by R. S. Elliot
Finally, Mia nodded.
"I'll help in whatever way I can, but I'll warn you, I'm rusty. I remember most of the vocab, but I've been out of school for some time now. There's no telling how much I'll remember about legal proceedings or strategy. And I initially studied for my law program in the state of California, not New York. The laws here will be different."
"That's unfortunate," Bryan said. "For a minute there I got excited."
"I'll still see what I can do," Mia offered, gnawing on her lip.
"Why don't you just re-enroll in one of the programs here?" I offered. "Part-time, of course, and Carrier would pay for it. New York has some great universities."
She looked like she had just seen a ghost or the second coming of Christ.
"Sorry, did you just say that Carrier would—"
"Cover the cost of your tuition and fees? Of course, I'm not going to ask you to re-enroll on your own dime. And you're free to say no. I know it would be an undertaking for you but having you enrolled in a law program helps me with this case. It's up to you, really."
"I think I need to sit down," Mia said weakly, already sinking down onto the edge of Bryan's desk. He made an irritated grunt, shifting his latte and papers out of the way of her ass, but he didn't put up a fight. She looked like she might pass out if she stayed on her feet, and I resisted the urge to go to her, to take her face in my hands and look into her bleary eyes to make sure she was alright.
"I know this is a lot to process at once," I began.
"No," She said, waving my words away. "I mean, yes, it is, but I want to help. And I would love to be able to go back to school. If Carrier is going to cover it...I don't know, there's still a lot to figure out, and I would have to apply around...But yes. I'm saying yes."
A triumphant grin spread across my face, and it took all the self-restraint I had to not seize her and kiss her. What was it about her that moved me on such a visceral level? All she had to do was breathe in my presence, and I was tied up into knots with desire, consumed with obsessive thoughts about touching her, kissing her. I would have to shelve those if we were going to be able to work together successfully in settling this suit, but I didn't let myself worry about it too much yet. Mia was back in my life, and she was on my side, and she was going to help me put my business rivals in their place. With her clever mind in my corner, I felt unstoppable.
Sport Tech wasn't going to know what hit them.
Chapter Twelve
Mia
I'm not sure anyone but Aiden Carrier could have convinced me to do something as unthinkable as sign-on as a legal consultant to a multi-million dollar company during my first weeks on the job, as a secretary no less. I was, of course, thrilled to be thought of in such a high capacity by Aiden, but my imposter syndrome screamed at me that I was unqualified and unprepared to give any useful advice. In school, I had always struggled against the feeling that I had gotten into Stanford on some accident, that I wasn't as smart or as driven as my classmates, but at least I had my grades to prove me wrong. When I doubted myself, I could just look at my transcript full of As and know that I was doing something right. Now, it was all guesswork. There was no one to compare myself to. Just me and Aiden in a too-tiny room, so high up in the New York skyline that I was convinced I could see New Jersey in the distance if I squinted.
Did I mention the room was really tiny? It was a room off Aiden's office used for meetings with guests and having smaller meetings that didn't call for one of Carrier's larger board rooms. Although it could probably fit six people comfortably, Aiden's presence made the walls feel titled in and the air around me feel hot. The low murmur of life going on outside the office, of people stapling papers and clacking away at keyboards and asking each other for sales reports, didn't diminish the searing feeling that we were the only two people in this cloistered room. Every sound seemed amplified here. Even my breaths sounded labored in my own ears.
There were a couple of comfortable leather chairs arranged around a sleek wooden table, and because of the awkward shape of the thing and the fine print of the documents we were going over together, Aiden had opted to sit beside me on my side of the table.
We had gathered up all the legal paperwork that had been sent over by Sport Tech, and I had laid them out on the table in arrangements that made sense to me and I hoped made sense to Aiden as well. Judging by his furrowed brow, it wasn't making much of an impact, but I was willing to go over things as slowly and thoroughly as necessary. In a way, it felt like we were back in high school with me helping him unpack why his answers to his math homework weren't coming out right. The only difference was, now we were grown adults sitting in a cushy executive office, high above the road noise of New York City. Aiden was a grown man in a suit tailored so sharply I felt like I might cut myself just by looking at it, and his presence next to me was intimidating and expansive, smelling of woodsy men's cologne and skin fresh from the shower. Instead of cold pizza spread out on the table in front of us, there was iced water with pieces of cucumber floating in it and a plate of breakfast pastries Bryan had brought over from the cafe down the street. Nothing had changed, and yet everything had.
"A subpoena doesn't necessarily mean you're in trouble," I said. "But it means you have to be present and accounted for as the court decides, and that you have to cooperate with whatever investigation is going on. In this case, the investigation into the stolen documents."
"Which I didn't steal," Aiden grumbled, taking a sip of his cucumber water. I wondered if the wealthy ever drank water from the tap or if it was all fruit-infused and sparkling. I had picked at a cherry tart but left it mostly uneaten on my plate. I could never work up an appetite when I was nervous, and there was something about Aiden that got me on edge. Which was ridiculous, of course. We had known each other when we were awkward, feckless kids. We had been each other's closest friend and confidant. There was nothing to be afraid of with Aiden, and I still trusted him with my safety and well being.
So why did my stomach flutter whenever he leaned in close to get a better look at the documents?
"I would suggest sparing no expense with the legal team," I went on. "Sport Tech won't. There are plenty of fantastic firms in the city though who would be dying to work with you. You shouldn't have any trouble finding someone."
"Who would you recommend?"
I squirmed in my seat a bit.
"That's not something I'm really qualified to decide. I know a couple of names, but mostly through reputation and gossip I picked up at school."
"Sometimes that's the best place to get your information. Here, make a list of firms you think we should look in to. I'll have my people research them, and we'll see what we can find."
Dutifully, I scribbled down the names I could remember being spoken of highly for their work in the New York City area. Having studied in California, there weren't many I could recall, but Aiden seemed interested despite the shortness of the list. He watched my fingers grasp the pen and my hand move across the piece of paper, and if I wasn't losing touch entirely, I thought I also saw him watch my mouth as I wet my lips with my tongue in concentration. He was so close to me, I could hardly breathe. Being around him had never been so hard before, but then I had been able to touch him, kiss him, pour out my heart to him whenever I wanted. Now, those instincts fizzled and fumed inside me, frustrated by circumstance.
Not that I could act on them anyway. I was a dropout who was deep in debt with nothing going for me, and I had an obsessive ex I was too scared to shake. There was nothing I could offer Aiden, who apparently had his pick of the gorgeous, high-powered women of New York with their tight bodies and six-figure salaries. The thought made my mouth twist up a little bit.
"Are you alright?" Aiden asked. "If this is too much too soon, we can stop. I know it must be a little overwhelming to dive right in."
He was using his soothing, low voice, and it sounded so much like something he might have said to me back when we were teenagers fumbling throu
gh our first time together that my face reddened. A pointed heat, inappropriate to the situation, was building in my stomach and blooming throughout my body. He didn't have to do anything at all, and my body still responded. It would have been comedic if it wasn't so pathetic.
Get yourself together! I urged mentally. You're at work! He's your boss now!
I hoped the reminder that Aiden was currently cutting my paychecks would sober me up a little bit, but the thought of him exercising his executive authority over me and breaking a couple of employee protection laws while wearing that dark CEO suit was enough to have me itching for relief. I didn't consider myself a dirty-minded person and had always shrunk away from anything vaguely resembling a kink or dirty talk. But Aiden brought something desperate and needy out of me that I, frankly, had no idea what to do with.
"This should be enough to get you started," I said, sliding the piece of paper across the table to him. When he took it, his hand covered mine for a moment, and his thumb brushed over my fingers. That didn't seem entirely necessary, and it sent a pleasant little shudder through my body.
"More than enough," he agreed in a quiet voice. "Seriously, Mia, I can't thank you enough. I know this isn't what you signed up for with this job, and I hope I'm not taking advantage of you. You're an immense help."
"You're welcome," I said with a dumb smile on my face I wished I could wipe off. I had always been weak to his praise, and it looked like time hadn't dulled the effect his compliments had on me.
Aiden gave me that lopsided smile that had greeted me from football stadiums and car windows and classroom doorways throughout my entire senior year of high school.
"I guess I still managed to get you to do my homework for me, huh?"
"I never did your homework for you. I just helped."
"Oh, I remember. You never let me cheat, always kept me on the straight and narrow. Well. Mostly."
His grin widened, and so did mine. Feelings of nervous elation were bubbling up in my chest, indistinguishable from the emotions of my teen years. I was being transported back in time by that smile to when breaking my father's rules had seemed like the most daring thing in the world.
"And you were always trying to pull me off it. Mostly."
We were edging into uncertain territory by discussing the past, and on the clock at that. His questions in the car had seemed obligatorily polite, the kind of things you would ask any old classmate you bumped into on the street or chatted with for five minutes at a bar. I hadn't felt exposed by them, if a little ashamed of my answers. But now, we were peeling back the layers of our adult lives and our professional personas to get at something deeper. I had no idea how to proceed. What would be too much or too little to say? Was he joking in earnest, trying to draw me into some tender reminiscing? Or were these just off the cuff comments not meant to be taken seriously?
"I still cannot believe we ran into each other again, after all this time," he mused. "What are the odds?"
"Even I'm not that good at math."
Aiden laughed again, out loud and unbridled, like he was totally delighted with me.
"I've finally found your Achilles heel. Speaking of math, have you thought any more about going back to school? I realized after I said it that it might have sounded like I was giving you an ultimatum, and I absolutely didn't mean for it to come across that way. I can't force you to re-enroll if you don't want to. It just seemed prudent."
"No, I understand, and I appreciate it. I didn't exactly drop out of college of my own volition. I mean, I did, but after my dad's death, I just..."
"Oh God," Aiden said softly. "Mia, I didn't know."
"No, it's alright, I'm okay—"
"I shouldn't have assumed anything. I know the two of you were close."
His hand covered mine, heavy and hot, and I didn't know whether to kiss him or cry.
"Yeah," I managed. "It, um...well, no one really saw it coming. And you know I'm not very close to my mom, so after he passed away I just sort of...drifted. Going to class got a lot harder than it had ever been. And then the scholarship fund I was a part of got canceled and it was just a lot."
Aiden's eyes were searching my face. They were so soft, it almost pained me.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made any sort of suggestions about what you should do with your life outside of work after not seeing you in so long. I don't want to invade your privacy."
"You're not!" I exclaimed, more insistently than I expected. "If anything, I want you to know, it makes me feel..." I trailed off, my words drying up as Aiden tilted his head, somehow looking even more appealing as he listened to me intently. What could I say? Seen, loved, known? Special? All of those were far too exposing, too damning. But I had to say something. "Better about the whole thing."
"That's good, at least. But please accept my condolences. I'm so sorry to hear about your father. I know we didn't always see eye to eye, but he was a good man and he loved you very much. I still can't believe I didn't think to ask."
"It's alright. That's what happens when you lose touch with people. I think we all just assume things are the same as how we left them, but that's not always the case."
Aiden shook his head, looking disappointed in something. Not in me. In himself?
"I made you a promise to stay in touch, and I didn't keep it. Things just got so busy with the business and the hiring and firing and all the press, and I just—I got wrapped up in it."
I couldn't help but laugh a little at this.
"You're a bigshot CEO now. That's your job."
"True," he relented with a rakish smile. "But when I make a promise, I do my best to keep them. Especially when they're to..." His eyes flickered down to our hands, still touching on the table, and his voice dropped a little lower. His eyelashes fluttered over his eyes for only a moment, a tiny indication of his surprise, and he swallowed. "An old friend."
He pinned me to the spot with his gaze when he said it, somehow making it sound filthy and heavy, and not at all friendly. His fingers compressed mine just a bit, squeezing slightly, testing me. I knew then I would do anything he asked or wanted, and that I had just been looking for an excuse the entire time we were locked in this room together. This was that excuse.
I splayed my fingers a bit, slotting them between Aiden's and couldn't help the deep, shaky sigh that welled up inside me at the sensation. This was right, totally and utterly. Aiden inhaled, gorgeous lips parting, and then he closed the space between us with a tender kiss.
It started soft, just the brush of his lips against mine, but then he was leaning into me with more pressure, parting my lips with a slow and steady insistence that made me weak in the knees. I couldn't help the tiny moan that escaped me when his tongue slipped inside my mouth, probing and teasing. I hadn't been touched by a man since Jack moved out, and my body was flashing back to that overeager night of passion we had shared as teenagers. If I had been aroused before, I was painfully turned on now. Aiden could have told me to bend over the desk for him and pull down my dress, and I would have done it. I wanted to do it.
"Mia," he said against my mouth, pulling away just long enough to press little hungry kisses to the corner of my lips, my cheek, and my jaw. Our latticed fingers tightened as I arched my neck back to give him access to more skin, and his name came to my lips without my telling it to. I was melting, slipping out of myself while also coming home to myself. I felt like I had been asleep for months and was now only really waking up to my whole reality.
And Aiden was in that reality, real and alive, and kissing my throat. He looked at me and he still saw something that he wanted, despite all my failures and missteps. The thought was overwhelming. He didn't know what he was getting himself into. He didn't know what a mess my life was.
Aiden freed his hand from mine to thread it through my short curls, tangling them in his fingers while being careful not to pull. The tenderness was too much for me. I had no idea what I had done to deserve this attention, and no matter how much I tried to
focus on his lips, his smell, his closeness, all I could think about was what those girls had said near my desk on the first day. Was I just another conquest to him? An old flame he could rile up for an office quickie and then forget about just as easily? I couldn't handle that. He didn't know how invested I still was, how hard and unsuccessfully I had worked to get over him.
The dream started to dissolve around me, and panic squeezed at my chest.
"I'm sorry," I gasped, pulling away abruptly. "I'm sorry."
Aiden looked absolutely disoriented, his mouth reddened from kissing my lipstick off, his eyes shining with desire.
"Mia, what—"
"I'm sorry," I said again, standing and pushing back the chair from the desk with a screech. "This is just a lot for me right now. I can't do this. I'm sorry."
I fumbled for my coat and purse, and it felt like gathering my things took an agonizing age while Aiden watched me, unmoving from his seat. There was bafflement in his eyes, but a little hurt too, and I couldn't stand to look into them. Once again, I was ruining things. Maybe Jack had been right all along. Maybe all I was good at was messing things up.
"I hope you find a great legal team," I said quickly, already yanking open the door. "Good luck with the trial."
And with that, I was gone, leaving Aiden alone in a little room that I would never be able to step foot in again without feeling overwhelming shame.
Chapter Thirteen
Aiden
There wasn't a moment that went by for the next few weeks that I didn't kick myself for shattering the carefully constructed professional boundaries between Mia and I. I had no idea what I had been thinking, moving in on her like that, but it had been so easy to forget our positions in life with her sitting right there next to me, warm and smiling and smelling like something floral and sweet with a watery freshness underneath. I couldn't think of anything but the inviting softness of her lips and the pang in my chest when she told me that her father had died, a pang that possessed me to wrap her up in my arms and protect her from all the suffering in the world.