#CATFISHED (The Empire Series Book 1)

by Nicole Hite

  Ariel was quickly cut off from her argument, only to be met with a hard chest. The searing heat from her spilled coffee sent her shrieking back, nearly hitting the wall. "Watch where you're going, buddy..." Ariel began, but quickly changed her mind as she stared, mouth agape at the gorgeous man in front of her.

  If Ariel had a type, this man would be it. He looked like he had been ripped out of the pages of Inked Magazine. She couldn't see the hair underneath his slouchy beanie, but it didn't matter, considering his chiseled features distracted her. His perfectly quaffed facial hair was one of those mustache, beard combos that crept to his sideburns. According to Ariel’s standards, it was sexy as fuck! The brown hairs were cut short to his skin, but darker than a five o'clock shadow.

  Making her way down his body, he was wearing a faded Def Leopard T-shirt, which was now covered in coffee. SHIT! She felt like such an idiot. She looked down to notice she was completely drenched as well.

  Her bra was completely exposed at this point, and she was thanking God she wore something cute underneath.

  "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" she said, taking old fast food napkins out from under the flap of her messenger bag and padding his ridiculously cut chest.

  "It's a shame we don't have some sugar to pour all over this to soak it up," she said, laughing with a tiny snort at the end. It was just enough snort to embarrass the hell out of her. Her attempt at avoiding an awkward situation had completely flown out the window.

  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have touched you." Even her attempt to recover sounded desperate and reaching, especially since he had yet to say a word.

  "It's okay," he spoke as the birds sang, and the fireworks exploded from behind his head. If it wasn't enough that he was physically attractive, this man's voice was like warm chocolate being melted all over her body. Yum! He could lick it off me when all was said and done. She had no objections

  "Uh… Ariel… That's my name, Ariel… Not that you asked or anything," she extended a cheerful hand. "I'm in 3C, just over there. I don't know why I keep telling you information you didn't even ask for. I'm sorry, it's a horrible habit."

  "I'm Owen," he said in his silky voice. Of course his name would be Owen. Why wouldn't his name be Owen? Owen. Owen. Owen. The name just dripped off his lips like honey.

  "I'm Ariel."

  "So you said," he let out a throaty laugh. "I'm 3E."

  "I've never seen you before. I mean I would have recognized you. Not like I would stalk you or anything. I'm going to shut up now."

  "I just moved in about a week ago," he said, smiling at her fumble.

  That smile. Oh, God, that smile. He had the pearliest whites she had ever seen. He definitely had braces as a kid the way they were perfectly straight. They were hypnotizing.

  "Shit! I'm late and can't go back in to change," Ariel looked at Sam in despair.

  "I have another shirt at work. Let's go before Viv rips us a new one for being late again!" Sam pleaded with Ariel.

  "Would you like a few napkins to go," he offered the wad Ariel had shoved in his chest.

  "Ugh, yeah, do you mind?" Ariel looked slightly embarrassed to take away his napkins. "Um, feel free to stop by anytime, you know, cup of sugar and all that," Ariel stated mortified. All she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die.

  "I'll keep that in mind, Ariel."

  She had never felt her name sounded so sweet coming from a man's lips before. It's as if angels were lifting her off her feet and carrying her away.

  "Check ya later, Owen," she gave him the pointed thumbs up like a regular cowboy, only this cowgirl was thoroughly embarrassed.

  Turning around to leave, she mumbled under her breath, "Check ya later? Check ya later? What the hell, Ari!"

  How the hell was it possible she wrote a sex column and she couldn't even talk to a guy living on her hall without sounding like a baboon? Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Owen turn to walk away. She couldn't help but stare at his ass. It was a mighty fine ass. She had to pull her chin off the floor before she was mistaken for a Hoover vacuum.

  As soon as Sam and Ariel reached her Mini Cooper, they climbed in and sat for a second, taking in what had just happened. Ariel slipped her hand underneath her messenger bag strap, and began to remove it, when she realized how soaked her sundress really was. Giving Sam a disheveled look, she grabbed the rearview mirror and angled it toward herself.

  What was staring back at her was nothing shy of catastrophic. Not only was her top dripping wet, but you could see straight through it, not to mention a far amount of nipple, as well.

  "Not even a little warning on the nipple, Sami?" Ariel stated rotating her head toward her friend.

  "What? You were doing fine on your own. Plus, what's wrong with a little nip slip for a hottie like him!"

  Ariel padded the fabric hoping it would soak up a majority of the coffee. Well, at least she didn't wear her granny bra today. There were not many positives left with this situation. The girls rode the entire journey to work with the windows rolled completely down. It wasn't cold, but the wind kicked her hair up, sending it into a tizzy.

  "You want to talk about what just happened?" Sam tread carefully.

  Staring straight ahead as she drove, "Nope."

  "Okay, I get it. But he was hot as hell, wasn't he?" Sam pushed.

  "Abso-fucking-lutely!"

  "There's my girl," Sam laughed. "It wasn't that bad, Ari."

  "I love you for being sweet, Sami, but even I know that was a train wreck.”

  For the remainder of the car ride, Ariel and Sam talk about nothing but Owen. Where he might work, what he did with his life, did he have a girlfriend? Ariel prayed there was no girl in the picture. But what if there were? What would she look like? How would she act? What was Owen's type? He was still a mystery, and all Ariel wanted to do was discover more about this guy.

  Arriving at work five minutes after nine, Ariel plopped her butt into the chair, only to hear the shrieks from Vivienne calling out her name from her office. Never once had Viv buzzed her, or walked to her desk. Nope, she liked to hear the echoes and scurries of her employees hiding from her brutal assaults.

  The walls reverberated as the screams bounced off the surface "Ari! Someone get me Ari! NOW!"

  Sam tossed her a spare baby-t, shimming it on before clutching her notepad and pen. Before entering Viv's office, Ariel gave a muted tap on the massive oak door.

  "You wanted to see me, Ms. Harper."

  "For the love of God, Ari, enough with the Ms. Harper bullshit. Viv or Harper is fine. Cute outfit by the way."

  "Um, thank you, Viv." Ariel felt petrified Vivienne would call her out right off the bat. The new change of clothes wasn't exactly a fashion statement, but it worked for her.

  Placing her notepad in her lap, Ariel braced herself for Viv's tongue lashing. She had only been five minutes late, but Ariel saw what Viv did to her employees.

  Last week, she fired her secretary for not fetching her coffee quick enough. This was no ordinary secretary either. Viv had cold heartedly fired her own mother! Her mother had worked for the magazine for ten years. Ten stinken' years. If Viv didn't have a problem giving her mother the can, she wouldn't hesitate to fire Ariel.

  Ariel stopped breathing for a minute as she waited for her judgment. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, and her knee was bouncing up and down like a jackhammer.

  "October issue. Ideas. Go," Vivienne pointed at her before redirecting her eyes to her paperwork.

  Exhaling her breathe, Ariel was relieved she wasn't here to beg for her job. However, she was still at a loss for what the hell to write for this month's issue.

  "I was thinking Halloween Costumes Guaranteed To Get You Laid or even Fall Fetishes?" Ariel squirmed in her chair as she pulled ideas from her ass. She had been so distracted by Dean and her online activities, she had completely forgotten to do some research this morning.

  Looking up from her paperwork, Viv slid her glasses to the edge of her nose, "Sounds lik
e shit to me, Ari. Been there, done that. What else you got?"

  Griping her notepad, she could barely make out a tiny image of Dean's exposed eye. She had forgotten she had tucked away her printouts into her notebook. She still didn't have a clue what possessed her to print them off in the first place. Ariel could feel the clock ticking away as she scrambled desperately to think of something creative. The only thing she could think of was Dean's face, or presuming Dean's face. Drawing a blank, word vomit spilled from her lips before she knew what she was doing.

  "What about, Catfished: The Man Behind the Monitor." Ariel looked at Vivienne, terrified she was going to tear her a new one for another shit idea.

  Viv looked up from her paperwork, squinting her eyes as she examined Ariel. Tapping her pen to her pursed lips, she tilted her head from side to side like a questioning cat. The longer Viv allowed the pregnant pause to escalate, the longer Ariel wished she hadn't spoken a word.

  "An investigative piece?" Viv began to shake her head up and down as she stared down Ariel and her fidgeting behavior. "Interesting, very interesting. Yes. I like that idea a lot. Get on that and give me a status update by the end of the week. I want to know where you’re going with this piece. Now get out."

  Ariel retreated to her office in a lackadaisical haze. What the hell just happened? Reaching her office, Ariel passed Sam, who had made herself quit comfy on her couch. Lounging with a giant glazed doughnut in her mouth, she slowly sat up.

  "Tell me that old broad didn't fire you," Sam mumbled beneath the sugary pastry.

  Taking a seat in her plush leather chair, she reclined still staring into oblivion.

  "Not exactly."

  "Then why are you giving me such an awkward glare right now. Shit, Ari, you're making me nervous."

  "She asked for my story ideas for the October issue," Ariel pulled her eyes away from her trance to meet Sam's stare.

  "That doesn't seem out off the ordinary. What am I missing here," Sam questioned as she sucked her fingers dry.

  "I don't know what happened. My mind went blank and all I could think of was Dean. Viv can be incredibly intimidating and it just spilled from my mouth. I wasn't even sure where I was going with the idea. Hell, I still don't."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah, oh is right! No, seriously. Harper asked me to come up with some new, edgy editorial pieces for the up and coming issues. I want to call it, "Digital Empire" or "The Man Behind the Monitor," I said raising my hands in the air in a huff.

  "Ambitious, aren't we?"

  Ariel cuddled up to her warm coffee as Sam grabbed her own.

  "So what's the game plan for this mission," Sam asked while humming the Bond theme song in my ear.

  "I haven't figured that out yet, but it's going to be good. I'm sure he won't allow for an interview, and even then, I'm sure he will lie about it."

  "Well I suggest you make a plan before you go barging in, making accusations about this guy. You are playing with fire, especially with all those female supporters."

  "Duly noted my friend."

  What had she gotten herself into?

  3

  "Friend request sent. Now what?"

  "I think the first thing we need to do is get you a new identity. If this hunk knows who you are, he will sniff out your motives in a heartbeat," Sam offered.

  "What do you have in mind?" Ariel looked at her concerned.

  Walking around Ariel's desk, Sam opened her web browser. Leaning over Ariel, Sam pulled up her MyFace account. Flipping through her friends, Sam picked out one of her sorority sisters as the perfect Jane Doe. This way she would have plenty of personal pictures to post, but would be able to keep a safe distance.

  "We need to find a good profile picture. You can't be too hot; he will see through the disguise. Then again, you can't be too unattractive."

  "Sam, that's horrible," Ariel stated as she looked over her shoulder to give Sam an evil glare.

  "It is, what it is, sweetheart. Look, this one is perfect. We'll call her Heidi," Sam affirmed as she jokingly flipped Ariel's braid.

  "Very funny, smart ass."

  "Heidi" was around 5'4, gorgeous blonde locks, modest breasts, and a sweet smile. Some would call her the girl next door. According to Sam, “Heidi” had attended U.C.L.A., and graduated the same year as Ariel. Sam's motives were to keep the girls as similar as possible to avoid any awkward flubs.

  "I think Heidi enjoys pedicures, reading, and volunteering at the local animal shelter," Ariel added.

  "See, I told ya you’d get into this! I think she needs something else..."

  "What if she enjoyed traveling, and cliff diving?" Ariel asked. "I'm terrified of heights, so Heidi can have that trait."

  "Excellent. Now, we need to sign you up, and make friends. We need to establish a timeline so he won't be under the impression that you just joined."

  "You are way too good at this. Have you done it before?" Ariel questioned.

  "Ugh, let's move forward. Are you sure I can't do this piece. I think I would have a ton of fun!"

  "You would, but if it doesn't have anything to do with hair, makeup or fashion; I think you are shit out of luck, doll."

  "She should like something cliché. Conceivably, ‘Sex and the City’ and relishes in reading chick-lit like Bridget Jones," Sam added.

  "YES! Don't forget, she's an event coordinator. She is practically married to her job, but is always looking for Mr. Right."

  "I think we are getting good at this. Now, we need to 'like' a few pages, and we should be good. Look, you already have twenty friend requests."

  "Does it count that they are all middle aged men with receding hairlines?" Ariel scowled.

  "Friends are friends at this point until we can establish a trustworthy profile. I have to go do my job, so I'll leave you to it. When I get back, you better have fifty friends, and posted at least five times. Join a few romance book groups too, while you're at it. Make friends with a few of his friends, as well."

  "Thanks, Sami. I would have fucked this up in the first five minutes, and Viv would have my ass."

  Sam gave her a kiss on the cheek, turning and exiting the office. Sitting back in her chair, Ariel placed her hands behind her head, and reclined just a little, staring at the screen. I'm going to hell, I just know it.

  For the rest of the morning, Ariel trolled groups like Bad Girl Book Blog and Reviews and Kink, Cuffs and Hard-core book lovers groups. The more groups she joined, the more she realized that the same girls followed Dean around from group to group. If anything was going to be the demise of this mission, it would be girls like these. Their love and loyalty to this man was outstanding.

  Trying to makes friends, Ariel commented in one of the groups.

  * * *

  HEIDI: Hi, everyone! I'm new to the group and wanted to introduce myself. I'm Heidi. I’m just here to look for book suggestions and to meet new people. I'm new to this whole MyFace thing, so any help would be welcome.

  * * *

  Quickly after she posted in the group, there was a reply from a girl name Susan. Susan seemed to be a twenty something college graduate from the University of Oklahoma.

  * * *

  SUSAN: Welcome, Heidi! So glad to have a fresh face in the group.

  * * *

  Immediately afterwards Ariel received friend requests from men and women in the group. If she was going to make this convincing, she needed to accept the friendships regardless of how sketchy they may seem.

  * * *

  HEIDI: Thank you for allowing me to join.

  * * *

  Trying to sound like a proper blonde.

  * * *

  HEIDI: I'm just glad someone said, 'hi'. I would have felt horrible if there were crickets.

  SUSAN: I doubt anyone would have ignored that lovely face.

  HEIDI: Aww thank you, Susan. So, what do you do in these groups?

  SUSAN: We talk about books we've read, review them, or just chat in general.

  HEIDI: Excellen
t. I've been looking for a new read.

  * * *

  Ariel was met with silence after her response. She was not familiar with actively participating in chat groups such as these.

  She was used to lurking in the shadows; where it was safe. Where the attention wasn't on her. That's the last thing she wanted right now.

  Sam came drumming on her door around noon to spring her loose from her investigation. Her eyes had glazed over from the excessive exposure to the monitor glare. As soon as she saw Sam, she grabbed her bag, and all but ran out of her office.

  As they made their way out of the glass high-rise, Ariel allowed the sun to temporarily blind her as she snapped out of her daze.

  "Busy day?" Sam quizzed, as they made their way toward the lunch carts lining the streets.

  They approached a vender selling hot dogs, and tossed the gentleman a five.

  "I don't understand why he hasn't taken the bait yet," Ariel groaned at Sam while trying to dress her wiener with mustard and relish.

  "You are the only person I know who eats their dogs like that," Sam grimaced as Ariel slathered the bun.

  "Cause it's freaking amazing. That's why."

  "I'm sure ‘Heidi’ doesn't scarf hot dogs like that," Sam poked as they made their way to the cement fountain. Sitting on the ledge, the two removed their shoes and dunked them in the chilly water.

  "You know, I'm not sure Heidi is going to work out. Perhaps I need amp up her sexuality or something?"

  "If you think that will work, but something tells me this guy isn't like that, though; he seems pretty reasonable. Give it time, and keep active in the groups. He will notice you."

  "I guess you're right,"

  "Of course I'm right. And, if push comes to shove, reach out to him. Don't wait too long, especially since Viv will hunt you down for a progress report."