Danny
We watch the ball fly past the eighth hole and disappear into a bed of grass.
“Shit form today, Walker,” Jack calls out, laughing.
“I’m tired.”
“You mean your dick is tired.”
I look at him wearily. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re too cheery. Smiling at us like a fucking schoolgirl all day even though you’re playing a shit round of golf and even Karl is trouncing you, and he really is shit at golf. Who is she?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m happy; therefore, I must be getting some?”
“Precisely,” Tristan says as he lines his ball up. “You’ve been AWOL all week. She must be hot if you missed our Wednesday man date.”
Jack pretends to cry. “We were devastated you blew us off for a woman, Walker.”
Tristan hits the ball, and we watch as it smacks down close to the eighth hole, much closer than my pathetic attempt. I couldn’t care less if I won this round of golf today.
“That’s how you do it.” He smirks. “So?”
“So what?” I reply, exasperated.
“So who is she? Why are you being so cagey about this one?”
I stiffen, focusing on my golf club. I’m on shaky ground.
I give a sideways glance at Karl, who is trying to hide a smirk. He’s the only one that knows everything.
Don’t fucking say anything. I glare the unspoken words at him.
Since I returned from New York two weeks ago, Charlie has been in my bed every night, give or take a few.
I’ve finally settled down into a routine of being able to let us both sleep by midnight rather than fuck her persistently into morning time.
“I’ve been on a few dates with someone I met at a tech event.” I give my best casual shrug. “No big story.”
The three of them grin at me.
Tristan’s eyebrows raise. “She must be sensational to turn down Mara.”
“She is,” I respond in a low voice as Jack takes his shot. It lands just shy of Tristan’s.
“Well, what’s she like? Give us some details, for Christ’s sake. How old is she?” Tristan asks.
“Twenty-eight.”
“Same age as Charlie,” Tristan muses.
Fuck, I shouldn’t have revealed that.
“That’s a great age,” Jack says. “Everything is still nice and tight. Pert. Nipples facing outwards, not downwards. That’s why you look exhausted.” He grins. “Trying to keep up with a twenty-eight-year-old in the sack.”
“Is the sex good?” Tristan asks.
I flinch. “The best,” I say through gritted teeth.
“That’s it?” Jack looks at me curiously. “That’s all you’re going to give us?”
I fold my arms. “I didn’t think you needed me to educate you on how a dick worked, Knight.”
He whistles loudly. “So rattled. I swear you get grumpier as you get older.”
“Come on.” Karl chuckles, changing the subject for me. “Let’s get moving. I don’t have all day.”
“Maybe you can help me figure out what to buy a twenty-nine-year-old for their birthday,” Tristan says as we pick up our golf bags. “It’s Charlie’s birthday soon. She wrote the song for my birthday; how the hell do I compete with that?”
I frown. I had forgotten it was coming around soon.
Jack rolls his eyes. “You’ll throw money at it like you always do, then she’ll get annoyed and make you return the obnoxious gift that you bought her.”
“What date is it?” I ask as we make our way to the buggy.
“Two weeks, Thursday,” Tristan replies. “She’s having birthday drinks with a few of her friends. I’m going to swing by.”
“Maybe I’ll keep you company,” I say casually as Karl cocks a brow at me.
Yes, Karl, I know I’m a fool that’s going to get caught.
Charlie
“These people.” I scowl at the screen. “Look at this imbecile.”
“Your software is not working on my computer,” Stevie reads out loud over my shoulder. “It’s vague, but what’s the issue?”
“The issue is that he’s not a customer of ours. He doesn’t even have the software installed. So, of course, it’s not working.”
Stevie and Alex laugh behind me.
“You can have fun with this one.”
“These calls cost us twenty-five quid each time, you know.” I start typing a sarcastic reply as they both watch over my shoulder, guffawing loudly like a couple of idiots.
“Uh-oh.” Alex stops laughing abruptly, jumping back into his seat. “Boss guy is here.”
I look up to see Danny and Karl talking by the elevator flanked by the Nexus CFO and Head of HR. Towering over the others, he’s hard to miss. Delicious.
Danny has his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his arms crossed over his chest.
My breath hitches as it always does; dating him these past few weeks hasn’t tamed the flutters in my stomach that happen whenever he enters the room.
Here, he is CEO Danny, not my lover, or dare I suggest, boyfriend, although I know to stay well away from that conversation.
They advance down the aisle, and I watch with amusement as, row by row, postures straighten, conversations stop, flirting ceases, and online shopping carts close.
His eyes are stormy as Damion, the CFO, talks intently, meeting him stride by stride.
When his eyes seek out mine, every hair on my body stands to attention. I smile back, and his expression softens for a fleeting second before he returns his attention to Damion.
We rarely talk in the office. He resides on the top floor making the million-pound decisions, whereas I’m down here hand-holding people through the harrowing experience of resetting their password.
I stare dreamily after him as he marches down the office turning heads. His presence takes up so much space, despite the size of the floor.
People are either trying to escape his line of sight or falling over themselves to get a hello. All man. All mine.
Knowing that I’m the only one in the office that has seen those broad shoulders under that sculpted shirt makes me shiver with pleasure. The other girls can fantasise, and I know they do from all the conversations in the kitchen, but I’ve got the real thing between my legs when I go to bed at night. It’s fucking awesome.
Karl catches me staring and winks.
I avert my gaze quickly back to my screen.
How much does Danny tell him, I wonder?
These past few weeks, I’ve been floating through life, high on daily orgasms and the drug that is Danny Walker.
I’ve spent most nights with him, and on the rare nights we’ve been apart, he’s called me from his bed before I go to sleep.
He’s not officially my boyfriend, and we are still a secret, but things are changing. He has non-dairy milk stocked each time I come round because he knows I prefer it. I have jumpers there and a few swimsuits for the swimming pond. My make-up remover wipes are in his bathroom. He’s given me a bathroom shelf. It’s an unwritten rule that the right side is my side of the bed because I like to face the door.
I’m wrenched out of my daydream by Jackie standing in front of me.
“Hello? Anyone there?” She waves her hand over my face.
“Yes, Jackie?”
“Janet wants the report. Now.”
“I’ve already emailed it to you,” I snap back. “Check your inbox.” I look at her, confused. “Why do you have a full-body spray tan done?”
“Because,” she lowers her voice and moves closer to me. “I’ve been taking minutes in meetings for Danny Walker, and he is all over me.”
Pain shoots through me. “Oh, really?”
“Really,” she emphasises. “Tonight’s the night I make it clear I’m interested. The drinks, remember?”
That’s right, there are free drinks on the top floor bar this evening.
For the umpteenth time since I entered into this thing with Danny, I am crippled with insecurity. Jackie looks a million dollars and me? I’m still wearing my sneakers to work.
He’s not mine. It’s been four weeks, and I’m falling head over heels for him. He has every woman in the goddamn city of London after him. Can I cope with this? What happens when I’m no longer flavour of the month?
An hour later, I’m still on edge, replaying Jackie’s comments in my mind. He’s all over me. Work is piling up, but I’m too upset to focus.
That’s the curse of Danny Walker. He seems to control everything these days, even my productivity.
Mindlessly, I log into OpenMic. I’ve been watching it a little over the past few weeks, and my views are creeping up.
Then I see it.
Two stars.
Worst song ever. Cats fighting in an alleyway would be easier on the ears.
The words jump out and spear me like a knife. No, I’m not built for rejection, either by Danny Walker or some random stranger on the internet.
***
Why is it that the floors get sexier the higher up you go in a building? We are in the top floor cocktail lounge admiring the 360-views over the London skyline. There’s even an outdoor rooftop garden terrace.
The newbies from Dunley Tech are easy to identify. We gawk like we have just landed on the moon.
It’s a free bar, and I’m standing in a group with Stevie, Alex, Jackie, and Aldus, one of the Nexus developers.
Truth be told, the Nexus coders intimidate me. They all come from the same brainiac factory with IQs off the scale, but they all lack the chip that allows them to talk about anything other than I.T.
Aldus is talking about cryptocurrency, and I understand a few words out of every sentence.
“It’s basically the single-best asset that gives the diversity of exposure to crypto,” he explains.
“Really?” I nod, pretending to know what he’s talking about.
Please don’t ask my opinion.
The elevator opens, and out walks Danny, Karl, and the rest of the executive board located in London.
He’s talking to a woman that looks familiar. Where have I seen her before?
It takes me a minute to register that she’s the lawyer from the news article in New York.
They don’t look like they are talking business. She touches his arm, and he throws his head back in laughter.
“Who’s the bitch?” Jackie mutters under her breath as we watch him deep in conversation, enthralled with whatever his female friend is explaining.
“Save me,” Stevie hisses in my ear. “Before Aldus figures out how stupid I am. Bar. NOW.”
“I’m coming too,” Jackie huffs.
As we approach the bar, Dylan the sleazebag is there with other coders. There are twenty shots on a tray beside them, some empty, some spilled, some full.
“Charlie.” He beckons us into the circle, as Rory in his team passes us shots.
“I’m not drinking this stuff,” shrieks Jackie. “Can someone get me a proper cocktail, please?”
“I’ll drink it,” I sigh, taking the sticky shot glass. I’ll need it if I’m going to witness Danny get mauled all night by beautiful women. Besides, the pain of the internet stranger roasting is still too fresh.
Dylan strategically places himself between Stevie and me. “That’s the spirit.” He places his hand on my lower back, too familiar as usual.
“Stop being so handsy, Dylan,” I grumble. “And your bloody hand is sticky from that shot!”
“Ah, come on, I saw you on Tinder, Charlie. Why won’t you let me take you out?”
“No, Dylan.” I snort. “Not happening.”
“What about the date with the doctor?” Rory asks me.
I draw my lips into a thin line. “That didn’t end so well. I’m not even sure he was a doctor. My mate Cat stalked him online.”
“Isn’t that catfishing?” Rory asks.
“No.” Dylan laughs. “All guys do it. We can be whatever the girl wants us to be.” I glare at him. “And that is why we aren’t going out.”
“I’m on the elite singles site,” Jackie informs us. “You have to be invited. You wouldn’t catch me being catfished.”
“What fishing?” a low voice says behind me.
I move over to make room for Danny, who has come up behind Dylan and me. His arm brushes against mine giving me goosebumps.
“Hi, Mr. Walker.” Jackie beams at him.
“You can call me Danny.” He smiles back.
“Danny,” she repeats in her huskiest come-fuck-me tone. “We were just laughing about Charlie getting catfished. It’s when someone creates a false identity to lure you in.”
My cheeks flame. “He lied about his job. I wouldn’t say he took on a separate identity.”
“Do you have an online dating profile, Danny?” Jackie asks, all flirts and smiles. “I’m part of elite singles.”
“No. I’m seeing someone.”
I shoot a sideways glance at him, but he’s smiling back at Jackie politely.
He’s talking about me, right? It’s the first time he has acknowledged us in public.
Her face drops in devastation. “The woman over there?”
He frowns, running a hand over the stubble of his jaw. “Martina? No, absolutely not, she’s my lawyer. We work closely together. I’ve known her and her husband for fifteen years,” he elaborates.
“What’s the company policy on office romances?” Jackie giggles, eyeballing him suggestively.
“There’s no policy. As long as it doesn’t affect your working relationship. We treat our employees as adults.”
“That’s good because Dylan and Charlie matched on Tinder,” Rory chimes in. “A new office romance.”
“Is that so?” Danny says, running his tongue over his teeth.
“We did not match!” I gasp. “I’m not even active.”
“You were active three days ago.” Dylan takes out his phone. “It says so on your profile.” He turns his phone around to show the group my profile.
My eyes dart sideways to Danny. With an unreadable stare, he studies the phone.
My cheeks burn a hot molten. “I think profile shaming a work colleague is against the rules of online dating,” I grit out. “We did not match, Dylan.”
I cross my arms, tutting loudly, as they swarm around his phone.
Dylan swipes through each picture in turn then sucks in sharply. “You look sexy as fuck, Kane. You polish up nicely. Why don’t we see you in those heels and little red dress at work?” He catches himself realising he probably overstepped the mark in front of the boss. “Sorry, Mr. Walker.”
“Put it away!” I yell.
Danny hangs back, raising his eyebrows at me.
“I’m not online dating right now,” I say sternly, addressing the group but looking at him.
He finishes the last of his beer and sets it down on a table beside him. “Look at your messages,” he says in a low voice as he brushes past me to get to the bar. “Unless you’re too busy swiping.”
Confused, I reach into my bag and get my phone. There is a message flashing.
You have Friday and Monday authorised as leave. Tell Janet tomorrow.
I don’t understand. I type ?? and hit send.
He hears a beep and takes it out immediately.
Shit, this is so obvious, but the others are thankfully too busy laughing at my profile.
My phone beeps. I should have put it on silent.
He looks at me impatiently as I turn to talk to Stevie. I’m too paranoid to check it yet. After two minutes, I read the message.
I’m taking you to Scotland this weekend. Keep it between us.
I’ve no chance of playing hard to get or pretending I need to consult my social calendar. Before I can stop it, I’m smiling so wide it reaches my ears.
“See?” Dylan says. “She is happy we matched.”
