Against My Better Judgement
735 Words
Zara tried to focus on her screen, but her thoughts kept drifting—back to the elevator, back to Aiden’s nearness, the heat of his gaze, the unspoken something that had passed between them in that tight space.
She hated that she was affected.
Her fingers hovered uselessly above the keyboard as her mind replayed his words. You surprise me, Zara Morgan. Why did he sound like he meant more than just her work performance? Why did it feel like a challenge… and a compliment?
“Focus,” she muttered under her breath, shaking herself mentally.
But the words on her screen blurred, the meeting notes she was supposed to be drafting growing colder by the second. It was impossible to concentrate with the memory of Aiden’s smirk playing on a loop in her head. The way his voice dropped an octave when he was trying to get under her skin. The way her heart had betrayed her and fluttered when he leaned just a little too close.
She pushed back from her desk with a frustrated sigh. Maybe she just needed some air.
But as she stepped out of her office, she nearly collided with Aiden himself.
He stood there, phone in one hand, a folder in the other. His tie was loosened slightly, the top button of his shirt undone, making him look infuriatingly… approachable.
“Oh,” she said, startled.
He raised a brow. “Going somewhere?”
“I could ask you the same thing. Don’t you usually haunt the top floor?”
His lips curved, amused. “I’m everywhere. But I was actually coming to see you.”
Her stomach flipped.
“You were?” she asked, cautiously skeptical.
Aiden held up the folder. “We’ve got a situation with the Henderson account. I want your take.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You have a whole team of analysts. Why me?”
“Because they’re trained to give me what I want to hear. You, on the other hand…” He smirked. “You have a talent for being brutally honest. Even when it’s inconvenient.”
Zara blinked, momentarily thrown off by the backhanded compliment.
He gestured toward the conference room. “Come on.”
Why does everything feel like a test with him? she thought as she followed. But deep down, she knew the answer: because it was. And somehow, she kept passing.
Inside, the room was quiet. He handed her the folder, and she scanned the data quickly, her eyes narrowing.
“This pitch is too aggressive,” she said, flipping a page. “Henderson’s board leans conservative. They’ll see this as reckless, not innovative.”
Aiden leaned back in the chair, watching her like she was solving a puzzle he didn’t quite understand. “So, what would you do?”
Zara exhaled, then began outlining a revised strategy—one that offered flexibility without sacrificing vision. As she spoke, Aiden said nothing. Just listened. Really listened.
When she finished, he nodded. “You’re good at this.”
She looked up, surprised. “Is that your version of praise?”
“It’s my version of truth.”
The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, it was charged.
Zara gathered the papers slowly. “If that’s all…”
“Wait,” he said, his voice softer now.
She froze.
“I want to ask you something. Off the record.”
She turned slowly, unsure of where this was going.
“Do you always assume the worst of people?” he asked. “Or just me?”
The question hung in the air like static. Zara’s mouth opened, but no words came. She didn’t expect that.
“I don’t know,” she admitted finally, quietly. “Maybe I’ve had reasons to.”
Aiden’s gaze didn’t leave hers. “Fair enough.”
But she could feel it again—that subtle shift in energy, the way her body tensed around him, not in fear or anger anymore, but anticipation. Confusion. Want.
She turned to go, and his voice stopped her again.
“For what it’s worth,” he said, “you’re not easy to ignore, Zara Morgan.”
She didn’t look back. If she did, she wasn’t sure what would happen next.
But as she walked out of the room, she felt the echo of his words settle beneath her skin—and she wasn’t sure she hated it.
- Writer
