Smiling, Miles shook his head again. “No, it’s my natural color. My eldest brother has the same hair.” Granted, his hair was pretty unusual: brown with gold or red highlights depending on the lighting. At least it was thick and manageable enough and the color went well with his green eyes, so Miles was far from complaining. He didn’t suffer from false modesty. Everyone in his family was blessed with excellent genes, and Miles was no exception. He knew he was attractive, but he wasn’t anywhere near as attractive as his brother Ryan, whose looks put Hollywood stars to shame. People literally tripped and stared when they saw Ryan. It was beyond hilarious. Compared to Ryan, Miles was just okay-looking, but it was probably unfair to judge people by such high standards.
Sofia opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Jayne’s shout. “Sofia, the boss is back and is looking for you!”
“Hmm, he’s back early,” Sofia muttered, frowning and standing up. “I wonder if something went wrong… Let’s go, Miles.”
Miles stood and hurried after her, feeling curious and a little anxious. Over the past few days, he’d heard so many different things about Caldwell that it was difficult for him to piece together the various bits of information into one coherent picture. Not to mention that his promise to Derek and Shawn made him twitchy and flustered, as if Caldwell would take one look at him and guess that he had been sent to sort of spy on him.
Spy on him.
Fuck, what had he gotten himself into? He was no James Bond. In fact, his poker face was non-existent. Miles had always preferred being honest and straightforward and liked it when people acted the same way.
“Wait here,” Sofia said, leaving him at her desk before striding confidently into the CEO’s office and closing the door.
To kill time, Miles pulled out his phone and started texting his brothers.
Hmm, Ryan wanted to propose to his boyfriend… Wasn’t it a bit too soon?
Miles quickly did the math in his head and realized with some surprise that Ryan and James had been together for two and a half years already. And considering that Ryan and James had been attached at the hip since they were kids, it was probably about time, actually.
Raised voices made Miles flinch and look at the door. He could hear snatches of the conversation now.
“I don’t care, Sofia. Find me one now.”
Miles bit the inside of his cheek, recognizing that hard voice.
Sofia murmured something Miles couldn’t hear.
Caldwell said, “He’ll do.”
There was the sound of high heels on the polished floor before the door opened and Sofia emerged out of the office, a look of discomfort on her face.
“Something wrong?” Miles said, glancing at the closed door.
She winced. “Not sure yet. Basically, the boss’s assistant finally snapped and had a nervous breakdown. He’s in no state to return to work for a while, and Mr. Caldwell needs a PA as soon as possible.” She looked at Miles with a sheepish expression.
“Please tell me you didn’t volunteer me,” Miles said faintly. When Sofia didn’t deny it, Miles shook his head. “I have no experience at being a PA, Sofia. He’ll kick me out within a few hours.”
“Well, on the bright side, you’ll make more as his PA in a few hours than you’ll make as an intern in a month.”
Realizing that she wasn’t joking, Miles could only stare at her. Seriously?
She grinned. “That’s one heck of a silver lining, isn’t it? That’s why I suggested you.”
Miles was touched. Sofia knew about his stolen wallet and the fact that he was a little strapped for cash at the moment, since he hadn’t actually bothered to tell his family about his troubles.
“All right, go. He’s waiting.”
“Now?” Miles said, glancing at the door.
She laughed. “No, next week! Go, he isn’t a patient man.”
“That’s really encouraging,” Miles said dryly before squaring his shoulders and striding toward the door.
Here goes nothing.
He entered the office and closed the door carefully before looking at the man seated behind the massive oak desk.
Dark suit. Piercing blue eyes framed by dark eyelashes. Ian Caldwell.
Miles swallowed.
“Hello, I’m Miles Hardaway,” he said, his gaze dropping to Caldwell’s gray tie. A blue one would have suited him better, would have brought his eyes more. Not that a gray tie made his eyes unnoticeable; far from it. Caldwell’s eyes were strangely intense despite being completely unreadable. It was hard to look away from them, and Miles found his gaze being dragged back to them, against his will.
He’d never seen eyes so intense. Derek Rutledge’s black hawk-like gaze came close, but not quite.
The silence stretched.
And the longer it lasted, the more unsettled—and curious—Miles felt. Caldwell’s gaze definitely could be called a stare now, which didn’t make any sense. If he didn’t know better, he might think Caldwell was into him, but by all accounts, the man was completely straight.