Chapter 10 Touched Mr. Moran's Chest

Eliana's POV:

Three hundred million dollars?

I gasped in shock.

"You should consider yourself lucky. Mr. Moran only wants you to clean his office as punishment."

I instantly read between the lines and sneered, "Do you want such luck? I think the cleaner's uniform will suit you better."

"You..." Gabrielle hissed.

I lifted up the uniform and shook it. "Get out of my way. If Mr. Moran asks why I'm late, I'll tell him that you were bothering me."

Seeing Gabrielle forced to swallow her anger, I felt happy and satisfied in my heart. I strode out of the Design Department.

I found Mr. Moran's idea of disciplinary action strange.

I had never experienced such kind of punishment.

But I had to concede that Gabrielle was right. Things could've been worse considering the value of the project that I tanked. Keeping in mind to be at the CEO's office on time, I changed into the uniform and then took the elevator to the top floor.

I knocked on the door of Mr. Moran's office for a while, but nobody answered.

After hesitating for a few moments, I pushed the door open and looked inside. The spacious CEO's office was empty.

Did Mr. Moran decide not to come into work today? Good!

However, the office was really large, and it took me quite a while to clean every single corner.

I sighed, put my hands on my hips, and leaned against the wall to rest.

Then, I heard a soft click.

Before I could process what that sound meant, the wall I was leaning on suddenly swung inward, and I fell backward.

I yelped.

But someone broke my fall, and I fell into his warm embrace.

As my heart leaped to my throat, I slowly looked up.

"Mr... Mr. Moran?"

It was the first time that I had seen his face up close. He was the elegant kind of handsome, and his dark eyes made me think of round, black fishing holes on a frozen lake.

Maurice had his hands on my waist, supporting my weight.

I trembled and pushed him away without thinking.

I had already touched him on his bare chest before I realized what I'd just done.

His jet black hair was damp. He looked like he had just stepped out of the shower.

He was wearing a bathrobe, and although the belt was tied, a small part of his chest was still exposed.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I looked at the wall and realized that it was actually a secret door.

It revealed a lounge inside.

"I'm... I'm so sorry, Mr. Moran. I'll head out now, so please take a step back." I averted my gaze and tried to organize the wasteland that had become of my thoughts.

Instead of letting me go peacefully, Maurice stalked toward me.

I was forced to step back, and soon, I was backed up against his desk.

He kept silent, so there was no way for me to know what he wanted. "Do you want me to clean anything else for you, sir?" I asked.

I struggled to spit out the words that threatened to clog my voice box.

Maurice braced his hands against his desk, trapping me in front of him.

He'd gone so close to me that I could feel the heat coming off his skin.

I raised my head.

He was looking down at me.

We were almost touching.

Our faces were close enough for us to share breath.

The smell of his cologne and aftershave made my head spin and my cheeks burn.

I held my breath, and my body stiffened.

"Were you peeping in my lounge?" Maurice's hot, minty breath blew on my face.

My heart raced even faster.

I tried to keep calm. "No, sir, I was just..."

And I didn't mean to touch his body. I was just trying to stay on my feet.

Maurice smirked, "Do you like what you see?"

Well... He wasn't half bad...

Wait.

His voice. Why did it sound so familiar?

Before I could answer that question internally, I felt my face go numb and my scalp tingle.

Maurice stood up straight and started untying the belt of his bathrobe. His voice was lazy and hoarse. "Would you like to see something else?"

Something else? What did he mean?

Chaos continued to ensue inside of me, but I kept my mask of professionalism. "I think you may have misunderstood me, Mr. Moran. I'm not interested in you."

But Maurice just kept his eyes on me and still refused to let me go.

"Mr. Moran..."

Suddenly, the door of the CEO's office swung open.

Seeing us, a woman with a bunch of documents in her arms froze at the door.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I'll come back later!" The woman closed her eyes, apologized, and practically ran away, shutting the door behind her.

Oh, my God! She must have misread the situation.

Finally able to muster my guts, I pushed Maurice away, gathered my stuff, and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Maurice suddenly ordered.

I was completely pissed off. I glared at him and was about to curse at him.

Then, he said coldly, "Clean the bathroom."

In the blink of an eye, he switched from being flirtatious to being authoritative.

Was he bipolar or something?

I bit my lip and began, "After I finish cleaning here, will I be absolved..."

Would I really be completely forgiven after this?

Maurice turned his head to look at me. "Well, can you pay the loss you caused my company?"

I couldn't. It was impossible. Where on earth could I possibly stumble upon three hundred million dollars?

I shook my head in response.

Maurice remarked flatly, "Yeah, I didn't think so."

He smiled, and his extremely handsome face reminded me of winter thaw and the first whisper of spring.

I was gobsmacked for a few seconds.

Once again, Maurice walked toward me and pinched my chin. He looked into my eyes with his dark, evil ones. "How about you be my woman and you can consider your screw-up pardoned?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and shook off his hand.

Was that what he thought of me? That I was the kind of woman who would use her body to get out of trouble?

"Mr. Moran, can you match a man-whore in bed?" I rolled my eyes, picked up my cleaning tools and supplies, and headed to the bathroom.

Two hours later, I returned to the Design Department exhausted.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I was surprised to see Preston's name on my screen.