His Innocent Love | 18+

Chapter 9

I'm storming over there before I can stop myself.

"Saw—um, Mr. Mills!" she says, going wide-eyed as a blush rises in her cheeks. "Hi, um... would you like to join us?"

I don't look at her. I can't. My resolve will crumble the moment I do. And then this will seem like a really, really bad idea.

It's already starting to feel that way, in fact.

"Tate," I bark, ignoring her. My voice is loud and abrupt, cutting through all the nearby chit-chat of the cafeteria. "Where have you been? I need papers for the Nakamura file."

"I wanted to talk to you about that..." he begins, his eyebrows knitting together in a look of concern.

Does he want to talk to me? Oh for crying out loud. What now?

"Mr. Mills," says Mia. "I mean... Sawyer? Are you okay?"

Her voice is small and worried, and I really should have done a better job of thinking this through. Now she probably thinks I'm some kind of tyrant—or some kind of crazy person—barging in and yelling at employees on their lunch breaks. And maybe I am. That's how I'm feeling at the moment, and it's the way other people nearby are looking at me, too.

"I'm fine," I lie, not wanting to focus my wrath on her, though the words come out snappish. "How are you getting along, Mia?" I ask, still too sharply. "I noticed you misfiled some things in the cabinet."

"I did? Oh no, I'm so sorry." Her tone is hushed and worried, and her eyes fill to the brim with unshed tears. "I'll fix it. I promise I'm doing my best."

This was exactly what I'd wanted to avoid. This is why I didn't even speak to her at first.

Why am I talking to her like she's a disobedient child? Probably because I want to spank that little ass of hers.

She starts placing things on her tray as if she's going to get up and leave right now. "I'll go fix it right away."

I sigh and lower my voice. "Never mind," I say, doing my best to make my tone less confrontational and stopping her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Enjoy your lunch. It can wait."

"Anyway, boss," Tate interrupts. "So what I wanted to say. About Nakamura. He's apparently thinking about moving his business elsewhere. The discount we offered is apparently not going to work out for him."

I turn my attention from Mia back to Tate, and I start to get angry all over again. Why was he telling me this now? So detached and nonchalant, as if everything we do doesn't depend on this account?

"And you decided to wait to tell me this?" My voice is starting to rise again, but there's not much I can do about it. I'm fucking pissed, and the anger is building with every word that comes out of my mouth. "What were you thinking? Don't you understand that this is a crucial account for Mills Inc. to keep happy?" I hiss. I don't want to cause a scene, but what the fuck, Tate?

"Yes, sir." He stands up slowly, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, sir." I shoot a look at him that I hope is as frightening and ugly as I intend for it to be. He finally seems to get the message and snaps to attention like an army private talking to his commanding officer.

Well, good. He fucking should. Should goddamn fucking salute me. I pay this kid a lot of fucking money to do his job, and that job doesn't include sitting around flirting while there's important business to take care of.

"I'll see you upstairs in the office," I growl at him. "Bring me the special from the cafeteria and some coffee, stat."
"Will do, boss," he answers. In fairness, he's not low enough on the totem pole to have to fetch my lunch, but I'm mad as hell, so today, he's That Guy.

He knows it, too. He looks more than a little chagrined, while poor Mia seems devastated. I know that in her mind I'm probably coming off like an ass, but this is a critical account. Does Tate think that a place like this runs on government handouts or something? Of course, we have billions in investments but we have to keep the lights on with accounts.

"Enjoy your lunch," I tell Mia, "and you know what -- don't worry about the files. I'll have them sorted. Just ask Aileen about the filing system before you file anything else."

"Thanks," she squeaks. "I will. And sorry again."

I turn on my heel and it's only when I'm in the elevator that I start to feel like a total ass.

Sure, Tate made the wrong decision in not informing me about Nakamura's misgivings right away, but I don't know when he found out. Mia is just a new intern. I have to make sure that she's not going to David and telling him that I'm acting like an asshole. It would be nearly as bad as going to David and telling him that I want to bend her over that lunch table and play with her clit as I fuck the life out of her sweet slit.

I put my head in my hands as my cock hardens.

I'm not even surprised that my thoughts have turned to sex with Mia at this point. It seems as if ever since she has arrived, my cock has been hard. It's starting to feel like I'm in high school again, and while that would usually sound like a good thing, it's really fucking miserable when you can't do anything about it. I'd call up one of my friends-with-benefits, but something is stopping me there too. It just won't feel like it would with Mia.

The simple truth is that I can't go to David and tell him anything about his daughter that isn't one hundred percent professional. But I also can't stop thinking about her in a way that's completely unprofessional.

And it only seems to get worse with every day that passes.

Fuck.

How the hell did I get myself into this mess?

A quick, efficient knock on my office door pulls me from my thoughts.

Tap, tap, tap.

I know without looking or answering that it's Tate. It's his knock. It's simple, it's effective. It gets the job done.

Up until today, until this very moment, I would've said it's completely reflective of his personality and the way he carries himself at work.

Now, I'm not so sure.

"Come in," I call out.

Most of my earlier anger has left my voice. I'm still irritated with Tate for a couple of reasons, but I just don't have the time to carry that around. There's more important shit to take care of right now.

The door opens and Tate's head pops around the corner. "Hey, boss. I've got your food and coffee here."

I motion for him to come inside and he closes the door behind him before crossing the room and gingerly setting the food in front of me. And just because being an ass isn't quite out of my system, I let him stand there for about thirty seconds in silence before I look up at him again.

He looks nervous, and he damn well should be. I even surprised myself with how angry I got, especially in front of other employees. That's not really my style. But I'm not going to fire Tate—not over this. I'd be a fool to get rid of one of the best minds on my team, and he probably knows that, too.

But it doesn't mean I can't make him sweat a little. That part, in my mind, is wholly justified.