Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Bella
I walk back toward the office, tray of coffee in hand, just as Latham walks out, walking directly into me, hot coffee spilling all down the front of my blouse, making me gasp as my skin burns.
“Shit!” Latham , jerking me into the office by the front of my shirt and ripping it open.
I shriek when the air conditioning brushes over me. My bra is filled with coffee. Then it is suddenly gone as he tears it down the middle, and I squeak, covering my breasts. I can feel my skin blistering, and my entire chest is bright red as the coffee sears my skin with blazing hot intensity.
“Latham!” I yell, smacking his hand away as he tries to pat me dry with some tissues.
I see movement out of the corner of my eye and remember Blaine and Xavier are both in the office too. My face is heating with embarrassment. This is so unprofessional.
Blaine starts rummaging through my desk before pulling out a red first-aid kit and rummaging through it. Yet they all ignore me, swatting their hands away, solely focused on the burns covering my chest and collarbone.
“Here,” Blaine says, tossing the blue and white tube of Burn-aid to Latham while I try to remain covered.
This is so inappropriate; you don’t just strip off your colleagues.
“This is so inappropriate,” I mutter.
“Not when you're injured, it is not,” Latham says.
“I’m fine. Now stop touching me and trying to move my goddamn hands,” I snap at him, feeling exposed under their gazes.
“Bella, knock it off. We are all adults, and your breasts aren’t the first I have seen,” Latham says, grabbing my wrists.
I jerk away from him when I feel Xavier step behind me, his chest pressing into my back before I feel him wrap his arms around me and grip my wrists, trying to pull them away from my chest.
“Xavier.” I move away from him.
“Stop it. Let him help. No one has to know Bella,” Xavier says, jerking my hands away from my chest.
Latham's eyes scrutinize the burns.
“They shouldn’t be this bad,” Latham says before looking at the mugs that are now turned over on the tray.
“They were all black coffee,” I tell him when I flinch, the coldness of the Burn-aid soothing as he rubs it on my skin.
“Blaine can be the coffee bitch from now on,” Latham says, and I am surprised when Blaine nods and doesn’t argue back.
I look at Latham’s shirt, also stained and ruined by the coffee, yet he seems unaffected while my skin hurts everywhere.
“Are you burned?” I ask him, seeing he is drenched just as much as I am.
“No, it is from you,” he says before clicking his fingers at Blaine, who suddenly tugs off his shirt, offering it to me.
I slip it on before looking down at the fact I have no bra on. Latham shrugs off his suit jacket before sliding it up my arms.
“Next time we ask for a cup of coffee, we don’t expect you to fill these cups,” Blaine says, holding my bra up.
I snatch it from him, and he smirks. My eyes roam over his masculine toned chest.
“Xavier can run you home,” Latham says, and I shake my head.
“I can take myself home, Latham. Geez, you are bossy,” I tell him.
“And you are stubborn,” he retorts.
“Run her home. I will tell Eli she left for the day,” Latham says, waving me off.
"I can’t just leave, I have work to do,” I tell him, and he raises an eyebrow at me.
“I just said you are. Either Xavier takes you home, or I do,” Latham growls, and the noise startles me.
I step away from him when another thought occurs to me.
“Wait. You aren’t going to tell Eli…” I don’t finish, suddenly humiliated that I am half-naked in my office with three men.
“What happens between the four of us stays between us, Bella,” Latham says, though I find his choice of words unusual, like he is expecting something to happen between the four of us.
“Go. I will cover for you,” Latham says.
I roll my eyes before walking over to the filing cabinet, unlocking it, and grabbing my bag.
“Wait. If he drives me home, what about my car?”
“Xavier will drive your car home. We will pick him up when we finish here,” Latham says, and I realize that means Xavier will be waiting at my place.
“No. I will just head home and quickly change,” I tell him suddenly, uncomfortable knowing my brother will be waiting there for me.
I rummage for my keys, heading toward the office door, when I hear them jingle behind me.
Xavier loops his arm through mine. “I’m driving,” he says, opening the office door and pulling me with him.
“I can drive myself,” I argue, trying to snatch my keys from him when I am suddenly shoved inside the elevator and pressed against the steel wall.
“Latham said I am taking you home, which means I am taking you home. So stop whining and do as you're told,” he says before stepping back.
We get to the parking lot, and Xavier walks over to my car. He presses the ket, and the lights flash. He opens my car door before shoving me inside and shutting the door to my blue little Holden Barina.
Xavier looks cramped in my little car as he adjusts the seat, pushing it back. I notice he never asks for directions as he pulls onto the street, heading toward my apartment building.
“Wait, you know where I live?”