A/N: Thanks so much for the feedback to the last chapter! Previously, Hayley was the other applicant for the admin position in chapter one. This has been changed, and now Liv was that applicant. We still will never see her 'on-screen' so to speak.
Thank you to Wifey, D, and Sophie for beta work!
Enjoy!
-Angie
She was so confused. He'd called her Miss Forbes after she'd expressly asked him to call her Caroline, and he seemed formal.
What if he didn't like her? She'd been pretty obvious when she'd made her escape.
Or, she realized, he could have misread it and thought that she didn't like him.
She couldn't say anything to him until he was transferred to the other department. What if she missed her chance? She would think about it more when she got out of her meeting, she decided. Right now, she needed to stay focused.
She walked down the hall to the conference room and took her seat on one of the squishy office chairs near the front next to Rebekah. Bonnie stood in front of the large screen, a remote in her hand, waiting for everyone to arrive.
Caroline shifted in her seat as her friend went through the presentation, highlighting the colors and concepts for the next season. She let herself get absorbed in work to distract herself from her thoughts. When she walked out of the conference room an hour later, she nearly knocked right into Klaus. He reached out to grab her shoulder, steadying her, before jerking his hand back as though realizing the movement he'd made.
"There's been an urgent call from the legal department," he said quietly. "I've cancelled your five o'clock."
"Okay. What happened?" she asked slowly.
He winced. "Do you know who Hayley Marshall is?"
"Do you mean the model who's the face of our campaign next season?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as he shifted uncomfortably.
Whatever had happened, it couldn't have been good.
He motioned for her to follow him as he led her to the conference room, her heels clicking on the floor as they walked. "Right, well, apparently she's done something unfortunate–"
"Unfortunate how?" Caroline pressed, her anxiety growing with every second. "Spit it out, Klaus, the sooner I know about it the sooner I can take care of it."
"She said something incredibly racist on social media, and Jo wants your opinion on whether we should drop her, but I think she's leaning firmly towards yes."
Caroline let out a harsh breath. Jo, the head of legal, was probably correct. Depending on how damaging the comment was, they would have to drop their endorsement campaign and cut all ties with her. When she arrived, instructing Klaus to tell anyone who called that she was unavailable until further notice before he left, Jo and Alaric were already in the conference room. "Where's Meredith? Can we start without her?"
The CEO was probably tied up, she knew, but they needed to get out a statement as soon as possible.
Jo nodded. "Her contract gives us the loophole to drop her without warning because of the public scandal, so we should be fine with that. We'll still have to pay the settlement attached to it."
"I think that we can take the financial hit without much repercussion," Alaric said, going through the folder in front of him.
"We just had the ads all done, and we were all set to send them out," Caroline said frustratedly. "We're going to have to have another model audition and do another photoshoot. Ugh. This is a disaster."
Alaric gave her a sympathetic look. "We just need to clear this up before it snowballs."
"I'll get a statement out, and I'll need to put out another casting call for models as soon as possible. We'll need to get the new ads in by the end of the week. Do you still think we can handle the financial hit?" she asked Alaric irritably, wincing when she realized what her tone sounded like. "Sorry."
"Yeah. We should be able to, especially if we go with someone undiscovered."
Caroline snorted. "Anyone know a girl with large eyes that would look good with bright blue eyeliner available in the next three days?"
"Camille?" Alaric joked.
"She's not tall enough," Caroline said absently, not noticing when Alaric and Jo exchanged exasperated glances.
"Go do damage control, Care. Keep us posted," Alaric said, gently steering her towards the door while her mind worked a mile a minute.
XXX
Klaus was tired. It had been two days since the Hayley incident, and they were still doing major damage control. It was ten at night, and Caroline was still at the office. She'd requested that he stay late with her, and he'd accepted, knowing he'd be paid double for late time (and not having anything to do anyway), but was starting to regret that decision.
Caroline walked out of her office door, and she looked less put together than he'd ever seen her (although really, her 'messy' was everyone else's 'neat'). She dropped a stack of photos with potential models on the desk. "I need you to look through these and pick three. I haven't sorted any or looked through them, so everyone's in there. The top one is a picture of Hayley. I need you to find someone who's relatively close to her in looks and height. Different skin tone is fine, but she needs to have brown eyes, darker brown hair, and be between five-foot-eight and five-foot-eleven. Similar facial structure too."
He nodded and took the photos, setting the top one aside and starting to flip through them.
"And also can you grab coffee for me?"
He nodded. "Of course, Miss Forbes."
"Caroline," she corrected tiredly.
He nodded but didn't respond, already up to make a new pot of coffee. He also called a local take-out place and ordered food for both of them, thankful that the place wasn't closed yet.
After the delivery person came, he carefully poured her a bowl of sesame chicken and knocked on the door gently with his foot, setting the coffee and dinner on her desk.
"Thank you."
He nodded.
It was an awkward few seconds as Caroline looked at him. "You saw the email," she stated, no question in her voice.
Her words took him off guard, but he nodded. "Yes."
XXX
She could see that he was about to leave, and she gestured to the chair in front of her desk. He sat down warily.
She smiled at him, but he looked like he wanted to bolt. "Look, I knew when I interviewed you that you wouldn't want to stick around long because you're overqualified. Rebekah told me you were looking for another job, and I'd be happy to write you a recommendation if you want one. In any case, I'm planning on talking to Alaric and having you transferred to be project manager for the Financial Acquisitions department, which basically involves–"
"I know what that is, Caroline," he said, slipping on her name, which made her smile at him.
"You are completely qualified for that position," she said.
"I know."
"Right, okay. Well, obviously you get the final say, but there's a substantial pay raise, and it's an excellent opportunity. If you don't want it, though, you can cancel the meeting with Alaric."
"I'd like to do it," he said, though he didn't sound as happy as she'd expected him to be. "Although I do have a question."
"What?"
"Did I do something to make you transfer me? I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," he asked cautiously.
"You didn't make me uncomfortable," Caroline said, before smiling slightly.
She got up, and he followed suit, though he paused at the door. "Assuming I get the position, when would I start?"
"If you want it, you'll get it. And you'd start as soon as I can find an admin. I think you've spoiled me, to be honest. I don't know how I lived without you. And your coffee."
He laughed quietly, but nodded, and turned to leave again.
"Wait," she said impulsively, walking towards him.
He paused and turned back to face her.
"I didn't transfer you because you did something wrong, Klaus. I just don't want to have a conflict of interest."
"What do you mean?" he asked slowly, though she had a feeling he knew exactly what she meant, judging by the dimpled smile spreading across his face.
They were nose to nose now, and she reached up slowly to cup his cheek, her thumb stroking over the skin, laying her other hand on his shoulder. "Is this okay?" she asked quietly, her gaze flicking from his eyes to his mouth and back.
He answered her by slotting his lips against hers.
She moaned quietly, winding her fingers in his hair, and his palms landed on her waist. She smiled into the kiss, biting his lip softly and pulling back. "I'll talk to him as soon as you set up a meeting," she said, trying to ignore the tiny voice in her head screaming at her for breaking her self-enforced boundaries.
"I'll do it as soon as I can."
She pushed away from him. "Sorry. I shouldn't have...I like you, but we can't do this now."
He pulled her back to him, melding his lips to hers.
"Conflict of interest," she said between kisses.
"I quit," he mumbled, fusing his lips to hers, swallowing the giggle that bubbled up in her throat.
"You can't quit on me now," she said quietly, sighing as he kissed her neck. "I need you to pick out the model. And manage everything until I hire someone else."
"I have three model options on my desk that you can pick from. Your appointments tomorrow morning aren't urgent and I've moved them all so that you can sleep in a little bit," he mumbled against her skin. "I'll send Camille an email as soon as possible asking for her to move the meeting with Alaric up once we get this mess sorted out."
She moaned softly as he flicked his tongue against the hollow of her neck, her fingers twisting into the lapels of his suit jacket. "Okay. I still need to finish up everything tonight with this...bullshit disaster."
He nodded, pulling away.
"Let me know if you need anything," he said, his voice casual, but somehow dripping with innuendo.
"I might later."
He smirked and left, closing her office door behind him, and Caroline sunk down in her seat, wondering how she'd possibly get any work done now.
XXX
"So, wait, I don't understand, Caroline. You want me to take your admin on as a consultant?"
Caroline sighed as she sipped the coffee Camille had provided, putting it on the coaster on Alaric's desk.
"He's been a consultant for Mikaelson Corp over in the UK. He has the experience."
"So then why was he an admin?"
"He was looking for a job to pay the bills while he applied to other companies. He's Rebekah's brother; do you know Rebekah Mikaelson from Product Design? Right, so he's her brother, and I hired him as a favor to her. He's competent and catches on quickly. I think he'd be a good fit."
"If he's so good, why are you trying to get rid of him?" Alaric asked, eyebrow raised.
Caroline was quiet for a minute, shifting uncomfortably. Alaric had taken a chance on her when she'd applied to the company. She'd been inexperienced, but eager to learn and pick up what advice others could give. Alaric was about twenty years older than her, and he had become sort-of a mentor to her in some ways, and they'd become good friends out of the workplace.
He could always tell when she wasn't being entirely truthful.
"Really, Caroline?" Alaric asked exasperatedly.
"What?"
"Look, I know you've been having a hard time, and really everyone knew that thing with Stefan was doomed before it began, but you know that you can't push him towards me because you want a relationship. You're smarter than that."
"You know that I wouldn't be asking for this if he wasn't qualified and good for the job," Caroline said seriously. "I promise that if I thought he wasn't fit for it I'd try to get him moved to a different department."
Alaric stared at her, and she held his gaze unflinchingly.
"Fine. I trust you. It'll be a trial period first, though."
"I know. Thanks for taking a chance."
"Well, it worked out the last time," Alaric said, smiling slightly before turning back to his work.
XXX
It was her first date with Klaus-he said that wherever they were going was a surprise, but that she should dress casually-and she couldn't help but feel a little excited. She knew it was silly, since they'd worked in close quarters for almost the last year, but it was different now. Less formal, but with higher stakes.
She'd just hired a new admin named Davina, and Klaus had spent the last week training her. The day before, he'd finally officially accepted the promotion, and he would start on Monday.
She turned to the side, inspecting her profile one more time. The jeans were tight around her legs, and despite the fact that her white shirt was draped and reasonably loose, it was still rather low cut. She debated changing into a dress, but she liked wearing pants when she could since almost all of her work clothes were dresses and skirts.
She heard a knock on her door and she swore, pushing her earrings through her ears and stuffing her feet into her flats quickly, grabbing a jacket on the way to the door and opening it. Klaus stood there in a Henley and jeans (more casually dressed than she'd ever seen him), and she grabbed her purse from the hook next to the door, following him out of the apartment to the car.
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise."
"I hate surprises," she said, smiling slightly when he offered her his arm, and taking it.
"I know," he said, smirking. "I think you'll like this, though."
"Okay."
He held the passenger side door open for her, and she shook her head, smiling as she slid in. "You're pulling out your old-world manners today, I see," she said as he got into the driver's seat.
"For you, I'd pull them out every day."
She laughed. "Flattery will get you nowhere."
"I know. Do I have to have an ulterior motive for complimenting you?"
"No," she said, giving him a small smile. "It's just surprising, is all."
"Well, there you are. Sometimes surprises can be good."
She laughed and he gave her a small smile before starting to drive downtown. When they pulled up in front of a mini-golf place, Caroline turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged. "We can get pizza and then play."
"Okay, but just so you know, I'm horrible at mini-golf. You'll probably beat me."
He laughed. "That was the point. Not that I'd beat you, love, but I'm also terrible at it. Rebekah suggested it."
"Okay, well, bring it on. Pizza first though. I'm starving."
XXX
They were seated quickly at the pizza restaurant connected to the mini-golf place, and they both ordered small pizzas.
"So are you excited to start the new job?"
He nodded. "I am, but can we not talk about work?"
She blushed. "Sorry, it's just–-"
"Basically your life, I know," he said, though his voice was kind, and he was grinning at her.
"Yeah. Well, what do you want to talk about?"
He shrugged. "You."
She snorted. "Okay. Fine. What do you want to know? There really isn't much to tell."
"Try me."
"Okay. Um, well I grew up in a small town in Virginia. Everyone knew everyone. It was exhausting. Bonnie and I grew up together, actually."
"Does that mean I could grill her for more potential date ideas?"
Caroline laughed. "Probably. She's been trying to convince me to ask you out for months."
The I know was on the tip of his tongue, but he pushed it back. He needed to tell her that he'd looked at her personal email (it was only once, though, not that that made it any better, but it could have been worse), and he needed to do it soon. It would be so much worse if she found out on her own.
He'd tell her. Soon.
Just not now.
They talked more about their childhoods as they finished their pizza, and Klaus was already inwardly making a list of potential date ideas to pitch at Bonnie and Rebekah. He managed to get his credit card into the tray without her noticing until he signed the check, and she glared at him. "I'm paying for the golf stuff then."
"All right, love."
Mini-golf was a spectacular failure, as he'd expected (in terms of skill, at least). They had a lot of fun trash-talking each other, and when he got the ball through the windmill on the first try, she teasingly told him that he should come help her make the shot.
He knew an opportunity when he saw one, and pressed himself up behind her, smiling against her hair as the warmth of her curves pressed against his front. He wrapped his arms around her and held her hands against the golf club. "This is going to be a catastrophe. That shot was luck," he said, his voice low in her ear.
She shivered, and he smiled slightly, raking his teeth across her earlobe while he positioned the shot and guided her hand to take it.
She moaned at the feel of his teeth against her skin and turned in his arms to capture his lips with hers, her tongue pushing into his mouth.
He slid his hands into the back pockets of her jeans, pulling her to press against him, and it was only at a discreet cough from a woman near them who was gesturing pointedly at two children next to her that made Klaus and Caroline break apart.
Caroline was blushing furiously, her face buried in his shoulder, and he mouthed an apology to the woman, who just rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.
"Did it go in?" Caroline asked, turning to the windmill.
"Does it matter?"
"No, not really," she said, grinning. "Let's head back to my place?"
XXX
He pushed her up against her front door, his hands tugging down the zipper to her jacket, and she shrugged it off, letting it fall to the floor before kicking off her flats and pushing herself up slightly to wrap her legs around his waist, Klaus supporting her with his palms cupping her ass as he licked and nipped at the column of her neck.
She moaned loudly, and he smiled against her skin, scraping his teeth lightly across her collarbone.
"Bedroom's on the right," she panted out before her lips were back on his.
He carried her easily to her bedroom, dropping her on the bed and crawling on top of her. She tugged his Henley over his head and pulled her own shirt off before grabbing his necklaces and pulling him down to meld her lips back to his.
He ground the bulge in his jeans against her covered core, and she moaned, reaching down to undo his belt and tug his jeans off. He smiled against her mouth and pulled back to stand off the bee so that he could undress.
She felt his heated gaze on her as she reached back to undo the clasp of her bra, letting it fall to the carpeted floor, and took a bit longer than was strictly needed to trail her hand down her stomach to the button of her jeans, undoing them and arching her back to slide them down her hips and legs.
She was wet just from knowing that he was watching her strip for him, and she turned to look at him, completely nude, to see that he was already walking towards her, also completely naked, his cock hard for her.
He climbed on top of her, and she moaned as the tip of him brushed against her folds. She reached down to wrap her hand around him, stroking him a few times, making him swear under his breath and drop his head against her shoulder. She positioned him at her entrance and he pushed in.
They both moaned loudly as he filled her, and she wrapped her legs around him to pull him even deeper. "Move," she breathed.
He obliged, and she rolled her hips to match his harsh thrusts, panting out his name with pleas for him to go faster and harder, and he increased his pace, his cock slamming inside of her so perfectly as she moaned his name.
Her breath hitched as he bit her softly on the neck, his teeth scraping down her skin. "Do you like that, sweetheart?" he mumbled, sucking on the curve of her collarbone.
"Yes," she hissed, tipping her head to the side to allow him better access, moaning.
His hands were stroking her hips while her fingernails raked down his back as he fucked her hard, and she felt herself getting close. The movement of her hips became frantic and frenzied, and he sped up his thrusts to match the new pace, seeming to sense what she needed.
She clenched around him, moaning his name loudly, and he followed a few moments later. He slumped on top of her, not uncomfortably at all, and she rolled them to the side to snuggle into him, their legs entangled over the sheets.
"Stay the night?" she asked before fully processing the words coming out of her mouth.
He just smiled. "Of course, love."
A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope everyone liked the chapter. How are we feeling about Klaus's lack of honesty? Do we think Caroline will find out? How do we feel about Klaus's date choice? Did we like the smut? Any predictions?
We're in the home stretch. There are probably only one or two more chapters left. :)
Quick note: Caroline has two emails. One is her personal email and the other is her work email. Klaus is allowed to (and should) go through her work email because that's his job. He shouldn't have access to her personal email. If you have more questions about the fic, I encourage you to follow or look me up on tumblr, which is thetourguidebarbie. I'm also on twitter at AngieWritesKC (though I'm not on it often at all).
Hugs!
-Angie