Mine for a Moment

I can feel Archer’s eyes on me as I take notes as quickly as I can throughout the meeting, barely able to keep up. There are only six of us in this meeting, and I’m more nervous than I’d care to admit. I’ve done extensive research on the company and its products, and in recent months I’ve tried to pay special attention to everything Archer and Ezra said. Despite that, I still feel a little lost as Dunya, a woman on Mark’s team, gives a presentation on the feedback Serenity Solutions has received from the businesses that use our payment solutions.

Halfway through the presentation, Archer rises to his feet, and everyone falls silent. I follow him with my eyes as he makes his way through the room and takes a small remote control out of his pocket. He uses it to move a few slides back and sighs. “Payments failing is absolutely unacceptable,” he says, his expression hard. “Design flaws I can live with, but this isn’t one of them. This is a critical flaw. A payment failing immediately makes a retail customer uncomfortable, makes them wonder if our system is reliable. In turn, it just makes the businesses we work with lose faith in us. Hearing this is caused by a slightly too thick layer over the reader is simply ridiculous.”

I’m transfixed as he questions Mark and Dunya on the quality control of the product before it was rolled out. I’ve never seen Archer at work, and it’s like he’s an entirely different person. He’s always had a domineering aura, but it’s even more prominent in this environment, and the navy three-piece suit he’s wearing only adds to it.

I suck on my bottom lip and try my hardest to steer my thoughts in a different direction. When did I even begin to notice him that way? It was long before I added his name to my list, that’s for sure. If I’m truly honest with myself, he occupied my thoughts more this weekend than Theo did. Him finding that list took the edge off my heartache, gave me something else to focus on. Over and over again, I replayed the moment that Archer told me I must know him better than he knows himself, effectively telling me I was wrong to think he couldn’t want me. His words just ignited my fantasies, and all weekend, I kept thinking about what it’d be like to be with him. He kept my mind off Theo without ever even touching me at all.

“Recap the issue for me, Serenity.”

My eyes shoot up to his, and his expression softens a little. His shoulders relax, and he leans back against the wall as he watches me. There’s something different about the way he looks at me now, and I try my best not to read too much into it.

“There were three primary concerns the way I understand it. Our key concern relates to core usability, as payments have been failing more frequently than is acceptable in our latest model, causing harm to our reputation and our relationship with customers. This should be our primary focus. Secondly, there appears to be a design flaw in our chargers, making it so they no longer sit flush on customers’ counters. This will be easier to fix, but I doubt there’s a way to fix this for customers who have already bought our point-of-sale system. Offering a new charger model could do further harm, since it’ll seem like we sold them a less-than-ideal product, only to then charge more to make it more aesthetically pleasing. On the other hand, recalling products isn’t really an option either. Lastly, we appear to have gotten a higher-than-normal amount of complaints about the battery life of our new POS system when used without its dock. It’s heavily impacting those that primarily sell at conventions or pop-up stores, where they may not have access to a charger.”

Archer glances at his watch and smiles. “Less than three minutes,” he says, before turning to Dunya. “If our brand-new intern can summarize our issues in less than three minutes, why did it take you twenty?”

Dunya’s expression falls, and he sighs as he runs a hand through his dark hair. “I need a summary and solutions on my desk by noon. I only attended this meeting because I expected you to have solutions for each problem you presented—so find them.”

Archer’s eyes meet mine as the meeting concludes, and some of the frost in his expression melts. My heart begins to beat a little faster when the edges of his lips turn up into the slightest smile. There’s something oddly thrilling about the way we’re hiding that we know each other, and it makes my thoughts turn to where they shouldn’t go. My gaze involuntarily roams over his body, and I tear my eyes off him.

“Theo and you are so lucky,” Mark informs me as we gather our things. “It’s very rare that interns get to work directly with the CEO, but I’ve been involved with this project for a while now, and I’m glad Mr. Harrison is allowing Theo and you to join me on it. You’ll learn so much.”

I nod and force a smile, unsure what to say to that.

“He seems like a tough and unforgiving boss,” Theo says, his tone conflicted. His gaze flicks to me, almost like he’s trying to get a read on my reaction to that.

Mark raises a brow and smiles. “I guess it’s his good looks that make people underestimate him. Honestly, between our two CEOs, Mr. Sterling is definitely the kinder one. I suspect that’s why he leaves the company’s management mostly to Mr. Harrison.” He leads Theo and me to our new desks and smiles. “He tends to have high expectations, but every single time I’m in a meeting with Mr. Harrison, I walk away having learned something new. Sometimes it’s about our products, but often it’s things like today—like how you shouldn’t walk into a meeting with your boss and present problems without proposed solutions.”

I nod, unable to suppress a sliver of nerves. Seeing Archer in that room just now made me realize that he isn’t just my brother’s kind best friend, and I guess it’s the same for Theo. We both seemed to have forgotten that Archer is a ruthless self-made multimillionaire who’s likely well on his way to becoming a billionaire. He is clearly well-respected and well-loved, but more than anything, he’s unattainable. What was I thinking, adding his name to my list? The more I think about it, the more mortified I feel.

I tuck a stray curl behind my ear and take a deep breath as I clear my mind and begin to tackle the list of things Theo and I were told to set up today, only for a notification to pop up from the company’s instant messaging system.

Archer Harrison

meet me in the garage at six. We need to talk.