Chapter 10
Harper
Today is going to be a good day.
And for the first time in a while, I actually believed it.
The smell of espresso and the latest perfume samplers wafted through the office.
Sunlight pouring in through the windows as my coffee warmed my hands.
My inbox only had two passive aggressive emails from legal, rather than the usual seven.
And to top it off, no printer had driven me to the precipice of a murderous rage yet.
Progress, Harper. It is all good progress.
“Did you see the interview Parker James posted?” Alex asked as he leaned against the edge of my desk, his tousled brown hair ending just above his expectantly raised eyebrows.
“I try not to pollute my mornings with Parker’s conspiracy theories,” I replied, sipping my coffee.
Alex raised a brow conspiratorially. “This one’s juicy. He basically called Ambrose a walking pheromone scandal. Said half his contracts are signed under supernatural influence.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not even creative anymore. It’s always pheromones with that guy. Never once considers that, maybe, Ambrose is just good at his job.”
Alex leaned in, lowering his voice. “Or maybe he’s just a demon who smells really, really good.”
He grinned, but I knew exactly what he was doing.
Alex was into me. Had been since his first week here. He seemed to think the flirty banter is mutual. But it was not. Not really. I liked him. He was funny, harmless, and charming in a very office crush who’d ghost you after two dates kind of way.
But he was not the kind of guy who unravels you with a glance.
He was not Ambrose.
“You’re implying our boss is seducing Fortune 500 execs with his otherworldly cologne,” I deadpanned.
He wasn’t. But what would they do if they found out that just a few nights ago those same pheromones reduced me to nothing but a desperate mess. Even worse? I liked it…
He smirked. “I’m implying that if I had even half the charm he does, I wouldn’t be drinking discount vodka on the weekends.”
“That’s called a drinking problem, Alex. I heard there are meetings for those.”
“I call it coping with the crushing weight of a doomed economy.”
I laughed despite myself and took a sip of my own coffee, the caffeine starting to pull everything into sharper focus. My phone buzzed beside me, and I glanced down.
Speak of the actual devil.
Chad’s messages threatened to taint my good day as they popped up on my screen.
8.30pm
Hey. Can we talk?I know I messed up. But ignoring me isn’t fair either.
I swiped the screen off without replying.
Alex raised a brow. “Boyfriend?”
“Ex,” I said quickly, a little too quickly. “Persistent.”
He gave me a look that said tell me more but didn’t push.
Instead, he nodded toward the break room. “Want a coffee top-up?”
I was just about to say yes when I felt it. That strange tension—the pressure of eyes. The subtle weight of being observed. I glanced over my shoulders.
And there he was.
Ambrose.
Leaning back in his chair like sin dressed in a three-piece suit. One hand in his pocket, the other spinning a fountain pen.
He almost looked like a cat flicking its tail irritably—waiting for attention. Almost.
His eyes were locked on me with an intensity that bordered on something not unlike possession. Something about the way he watched me made my stomach tighten.
Alex followed my gaze, then let out a low whistle. “You ever notice how he looks at people like he’s already decided where to bury the body?”
“Every day.”
“Gives me the creeps,” he muttered.
I gave a tight smile but didn’t say anything.
Because creepy wasn’t the right word.
Controlled.
Hot.
Seductive in a way that makes your knees forget how to function.
Alex muttered beside me, “Seriously, how does he make standing still look like a threat?”
My phone buzzed again.
I need you, Flower. But I don’t think I will be able to control myself tonight. If this makes you uncomfortable you do not need to come.
My breath caught.
Alex noticed. “Another text?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. Something like that.”
“Sounds intense.”
You have no idea.
I reflexively glanced back at Ambrose as I hit send. But this time, it was not me he was staring at. It was Alex.
Don’t worry so much about me. I’ll be there.
Maybe intense was the perfect word to describe Ambrose. He was intense in everything he did. In how he commanded attention. How his words made me desperate to listen to him. How his touch made me feel like I was the only one to know that side of him.
Before I had time to register the steps approaching from behind, the color drained from Alex’s face as that intense voice called out from behind me.
“I must confess, Alex,” Ambrose’s voice came out low and smooth from just behind me, as silk wrapped in amusement.
He stepped up beside me, one hand casually gripping the back of my chair.
“I’m flattered by your belief in our company’s stability.
You must think there’s nothing left to do if you’re so eager to distract my only assistant. ”
Alex shot upright, stammering apologies. “N-no, sir—Amber—Ambrose—I was just pitching an ad idea. That’s all.”
And there it was—faint, but it was unmistakable.
Ambrose’s pheromones danced around me as if he were showering my own scent with his. Rather than feeling that same desperation as last time, it was calming. Like he was claiming me.
Were his pheromones so out of control that he didn’t realize he was releasing them?
“Mmm,” Ambrose hummed, the sound like silk cut with steel. “I’m sure you were.”
His hand stayed on the back of my chair—casual, intentional. My pulse didn’t get the memo. It skittered like it was trying to break out of my skin.
Alex practically bolted out of the room, muttering something about a meeting he just remembered.
And Ambrose?
He didn’t move. Didn’t say anything else.
He just stood there, letting the silence stretch long enough to make my knees weak.
When he finally spoke again, it was for me.
“I will be taking an early leave. Suddenly, I do not feel well.”
My eyes trailed up his tight suit, past his broad shoulders to where sweat beaded his throat. And when my eyes met his, a whole new meaning of intensity was introduced to me. He looked at me as though I was his, as if he was warning me.
Like he knew what we did the other night.
“Yes, sir.”