Between The Lines

CHAPTER FIVE: Terms & Conditions

The conference table was a mess.

My blouse was buttoned all wrong. My skirt felt twisted. My legs? Still shaking.

Callum stood at the glass wall, shirt untucked, hair ruined by my hands. He was sipping water like he hadn’t just turned the room into a scene from a forbidden fanfik.

I sat on the edge of the table, blinking up at the ceiling, trying to remember how to be human again.

He turned to me with a smirk. “Regrets yet?”

“Only that I didn’t wear prettier underwear.”

That earned a low, throaty laugh. “Noted for next time.”

I rolled my eyes and started fixing myself properly. Blouse. Skirt. Hair. Lipstick.

Then—tap tap-tap.

A knock on the conference room door.

I froze.

We both did.

Claire’s voice floated through, muffled but far too clear:

“Mr. Hayes? You asked me to print the Lockhart files.”

Callum's eyes widened a fraction. Then he mouthed the word: s**t.

I scrambled, diving behind the glass podium like I was dodging bullets. My heel clattered to the floor — loud. Obvious.

Another knock.

“Sir? Everything okay?”

He moved fast, stepping toward the door like he had not just made a meal out of his assistant on a table built for board meetings.

“Just a moment,” he called out smoothly, adjusting his cuffs like a devil in disguise.

He looked at me once more — hair wild, lipstick on his jaw, tie nowhere to be found.

And then he opened the door.

“Claire,” he said coolly. “Sorry, I got caught up in... strategy.”

She blinked. “You look—uh—warm.”

“It’s a heated pitch,” he deadpanned.

I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop from laughing behind the podium.

Claire handed him the files and left without looking behind her.

The door clicked shut again.

I peeked out from hiding.

“She’s so suspicious,” I whispered.

He walked toward me, slid the files onto the table, and leaned in. “She’s not half as suspicious as she’s going to be after our next meeting.”

I stood, slowly. “You realize this can’t keep happening.”

“I know.”

“We’ll get caught.”

“I know.”

“This could ruin everything.”

He reached for me again, fingers brushing my waist. “Then let’s stop.”

I held my breath.

He paused.

We stared.

Neither of us moved.

Then I shook my head. “You first.”

And just like that...

He kissed me again.