Chapter 1: Food Porn

Rey Andor, staff writer for Force Publications, had been staring at her latest article for the past thirty minutes. "How to Glaze Berries" was not an Earth-shattering topic. It was yet another dull domestic fluff piece for their lifestyle magazine: First Order.

She had been a writer with the magazine for over a year now. Despite how hard she worked and the amount of research she put into each article, she was nowhere closer to her dream.

Since she had gone to university in London, she had longed to become a journalist — not a columnist but a bold, gritty journalist who was half-detective, half-author. She wanted to find truth in the world, uncover stories no one else knew about and bring them into the light.

Part of her drive may have had something to do with the fact she was living her own mystery. Rey had been found abandoned as a child on the doorsteps of a police station in Sussex when she was about five or six. There had been no belongings left with her or even a name.

The sergeant who took her in, Captain Cassian Andor, had decided to name her Rey, since her smile had lit up the precinct. He had decided it would be 'Rey' with an 'e' because 'Ray' with an 'a' was too often considered a man's name. Of course, the spelling didn't actually do much. People automatically assumed she was male most of the time. Still, Cassian had meant well.

It was hard to think about her father at a time like this. He and her mother had worked hard to get her into Uni and then again to help her live her dream by coming to New York. She couldn't let them down, b ut a better article title still hadn't come to her.

With a groan, Rey dropped her head onto her desk and tried once more to think up a less boring headline. Just because the prompt was boring, didn't mean she had to be.

"Almost ready to turn in your submission, Andor?" Her manager, Armitage Hux asked, as he came to hover over her desk.

She wanted to groan again. Hux — or as her friend, Poe, liked to call him 'General Hugs' — was her superior and he never let her forget it. She had a different name for him — one which was not nearly as nice as the term Poe chose to use.

Fuck-whit.

Prying her forehead off her desk, she glanced cautiously in his direction. Thankfully, he was too absorbed in his phone to have noticed her position.

"Yes, Mr. Hux," she replied, straightening up slowly. "You'll have it before I leave for the day."

He didn't bother to look at her, too engrossed in his inbox. "See that I do."

He walked away and Rey's fake smile fell from her lips.

What she wouldn't give to deck that smug son of a bitch.

Hux was her manager, but he was also a grade-A prick. On her first day, he had eyed her as though she was a bug which needed to be squashed under the heel of his very expensive leather shoe. Even after the Director of Human Resources, Kaydel, handed Rey over to her new boss — informing him of the awards she and won in the UK — he hadn't seemed even a bit pleased to have her onboard.

It only went downhill from there.

Rey had mistakenly tried to talk to Hux about his accent, hoping they would find some common ground. It turned out to be the wrong thing to ask.

She later found out Armitage Hux had been sent to boarding school as a child. That in and of itself wasn't a surprise to Rey, given his mannerisms and haughty attitude. What did surprise her was how much he had loathed it. Not at first, she assumed, but later because he had been trapped there when his mother had passed away. He never got the chance to say goodbye to her.

He blamed his father for the ordeal. So as soon as he was old enough, he left England and moved to New York City, to spite Brendol Hux. Though Armitage claimed otherwise, Rey sensed he was still bitter about his father. They were not on speaking terms — a lesson she had learned the hard way when Brendol had called one unfortunate afternoon. The opportunity to bond over their biological parents was an even worse idea and Rey eventually gave up on trying to forge any kind of relationship (beyond manager and employee) with Hux.

Turning her attention back to the task at hand, she re-read her article. This was her final edit and she was hoping something in the text would pop out at her — something to make a great title.

Red, pert and shiny.

Nestled jewels.

Glistening with jelly.

Rey felt heat burn across her cheeks as she continued reading. Suddenly, she realized her article sounded more like food porn than a piece on the merits of glazed fruit.

As if her imagination wasn't already going off the rails, Kylo Ren, Editor-in-chief walked by her desk. The warmth she had felt on her face suddenly went south, pooling low in her abdomen.

The man was built like a tree — one Rey wanted to climb very, very much. She had fantasized about him since her first day at the publication. It was wrong on so many levels, the worst of all being he was her superior's superior and it was against company policy to have relations with someone in the office. She was convinced that was part of the allure. He was a dangerous gamble. It was against the rules to lust after the most powerful man in the building, though it didn't stop Rey from fantasizing about him at home.

She told herself it didn't matter. It wasn't as though she was going to act on her impulses, no matter how good he looked and damn, did he look good today. Then again, he always looked good.

He had aquiline features, which some people found unattractive, but to Rey he was the epitome of handsome. His skin was pale and appeared to be as smooth as finely cut marble. The only imperfections — and she wouldn't even call them that — were the scattered moles which decorated his face and neck.

Yes, she knew all the intricate details of Kylo Ren's body...or at least what she had gleamed since she had started at Force Publications. He typically wore the finest suites, tailored to his form which both enticed her and reminded her of the vast differences in their positions at the company. Regardless, she found herself wanting to peel off each layer of his high-end suits to reveal the rippling muscles beneath.

Besides the obvious HR violation, there was another problem — his personality.

Like the finest mystery novel, Kylo Ren was a complex enigma. While he had never once so much as raised his voice to her, he had yelled at nearly everyone else in the office and on occasion had thrown company property. No one had batted an eyelash at his outburst. Everyone went about their daily routine as if nothing had happened. When she returned to her cubicle after lunch, she found every piece of furniture he had damaged had been replaced. It was as if the incident had never occurred.

She never saw him socialize with anyone. The only conversations he entertained were about business. He worked late each evening and was there before anyone else in the morning, including his assistant. It was as if he lived and breathed his job and maybe he did. About a month after she had been hired, Rey had broken down and Googled him. She found very little apart from his career page on LinkedIn and mentions of him on their website and affiliated partners.

It was almost as if Kylo Ren didn't exist.

Of course, in this moment, she was all too aware he did. The flush on her cheeks expanded to cover her entire face and she ducked her head down, attempting to conceal her reaction to his proximity.

"Hey boss!"

Rey recognized Poe Dameron's voice instantly. She busied herself with checking emails, in hopes Poe would (for once in his life) not stick his nose where it didn't belong.

"What can I do for you, Dameron?" The Editor-in-chief stopped right next to Rey. She willed herself to breath evenly, trying to ignore the scent of his aftershave.

Poe stood opposite Kylo, not tall enough to peek around him to smile at Rey. "I wanted to speak to you about BookCon next month."

"Isn't that the Marketing department's job to sort out?" Kylo grumbled, his back to Rey's cubicle.

Poe cleared his throat and Rey bit her bottom lip. Kylo was known for his no-nonsense attitude. He didn't care to be bothered with anything he considered beneath him...which was a lot.

"They are down a team member since Jess went out on maternity leave," Poe reminded the editor.

"I thought she had a C-section," Kylo replied matter-of-factly, as if he was reciting an element from the periodic table.

Rey tried not to roll her eyes. The man was gorgeous to behold, but he had a nature about as inviting as Antarctica.

"Last Tuesday," Poe pointed out, clearly believing Kylo would understand what that meant.

He didn't. "So she can't make it that weekend because?"

"Because she's on maternity. She won't be back for another two months."

"Excuse me?" Kylo asked, tightly. Rey flinched in her seat. She knew that tone. That was the 'I'm-not-happy-and-you-should-know-why' tone. She had heard of almost every day she had been an employee here.

"Kylo," Poe began, "Come on, man. She cleared this with her manager months ago, as per company policy. It's on your calendar. I made sure your assistant added it."

"Bazine was hired to keep people out of my office, not keep track of the personal lives of my subordinates," he groused. "So what is the problem? Marketing can't backfill her position in time for the event?"

"Exactly," Poe replied.

"Then they shouldn't have approved her maternity leave," Kylo stated. With that, he turned on his heel and marched off to his office.

Not surprising to anyone, he slammed the door behind him.

"Hey, Sunshine!" Poe leaned across the wall of Rey's cubical, flashing her one of his typical charming smiles. It reminded her why Poe was head of PR for the firm. He could smooth over any issue with a smile like that.

"He's not happy," she remarked, inclining her head over her shoulder in the direction of Kylo's office.

Poe shrugged. "When is Kylo Ren ever happy?"

Rey thought about it for a moment. Last year during the company holiday party, the firm had gone all out. They had come in under budget for expenses and above their forecasted 15% profit margin. As a reward for their employees, everyone had been awarded the week between Christmas and New Years off, which had been announced at the party. She remembered looking at Kylo in the seconds following the announcement. He was the only person in the room not cheering.

"I don't think I've ever seen him smile," she admitted to her friend.

Poe shrugged. "We'll figure it out. We've been to enough of these things over the years. I'm sure we could wing it and still get more leads."

"Whatever you say," Rey laughed, shaking her head.

"So Maz's tonight?" Poe asked, effectively changing the subject.

"That depends," Rey grinned, "are you buying?"

Kylo Ren clenched his jaw, watching the scene unfold before him through the slit in the blinds of his office window.

Dameron was talking to the pretty brunette staff writer again. Kylo knew they were close — friends even — but that didn't stop Kylo from imagining how he could throw Dameron into a wall. That would be a sure fire way to wipe his smug smile from his face. The girl — Rey, her name is Rey — was beaming up at the PR Director, nodding in agreement to whatever it was the nit-whit was saying.

Nit-whit. Fuck-whit is more like it, he thought agitatedly.

Kylo loathed the man.

He loathed how easily Dameron could converse with people. He loathed how effortlessly charming Dameron was. He loathed the fact that Dameron had made friends with the brunette practically the moment she joined the Force Publications staff.

The morning she had arrived, Kylo had known he was in trouble. With her shoulder length chestnut hair, hazel eyes, and tanned skin covered in freckles, Rey had arrived at their firm all warm and glowing. She was like a sun goddess, venturing out of the light into his cold metallic city. What was more, she had a lovely accent — a rural tone which made her all the more appealing for some reason.

Of course, the moment he had gone to introduce himself, Dameron had been there, fawning over her, offering to help her get acclimated to the office and take her out to lunch. Kylo had held his breath, waiting off to the side to see if she would buy the other man's offer. When she had, he had shut himself in his office and remained unresponsive and sullen for the remainder of the day.

It was a well known fact Kylo did not play well with others. He had never been good with people. Where he lacked social skills, he made up for in extensive reading, which had led him to the position he now held at Force Publications.

After years of working his way up through the company, he had succeeded in obtaining the coveted position, beating out his former classmate and rival, Armitage Hux. As if the title wasn't gratifying enough, seeing the look on Hux's face when Kylo was awarded the position over his adversary was priceless.

Of course now he wished he had Hux's job, if only because it gave him a reason to talk directly to Rey. She was a staff writer, so technically she was his employee — they all were — but Kylo had never shown interest in his individual contributors before. He knew it would raise some eyebrows if he suddenly wanted to make chit-chat with the youngest member of the writing staff.

That was another problem — her age. He had scanned her employee records (for only professional reasons, of course). She was ten years his junior. It wasn't a huge age gap, yet the decade between them made him nervous. If he ever did manage to strike up a conversation with her, what would they talk about? He didn't understand the millennial world. Hell, he couldn't even figure of what all the emoji symbols on his phone meant. What was the eggplant for again? Netflix and chill?

Kylo stepped back from the window, letting the blinds snap close. It was ridiculous he was wasting so much energy on worrying about what the girl thought. She surely never thought of him, but even as he thought that he had the urge to peer out his blinds at her once more.

If he had, he would have seen Rey Andor staring over her shoulder at his closed door.

Rey hadn't had any luck with finding a suitable title. The clock in the lower right-hand corner of her computer glared back at her. It was five o'clock on the dot.

Slumping forward onto her desk, she let out a defeated sigh. She knew Poe had already gone over to Maz's with Kaydel and the crew. He never waited for her. He was too much of a social butterfly to be bothered with that. Normally it didn't bother her, but tonight she was already in a mood about her article, so it got to her.

Rey contemplated sending what she had to Hux, but cringed when she thought of how he'd react. True, if she sent it now she'd be able to run out and catch the first round of happy hour with her friends. However, she'd also be in for a headache come Monday morning and that was never a good way to start the week.

So she decided to stick it out until a title came to her.

As she scanned her research for inspiration, she realized how quiet the office was. This time of day was only a hard stop on Friday nights. Any other night of the week there would be a handful of staff — who, like her — was working to complete last minute assignments or overdue drafts. Tonight, however, everyone had bolted.

TGIF, she thought sarcastically, as she flipped a page of handwritten notes over.

On the other side was a doodle she had made, trapped within a half-crescent coffee stain from when she had worked on the article last weekend at home. She wished she was in her apartment now.

The loft was small, barely enough room to house her and the Tico sisters, but the three girls managed. Besides it was all Rey could afford, considering she needed to keep this job to remain in the States.

The Tico sisters had been supportive of her choice, helping her move in after the trio had met for coffee at a Starbucks on the corner. Rey had never been fond of coffee, preferring tea, but she had let Rose, the youngest Tico, talk her into a caramel macchiato. All things considered, it wasn't really coffee, but the sweet treat was something Rey craved every now and then.

As the minutes went by, she was no closer to coming up with a title. She was about to call it quits when she heard a door closing behind her. Straightening up, she glanced around, suddenly on high alert. She had thought she was be only one in the office.

Kylo Ren's tall form moved with purpose through the building, coming right for her cubicle. Slung over his shoulder was a leather business bag in black. It was the only color she had ever seen him in. He hadn't noticed her, head bent over his cell, as he scrolled through emails or texts.

Rey held her breath, unsure if she should bid the grumpy editor goodnight or not.

When he was within a couple steps of her cube, she gave a small wave. "Goodnight, sir."

He stopped on a dime, pivoting about to face her. "Rey...er...Ms. Andor, what are you doing here so late?"

She tried not to blush at the sound of her name rolling off his lips. The way he said it struck something within her. He had such a deep, commanding voice. It went right to her core, reminding her of her sinful thoughts from earlier in the day.

"Finishing up my article for General Hugs — I mean Mr. Hux." She wanted to smack herself. She couldn't call a senior manager that behind his back…especially to his supervisor. She felt her face go red in his presence for the second time that day.

Rey expected him to reprimand her for the slip-up or at the very least remind her she was still in the Force Publications office and should mind her tongue. She did not expect him to chuckle.

The sound, like his voice, did things to her.

"General Hugs," he repeated the name, as if he was testing it out, "Did you come up with that?"

"No," she answered, honestly. She caught the flicker of interest in his eyes, but it quickly darkened.

"I assume then I have our Director of PR to thank for that title?"

His voice was dripping with disdain and Rey sensed there was something else besides professional indifference wedged between Poe and Kylo.

"My lips are sealed," she replied, carefully, not wishing to upset her editor further, but also not willing to throw Poe under the bus.

Poe had been the first friend she had made at her job. Besides the Tico sisters, who she lived with, he was one of a handful of close companions she had. She wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that.

Kylo made a humming sound. His eyes focused on the computer screen behind her. "You normally turn in your assignments well in advance. What seems to be the trouble?"

She wondered how he knew her submission stats. It was true. Rey was typically the first on the team to turn in her work. But why would he know that? An insignificant detail such as that was not what the surly Editor-in-chief usually concerned himself with.

When she didn't answer right away, he placed a hand on the back fo her chair, leaning in. "Rey?"

"Oh...um...it's my title," she admitted. "I can't seem to come up with anything appropriate."

"Let me take a look."

Before she could assure him she would take care of it, he placed his satchel on the floor and pulled over another chair so he could sit beside her. He propped an arm on her desk, tilting forwards to read the words on her screen.

Rey bit her bottom lip worried about the risqué style of her piece just as much, if not more than the quality of her writing. Kylo's face was unreadable as his eyes ran across each line. As the silence grew between them, she grew more and more anxious.

When he reached the end, he leaned back in the seat, placing his hands on his knees. For a tense moment, he didn't speak. He also didn't look at her. Rey wished she'd have gone out with Poe and chanced Hux's anger. It would have been less nerve-wrecking than being personally judged by her editor.

"Huh," Kylo finally huffed, as though he was both surprised and amused, "that's a very...unique take on things, Ms. Andor."

So they were back to formal titles again? Rey wondered if she had done something wrong. Maybe her article was that bad. Perhaps she had crossed a line. Was he going to fire her?

"You have an unnecessarily long sentence in the third paragraph and you missed a semicolon on your conclusion, but other than that it is a sound piece. Nice work."

Rey stared at him, her mouth parted slightly in surprise. Had her temperamental — yet undeniably alluring — Editor-in-chief just compliment her?

"I believe you can title your piece Dessert Decadence," he added. Then, suddenly he stood, grabbing his bag and moved to leave.

Rey rose from her seat, confused by his change in demeanor. "Sir?"

"Good job, Ms. Andor. Make the changes we discussed and submit to General Hugs," he winked. Rey nearly swore under her breath. How could that man make her so unnerved and her so turned on at the same time? "See you on Monday."

"Have a nice weekend, sir."

By the time she responded, he was already exiting the office.

Kylo paused at the elevator doors, his hand tightening and loosening as he gripped the strap of his bag.

Why did you leave? She's all alone in the office, his brain screamed at him.

He sighed and ran a hand through his black tresses. Kylo had expected Rey's writing to be good. She was a decent staff writer for being so young, but he hadn't expected to react to her work in a physical sense.

The way she had described the fruit, especially the glazing process had been in a word — erotic — and his body had reacted accordingly. At the mature age of thirty-four, he couldn't believe how one girl's article had managed to turn him into some kind of food kink pervert.

Rey always managed to catch him off guard. It was unnerving.

Last winter, during the employee holiday party, he had been asked to announce the extra holiday time the employees were being awarded with. Kylo had been bitter about it. Not only was the publication going dark for a few extra days — leaving him with nothing to do — he wouldn't have a chance to see Rey for a full week. He had been in a terrible mood about it all night. Once he made the announcement, everyone cheered, but when he found her eyes in the crowd, she was staring at him. His breath had caught in his throat and his mind went blank. She gave him a small smile and mouthed 'Happy Christmas.'

Kylo said nothing in return, too baffled that she had even noticed him to properly respond. It wasn't until later he realized she was probably concerned about his expression. He had been the only one at the party who wasn't happy the year was over.

He had missed his chance to talk to her then. He wasn't about to let another opportunity pass him by.

Turning on his heel, Kylo walked back into Force Publications.

He let out a relieved exhale when he spotted her at her cube. Rey saw him, as he made his way towards her and smiled.

"Forget something?"

Yes. You.

But he didn't say that. In fact he didn't know what to say. All his life he had been in love with the written word. He had worked on play scripts, articles, books, and even a few films, but now all of that knowledge left him. He was left hovering over her desk speechless.

"Sir?"

"Kylo," he offered, thankful he could even remember his own name. Hearing her call him 'sir' did things to his mind and his blood pressure. How could he command an entire publication but lose it as soon as one pretty girl smiled at him?

"Kylo," Rey repeated and he just about dropped to his knees before her. The way she said his name was the most beautiful noise. He couldn't help but wonder what other beautiful noises she could make.

"I...um...apologize for Hux keeping you. A better manager would have proofread for you and given you some ideas so you could enjoy your Friday night," he apologized. "I'm sure you had plans," he added, remembering how Dameron had been all over her earlier in the day.

She shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the fact she was still in the office, as opposed to out in the city with her friends. "It's just cheap beer and greasy pizza. You can find that anywhere in New York."

"True," he agreed, absently wondering when he had actually had a slice of pizza. Probably about the time he was a staff writer like Rey, living off ramen noodles and PBR. Now he could afford the finer things, like a twenty-five-year-old Macallan — which gave him an idea.

"Would you care to join me for a drink?"

Rey eyed him curiously. "Now?"

"Sure," he grinned, amazed she didn't immediately call HR on him for suggesting such a thing. That would be his luck. "I have a bottle of whiskey in my office and a fresh pair of glasses."

Her face lit up instantly. "You're serious?"

He mimicked her shrug, playing it off as if this was no big deal, like he was used to speaking to attractive women and being as charming as Dameron. "Why not? It's Friday and we're off the clock."

Rey stood up, the smile practically taking over her entire face. "Lead the way, boss!"

Dear Lord, were those dimples? She had freckles and dimples.

Right then and there, Kylo Ren knew he was a goner.

A/N: Thank you to the ladies of the Writing Den, especially Mallie-3 who gave me the idea for this fic and reylorobyn2011 for beta-ing.