“It’s fine,” I whisper for the hundredth time, “he’s just a man in a suit. You see them all the time.”
“Are you talking to yourself?” Someone, I can’t remember her name, I think she’s in HR, says to me in the kitchen.
I wave a hand because, yes, I’m talking to myself.
But he wasn’t just a man in a suit, was he? No. He was not. There was something more. Something dangerous. All the red flags shot up the moment I laid my eyes on him. Granted he was sexy as sin, tattooed and muscled and dark, but with eyes so light in color they could be silver. His face swarms in front of me, all sharp lines. His cheekbones are high and pronounced, the hollows beneath making his jaw that much sharper. Dark, thick brows set low over his eyes of ice that are unfairly framed by the thickest lashes I’ve ever seen on a man. His mouth, lips plump, is framed by a well-groomed dark beard and his hair, longer on top is the color of midnight, tapered at the sides which is short enough for me to make out the lines of a tattoo on the side of his head. A strong, straight nose where a silver ring glistens in one nostril. Both ears are pierced, one on the lower lobe, the other at the top where a bar spears through the cartilage. And his tongue. I glimpsed the silver ball in his mouth as if he were doing it to tease me. I’d heard rumors about how a bar in the tongue could feel on certain areas.
Shit.
My hands shake as I lift the tray from the side and head back towards the meeting room, the weight of the tray making me unsteady, especially with how hard my hands tremble. I didn’t know who he was other than his name was Harrison. That didn’t seem right, not suited to a man like him, but he was here to see Tobias, and I was to do my job. That was it.
I struggle with the door although I manage to get it open, but then the tray tips slightly and my grip on it becomes precarious. I hurry towards the table to set it down. I can see the tray slipping, if I don’t get it down now, it’ll spill everywhere.
Harrison’s colleague, I didn’t get his name when they arrived, shoots towards me to help, “Here,” he says gently. Far more gently than a man of his size should be able to manage.
But if I let it go everything will fall, “I’ve got it!” It comes out harsher than I intend, and I lurch forward but too late. The tray tips and the contents go flying. I catch myself on the edge of the table, fingers submerged into the puddles of tea and coffee pooling on the surface.
“Eleanor!” Tobias scolds.
My eyes catch on the dark stain of liquid on the man’s shirt. Harrison’s shirt. Oh no. I find his eyes.
He stares at me blankly, a cold, terrifying look that stops my heart in my chest.
Whatever this man was here for, it wasn’t for Tobias’s financial services. I knew it. Those eyes didn’t belong to a normal man.
“Mr Donovan,” Tobias gently shoves me out the way and I lose my balance yet again, only to be caught by Harrison’s co-worker. He grips me by the tops of the arms, holding me steady, and his hands are soft against me. He steadily gets me to my feet and then releases me, “I am so sorry!”
Harrison cocks his head at me, and the move seems almost animalistic.
“Eleanor, get some toweling! Now!” Tobias demands.
“It’s no problem,” Harrison waves a hand, “just a small stain.”
I rush from the room, grabbing all the paper toweling, hand towels, and cloths I can find before hurrying back. They’re all talking when I get there, and I slip in behind them. Maybe I can get this cleaned up and get out before they notice I’m back.
The liquid has cooled now, and I try to clean it up as quickly as I can, but I feel his eyes on me, making a task as simple as this hard. “Perhaps Eleanor can go and buy you a new shirt,” Tobias suggests, “I’ll pay of course,” he goes on, “if you would just jot down your measurements.”
“No need,” his voice is a deep baritone that sends a chill vibrating down my spine, “will Miss Locke be joining us for this meeting?”
I stiffen.
Tobias will give this man anything he wants if he’s getting money out of it, even if I never sit in on any of his meetings. That’s what Tate does, but Tate isn’t here.
“Would you like her to?”
My head snaps up, catching the odd gleam in Tobias’ eye that tells me he’s calculating something. I’ve worked for the man long enough that I know he isn’t what he appears to be, but what exactly, I never wanted to find out.
“Who will take notes if she does not?” Harrison asks.
“Very well,” Tobias agrees.
Harrison pulls out the chair closest to him and Tobias jerks his head, silently ordering me to sit.
I finish cleaning up, dumping the wet paper into the bin, and the towels outside the door and grab a pad and a pen from the counter, edging closer to the table. I try to take a seat further away, but skilled fingers wrap around my wrist and Harrison gently tugs me down into the chair closest to him. His colleague sits on my other side.
Sweat makes my palms slick, but I keep my head down, trying to ignore the wall of muscle on either side of me. Something bumps my knee under the table and a flick of my eyes tells me he’s looking at me. Again.
I don’t like this.
I don’t fucking like this at all.
He terrifies me, and that terror, that fear pools like heat in my lower abdomen, it makes my spine ache, and my thighs tremble, and I hate it.
For two and a half hours I sit there in that room with them, his presence a steady, haunting heat that never once leaves. My heart pounds chaotically in my chest and my mouth is as dry as a desert and when the meeting is finally over, I practically sprint from the room.
Did I make it far? Of course not.
“Perhaps a tour,” I hear Harrison say, that voice rumbling through me.
“I’m sorry gentlemen,” Tobias says, “I have another meeting I must attend, but I will let Eleanor give you the tour, she’s been working here for years, I’m sure she knows this place as well as I do.”
I inwardly groan, keeping my back to them as they say their goodbyes to each other, and then I feel him behind me.
“Do I need to worry about any more coffee being thrown my way on this tour?” He teases.
I ignore him, I can do this. Once this is over, I’ll never have to deal with him again.
“Right this way,” I rush through the tour, showing the various departments, Harrison keeping his presence at my side steady and unnerving.
“Well, that’s it,” I say breathlessly, stopping at the elevator. When I turn to the two of them, I choke. It’s only Harrison now, his companion having left already. I search for him, but see no sight of him.
“Walk me down,” Harrison presses the button on the elevator.