Page 10 of Not As Advertised

I saw a few mouths open and shut around the table. From my experience filling in for other assistants a few times in the smaller account team meetings, it was unusual for someone other than the heads of departments to speak at meetings. And here was Anne, making a full pitch.

When she finished, Aiden’s eyes warmed with something like admiration. He congratulated her on her ingenious efforts. It was the first time I’d seen his expression as anything other than ruthlessly calm since that first afternoon at the park. The emotion in his eyes made him even more unfairly devastating to look at. A pang of regret struck me since fate had decided I’d never had the chance to know the Aiden Sullivan I’d met that Sunday afternoon.

Anne took the praise humbly like the rock star she apparently was while also emphasizing how Grace was equally deserving of any credit.

I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. Over the past several days, I’d forced my inconvenient attraction to him deep into the back of my mind. Surviving Aiden was necessary, and I couldn’t do that if I allowed myself any real feelings for him.

He was complimenting Anne openly in front of the entire floor. His reaction to Anne’s clearly excellent work had me sinking lower in my chair. Here she was, getting positive feedback when I couldn’t even get a cup of coffee right. I could admit to feeling a bit jealous of the praise.

I also didn’t want my opinion of Aiden to change. Cutting through the hierarchical bullshit of corporate culture gave him too many “good guy” points.

I needed him to stay firmly in the dislike column, despite how gorgeous he was. The less I liked him, the less I had to juggle emotionally. I wasn’t equipped to handle an unrequited crush and to be resilient enough to make it through this period where I made all kinds of professional mistakes.

That kind of pressure was too overwhelming and made me want to shut down mentally. Sometimes, when things felt like too much to deal with, my feelings trended toward numbness rather than the discomfort of feeling so many things at once.

Of course, because I had unusually bad luck, Aiden chose that moment to glance from Anne over to me, that lingering warmth still in his eyes. Locked in his stare, I couldn’t look away. His eyes narrowed just slightly, and something intense sharpened his gaze. But he blinked and smoothed his face into his usual stern expression. His focus might have only been trained on me for a microsecond, but it had my stomach clenching and my body frozen in a mess of emotions.

“Abigail, can you please add an NGO forecast review to my Friday schedule?”

I nodded woodenly, trying to relax my shoulders, which had risen toward my ears under his scrutiny. Had I done something that annoyed him for that warmth to change into a look of something else? Now I was worried I’d made mistakes in my summary of Anne and Grace’s report. Everything Anne had just said tracked with my work. I couldn’t figure out what had put that look on his face.

The rest of the meeting ran smoothly, despite the excitement of the beginning. No one else wanted to get on his shit list. And Aiden seemed to respect everyone’s time as much as he did his own—which was rare in my experience with management. Nope, nope, nope. I wasn’t going to like him.

As people started leaving, Aiden moved quietly over to Phillip and pulled him to the side. Trying to make myself asunobtrusive as possible while tidying the table, I strained to hear what he had to say to Phillip. Apparently, Indie’s nosiness was contagious.

“Listen, Phillip, I’m not a man to look to for second chances. I want to be clear with you. I’m not at all interested in how things ‘have worked in the past,’ nor am I concerned with who good ideas come from. I am someone who expects his senior employees to put their own egos aside and give credit where credit is due. Regardless of your personal ambitions, I expect that evidence-based leads will be pursued and reported. You’ve got one more shot to show me you can adapt, otherwise, I’ll be pushing Jack to offer early retirement. You get me?”

“Yes, sir.” Phillip was doing his best to appear in control, but he was clearly angry, and they both knew it.

It was awkward to be in the room while they talked, but the nosey part of me secretly loved it. I hated when someone’s hard work had been overlooked or dismissed.

To his credit, Aiden didn’t gloat but offered Phillip a firm handshake and walked him to the door.

As Phillip headed out of the doorway, I fought a smile at Phillip’s retreating figure. There was no denying that I’d enjoyed his dressing-down. I didn’t care if that made me petty.

Recycling the last lot of leftover papers from the table and tossing a few rogue coffee cups in the compost bin, I gathered up my laptop and notebook to head back to my desk to type up the official minutes.

When I looked up from the table, I saw Aiden leaning against the doorframe. Confused as to why he wasn’t already back in his lair, surprise tracked its way through my body when he didn’t move aside to let me exit.

“Abigail, a moment. Show me your minutes from the meeting.”

I clutched my notebook closer to my chest. My notes were not for his consumption. They were a cross between meeting minutes and a high schooler–style gossip. I couldn’t even remember what I’d doodled in the margins. Just the thought of all my comments on everyone’s reactions had me embarrassed and off-balance.

“Um, Mr. Sullivan. My initial minutes are very rough. Almost illegible, honestly. I’d rather take them back to my desk and forward you a typed copy within the hour.”

“I didn’t ask you what you preferred. I said to hand them over. Now, please.” He narrowed his eyes. Damn, those displeased eye crinkles were back.

Shit. He had a stern professor vibe going. Fighting the urge to squirm, I handed over my notebook quickly, hoping he wouldn’t see my arm trembling.

I was absolutely not attracted to this alpha-hole attitude thing.

Lies. I totally was. Why did he have this effect on me?

And why couldn’t I put his behavior just now in the asshole boss column?

Careful not to grab it anywhere near where I held it, he took the notebook and flipped through the pages until he got to today’s meeting. He scanned the minutes, not saying anything. His eyebrows arched a few times as he read through my writing.

Nerves kept my body rigid as he read, fighting the urge to fidget while I waited for him to find whatever he was looking for. He could rattle me, but I didn’t have to let him know it.

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