Take Me

Chapter Fifteen: Beware

Milo walked into the chaos of the Rebel offices with an extra bounce in his step. Kasey looked up from her desk as he was coming in and paused mid-call. She put whoever she was speaking to on hold and got up, rounding her desk to sidle up next to him.

“There’s something different about you,” she said, assessing him.

“Any messages for me?” He didn’t bother asking about messages for Cassandra because all her correspondents went straight to him. All her calls were rerouted to his phone.

Kasey reached over her desk’s lip to retrieve several pink sheets and handed them to him. “You have several confirmations for PFW and phone calls you need to return, especially to the photographer for the autumn jackets shoot.”

He rolled his eyes heavenward and prayed for strength. “Did the art director change his mind again?”

“Is that from the Hugo Boss Spring/Summer collection?” Garret squealed. His hair was a jaunty canary yellow. Matched with purple suspenders and pink skinny jeans, he looked like he just walked out of a Tim Burton movie set.

The art director’s assistant circled him. Milo endured the scrutiny. They were in fashion after all. Being looked at was part of the job. Especially when he wore a suit that wasn’t even in the market yet. Heat crept up his neck. Kaz. Who knew he was as sexy on the phone as he was in real life?

The man was lethal to the human condition. Milo was fast becoming addicted, and that wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all. Distracting as hell. Still! He never had this many amazing orgasms in his life, and they hadn’t even had actual s*x yet. Oh, his heart. May it survive the s*x god that was Kazuhiko Yuki—

“Oh my God!” Garret interrupted his train of thought with a squeal louder than his previous one. “You got some last night!”

“That’s it!” Kasey pointed at Milo, eyes wide from behind her ironic hipster eyeglasses that were too big for her face. “You have that just-f****d glow about you.”

She and Garret clasped hands and bounced in place as if they had just won a shopping spree inside the infamous Rebel closet.

“Finally,” Garret gasped out, complete with dramatic hand to his chest. “Who is the lucky girl? Huh?”

“It’s about time you got over that bit—”

Milo raised his hand. “As much as I’d like you talk s**t about my ex and bask in the afterglow, you two are wrong. It’s the suit.”

“No.” Garret leaned forward and sniffed him. “I can tell you’ve had at least one orgasm in the last twenty-four hours. Call it a gift.”

Actually, three. But who was counting?

Milo inched away, forcing his hands to stay at his sides to keep from fidgeting with his tie. Could Garret smell Kaz’s body wash on him? He had been sniffing himself like a weirdo during the car ride over and the spicy musk was definitely evident on his skin.

“Is it the person who keeps sending you flowers?”

Kasey’s question pulled Milo back to the comedy show he had walked into. “What flowers?”

Without waiting for the receptionist to respond, he headed straight for his desk. At one corner sat another vase of white calla lilies. They were gorgeous and as elegant as the man who sent them. He snatched the card sticking out of the holder and quickly slipped it out of the envelope. It read: For this morning and for more like it.

The lovesick teenager returned. He pressed the note to his nose as if the paper had any scent other than smelling like paper. Kaz brought out sides of him he didn’t know existed. He was caught up in the pace the man had set, and it should bother him, but it didn’t. What was happening to him?

Cassandra saw the pictures and read the articles like everyone else. Garret and Kasey wouldn’t stop talking about it for days after the news broke. Milo played it off as a publicity stunt like he had been told to do. But he had a sinking feeling they would make the connection soon enough. A two-ton weight sat on his chest at the thought of being found out. What was the worst that could happen?

“In my office,” Cassandra barked as she passed him. “Now!”

Milo hadn’t realized he had been spacing out until his boss walked by in a blur of dove gray leather. He dropped the card on his desk, picked up his tablet, and hurried in after the fuming editor-in-chief. After a morning of spa treatments and a visit to the chiropractor, someone must have messed up to put her in a mood. Heads would roll.

“Close the door,” she said, shrugging off her floor-length coat and hanging it on the rack at one corner of her office. Then she proceeded to tug off her gloves. Everything on her body that day was in monotone, down to the beautiful leather dress with long sleeves and a full skirt that reached her knees. Some might think it was too much, but the whole ensemble was Cassandra to a tee.

He did as he was told and prepared himself for what was to come. Cassandra dropped the gloves on her desk with a thwack. Then she pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed, closing her eyes. Her other hand grasped her tiny waist.

“I take it the spa day didn’t go well?” he ventured as an attempt to undercut the tension already floating in the air.

Cassandra inhaled sharply then sent a punishing glare Milo’s way. “What is going on with you and Kenji Suzuki?”

“What?” His grip on his tablet tightened. That came way out of left field.

“Don’t play ignorant with me, Milo.” She splayed her hands on her desk, leaning forward. “He’s been asking about you.”

“He has?” No matter how hard he tried, his brain kept refusing to engage.

“Now you’re lying to me.”

The accusation snapped him out of his shock. “I’m not lying. Besides a professional relationship, there’s nothing going on between me and Suzuki.”

“Milo . . .” Cassandra sighed out. She straightened in favor of crossing her arms. “I only forgave you for that debacle at the Hugo Boss show because their entire inventory was sold out in minutes. And it’s free publicity for the magazine. But!” She pointed at him. “You know I don’t tolerate crazy behavior from my staff. Especially not from you.”

He swallowed. It wasn’t like he could defend himself. The pictures said it all no matter how erroneous the allegations made in the articles were. Well, except for those who speculated it was a love triangle between him, Kaz, and Tommy. Take his best friend out of the equation and they were two-thirds right. But where did Kenji fit into all of it?

“Look, Cassandra,” he began, reaching for the truth. “I don’t know why Suzuki is asking about me. You know I wouldn’t do anything that would put the reputation of this magazine in jeopardy.”

The chill in her expression warmed a degree. “Then there’s nothing going on with you and Kenji?”

He shook his head, hoping his sincerity showed on his face. “No.”

Then he paused. She needed to know. If this thing with Kaz was going anywhere, she needed to know.

“But there might be something with his business partner.” There. He said it.

A minute must have ticked by. The silence was palpable between them. Then Cassandra laughed. Milo’s face fell in shock for the second time since entering her office. In fact, she laughed so hard she bent over, hugging herself. He was speechless. A stern warning, he was expecting. Even a command to break things off. Certainly not hysterical laughter.

When Cassandra straightened, she swiped at a stray tear that had fallen from the corner of one eye. Then she took a deep breath, a wide smile spreading across her face.

“I don’t care what you do with Yukifumi,” she said. “He’s not in our industry despite being Kenji’s silent partner. I spoke about this with your mother. As long as you keep your private life from interfering with your work, I have no problems with it.”

Relief came so suddenly that he almost lost his balance. His knees refused to work and the muscles in his legs turned to jelly. “Just so we’re clear, you’re okay with me and Kaz . . . I mean Mr. Yukifumi . . .”

“I’m not the one you should worry about,” she said in a sudden shift in mood.

The seriousness in her tone told him what she didn’t have to say. With equal gravity, he said, “My father has nothing to do with this.”

Her eyebrows arched. “You say that now . . .”

"Cassandra." This time, it was his turn to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I left that life long ago and he respects my decision.”

“Just be careful.” She rounded her desk to stand before him. In her motherly way, she cupped his face and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “As much as I love you, you know I can’t protect you from him.”

“No one can.” Milo’s shoulders slumped.

He reminded himself that he was only living this life because his father allowed it. With the exception of his mother, they were all powerless against the might of Archibald McLaren. In fact, the thought of him ruining Kaz’s business if something should go wrong with their relationship chilled Milo to the bone. Refusing to overthink things, he returned to their previous topic of conversation.

“Why the sudden panic over Mr. Suzuki?”

Cassandra let go of him and stepped back, putting her editor mask on. “He has asked that you meet him for lunch today at Katana.”

“That new Japanese restaurant that just opened? I thought it was next to impossible to get a reservation there?”

She waved away his awe. “Apparently, he knows the owner. Anyway, he asked for you.” The knot forming between her eyebrows clearly showed she was annoyed by this turn of events. But before Milo could speak, she said, “I said I didn’t care about what happens to you and Yukifumi, but remember that these two men are best friends. Kenji's been asking about you. Why? I don't know.”

“There’s no reason to suspect that what’s going on with me and Mr. Yukifumi has anything to do with why Kenji is asking about me.” Milo thought back to their first meeting. “He did tease me about being beautiful.”

“In any case, you’re going to that lunch to find out.” Cassandra began sifting through the magazines on her desk. “It goes without saying that you need to keep him happy. After his show at Mercedes-Benz and the haute couture show he will be putting on in Paris, everyone has the House of Suzuki on their radars. We have an exclusive with him. If anything was to jeopardize that . . .”

What she left unsaid was loud and clear. If Milo messed up, his relationship with Kaz would mean nothing. His job would be on the line. What could Kenji want with him?

It wasn’t like they had spoken more than a handful of times after that first meeting. And never did they speak about anything other than work.

“I’ll find out what he wants and see what I can do about it,” he said.

“Good.” Cassandra pinned him with her I-mean-business stare. “Now, we have much to do before you have to leave. Your reservation is at one. A car will be waiting for you outside the building to take you to Katana.”

“Let me print out your schedule for today and grab your messages.” He backed out of the office. His relief at Cassandra’s acceptance of the possibility of a relationship with Kaz was blunted by the mystery of Kenji.

As Milo clicked print, his phone pinged. A message from Kaz. The smile was instantaneous. The entire world faded away.

He opened the text, which read: Dinner at 8. Jiro will pick you up.

And just like that, the buoyancy Milo brought into work with him returned.