Chapter 1

Three months at this company, and my pay had already tripled.

The badge had a lead title on it now.

Everybody was sure I was sleeping with Mr. Holt.

All I have to say is this.

Your guess is unhinged.

The most he and I had ever touched was last month, when he handed me the top-performer award and his hand hit mine by accident.

He apologized on the spot. Like he'd just graduated finishing school.

There was only one reason I kept getting promoted and paid.

Mr. Holt could hear my thoughts.

And every day, in my head, I tore him apart.

· · ·

Three months in. Pay, tripled. The badge had gone from ops associate to Trust lead.

Same blue lanyard. I'd chewed the edge until it frayed.

Now the whole office thought Mr. Holt and I had a thing.

Version one. The year-end awards. Kieran Holt passed me the trophy, and his fingertips dragged the back of my hand. Two full seconds. There was a photo. The pixels were so bad it looked like we were already in bed.

Version two. Every day I walked into the CEO's office at three and walked out at four. Kieran Holt came out with his ears red, or rubbing his temples, like someone had wrecked him.

Version three was the wild one. I was the stand-in for the girl he never got over. The second she flew home, I'd be sentenced to the copy room.

All I have to say is this. If you're going to make it up, get the basics right. Mr. Holt and I shared an elevator for under three minutes. By the time it left your mouths, the kid would be old enough to buy his own beer.

The truth: the most Kieran Holt and I had ever touched was last month, when he gave me that award and his hand hit mine by accident.

He pulled it back like he'd been burned. Low. "Sorry." The tips of his ears went red. His eyes went somewhere else. Pure, like he'd never touched a woman in his life.

He was so committed to being a gentleman that it was a waste he didn't teach the whole office a manners class.

The real reason I got promoted, nobody would believe.

Kieran Holt could hear my thoughts.

And every day, in my head, I cursed him out until there was nothing left.