The Bad Boy's Crush

#4 - Her Boss?

One chance! That is all Chloe had ever asked for to make something of herself, to follow her dreams and yet the universe seemed ready to tank all her efforts barely a day on the job meant to make that happen. Had she somehow committed some grave sin against the powers that be? If so, she was so ready to apologise.

“You know, I could probably point you in the right direction of where you want to go if only you’d ask.” Cooper, as smug as Chloe remembered him, caught up and offered, but she kept walking, still stunned at the turn of events. This was so not happening!

She could picture Ava with an I told you so look aimed at her, but maybe that was the least of her concerns right now.

Of all the places she could have ended up, Cooper's home should not even have been remotely possible. And neither should she have run at the sight of him. But what else could she do when the shock of seeing him again came with knowing that she could not have him even if she wanted to. Because this time it was not some random girl at some party, but her future boss. The first step to the future she had worked so hard for.

The memory of their linked hands and Sara's bright smile that obviously said how happy she was with Cooper, made Chloe make a sharp turn. She was totally clueless of where she was headed in this impossibly big mansion, but she had to get away. From him. Her bright future depended on it. She had come too far to let him or her stupid aching heart ruin it.

“Will you stop for a minute?” A hand reached for her and spun her around, making her crash into a chest, the action sending her gasping at the contact. The jerk smirked at her reaction. And how in God’s name did that still do things to her?

“Let me go!" Chloe hissed even as she struggled to ignore the mass of muscles she’d not been prepared for when Sarah Hawkins had invited her to meet their first ever client. Surely six months couldn’t possibly be that long for anyone to have changed this much? When she’d met Cooper the first time, he’d been an unforgivably handsome sight and now he was- what the hell did they call someone who made your panties want to melt with one simple look? It didn't even matter that the look had been full of surprise.

“Chloe…”

“I am not talking to you.” She hissed again, pulling herself free of Cooper’s grip before that sinful sound of her name from his lips made every part of her melt into him instead and possibly kiss her future at Hawkin's group good bye if she got caught.

“I just need to wet my face okay.” She needed more than that. As the shock of how insanely good it felt being in his arms again registered after pulling away, realization that she’d been lying to herself a hell of a lot hit her like a bus and she couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Please."

“Right this way.” For once, of which Chloe was grateful, Cooper led her wherever she needed to be quietly. She didn't expect to go up a long winding glass staircase though. Neither did she expect Cooper to lead her straight to his bedroom.

“Take your time,” he grinned as he opened the door to a gigantic room that judging by the many photos on the wall bearing Cooper’s very defined face belonged to him.

“I’m not going into your room.” Chloe panicked, thinking of what Sara would think if she found her in her boyfriend's bedroom. She wanted to ask him that too, but she was met with that annoying smirk that said she had no choice.

“Not the way I dreamed of having you in my room, but it will have to do.” He’d dreamed of having her in his room? Chloe felt her belly flutter stupidly. Of all the things that her head could have picked on. "Bruce will be here if you need anything." She turned to face the giant of a man who'd been quietly following them and almost asked Cooper to stay instead. Almost...thanks to her brain that pointed out that he probably needed to get back to his girlfriend. The truth of that stung and she masked it with her own annoyance.

"I do not need anyone to baby sit me, thank you very much." She scowled, but that seemed to have the opposite effect when it brought Cooper closer to her than she would have liked. Not that she was complaining. Of which she should have, but he smelled so damned good it should have been a crime in any universe.

“I’m not letting you escape me, Morgan.” Morgan... Her father's name had never sounded so sexy and that smell of alcohol and coffee on his breath brought life to parts of Chloe's body that had no business responding to him. He was taken for crying out loud!

"I'm not here for you." She wanted to step back, but her feet chose the worst moment to forget how.

"You are here. That's all that matters." Cooper stepped into her, his eyes taking her in as if he'd just found something he had been searching for. But that couldn't be right because it had taken him a good five seconds to forget all about her after stealing her first kiss.

The memory of it had Chloe slipping into Cooper's room and once she was safely locked behind his bathroom’s door, she felt her eyes water. She was so screwed!

She did not want to feel the way she was feeling, but what the hell was she supposed to do when he stared into her eyes like that?

She turned on the tap and splashed her face with cold water hoping it would snap her out of her troubles. It did not do a damn thing. Cooper Wright was clearly her kryptonite. She could already feel the cracks in her resolve to stay far away from him.

“Depending on how successful this goes, which I have no doubt it will, our families will soon be talking about a closer relationship than just business." Chloe thought she had finally come to a point where she could stomach being in the same room as everyone, but those words coming from Cooper's father and the proud look he had on as he practically announced an engagement between their two families made her steps falter.

"There you are!" She'd been about to do a u-turn when Sara ran to her, oblivious of her aching heart. "Mr. Wright can't wait to see what we have to offer." A folder was pushed into her hands, catching her by surprise.

"I-I thought you were doing this." Sara had clearly stated she would be doing the presentation before they left the Hawkin's office and she'd spent the entire way here buried in it. Being asked to do it now was a recipe for disaster that would leave Chloe forever embarrassed and possibly with no hope of ever being hired anywhere in Hazelmond.

"Oh, I changed my mind." Sara walked back to her seat that was obviously next to Cooper. "I guess I just wanted to make sure that I spend every second here next to my partner before mother and father decide its time for us to leave." The Hawkin's heir smiled shyly, earning herself beaming expressions from everyone in the room. Well, Chloe couldn't be sure it was everyone as she made sure not to look at Cooper, afraid of what she would find.

"These are not final, but they do give a pretty good idea of the vision we plan on working with." Chloe's heart ached and she had no clue of what the hell she was going to say, but thanks to the designer in her, she knew a thing or two about working with what she had. And right now it was her photographic memory that allowed her to pick enough details from the designs she was passing round for everyone to see. And as she delved into the world she loved with a passion that was as deep as the oceans, not even the ache in her heart could stop her from bringing those designs to life.

"Excellent!" Martin Wright, approval written all over his face, spoke first once Chloe was done. "I have no doubt that you Miss Morgan will be a worthy asset to my son and our Sara here as they put Wright Corp. and the Hawkin's group on the map of the fashion industry."

"I'm sorry, your son?"

"That's right, my dear. This being a new venture, we are letting it grow together with the future of Wright Corp." Cooper was going to be her boss? Chloe felt herself pale.