Lia had expected the day to calm down.
It didn't.
By noon, she was juggling three reports, two urgent emails from Leo, and one coworker who kept "accidentally" mislaying her files. She needed air, just a minute to breathe.
She slipped into the quiet hallway near the executive lounge… and nearly collided with Leo Grant.
He caught her wrist before she could fall back.
"Are you always this clumsy," he murmured, "or only around me?"
Heat shot to her cheeks. "Maybe you're just always in my way, sir."
One corner of his mouth twitched. Not a smile—Leo Grant wouldn't dare.
But something dangerously close.
"That's bold for an employee under contract."
"It's a workplace, not a battlefield," she muttered.
"With you," he said, stepping closer, "it feels like both."
Her pulse jumped.
Too close. Too intense.
And absolutely not allowed.
She pulled her hand back. "If you have work for me, just say it."
Leo held her gaze a beat too long… then handed her a USB drive.
"There's confidential data here. Only you handle it. No one else."
"Why me?" she asked.
"Because I trust you more than the others."
His voice was low, certain.
Her breath caught. Trust? From him?
"But be careful," he added, eyes darkening.
"If you lose this, the consequences will be… significant."
Their fingers brushed as she took the drive—light, accidental, electric. It shouldn't have meant anything. But Lia felt it. And from the way Leo's eyes lingered on her, he felt it too. Disaster was imminent. And they were both flirting with it already.