COREY: TODAY

(Present Day)

San Francisco, California

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MORNINGS LIKE TODAY made me question the so-called "geniuses" who created social media. I was sitting in my office, halfway listening to a clueless interviewee tell me what little she knew about the tech industry.

Dressed in an "I'm the SHIT" T-shirt and khakis, she was conducting a "Reasons Why You Should Totally Hire Me at Walters, Inc." presentation with pink glitter posters and Facebook page printouts—all while snapping selfies every few seconds and giggling like a teenager.

Refusing to believe she'd graduated from college, I glanced at her application to see how old she was.

Twenty-seven.

I shook my head and leaned back in my chair. I was somewhat grateful that I didn't have to give her my full attention since I was still having a hard time getting this weekend off my mind.

It'd been four days since Hayley crawled on top of me in bed, and the memory was making itself at home in my brain instead of getting the hell out.

I could still hear her soft moans in my ear, could still feel the wetness of her pussy against my fingertips. And the very thought of her plump lips against mine had forced me to take two cold showers this morning and six in total yesterday.

Knowing that she was going to be working here only made me envision the two of us entwined in places the security cameras couldn't see.  But since the Human Resource portal had listed Hayley "Smith" as a new hire in Jonathan's department, I was happy to know I wouldn't have to see her every day whenever she started working here.

"Now for my last part of my presentation!" The brunette's shrill voice brought me back to reality. "I invite you to look at poster board number four. This is my top ten list of things that I think will make your future, private company better."

I blinked to make sure I was reading the words right. The third thing on her list was "Making all the hard, techy words easier for people like me to understand.  #breakitdown #nobodyunderstandsthatstuffanyway"

I couldn't take anymore. I raised my hand before she could discuss the fifth thing on her list.

"That's enough, Miranda."

"It's Mariah."

"Close enough." I shut her file. "You can go now."

“You’re not going to let me finish showing my proposal? I’m not done.”

“I’ve heard more than enough.”

“How? You cut me off twice in the middle of my presentation!”

“Because you stopped to send text messages on your phone.”

“Those weren’t text messages.” She scoffed. “It was Snap-Chat. If I don’t post an update every hour, my followers will worry about me.” She held up her phone. “I wrote, giving a kick-ass interview with THE Corey Walters at Statham Industries. Hashtag, I’m focused. Hashtag, Getting a new job today. Hashtag, He’s so sexy. See?”

I rolled my eyes. “How many followers do you have?”

“A hundred, but that’s five more than I had last week. They usually increase whenever I post shots of my bra. Speaking of which, where’s the closest bathroom?”

“Okay.” I flipped her resume over. “It’s been interesting meeting you, Miss Thomas. I’ll be in touch.”

“That’s the end?”

“No, it’s the beginning.”

“Really?” She smiled. “So, do I just pick up where I left off?”

“No, that was sarcasm—one of the things you mentioned being well versed in, ironically. Your interview is over. You can leave.”

“Now?”

“Right now, preferably.”

She sucked in a breath. “You know, I used to really admire you, Mr. Walters.”

“Don’t forget to take your glitter posters with you.”

“When I read that you were starting your own firm in TechCrunch and using your office here for interviews, I thought you would be open to hiring someone like me. Someone young, motivated, and willing to help you grow your social media followers.”

“I don’t have a social media account.”

“That’s exactly why you should hire me, don’t you think?”

I tapped my fingers on my desk and waited for her to stop staring at me. I was pretty sure she expected me to let her challenge my decision, but I wasn't the type. I'd sat through thirteen interviews this morning, and her interview was sadly one of the better ones.

“The door is right behind you, Miss Thomas,” I said. “Would you like me to open it for you?”

"For the record," she said, huffing as she walked toward my door. "I didn't really admire you. I've heard you're an asshole, and I heard your big ego is a cover-up for having a subpar cock." She stormed out and attempted to slam my door, but it was too heavy, so she simply threw up her middle finger.

I called my secretary, Tillie.

“Yes, Mr. Walters?” she answered on the first ring.

“Was Miss Thomas the last interview I have scheduled for the day?”

“Yes, sir. Which ones would you like me to send follow-up letters to?”

“None,” I tossed all the resumes into the trash. “But can you please call HR and tell them to stop fucking with me?”

“Absolutely.” She laughed. “I’ll do it right now.”

I ended the call and hit "not interested" on every one of their online applications. Years ago, I might've considered giving a few of them a chance, but I wasn’t that type of man anymore.

I’d become far more ruthless, but it wasn’t by choice. Always by circumstance. Whenever I was nice and accommodating, people took advantage—begged for more than they deserved. When I was firm and unrelenting, people took only what I gave and never asked for anything more.

“Don’t make me call security on you!” Tillie’s loud yelling suddenly made me look up. “You can’t just go into his office without an appointment! Stop! Stop!”

Deep laughter followed from the intruder, and I didn’t have to guess who she was talking to.

“I need a favor.” Jonathan walked into my office. “Actually, I need three favors.”

“Sir, Mr. Statham completely disregarded me and barged right past the reception area.” Tillie rushed in behind him. “I tried to stop him this time.”

“That’s more than okay, Tillie. We both know Mr. Statham has the mind of a toddler when it comes to getting what he wants, whenever he wants. Next time, please call security. He deserves to be kicked out of one of his own buildings at least once.”

“I will.” She glared at Jonathan before shutting the door.

“Like I was saying,” he said, laughing, “I need three favors.”

“I’ll consider doing one.”

“Fair enough.” He took a seat in front of me. “Before I get to the favors, did you manage to hack into the security cameras from Hayley’s hotel?”

“I did.”

“Well, did you notice anything? Was someone else with her when she got back from that art auction party?”

"I didn't. Nothing at all." I'd hacked into the hotel's system and deleted the hell out of that footage seconds after I left her suite that night. I highly doubted Jonathan would've believed any of my reasons for carrying a passed-out Hayley across the lobby and up to her suite.

Especially since she was wearing nothing but my jacket at that point.

"From what I saw, she was dropped off by a town car, and she went up to her room alone," I said.

“Good to know.”

“What’s the first favor, Jonathan?” I asked. “Whose life am I ruining today?”

"I'm saving all the life-ruining requests for tomorrow." He smiled. "Number one, can you pull up some information on a woman named Kelly Proby? She's one of Hayley's friends—or "non-friends" as they call each other, and I want to make sure I know as much as I can about her before putting her on the payroll here."

"I'll have her background to you in an hour."

"Favor number two—"

"I told you I'm only doing one."

"Since Claire said yes, will you be the best man at my wedding?”

“I already said yes to that.”

“I’m just re-confirming.”

“Or stalling because you know the third favor is the worst one.”

“It’s the best one.”

"I doubt it."

"Can Hayley live in your house with you for a while?"

What the fuck? "What did you just say?" I set my coffee down, certain I'd heard that wrong.

"Can Hayley stay at your place for a while?"

"As opposed to staying with you and Claire, at your house?"

"Claire has every room in my house under renovation, and I'm tempted to sue her for the ongoing construction noise myself." He shook his head. "That won't work. Besides, you’re single and you have an entire house to yourself."

"What about all the other places you own in this city?" I was prepared to print out the damn list.

"Where do you think the construction crews are staying?" He raised his eyebrow. "There's thirty of them so far with fifteen more coming in this weekend, so all my places are full."

I blinked again. "I don't think so. No."

“Why not? I thought you two used to get along well.”

A little too well ...  "I just don't think it's a good idea. The Four Seasons suite and the house you just bought her days ago are far more accommodating places for her to stay while she's in town."

"Okay, look. The truth is, Hayley doesn't want to live in the house I bought her until her friend gets here," he said. "And I've received six phone calls this week from the hotel's manager. Apparently, she's been sleepwalking down to the lobby every night and having loud, screaming fits in her sleep."

"That sounds like a medical problem." A problem YOU need to solve without my house being involved.

"It is a medical problem," he said. "She was fine for years, but I guess the issues are back since she's been off the meds for a while now. My doctor won't prescribe new medication until he sees her a few times in person after his vacation." He looked concerned. "She claims she's never slept in a place alone before—hence wanting Kelly to be here for her to move into the house. So, what do you say?"

Fuck no. "Jonathan—" I debated saying what was really on my mind, that her living under my roof in any capacity would be an act of torture for me, far worse than what I was going through after seeing her once. "I don't know if she'll feel comfortable in my space."

"She'll love your space." He insisted. "You're both minimalists at heart, so I'm sure she'll appreciate it. You also have one of the best views of the ocean. Besides, I think she could use a friend while she transitions here since I'll be busy planning my wedding and finalizing the Mexico expansion."

I didn't get a chance to get a word in.

"It'll only be for a few weeks. I spoke to Kelly earlier, and she may get here sooner than planned," he said, pulling out his cell-phone. "I can pay you in advance for any additional expenses you think she'll cause you."

How much are weeks of fucking blue balls worth? I sighed, not saying anything.

“Your sister once lived with me for a few weeks when she moved here,” he said. "You didn't have a problem with that."

“She had an entire wing of your house to herself, Jonathan. This isn't the same thing."

"Then add an additional wing to your house."

I gave him a blank stare. Sometimes I had to wait a few seconds to see if he was sarcastic or dead-ass serious, because he was the type of man who would decide to add on an additional wing to his house today and have it built tomorrow.

"Have I ever told you that you have a unique way of threatening people, Jonathan?" I asked.

"I haven't threatened you." He smirked. "Yet."

I rolled my eyes. "She can stay, but please tell her that there will be rules. Lots of rules, especially since I host meetings with my partners on Sundays and my team comes over for prep sessions on Fridays."

“Thank you, Corey.”

"You're not welcome."

He smiled and shook my hand, effectively sealing the worst deal I'd ever made in my life. I would've stood up and walked him to the door, but my cock had been rock hard the moment he asked if Hayley could stay with me, the moment I realized my best friend was fucking me over.

Laughing at my weak handshake, he stood to his feet. “She's insisting on continuing to go by Hayley Smith since she thinks people will treat her differently if they know she’s my sister. I don’t think that’s true at this point, but do you think they would?”

I gave him a blank stare.

“Okay fine. I won’t mention her to anyone except my advisors, then. Everyone knows I have a sister, though.”

“They know she lives on the east coast—supposedly, has never been seen at any of your public events, and she hardly ever comes here. If they were to know that she’s here as an employee, her new life would be instantly miserable because everyone will think she’s your little spy.”

“Don’t they think that about you?”

“They should.” I pulled my drawer open and handed him a folder of reports. “But they don’t. Any other deals you want to force me to do with last minute notice?”

“Well, since my secretary is out sick today and you’re offering, I’d like you to order me some lunch.”

“Get the hell out of my office, Jonathan.”

He laughed and headed for the door. "I do have one last thing, a question."

“I’m listening.”

“Last night, Hayley mentioned that she used to sneak out at night and hang out with you when she was with her last foster family. I know it was long ago, and you left Ohio for college shortly after I did, but do you have any idea what she’s talking about?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I think she’s mixing up her memories, as always. I would’ve thought she was out of that phase by now, though.”

“You and me both.” He held up the folder and stepped into the hallway. “Thanks for helping me out. I’ll see you around whenever.”

I waited until he left the building and leaned back in my chair. There was no way I could handle having Hayley in my house every night. Even without seeing her today, she'd already made me lie to my best friend twice.

What’s worse, was that I knew exactly what she was talking about regarding those late nights, long ago.

She’s not mixing up her memories at all.