Aria was halfway through a stress-induced bag of peanut M&Ms when the email notification popped up.
Subject: "New Project Schedule: Aria & Ethan"
From: Mr. Lawson
Attachment: Campaign Timeline - FINAL
She groaned out loud, earning a side-eye from Gwen at the front desk.
"You okay?" Gwen asked.
"No," Aria grumbled. "I've been sentenced to creative purgatory with Ethan Cole for the next six weeks."
Gwen laughed. "You two have more sexual tension than a soap opera."
Aria choked on an M&M. "It's hate. I hate him."
"Sure you do."
Aria didn't dignify that with a response. She grabbed her laptop and marched toward the small meeting room at the end of the hall, where the project schedule demanded they hold their first "strategic brainstorming session."
A war room, more like.
She shoved open the door to find Ethan already there, feet up on the table, scrolling his phone. His tie was gone, sleeves rolled up, and there was that infuriating smirk again.
"You're late," he said without looking up.
"I'm two minutes early."
"I run on creative time."
"Well, I run on actual time."
He looked up and grinned. "That's cute."
Aria set her laptop down with a thud. "Listen, Cole. I don't care what your rich-boy, whatever-happens-happens attitude is. This campaign is huge for me. I've worked my ass off for this promotion, and I'm not letting some charming idiot screw it up."
Ethan raised an eyebrow, visibly amused. "Charming, huh? I'll take it."
Aria rolled her eyes so hard she saw stars.
"I'm serious," she continued. "We need ground rules."
"Rules? Lane, you don't fight a war with rules."
"Well, I do. Rule one—no sabotaging each other's work."
He held up a hand. "Fair."
"Rule two—no personal digs about trust funds, late nights, or… frazzled chic looks."
Ethan mock-gasped. "You wound me."
"Rule three—keep it professional. No flirting. No winking. No… whatever weird thing you did in the elevator yesterday."
He smirked. "You mean breathing?"
"Exactly."
Ethan tapped his chin. "Fine. But I get to add a rule too."
Aria narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"Rule four," he said, leaning forward, his voice dropping. "If we're going to work together, you have to stop pretending you don't secretly enjoy our fights."
Her stomach flipped.
"I—what? I do not enjoy—"
"Sure you do," Ethan teased, standing and moving past her toward the whiteboard. "You'd be bored stiff without me, Lane."
He scrawled "Sutton Campaign" at the top, then glanced back over his shoulder. "Come on. Truce?"
Aria hesitated. The last thing she wanted was to admit that, okay, maybe she did find their constant clashing weirdly… exhilarating. But she also wasn't about to let him get the last word.
"Fine. Truce," she muttered, crossing her arms.
"For now."
Ethan's grin widened. "This is going to be fun."
And as Aria opened her laptop, watching him sketch out ideas on the board in that infuriatingly good, easy way he had, she knew one thing for sure.
She was completely, utterly doomed.....