Tempting You

A week before Christmas, I was fired.

In the biting December wind, I ran to my best friends house, my vision blurred by hot tears. Stella, my boss stole my concept and made me the scapegoat! I swear, I hope he gets stuck in holiday gridlock with explosive diarrhea!

Through my tears, I reached out and grabbed what I thought was my best friends waist. It felt remarkably solid, hard, and a bit broader than usual.

I looked up, blinking through my tears. "Did you grow taller?"

Stellas voice floated from across the room. "Youre hugging the wrong person, Hazel. Thats my brother."

1

You really couldn't blame me. What kind of grown man wears a fluffy, neon pink cartoon pajama set?

After wiping my eyes and shoving my glasses back onto my face, the image came into sharp focus. Sitting on the sofa was a man with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and endlessly long legs. He possessed a cold, aloof face that looked like it belonged on a high fashion billboard. Somehow, he made that ridiculous pink fleece look like haute couture.

I forced a strained smile. "Rowan, when did you get back from London?"

Rowan tilted his head slightly, his gaze dark. "Just now."

No wonder he looked exhausted. Jet lag.

Clearly, my timing was terrible.

I stood up to leave, but Stella grabbed my arm. "Look at the blizzard outside. You can't even get an Uber. Where are you going to go?"

Without waiting for an answer, she tossed a fluffy neon green pajama set at me. "Here, matching family outfits. I bought one for you too. Youre sleeping in my bed tonight."

I stared at the neon green monstrosity in my hands. It was the exact same style as Rowans.

Except his was "Macho Pink" and mine was "True Love Green."

I hesitated. Putting this on felt like a permanent vow of celibacy.

Before I could react, the pajamas were snatched from my hands.

Rowan stood up. At six foot three, his presence cast a heavy shadow over me.

Right in front of my eyes, he stripped off his pink pajama top, revealing a chiseled torso with an absolutely sinful eight pack.

Before I could properly appreciate the view, he swiftly pulled on the green top.

"You wear the pink one."

He shoved his discarded pink top into my hands. It was still warm from his body heat, carrying his signature scent of crisp cedarwood and winter air.

The heat radiating from the fabric flushed my cheeks instantly.

Rowan was already heading up the stairs. He threw a final sentence over his shoulder. "I need to catch up on sleep. Try not to demolish the house, you two."

I buried half my face into the pink fleece, whispering to Stella. "Is your brother into me?"

Stella rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck.

"I told you to make a move years ago and you said it wasn't appropriate. Well, now its too late."

2

Rowan had returned to the States for a blind date. An arranged marriage setup.

The prospective bride was Victoria, the only daughter of the biggest venture capital firm partnering with Rowans family. Ivy League educated, brilliant, and drop dead gorgeous. She was immaculate from her manicured toes to the crown of her head.

The rumor was that the parents had set it up. If they clicked, an engagement would be announced before the New Year.

Equal status, powerful families. A perfect alliance.

The thought of this absolute god of a man becoming someone else's husband made my chest tighten until I couldn't breathe.

The pain of being framed and fired was nothing compared to this.

Stella showed no mercy, delivering the final blow.

"You coward. I told you to confess, but you kept making excuses. Look at you now. Your dream guy is getting married, and the bride isn't you."

I mumbled something pathetic, thinking to myself: With my background, even if I had the guts to confess, would he ever look my way? I was just being realistic.

A wet, handsome head poked out over the second floor railing. "Stella, come find me some clothes."

"Busy!" Stella shouted without looking up from her phone. "Ask Hazel to do it!"

Silence from above. I panicked and started to decline.

Stella yelled up the stairs, "Hazel won't help you either. Just stay naked!"

A long pause followed. Then, Rowans voice drifted down.

"Hazel." His low, magnetic voice had a hook in it, coiling around my eardrums. "Please."

3

I was a regular at the house, but I had never stepped foot into Rowans bedroom.

Fortunately, the layout was familiar. I opened his walk in closet. It was filled with rows of identical loungewear, differentiated only by subtle shades and fabric textures.

Before I entered, Rowan had ducked into the master bathroom.

I called out, "Rowan, what color do you want?"

"Anything."

I grabbed a white set. The bathroom door cracked open, and I passed the clothes through the sliver of space.

A moment later.

"I don't like this one."

Fine. I grabbed a black set.

As I pulled it off the shelf, the hem of a shirt caught on a delicately wrapped box. The box tumbled to the plush carpet, popping open. A corner of an envelope peeked out.

The envelope looked incredibly familiar. I gently pulled it out and felt like I had been struck by lightning.

It was the love letter I had written to Rowan back in high school.

"What are you looking at?"

Rowan had stepped out of the bathroom and was leaning against the doorframe, watching me.

Startled, my hands moved faster than my brain. I shoved the envelope up my sleeve.

"Nothing," I stammered, gripping the box like it was an active explosive. "Rowan, whats in this box?"

"Old things. I don't remember."

A wave of relief washed over me. Thank God he didn't remember.

He walked past me, plucking the black clothes from my frozen hands. He was wearing nothing but a low slung white towel around his hips.

Droplets of water dripped from his damp hair, sliding down his chest and disappearing beneath the edge of the towel.

"Are you planning to stay and watch me change?"

Rowans fingers moved to the knot of the towel.

I dropped the box and bolted from the room.

4

Rowan was Seattles newest, most successful tech mogul. The golden boy.

As for me, to put it nicely, I was from a single parent household. To put it bluntly, I was a wild kid nobody wanted.

Rowan was the bright moon in the sky. I was the stray cat in the alley.

My love for him felt like an insult to his status.

But I didn't always have this kind of self awareness.

Back in high school, when I became friends with Stella through an academic decathlon, everyone whispered that I was a social climber, latching onto a rich girl to change my destiny.

Young and arrogant, I wore my courage like armor. The gossip didn't affect me.

Stella and I walked to school together, studied together, and complained about the cafeteria food together.

In our senior year, we won the national science championship together.

Stella said to me, "Thanks to the genius for carrying me."

I replied, "Thanks to the heiress for buying my lunch."

Standing on that podium, I crushed every insulting word ever thrown at me beneath my worn out sneakers.

That was also the day I met Rowan for the first time.

5

We used our prize money to throw ourselves a tiny celebration.

We ate street tacos and drank cheap soda. At two in the morning, Stella and I were sitting on the curb in our school uniforms, looking like two abandoned garden gnomes.

Rowans sleek black car pulled up right in front of us.

Long legs, tailored dark suit, the wind catching his hair under the warm glow of the streetlights.

He bent down, looking at Stella and me the way someone looks at two stray puppies.

I hiccuped. I hadn't had a drop of alcohol, but I felt completely intoxicated. "Stella, this guy is gorgeous. I want to kiss him."

Stella looked up, let out a piercing shriek, grabbed my arm, and dragged me down the street.

I didn't understand. "Why are we running? I haven't even gotten his number yet!"

Stella gasped, "Are you trying to die? Thats my brother!"

The result was the two of us cornered in a dark alley by Rowan. He grabbed us each by the scruff of the neck and threw us into the back of his car.

We got a brutal lecture for staying out all night.

I don't remember a single word he said. My entire brain was chanting: God, hes so hot. I really want to kiss him.

By then, he was a junior at Stanford, already launching his first startup, a rising star in the business world.

With his brilliant mind, stunning looks, and elite background, he naturally attracted a legion of admirers.

I whispered to Stella, "Can I try to pursue your brother?"

Stella was adamant. "Yes! Go get him! Seduce him!"

Fearless, I actually wrote a love letter and secretly slipped it into his jacket pocket.

Silence.

I refused to give up. I wrote a second one.

Before I could deliver it, my backpack was snatched by Brooke, the school bully, on my way home.

Laughing, she pulled out the medication I had just bought for my grandmother.

Three hundred dollars a box. Insurance didn't cover it. I had used all my prize money to buy six boxes. A six month supply.

It was my grandmothers lifeline.

Brooke put her boot on the box. One hard press, and the capsules would be crushed.

"Look at you, dreaming of dating Rowan. Do you really think you deserve him?"

She held the other five boxes hostage. "Want them back?"

Yes.

"Eat the love letter, and Ill give them to you."

Youthful pride is both fierce and fragile. But a high school crush meant absolutely nothing compared to my grandmothers life.

I ripped the envelope open, shoved the paper into my mouth, and chewed. Along with the paper, I swallowed my affection, my courage, and my dignity.

I turned around and saw Rowan standing at the end of the alley. He was bathed in sunlight, glowing as always.

I stood in the shadows, utterly pathetic.

I never spoke of my feelings again. I wasn't worthy.

6

Rowan disappeared early the next morning. So, as an unemployed freeloader, I comfortably buried myself under the duvet in Stellas guest room, staring at the ceiling and sighing.

Stella swatted my arm. "Stop sighing. Im going to go rip your ex-boss a new one."

No need. Anyone who develops software leaves behind a few hidden bugs just to survive.

Near noon, my phone finally rang.

Gavin, my former boss, sounded like his pants were on fire. "Hazel, Im downstairs at your apartment. Im picking you up for work."

I scoffed. "Gavin, did you forget you fired me? Youre the lead developer on this project now. Stay away from me."

Gavins voice grew more frantic, bordering on begging.

"Hazel, Queen Hazel, I messed up. We have a final review with Deep Blue Capital today. If you don't help me present the backend, Im finished!"

"Thirty thousand dollars. Deposit it now."

Gavin ground his teeth. "Deal."

Hanging up, Stella looked at me with pure disdain.

"And you were cursing him with diarrhea? Youre the ruthless one here. But... do you know who owns Deep Blue Capital?"

I didn't.

But I found out very quickly.

In the Deep Blue conference room, I took a seat behind Gavin. I looked up and met Rowans freezing cold eyes.

My heart did a backflip. Hiding behind Gavin, I did a quick Google search on my phone.

Deep Blue Capital. CEO: Rowan Pierce.

I didn't know what was wrong with him today, but he stared at me the entire time, looking like he wanted to burn holes through my skull.

I sat on pins and needles, presenting the project while desperately trying to recall if I had done anything to offend him last night.

I didn't think so.

"Ms. Davis, I understand you recently lost your job. What is your relationship with Mr. Gavin?"

After the presentation, Rowans first question silenced the entire room.

I thought about it. The most likely scenario was that he knew I had cursed out my boss last night, and now I was here presenting with him. To a client like Deep Blue, that screamed instability.

Thinking of the thirty thousand dollars I hadn't even warmed in my pocket yet, I took a deep breath and explained.

"Gavin is my boyfriend. Yesterday, we just had a lovers quarrel about personal matters. It has nothing to do with the project. You can trust our stability, Mr. Pierce."

Taking my cue, Gavin nodded frantically. "Yes, exactly! Just a minor spat between a couple. I apologize for any confusion it caused."

To sell the lie, Gavin reached over and grabbed my hand, playing the role of the reconciled lover.

Rowan said absolutely nothing. He stood up coldly and walked out of the conference room.

The rest of the executives were stunned.

They exchanged glances: Do we sign this contract or not?