moving quickly. I find myself pressed against the desk, piles of documents falling onto the floor.
"I can see we are going to have fun working together, Bella, but since you seem to think I am trying to shove you out of your job, I will be nice just this once by letting your attitude go, but mind your tongue around me, or I will put it to better use," he says pressing himself against me.
I can feel the bulge in the front of his pants, and he bucks his hips against me, his hands on either side of my legs on the desk trapping me. Why the heck do I find his words so arousing?
"Are we clear, Bella?"
"Crystal," I tell him, shoving him back before storming out of the room.
I hear him laugh as I throw the door open. I need air, damn it, and I need coffee.
These men were going to be the death of me.