“I would have preferred to have all of the social media team here together, but I guess we can manage with just us,” I said.

  “I mean, we can reschedule for a day that Amanda will be here, if you prefer. And Todd doesn’t really know anything about what we do, anyway,” Hazel said.

  “No, no. I don’t have time to just go around rescheduling meetings,” I said.

  “Oh, I forgot you don’t like people to waste your time,” she said with a bit of an accusing tone.

  Harry was right, she certainly had an attitude, and she wasn’t afraid to show it. I realized that this meeting had so far had the opposite effect that I had hoped it would.

  “Well, Hazel, since it’s just the two of us, how are you finding working for the Bees so far?” I asked.

  “Wow, you remembered my name,” she said. She didn’t really sound too angry, but I was unsure why she sounded upset. I thought I had shown her I really did want to start over. I was terrible at it. I didn’t know how, and it just sort of took me off guard when she apologized in the elevator.

  “Of course, it’s a lovely name,” I said. I wanted to compliment her rather than fight with her. I wanted her to see that I really wanted to be genuine.

  “Hm. That’s not how it seemed just a little while ago,” she said.

  “I apologize for that. I was rude, and I should have been a bit kinder. It is something I am working on,” I said, hoping that she could sense my sincerity.

  “Thank you for saying that,” Hazel said softly, her eyes meeting mine. Her eyes weren’t just blue, they were deep like the ocean. They were captivating, and I couldn’t get myself to look away.

  “So, what is this meeting about?” Hazel asked, startling me a bit.

  “Right, well, I wanted to hear your thoughts about what we can do to improve our social media presence.”

  “You want to hear my thoughts?”

  “Of course. Unless you don’t have any,” I said with a small smile.

  “Oh, I have plenty of ideas,” she said. Hazel reached down to pull a notebook out of her bag and flipped open to a page full of writing and scribbles.

  “Where should I start?” she asked. I sensed that I was in for quite an earful.

  “Why don’t you tell me the areas in which we are lacking, and your suggestions for improvement,” I said.

  Hazel smiled and started working her way down the list she had written out. It was clear that she was passionate about her work, something that I admired in anyone but even more so in her. Hearing her talk about something that she was so knowledgeable on made her irresistible. I had to figure out a way to be with her more, I just wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

  An hour passed with Hazel doing most of the talking and me doing most of the listening. Truthfully, I was trying to keep myself from picturing Hazel in a very non-professional way, but she didn’t have to know that. As we wrapped up the meeting, I wasn’t ready for her to leave.

  “I have some extra work I need to attend to this weekend, and it might be a good chance for you to get ahead on some of your projects, too,” I said.

  “You want me to work this weekend?”

  “I think it would be good if you did.”

  “I didn’t think this job required overtime unless I was going to a game,” Hazel said, clearly a bit annoyed that I was asking her to work on her days off.

  “Normally, it doesn’t, but eight hours this weekend should be enough to get you ahead. I’ll be around, too, if you need anything,” I said.

  “Um, okay. I guess I will see you on Saturday, then,” she said as she grabbed her bag and rose from her chair.

  “Thank you, Hazel. See you Saturday,” I walked her to the door.

  She shot me a look that was equal parts confused and annoyed, but I wasn’t sure how else I could convince her to spend more time with me without coming on too strong.

  I closed the door behind Hazel and flopped down on the couch in front of the windows. I closed my eyes, and she was all I could see. I was definitely in trouble.

  Chapter seven

  Hazel

  “I just don’t know what to do,” I said, shoveling a bite of my salad into my mouth. “I can’t keep working every weekend. He has me here on Saturdays and staying late almost every night.”

  “It doesn’t seem like he really has a purpose for all of this overtime. Can’t he just let you do your job without interfering?” Amanda asked.

  “You’d think so. I don’t know why it’s me working late and not you. You’re the department head,” I said with a bit of a sarcastic smile.

  “Oh, please, don’t suggest to him that it should be me,” Amanda pleaded.

  “I won’t, but it just doesn’t make sense. I am exhausted, and I have no time for myself anymore,” I said.

  “Maybe he just wants to be alone with you. I mean, he’s a jerk, but at least he’s a sexy jerk. It could be worse, I guess.”

  “I don’t think that’s it. He’s never really done anything to indicate that he’s interested or even attracted to me.”

  I pondered my statement for a moment, I certainly wasn’t going to tell Amanda about the actual first time we met outside the bar, just minutes after she had left my side. “Well, I guess there was that one time.” I said.

  “What one time? Hello? Why haven’t I heard about this? What happened?” Amanda asked, nearly spitting out her drink.

  “You know that charity event a few weeks ago, when I got stuck in the elevator with him?” I asked.

  “Um, yes, what happened?” Amanda asked again.

  “Nothing really. I mean, I saw him check me out. And then he touched my hand, but that was it,” I said.

  “Oh, he is definitely into you,” Amanda said.

  “I really doubt that,” I said. “Anyway, he’s my boss. And my dad’s best friend.”

  “Yeah, but he’s hot,” Amanda said, giving me a bit of a nudge.

  “There’s no doubt about that. Sometimes, he loosens his tie and undoes the top button of his shirt. It’s insanely hot for some reason,” I said, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed to be admitting any of this.

  Amanda just smiled at me, taking another bite of her sandwich.

  “Nothing can happen. I don’t want anything to happen.” I wasn’t not sure if I was trying to convince myself or Amanda.

  “Whatever you say,” Amanda said with a sarcastic eye roll. “If you don’t want to keep working so much overtime, you need to tell him that, you know, you don’t want to. Set that boundary.”

  “You’re probably right. I just want him to know that I am a hard worker and that I’m willing to put in the hours when it’s necessary. It just doesn’t seem necessary right now,” I said.

  “Tell him that,” Amanda said, standing from the table where we had been sitting and moving back towards her office.

  I stayed at the table for a few more minutes, trying to make a decision about what to do. I couldn’t say anything to my dad. The last thing I needed was for him to insert himself into my problems. Again.

  Sometimes, I got the feeling that Noah was only making me work so much overtime to get a rise out of me. Most of the time, it worked. I didn’t always come out and say it, but I wasn’t ever very friendly or kind to him when he had me working late. I wondered if completing all of these meaningless tasks and overtime hours with a smile on my face would take some of his joy away. If he wanted me to be upset, I should just start acting like I was pleased to be doing all of the things he told me to, right?

  I didn’t come up with any better solutions, so I made the decision right then and there. I wouldn’t let him know that I was annoyed or irritated. I would just smile and do my work. He would have to give up eventually.

  I didn’t have to wait long for another opportunity to come up. I got an email from Noah asking me to come see him in his office sometime this afternoon. I sighed and stood from my desk. No use in delaying the inevitable.

  I looked over at Amanda, who was sitting in her office on a phone call. I shook my head at her, and I knew that she understood what I was saying. She gave me a look as if to say “good luck,” but I had a plan. I didn’t need luck. That was what I hoped, anyway.

  I made my way across the building and into the elevator that would take me up to the administrative floor. I pressed the button for the top floor and smoothed my dress down while I waited. After taking the elevator up, I greeted Erin and went straight over to Noah’s office door without even thinking about what I was doing. I opened the door, and I was startled to see Noah standing in front of the closet, wearing only basketball shorts. My eyes lingered on the way his muscles bulged and each line that defined them. I knew he was muscular but not like that. It was better than I had imagined.

  “Oh, uh, I—uh, sorry,” I said, stumbling my way back out of the office and into the lobby.

  I looked over at Erin, who looked just as confused as I was shocked.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Um, he’s not really dressed for visitors right now,” I said.

  “Oh, he told me he was going to the gym this afternoon, but he didn’t say what time. I assumed it would be later,” Erin told me.

  “Well, he was about half-dressed, so I’m guessing he was planning on going soon,” I said.

  “I’m sorry, I should have paged him before letting you go in there,” she said. She looked truly apologetic.

  “It’s not your fault, I should have knocked, anyway,” I said.

  I sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby to wait for Noah to come get me. Though I had only caught a glimpse of him, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I saw. I knew that he was in shape, but I never imagined that he would look like that. His legs were strong and muscular, but not overly bulky, and his back was perfectly toned. When he turned towards the door, his abs were perfect, cut in just the right places. He was strong and sexy, and I had to stop thinking about him like that. I shook my head, trying to get the image out of my mind.

  I waited a few more minutes before Erin looked up at me and caught my attention. “Do you want me to page him and remind him that you’re here?”

  “Sure, that would be great,” I said.

  Right at that moment, Noah’s office door swung open, and he was standing in the doorway with more confidence than I had ever seen. Sure, he was always confident, but this was different somehow. He had a smirk on his face that I couldn’t bring myself to look away from. I was so captivated by him, and I wasn’t even trying to hide it.

  He was dressed in his work attire again, slacks, and a button-down shirt, but he hadn’t put his tie back on, and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. For a moment, I let myself imagine what it would be like to undo the rest of the buttons and run my hands down his abs.

  “Hazel,” his voice rang out, pulling me from my highly inappropriate daydream.

  “What? Oh, hi,” I said. I could feel myself turn red.

  I stood and followed him into the office, taking a deep breath to calm myself down.

  “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think you would be up here so quickly. I was just getting ready for my workout,” Noah said as soon as the door was closed behind us.

  “Oh, it’s fine. I’m sorry I didn’t knock. It was my fault,” I said.

  Taking a step toward me, he said, “Well, either way, I’m glad you’re here.”

  “You—you are?” I said. Was he flirting with me or was it my imagination? I thought we were barely becoming civil coworkers.

  “Oh yes,” he said, that confident smirk back on his face.

  “Why is that?” I asked.

  “I have an assignment for you this weekend. It requires you to stay late Friday night and come in early on Saturday. I hope that won’t be too much of a problem,” he said.

  I wanted to cause a scene. I wanted to ask, “why me?” But instead, I took a deep breath and plastered a smile on my face.

  “Of course, that’s no problem at all.” I tried my best to sound sweet and sincere, but I wasn’t sure how successful I was.

  Seeming a bit confused, he asked, “Oh, really? I thought you were getting tired of all of my overtime assignments. At least, that’s what you said last time.”

  “If you need me to be here, I’m happy to work overtime. I’ll do whatever is best for the company,” I said.

  Noah stepped closer to me, so that there were just a few inches between us.

  “That’s good to hear,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “I assume you’ll be here, too, right?” I asked, looking up at him from under my eyelashes.

  “Oh, I’ll be here,” he said.

  We remained like that for just a moment before I realized what I was doing.

  “I better get going,” I said, but I didn’t move.

  “By all means, go,” he said, but he didn’t move out of the way for me to get to the door.

  I reached around him to grab the door handle, and he finally had to budge.

  “See you tomorrow night,” I said, walking out of the office and closing the door behind me.

  “He’s got you working overtime again, huh?” Erin asked as I crossed the room to the elevator.

  “Yeah, but it’s no big deal,” I said.

  That night when I got home, I called Rachel before heading straight to bed. She was giving me a hard time for not calling more often but I was way busier than I thought I would be. It was only 7:30, but I was exhausted. Knowing that I had a long weekend of work ahead of me made me even more tired. I couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour when I woke up to a knock on my front door. I stumbled out of bed and opened the door to see Noah standing in the hallway of the apartment building.

  “Noah? What are you—” I started to ask, but he cut me off before I could finish.

  “Hazel,” he said, his voice low and deep.

  He wrapped his arms around me, one hand behind my neck and the other on my lower back. He pulled my ear towards his mouth, and I could feel his breath tickle my neck.

  “I need you,” he whispered.

  I felt my legs go weak as he pushed me back inside the apartment and kicked the door closed with his foot, never loosening his grip on me. His lips gently brushed across mine, and he let out a short sigh.

  “I couldn’t help myself anymore,” he said.

  I pushed away from him just slightly so that I could see his face. I put both of my hands on his cheeks, in complete shock that this was happening.

  He tightened his grip on me again and kissed me with more passion than I had ever experienced. He gently parted my lips with his tongue, and I couldn’t help but let out a small moan.

  “Hazel,” he said on a sigh. My name had never sounded better.

  I wiggled my way out of his grip and grabbed one of his hands in mine, leading him to the bedroom. I hopped up onto the bed and got on my knees, pulling him towards me. He didn’t say a word as I slowly undid each button on his shirt, taking my sweet time. When I reached the bottom of the shirt, I moved my hands up and down his chest, stopping at his belt buckle. Before undoing his belt, I gently teased the skin above his pants. He moaned and pushed me back onto the bed and lowered himself on top of me.

  “I need you now,” he whispered into my ear.

  I wiggled out of the dress I had been wearing as he removed what was left of his clothing. When he looked down and saw me completely exposed, his mouth hung open. He lowered himself back down towards me and gently kissed the skin between my breasts.

  “Even better than I imagined,” he whispered between kisses.

  Moaning, I managed to choke out, “Likewise.”

  Noah kissed his way across my chest and teased one of my nipples with his tongue. My back arched, and he let out a soft chuckle. He gently licked his way down my abdomen, stopping just above my hip bone. I lifted my head to look at him, and he was staring at me with a devilish grin.

  “What are you doing? Please, don’t stop now!”

  Without any hesitation, Noah dropped his head down and slowly sucked my clit into his mouth. The immediate pleasure was so intense that I nearly rolled us off the bed, but Noah’s hands tightened around my hips, pulling me even closer to his mouth. He was somehow gentle and forceful at the same time, and I hadn’t ever felt anything like it.

  The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to find my room completely empty. I rolled over to look at the other side of the bed, but Noah wasn’t there. I sat up to check the time on my phone and it was nearly midnight.

  “What a dream,” I said to myself as I flopped back down onto my pillow.

  Chapter eight

  Noah

  On Friday afternoon, I realized that I had to come up with another excuse for keeping Hazel here late. And for making her come in on Saturday, again. I was running out of things for her to do, but I had to keep seeing her. I don’t know if she felt it, too, but it was almost as if we were magnets being drawn to one another. I felt better when she was around. Happier and more confident. It was a strange feeling, but it wasn’t one that I was ready to give up.

  Something had changed, though. When I told her that I needed her to work overtime, she didn’t roll her eyes. She didn’t sigh like she usually did. She smiled and agreed to it, just like that. She wasn’t normally argumentative about it, but she always made it clear that she would rather be doing other things than working late with me. For some reason, her immediate agreement made her that much more irresistible.

  When 6 PM rolled around, I still hadn’t really come up with anything for Hazel and me to work on over the weekend. When she knocked on my office door, I wasn’t sure what I was going to tell her.

  “Come in,” I hollered from my desk.

  “Hi, Noah,” Hazel said with a smile.

  “Hazel, how’s your Friday going?” I asked.

  “Fine. I thought you might like some tea, so I ran down to the cafe for you,” she said, setting the cup on my desk.

  “Just a bit of milk and no sugar, if I remember correctly,” she said.