Under Her Read online

  I swallow roughly, and he takes a step back and runs his hand through his hair.

  “But you know what else I told her?”

  Dumbly, I shake my head.

  “I told her that I don’t care. Whatever your problem with me is, well, it’s your problem and not mine.” And then he’s gone, striding off back to the party. Back to his brunette.

  “But that’s the problem,” I whisper to his back. “You didn’t care. You hurt my feelings, and you just didn’t care.”

  I don’t bother to knock on Morgan’s office door. I just walk straight in.

  Her head comes up from her computer, her eyes narrowing with anger on me.

  I have flashbacks to college and her looking at me that exact same way on many occasions.

  Dislike and disdain.

  And, just like it bothered me then—not that I ever let her know that—it bothers me now. Even more so.

  “I’m busy,” she says.

  “This won’t take a minute. What you just saw in my office wasn’t what you thought it was.”

  She barks out a laugh. “So, you weren’t just about to fuck my assistant.”

  “No.” I grit my teeth. “I’d just come out of my bathroom after showering and—”

  “Often take showers during the day, do you?”

  “When I’ve just done a workout in the gym on my lunch hour, yes, I do.” I pause, gritting my teeth. I take a deep breath in through my nose and then exhale it out. “Look, Sierra and I have…a past. A short past. We slept together once before she started working here.”

  “And you just didn’t bother to tell me?”

  “I didn’t think it was any of your business.”

  She laughs. “Typical, Wilder.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means, you never think further than the end of your cock.”

  I grind my teeth. “Honestly, I didn’t want to cause a problem, and I knew, if I told you that I’d slept with her the night before you came in for that first meeting—”

  “Hang on.” She holds up a hand. “Sierra was the reason you were late for our meeting? She’s the one who left that note on your shirt?”

  I realize what I just let slip, and my balls shrivel up into my body. “Yes.”

  She lets out a sound of disbelief, shaking her head.

  “I would never have touched her if I had known she was going to start working here.”

  “Yet you were just naked in your office with her pressed up against you.”

  “That was all her. She was waiting for me. I hadn’t invited her, and I sure as hell didn’t want her there. But she wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

  “So, she overpowered you and pressed you up against the wall?”

  “I wouldn’t say overpowered—”

  She laughs derisively, cutting me off. “You can go now. I have work to do.”

  “Don’t fucking do that. Don’t dismiss me like I’m your assistant.”

  “Well, don’t screw my actual assistant in your office in the middle of the day, and maybe I won’t!” she yells, rising to her feet, hands pressed to the desk, her face red, eyes bright with anger.

  “I didn’t screw her!”

  “Only because I interrupted you!”

  “I wasn’t going to do a goddamn thing with her! Aside from the fact that she works here and I never touch employees, I never ride the same roller coaster twice.”

  “God, you’re disgusting. Same game, different place. You’re working your way through the female population of Chicago just like you worked your way through Northwestern.”

  “Except for you, Morgan. I never worked my way through you.”

  Her jaw clenches, working angrily. “Only because I saw right through you. God.” She laughs. “Same old Wilder Cross. And here I was, thinking you’d changed. You sure had me fooled.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means, you’re still the same shallow, self-centered, womanizing asshole that you were in college!”

  “Yeah, and you’re the same stuck-up, judgmental bitch that you always were!”

  “Fuck you,” she spits.

  “Original.” I laugh. “But maybe that’s the problem, Morgan. Maybe you want to fuck me, and you can’t. Maybe that’s been the problem all along. You wanted to screw me in college, too, and that was why you were so bent out of shape all the time.”

  Her eyes narrow like lasers. I know I’m being a dick, overstepping the mark, but she pushes my buttons like no one. She’s always been able to push my buttons.

  “God, I hate you,” she bites.

  I narrow my gaze on her. “The feeling is one hundred percent mutual, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t call me that. I’m not your sweetheart.”

  “Thank God because, if you were, my balls would have frozen off by now.”

  Her eyes close, and I hate that I can’t see what she’s thinking. She exhales slowly through her nose and then opens her eyes.

  “Anything else?” Her tone is so even, you wouldn’t think we were just tearing each other to shreds.

  “No.”

  “Good.”

  Her eyes move to her office door, and I take the blatant hint.

  I’ve just opened the door when her voice hits my back. “Where’s Sierra?”

  I glance at her over my shoulder. “I sent her home for the rest of the day.”

  She laughs softly. “Figures.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that you do what’s best for you and screw everyone else.”

  That’s like a match to my simmering flame. “Fuck you, Morgan. You don’t know the first thing about me. You don’t get to come in here and speak to me like this after five minutes of working here. Yeah, you might be co-CEO or what-the-hell-ever, but this company is mine, and irrespective of what you think just happened with Sierra in my office, I deserve some fucking respect from you.”

  She sniffs. “Respect is earned.”

  I give her a pointed look. “Yeah, it fucking is.” Then, I spin on my heel and slam her office door behind me.

  I march to my office, ignoring Chrissy, who’s finally reappeared at her desk.

  I slam my office door shut, stride over to my desk, and sit down in my chair.

  I’m seething.

  Who the hell does she think she is? She might be hot, but she’s still a bitch. God, I hate her.

  Well, I don’t hate her. But I want to.

  I’m sick of lusting over her.

  And, after today, with her talking to me like that, screw that, I’m done.

  I want her gone. From this office and out of my life and my thoughts.

  My initial instinct to get rid of her was the right one.

  And I will do whatever is necessary to make that happen.

  I need ideas on how to get rid of her from here, but I can’t think of any because my mind is too damn twisted up with her to think straight.

  I turn to my computer and open up my email. I start a new email, addressed to Coop and Dom. My fingers angrily hit the keys as I type out a message to them

  Me: SOS. I need ideas on how to get rid of her.

  Coop replies almost immediately.

  Coop: Am I right in guessing that her is Morgan?

  Me: Yep.

  Coop: I thought you were getting on okay with her?

  Me: I was, but then she caught me in my office with Sierra.

  Coop: Were you fucking her?

  Me: No, asshole, I wasn’t. And I wasn’t planning on fucking her either. Sierra turned up in my office when I got out of the shower, and she tried to seduce me.

  Coop: You should have fucked her.

  Me: Dude. Can you stay focused here?

  Coop: Okay. Sorry…but what do I need to focus on?

  Me: Getting rid of Morgan.

  Dom: Just playing catch-up. And, dude, you want to get rid of Morgan? You don’t mean…kill her, right? Because I love y
ou, man, like a brother, but I’m too pretty for jail.

  Coop: No, I’m too pretty for jail. You’d just be the nerd they beat up every day for fun.

  Dom: Fuck you.

  Coop: You’re not my type, nerd boy.

  Me: Jesus Christ! Can we please get back on topic?

  But, before I do…no, Dom, I don’t mean I want to kill Morgan. You really need to stop watching Cold Case. It’s scrambling your brain.

  I want her gone from the business, as in fired. But I don’t know how to make that happen. Especially not now, as she came up with this really great idea for the business, and my mom and dad love her even more for it.

  Coop: So, sabotage her great idea. Make her look incompetent. Then, your mom and dad will fire her.

  That makes me sit back. Could I actually do that? Sabotage her business idea?

  No. Not only for the fact that I would never do anything to hurt the company, but I also couldn’t do that to her.

  Me: No…I can’t do that.

  I shut my email down and turn my chair so that I can look out at the city below me.

  I feel a lot calmer than I did before, but I haven’t changed my mind.

  I still want Morgan gone from here. I want my life to go back to how it was before she came here and messed everything up.

  I just need to figure out how to make that happen. I need a plan of action of how to get Morgan fired that doesn’t involve fucking up the Ananda deal.

  Morgan is about to learn that there’s only one boss at Under Her Lingerie.

  And that’s me.

  It’s official. I’ve reverted back to my childhood ways.

  When I was in kindergarten, I had this crush on Sandy Harman. She was the prettiest girl in my class. And, of course, like any other five-year-old who had a crush on a girl, I was mean to her. Pulled her pigtails, stole her juice box at lunch—that kind of thing.

  Well, I’m reduced back to the days of Sandy Harman, except it’s with Morgan now.

  She might be hotter than the sun, but she’s also the devil.

  The next day after our argument, I was willing to be civil—until I get rid of her, that is. But Morgan apparently wasn’t on the same lines as me.

  We had a morning meeting with finance. And then she accidentally stood on my foot on the way out of the conference room.

  And she just happened to be wearing a pair of five-inch Louboutin heels.

  Forget the fact that those are some serious come-fuck-me shoes, and in any other circumstances, I’d be lusting over her in those shoes.

  But, if you’ve never had a five-inch stiletto heel drive its way into your foot, well, let me just tell you how much it hurts. A fuck of a lot.

  A week later, I still have the bruise on my foot to prove it.

  Let’s just say, I was pissed off after that little incident. So, I might have replaced that powdered milk shit that she puts in her coffee with confectioners sugar.

  The sound of her choking and spluttering in the kitchen was the highlight of my day.

  Well, until I came into work the next day and found that someone had changed the password on my computer, locking me out of my own damn PC. It didn’t take long for IT to sort it out, but it was more the inconvenience that pissed me off.

  I only wish I were there to hear all the calls she must be receiving about the ad for the used vibrator, free to a good home, that had been listed on Craigslist yesterday with her name and number.

  I know I’m an ass, but she deserves it.

  I’ll take the ad down after this morning’s staff meeting. I reckon a day of annoying phone calls is enough payback for locking me out of my computer.

  Maybe, if I’d put as much effort into coming up with a plan to get her out of here as I did with playing stupid pranks on her, then she might have been on her way out the door by now.

  Morgan’s cell lights up with a call on the table in front of her. That’s the third time her phone has gone off since the meeting started forty minutes ago.

  She sighs and reaches over, canceling the call.

  I stifle a laugh.

  Fuck, I love Craigslist.

  I focus back on my mom’s voice. She’s saying something about this year’s targets.

  I was originally leading this morning’s meeting, but somehow, my mom ended up taking over, so I took the only available seat, which was next to Morgan.

  My parents officially retired last week. But they’ve both been in the office every day for one reason or another. I know it has nothing to do with thinking that Morgan and I aren’t capable of running the company—even if, at the moment, that’s questionable, as we can barely hold a conversation without throwing barbs at each other. But I know it’s because my parents are finding it hard to let go.

  Her phone goes off again, and I can’t help but lean close to her and whisper in her ear, “You should probably get that. You don’t want to miss out on a potential sale.”

  She makes a cute growly sound under her breath. Then, do you know what she does? She fucking nips me. Hard. Right on that tender part of my arm, near my armpit.

  I bark out a curse, and everyone in the room turns to look at me.

  “Everything okay, Wilder?” my mom asks me, brows furrowed.

  “Yep.” I clear my throat. “Everything’s fine. Carry on.”

  My mom looks at me for a long moment. Then, she resumes talking, and all eyes focus back on her.

  “That wasn’t very nice,” I whisper under my breath.

  “You deserved it, asshole.”

  “Bitch.”

  “Why don’t you go fuck yourself, Cross?”

  I laugh softly. “Like you do with your vibrator? No, thanks.”

  “I don’t even—” Her voice pitches, and she pauses, reining it back in when Bob from HR looks across the table at her.

  “Go to hell,” she whispers to me when Bob looks away.

  I chuckle quietly. “That’s rich, coming from the devil herself.”

  I see her hands curl into fists on the table, making me laugh again. And I realize just how turned on I am right now.

  I’m getting off on making her mad.

  Jesus, I can’t win here. Will I ever stop lusting after her?

  Yes. When I get her out of here.

  As soon as this meeting’s done, I’m going to work out a plan of action—after I take down the Craigslist ad, that is.

  “Okay. So, that’s it for today. Unless anyone has anything to add?” my mom says, finishing up the meeting. “No? Well, everyone have a good rest of the day.”

  I pick my cell up from the table and put it in my pocket.

  “Wilder, Morgan, have you got a minute?” my mom says from the front of the room.

  I pause. So does Morgan.

  Shit. Does my mom know about all the stupid shit Morgan and I have been pulling on each other?

  “Sure,” I say at the same time Morgan says, “Of course.”

  We wait for the room to clear, and then my mom closes the door.

  “What’s up?” I ask, sitting on the edge of the table.

  Morgan is standing at the opposite side of the table from me.

  “Well, I was talking with your dad—Frank,” she adds, looking at Morgan, “last night about the Ananda deal, and even though everything seems to be running on schedule, we just want you to go out to the factory and check to make sure everything is running as they say it is.”

  “You want me to go to Thailand to do a production check?” I ask.

  I’ve never been to Thailand before. Could be fun.

  I can fuck some hot Europeans and probably even some Australian backpackers while I’m there, tending to business.

  Two birds, one stone.

  My sex life has been on a downward spiral as of late. As in it’s not happening—at all. My cock has gone on some kind of hiatus, thanks to Morgan.

  So, this trip to Thailand, away from the office and Morgan, will be just what I need to get my cock back on his game.

&
nbsp; I’m actually smiling, thinking of all the hot sex I can have in Thailand, when my mom says, “Yes. But not just you, Wilder. I want Morgan to go with you. I want the both of you to go out to Thailand and do the production check together.”

  And, just like that, my happy thoughts are obliterated.

  And that’s how I find myself, four days later, in a taxi with Morgan, on our way to our hotel in San Kamphaeng after the longest flight of my life. And, when I say longest, I mean, because of Morgan. Sure, we had to fly from Chicago to Bangkok and then take a flight to Chiang Mai.

  But I’ve done long flights before.

  It was made unbearably longer by the fact that Morgan wouldn’t speak to me unless it was work-related. According to her, we don’t need to talk about work until tomorrow, so there’s no need for us to talk at all. And, when I have tried to coax her into speaking to me, all I’ve gotten back is, Fuck off, I hate you, or Can’t you just hurry up and die already?

  So, clearly, I’m in for a fun trip.

  But it is partly my fault. She’s still pissed about the Craigslist ad.

  I did take it down straight after the meeting, like I’d said I would, but it seemed some creepers had kept hold of her number and kept calling her at all hours. So, she had to get a new cell phone number.

  Honestly, I feel like a bit of a shit about it now.

  I tried to apologize, but those were the times when she told me to fuck off and that she hated me.

  I just wish we could get back to when we were getting along, and I hadn’t screwed things up with her because of the Sierra thing. And, yes, news flash—I’m taking responsibility for that. Sure, I didn’t tell Sierra to come to my office to try to seduce me, but I also didn’t head her off at the pass. And, if I hadn’t screwed her in the first place or if I’d been honest with Morgan and told her when she hired Sierra, then it wouldn’t have happened the way it did, and Morgan might still be talking to me right now.

  The taxi comes to a stop at our hotel. We’re staying at the Secret Garden Chiang Mai for three nights. I don’t know much about the place because Chrissy booked it for us. All I know is that it’s close to Ananda.

  Hopefully, it has a bar, as I’m going to need a shitload of alcohol to get me through this trip.