Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Social conduct for hate-free inter-colleague teamwork
Short: SCHIT
This is a sex arrangement. It's not for sleepovers or cuddle parties.
Hazel carefully rolled out of Gareth’s bed, which was roughly the size of his ego, before he could pull his arm tighter around her shoulders.
He had fallen asleep. Apparently, his night spent under the ominous coffee table had not been restful.
As stipulated in the contract, they hadn’t cuddled; instead, they had lain exhausted in each other’s arms, unable to talk or move.
Hazel had lost the battle for the top spot, but that was okay.
Gareth had more than proven he deserved the spot.
A smile tugged at her lips as she quietly slipped into her skirt and blouse and glanced at the sleeping millionaire boss. He had been good in bed seven years ago, but now...
He must have had a lot of practice. The thought dampened her smile.
Gareth sighed in his sleep and pulled the pillow she’d just been lying on into his arms, causing warmth to creep into her chest and a lump to form in her throat.
Blinking, she swallowed both. The sex was over, so she would mute her feelings again.
It was just… God, she hadn’t had that much fun in a long time as she had at the morning’s meeting, and at…um, tonight’s appointment. It had reminded her of why she had loathed Gareth at school. Well, before she had loved him.
Hazel had been used to being the smartest, cleverest, and hardest-working person in the room, Harvard or elsewhere.
And then there was Gareth, the unbreakable spirit of the way-too-hot millionaire heir, the guy who wanted to prove to the whole world that he didn’t believe he was superior — he was superior.
Not as a person – he had never been condescending – but at every task he took on.
She had hated and loved finally being challenged, and she knew he had felt the same.
When they had teamed up, they had been unbeatable.
And that feeling she’d had every time with him, that sweet, hot, content, excited feeling…
had gotten her addicted. She’d never had to hold back with him.
Not her intellect, her bad jokes, or her sassy remarks, which, at times, might have been a bit too aggressive.
It turned out those were the parts of her he’d liked the most. At least, that was what he’d always claimed.
She forced her gaze away from his face and turned her back on him as she strolled into the hallway. She was no longer the young woman she’d been back then, and he was no longer that man.
It was just sex.
She took a deep breath, stole the pack of gummy bears off his kitchen counter that Gareth had dutifully bought for her, and left his huge apartment, which, naturally, was decorated in only black and white.
It had all the personality of a dead potted plant.
But knowing Gareth, he hadn’t decorated it.
She took the elevator down to the underground parking garage, and smiled at the idea of him telling a poor interior designer to do whatever she wanted — he wasn’t interested in how much it cost or how it looked in the end, as long as it was tasteful.
Naturally, she’d chosen black and white because Gareth seemed like a black-and-white kind of guy.
But that was misleading. The only curtains he’d ever chosen had been red. She knew because she’d been there.
But Gareth hadn’t corrected his interior designer, just as he never corrected people who drew the wrong conclusions about him...it was too tiring.
She got into her car and let her head sink against the seatback.
He’d been under so much pressure his entire life, from the world, his parents, himself…
it was almost a miracle that he was only half the jerk everyone believed he was.
She just wished he’d show the world his softer or humorous side more often.
He had so much more to offer than he thought.
Her phone rang and she jumped.
She felt like she’d just been caught thinking a forbidden thought. And it wasn’t even a dirty one!
Shaking her head, she answered. “Hello?”
“Hello dear. I know it’s late, but I just arrived home and had a chance to look through my mail…
and I received a letter from that lawyer.
I found the letter Gareth wrote incredibly convincing, but I think your old school friend Kosianos took it as a declaration of war.
” She cleared her throat. “He says there’s no longer a reason to negotiate; he’s filing the lawsuit the week after next.
If we haven’t agreed to pay the damages by then, we’ll lose a lot more money in court. ”
Hazel’s heart sank, while at the same time, hot anger blazed inside her. Oh, that asshole! He was practically blackmailing her with fear.
“Darling, shouldn’t I just pay? I hit the car, it’s my fault that the dog…”
“No, Mom. That’s bullshit!” she said loudly. “I know Kosianos. The dog thing is utter nonsense. He’s using it to get his client more money. We won’t pay!”
“But if he sues me…”
“Then we’ll sue back!”
“I don’t want a fight, honey.”
“That’s exactly what he’s counting on. Mom, please, let us come over tomorrow. We’ll look at the letter and help you, okay?”
She sighed heavily. “Okay. But I don’t want to go to court.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Good. See you tomorrow. At eight?”
“Okay. Love you, Mom. Don’t worry too much, okay?”
“Of course not,” she lied loudly. “See you tomorrow.”
Shit.
Hazel hung up, squeezed her eyes shut, and took a deep breath.
She had always wanted to be the best, the most ridiculously successful, to repay her mother for what she had sacrificed her entire life.
It had been her damned duty to graduate from Harvard at the top of her class so she could cherry-pick the best job.
She’d always believed that after that, everything would be better and easier, that her guilt would dissipate, and she’d have the rest of her life to properly thank her mother for her faith in her.
Instead, Kosianos had his hands around her throat.
God, she hated it. She could handle stress well, but not with her mom being intimidated. Her mother would stay up all night worrying, just like Kosianos wanted.
Angrily, she typed on her phone: I know you have that meeting with Leon’s agent at 8:00 tomorrow morning, but could you come see my mom instead? Kosianos wrote her another nice letter.
She was about to put the phone away in her center console when she saw three dots flashing next to Gareth’s name.
I’ll be there. And you could have said goodbye.
She grinned. Despite everything. Because…was the great Gareth Clark offended? I only have to be polite around others.
Just say goodbye next time, Hazel!
Okay, she wrote. Sleep tight, Gareth.
Likewise…and stop worrying about your mother. We’ll take care of it. Everything will be fine.
She sighed heavily. How did he know…
She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. It didn’t matter. She stowed the phone and rolled her neck. Kosianos was threatening the wrong people!
Hazel’s mother’s house was a bit bigger than her childhood home, but it still smelled the same. The wooden coffee table was still the same, as were the frilly curtains, which didn’t keep out any sunlight but created a cozy, old people feel.
There had been several reasons why Hazel had never introduced Gareth to her mother or brought him back to New York, where she had grown up.
After they met, she had, naturally, googled him, and the photo of his childhood home had suggested that he had grown up as a prince of a small European country, or at least the son of an oil mogul who evaded more taxes than her mother had ever been required to pay.
Their childhoods had been worlds apart. And despite telling Gareth that she had grown up poor, she had never been certain he had truly understood the significance behind it, from the mold in their apartment to her mother’s coupon folders and the collection of ketchup packets in the kitchen.
There was always room to cut corners. Even with a full scholarship and several additional grants, it was nothing short of a miracle that Hazel even made it to college, let alone Harvard.
When she was accepted, she’d cried for a whole hour and then vowed not to let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away or let anything or anyone distract her from her path out of poverty.
Because being poor was terrible — and she hadn’t taken Gareth home because she simply couldn’t bear his pity.
He’d always treated her as an equal in every way imaginable — and too many of her ex-boyfriends had tried to slip her money when they found out how little her bank account held.
However, she’d been even more afraid that visiting her mother wouldn’t have changed Gareth’s opinion of her, that her mother would like him, and Gareth would have fit into this part of her life just as perfectly as the rest of it.
And in doing so, he would have taken away any safety net she had woven around her heart.
The worry had been justified.
“Thank you for your help, Gareth!” her mother said as she escorted them back to the door an hour after their arrival. “I’m not familiar with all these legal terms and Hazel has never explained them as clearly as you.”
Hazel rolled her eyes and pulled on her jacket. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Well, it’s true. You lack patience,” she complained, and clicked her tongue. “And you’re certain it won’t end in a lawsuit?”
“Kosianos merely likes to threaten with it,” Gareth replied calmly — and Hazel wished she felt as confident as he sounded. “He’s as uninterested in the paperwork as any lawyer. And even if he goes to court, there’s no way he can win the absurd sum he’s demanding.”
Her mom took a shaky breath, and Hazel’s heart clenched painfully at the worry lines on her forehead. “Are you sure?” she repeated quietly.