All Chapters of The CEO's Little Secret: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Zach walked into the erotica department office the next day with a more relaxed spring in his step. He had gone home the previous day and decided that he did want to be the next intern to make it through the year without quitting. After all, all he was doing was editing story drafts, he could use those skills in another job that wasn’t related to erotica. He sat down at his desk and switched on his computer, ready to take on any challenges waiting in his inbox. “Good morning,” Becca called out from her desk. “You look like you’ve decided to accept your fate as an erotica department intern.” That was certainly one way to term it. “I’m just considering the editing skills and experience I will gain,” he replied. “It’s just editing someone else’s work. The fact that it’s mostly smut doesn’t make much of a difference.” Becca gave him a thumbs up. “That’s the spirit. I’ll start forwarding you some applications.” The contents of the f

Zach spent most of the work day with his head in a daze. He was still shocked and processing the heavy burden he had agreed to. Even the worst written smut wasn't enough to pull his mind from its panic induced stupor. He edited with automatic reactions and his brain was very emotionally detached the whole time. He didn't wake from his daze until he was out of the office and was standing outside the flower shop that was around the corner from Harper Publishing's offices. It was his favourite flower shop as it stood out from the sea of modern and sleek glass fronted office buildings in the city and looked like it had been pulled straight from a country painting with yellow brickwork and hanging baskets of flowers anywhere. Zach hesitated outside and inspected the bouquets in one of the displays outside. The person who he shared his apartment with liked having a pot of flowers on the kitchen table to make their apartment look more homely. Zach also liked visitin

Zach returned to the erotica department office as the lunch hour ended and slumped onto his desk chair. He had just signed a legal contract. Their arrangement wasn’t just some unofficial thing that he didn’t have to keep to anymore, he was legally bound to it.At least there was light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what happened, if Darien never changed his ways, he still had a guaranteed job at the end of it. That was a relief to know.How was the arrangement even supposed to work out? He hadn’t been given any directions from Darien.They had exchanged basic contact information, but there had been nothing else decided. Zach had noticed that he didn’t have long to return to the office before the end of the designated lunch break and they had both been keen for him to pass by the secretarial office whilst it was still empty. The less witnesses to their meeting, the better.The other members of the office trickled in at that mom

“Where did you get all those desserts from?” Emilia asked the following morning. Zach looked up innocently from his bowl of cereal. He had forgotten to consider that Emilia would have some questions about the sudden appearance of a plethora of desserts in neatly packed boxes in the fridge. The fridge had been fairly empty so there had been plenty of space to fill. “I went somewhere last night and picked up a lot.” He knew it sounded extremely implausible the moment he said it. He just wasn’t cut out for being a good liar. “Right,” she said very skeptically. “Sure.” He carried on eating his cereal and hoped she would drop the subject. Emilia snagged the jar of strawberry jam out the fridge and came to sit opposite him at the kitchen table. “Did you not want to make me any desserts ever again or something?” she asked. “I wanted someone to share them with,” he replied quickly. “I’ll take some to work today to free up some space.”

Their first stop was the hotel to check in and deposit their luggage. Zach wasn’t too surprised to find that Darien had booked at the most expensive hotel in town. He could tell just from the exterior that it was a five star hotel. “I booked the room in your name,” Darien said as they walked through the plushly carpeted entrance. “I’m paying though.” Zach opened his mouth to complain about his name being used without permission and closed it again. It was for the best that Darien didn’t use his own name. He was a well known person after all. Something very important came to his mind suddenly. “Are we sharing a room?” he asked suspiciously. “No,” Darien said shortly. “We have rooms next to each other. I’m a private person and the thought of sharing a room makes me feel ill.” Zach didn’t mind that. The thought of sharing a room with Darien was weird. They weren’t close enough to be comfortable sleeping in beds next to each other or using