Overview

The double doors opened. Despite his resolute decision to absolutely not give a damn, Cooper couldn't help his eyes from flickering upward. Two burly guys with matching blank expressions came first. Behind them came Eleanor Rose, the terrifying President of the London team. She was immaculately dressed, as always. Her thin lips were pressed into what probably passed for a smile, sharp eyes darting about the office to check everything was in order. Following Eleanor were three others Cooper didn't recognise.

And then Cooper saw him. Tall, intimidating, stupidly good-looking, his gold-coloured hair flopping over his forehead like it wanted to escape. He was wearing a suit that must have cost more than the rent on Cooper's flat. Mr. Levinson-Clarke’s shrewd, slate-grey eyes were trained straight ahead. Flat, emotionless. No one would have been able to tell what he was thinking, not unless he wanted you to. His face was beautiful in a way that was almost cruel. His lips were thin; his chin was stubborn.

Cooper's gut did a horrible twist. His brain couldn't seem to connect, and he couldn't help his eyes from widening as he gripped the edge of his desk hard. This could not be happening... this couldn't be true. His brain refused to acknowledge it, but his body knew. The fresh beads of sweat that broke out on his forehead and along his spine had absolutely nothing to do with the unrelenting heat of the office, and everything to do with the man who'd just walked into the room. "Here you see, Mr. Levinson-Clarke, our financial analysts." Eleanor gave a little smirk, "we’ve recently hired a number of promising new staff."

Mr. Levinson-Clarke only nodded. His unreadable eyes swept the office.

Cooper saw the exact second the man noticed him. He saw the almost imperceptible widening of the eyes. The hard swallow. The lips pulled tight. It was a split-second reaction, gone as soon as it had appeared. Mr. Levinson-Clarke's eyes moved on as though nothing had happened. But Cooper knew. He'd felt that look in every bone of his body.

Isaac.

The new CEO was Isaac.

Cooper used to hate Isaac, or at least, that's what he told himself. The Golden Boy of their elite boarding school, Isaac was arrogant, proud and self-assured. Cooper hated everything about him, perhaps especially how everybody else thought he was something special, whilst Cooper himself was constantly getting into trouble. No one though the scholarship kid was anything more than bad news, a reckless waste of space, and he was pretty sure Isaac was the same as the rest of them. Thinking he was better than him, that somehow his money made him better, more important.

Except that he didn't, actually. Somehow, Isaac wasn't anything like that at all, not really. And somehow, Golden Boy went from being a person Cooper despised to being his best friend. More than his best friend, though he wasn't really sure what.

Except Cooper messed everything up. Cooper betrayed him, abandoned him... and tried to forget about him.

Now, Cooper's four months into his new job when the new CEO from their recent take-over decides to take a tour of the London office... and the past comes crashing back. He didn't know Isaac was his new boss. He didn't know Isaac would still look at him the way he did when they were kids. And he didn't know that he still felt the same way about his old friend that he had when they were at school.

As Cooper and Isaac slowly grow closer once again, will the past mess things up once more? And this time, can Cooper actually be honest with his Golden Boy, before he ruins things for good?

*** Warning: Contains sexual situations - recommended for those over 18
*** No Cliffhangers
*** Happy ending