Cruel Heart

PART 8

I don't know, Mia mouthed to Kallie and Sev as she trailed in Harlan's wake to his office.

"So, uh." Mia cleared her throat as Harlan shut the door. She placed the croissant on the corner of his desk, the slate mahogany table bigger than the couch she'd been sleeping on at Ruth's.

"Am I in trouble?" she asked as he took a seat in his chair.

Harlan grinned. "Why do you also assume you're in trouble with me, Fray?" he asked before taking another sip from his coffee.

Mia shrugged. She was still standing in the center of his office.

Is that weird? she thought. Should I be sitting?

Mia slid into one of the oversized chairs flanking his desk. "I don't know," she admitted with a shrug. God, she felt like she was in elementary getting called to the principal's office.

What was it about Harlan Veers that made every encounter feel...vital?

"You're not in trouble, if that eases your nerves," he assured.

It did. Big time.

Mia's shoulders slumped in relief.

She shook her head. "So why did you want to talk to me?" She had to keep her gaze from sliding over to Kallie and Sev on the other side of the glass wall.

If they were trying to be subtle about their gawking, they were doing a miserable job of it.

"I wanted to talk to you about last night," he said.

Mia straightened in her seat. "Oh?" She ran her finger over the hem of her skirt. "I don't think there's that much to talk about." Everything had already been said. By her. In a very dramatic, un-Mia manner.

And then he'd gone off and fucked his pyro of an 'ex.'

Again, why the hell did she care so much? Harlan could be having 70 person orgies and it would be litteraly zero of her concern. And by the sound of what Kallie was saying about his past, Mia wouldn't be surprised if orgies were actually something Harlan did.

Harlan chuckled. "Not much to talk about," he echoed, the words rolling off of his tongue like silk. "I would disagree, Fray." Harlan placed his empty coffee cup on his desk. "I'd like to take you out for dinner tomorrow."

Mia nearly choked on the air. What? She must have miss heard him. "Like a, like a date?" she asked. She had absolutely no control over the quiver in her voice.

The corners of his mouth quirked up in a smile. "Yes, Fray. Like a date."

Mia met his stare. Those midnight eyes were suffocating in the best way. She wanted to say yes. Despite her desperate attempts to avoid drama, she wanted to say yes. But then she remembered Kallie and Sev. More accurately, she remembered what they had said about Harlan.

Ass naked, reaching for the condom, Sev had exclaimed about Lucy and Harlan.

And what Kallie had said about all of his exes. All of them beautiful and clinically insane...

Mia sat back, her brows furrowing. "No thank you, Mr. Veers," she replied softly. She spoke down into her lap. She couldn't meet his stare. "I just don't think we're...very compatible." Translation: I can't date someone I don't trust. I did that with Lake and I'm not looking for a replay. Because we all know how that turned out.

"Ah." Harlan sat back with a nod. His eyes slid to Kallie and Sev on the other side of the window. The two were obviously straining to hear. Kallie may as well have knocked on the door and asked them to speak up.