Carla looked over at me with a shocked expression. Her bright blue eyes were wide and her curly blonde hair looked even lighter in the sunlight. “That sounds great! Remind me again how you managed to swing a tour on such short notice?” Carla asked as we reached the wooden porch of the main building.
“One of the staff members, Peter, said there was an opening and I could bring a friend,” I told her with a shrug of my shoulders. “I didn’t think it was a huge deal, but apparently these get booked for months in advance.”
Apparently ignorant of the second part of what I said, Carla put a hand to her chest, pretending to be touched. “Aww, you consider me your friend?” Carla asked in a teasing voice before elbowing me. “I’m flattered, Billie!”
I rolled my eyes playfully. “I wouldn’t get too excited, Carla. You haven’t learned what it means to be my friend just yet,” I told her with a laugh.
“Well, if wine-tasting is any indication, I think I’m going to like it!” she declared.
We both descended into laughter as I pushed open the glass door leading to the Wendall Winery main building’s lobby. A tour guide was already waiting in a smart uniform with a waistcoat and tie. Standing next to him were two elderly couples. Carla and I shared a look that said we might need to calm down our usual playful and risqué behavior for this part of the tour.
We were wrong, however. The tour guide was vibrant and funny, cracking many jokes as he showed us around the inside of the building. The two elderly couples were also very friendly and not stiff like I had expected. They chatted politely to both Carla and myself and before I knew it, we were all having an incredible time!
By the time we made it outside, I’d learned that the tour guide’s name was Al and that he was dating Tracy who I’d met the day before. But I didn’t just learn about him, I even found out some new information about Carla I’d never heard before. It turned out that she was thirty-two, only a few years older than me in spite of her appearance, and we had far more in common than I would have guessed. It really did seem like we were becoming fast friends.
“Now, ladies and gentleman, the part you’ve all been waiting for!” Al announced as we finished circling around one section of the field. “It’s time for the wine tasting, if you wouldn’t mind following me inside. We’ll begin as soon as everybody is ready.”
“Ooh, now we’re talking!” Carla whispered in my ear enthusiastically. I giggled in response and looped my arm in hers as we walked back into the lobby. As soon as we entered, my ears picked up on a familiar young man’s voice and I felt my heart pound in my chest.
“Daddy! I want to go home!” I heard Lincoln say in a whiny and tired voice.
“I know, I know, let’s just wait here to see Uncle Peter and then we’ll head back, okay? Maybe Papa will give us a ride if you ask nicely okay?” Quentin told him.
I couldn’t resist looking over at them and it seemed that neither could Carla. Quentin was dressed in his casualwear for once which I thought wouldn’t be as sexy as his suit and tie, but honestly, it made him look gorgeous. He was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a long-sleeved white cotton shirt that hugged his biceps deliciously. Seeing him like that made something primal inside of my surge and I had to look away.
Carla, however, didn’t. She let out a low whistle when her eyes settled on Quentin and I laughed. “Who is that tasty snack over there?” she asked in a quiet voice, her eyes surveying him like a piece of meat.
“That’s my boss,” I told her. “Looks like he’s with his family. Those people there are his parents and the kid is his son. They own this place.”
Carla stopped looking at them to turn and stare at me. “You’re joking!” she exclaimed, her mouth gaping.
I shook my head.
“He’s so hot,” Carla continued in a hushed voice, crowding in closer to me. “Tell me that you’re going to hit that!”
I blushed and felt heat course throughout my body. It was bad enough that I’d been secretly thinking about Quentin, I couldn’t bear Carla talking about it out loud! So, I laughed a little awkwardly and shook my head.
“No, absolutely not,” I told her firmly. “That’s totally unprofessional.”
Carla arched an eyebrow. “I’d be unprofessional any day for a piece of that action…”
“Carla!” I chided before the two of us giggled again like a couple of schoolgirls.
Before I had a chance to say anything else, however, someone was tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around with a gasp to see someone familiar. It was Richard Wendall who had interviewed me over Skype for my job here. My eyes widened and I smiled politely.
“Mr. Wendall, good afternoon,” I greeted. “What brings you here today?”
He chortled and his brown eyes crinkled, making his crow’s feet more prominent that before. “This is my vineyard, you know. I like to pop in from time to time to see how things are going,” he explained. “And Quentin, well, he can hardly leave the place alone even on weekends! I worry he might be micromanaging a little too much, but c’est la vie!” He paused and looked me over once more. “Anyway, enough about me, Billie dear, how are you liking it here?”
I smiled up at him, happy to see a friendly face. “I’m really enjoying my job so far, sir. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the surroundings are just so beautiful.”
Carla nudged my arm with hers and I rushed to introduce her. “Oh, Mr. Wendall, I totally forgot. This is my friend, Carla. I brought her along for the tour. Well, she’s my landlady and my friend. I think we decided on that earlier.” I sent her a teasing glance and she chuckled.
Carla reached out to shake Mr. Wendall’s hand with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and thank you so much for hiring Billie! She’s the best tenant/friend I’ve ever had.”
The three of us laughed and Mr. Wendall continued to speak to Carla, answering some of her questions about the vineyard, but I couldn’t bring myself to pay attention. Instead, I was more focused on the fact that Quentin’s eyes were burning into me like a laser. I could have sworn that he didn’t look away even once after he noticed I was in the lobby. Occasionally, I glanced over in his direction, trying to look like I was examining the building, and not once did he even flinch.
It should have been disconcerting, but instead, I felt my thighs shiver and my whole body tingle. The intensity of his stare was addictive and I enjoyed being the one to draw his gaze. I wanted him to look at me and only me.
My thoughts were interrupted when Carla linked her arm in mine once more. “Thank you for the information, Mr. Wendall, I’ll make sure to visit again during the spring like you said.”
“My pleasure, Miss Carla,” he replied. “I’ll see you soon, Billie.”
“Bye, Mr. Wendall!”
With that, my boss’ father returned to his family, scooping up Lincoln in his arms and tickling his sides. My heart ached as I imagined being part of such a warm, loving family, but I knew it couldn’t be. For starters, getting involved with Quentin was bad news. I needed my job and I didn’t want to give it up. Secondly, Quentin almost certainly had a wife. I’d never seen her around, but how else would he have a son?
“That man wants to sleep with you so bad,” Carla remarked as she steered me away and toward the tasting room. “He didn’t stop staring at you the whole time we were in there! Talk about making it obvious.”
I flushed and my face turned the same color as a ripe tomato. “Stop it,” I chastised her and shook my head. I couldn’t think like that. If I did, I might end up doing something stupid…
10
Quentin
What should have been an enjoyable and peaceful weekend had been completely disrupted by her. The moment I set eyes on Billie at the vineyard in her black chiffon dress, I was lost completely. She had her hair down for once and it flowed effortlessly down her back, showing off the length that was usually hidden in a braid or a bun. Her dress looked like it was a size too small, but that only made her look more enticing. The material c
lung to her hips and her breasts beautifully, showing off her luscious curves and fueling my naughty fantasies of her.
Could I really be blamed for picturing her when I touched myself that evening? It didn’t mean anything. It was harmless. It was just an outlet for the minor crush I was having on a co-worker. That was as far as I was willing to take things and I wholeheartedly believed it would relieve the desire I had for her.
But I was wrong.
Come Monday morning, Billie was still all I could think about. I pictured her sweet smile on the drive into work and I imagined her infectious laughter as I stirred the sugar into my morning coffee. It seemed that getting an insight into Billie’s life outside of work had only spurned on my curiosity. My little crush was growing instead of fading and it was bad. I needed to keep my distance as best I could, but how could I do that when we were forced to work together every God damn day?
I slammed my fist on my desk hard enough to shake it and my mug of coffee wobbled a little, spilling coffee on the document I’d been reading over. “For fuck sake,” I grumbled moodily before pulling open my top drawer and retrieving a pack of tissues. I quickly mopped up the mess and then reclined back in my chair in an attempt to force myself to relax and forget about the busty beauty who was driving me crazy.
It was a futile effort.
What was worse was that even my mom seemed to know what was going on. After my dad had returned from his little chat with Billie, he wouldn’t stop talking about her. Honestly, if I didn’t know how head over heels he was for my mom, I would have thought he had a crush on her! He kept rambling on telling us what a lovely girl she was and how well-suited she was for the job. It was driving me insane and I couldn’t help but stare after her as she continued her tour. When she finally disappeared, I turned my attention back to my family only to notice that my mom was giving me a knowing look – a look that said ‘I know exactly what you’re thinking’ – and it left me feeling uneasy to say the least.
So, as nine o’clock rolled around on the first day of the work week, I did my best to avoid her. Since I always arrived at work an hour before her, I didn’t run into her in the parking lot. At the office, I could communicate with her by e-mail instead of in person. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work. It shouldn’t have been hard to avoid her at all, after all, I was the boss. I was busy and I had plenty of work to keep me occupied. Billie also had a lot of work to be getting on with and she’d become comfortable talking to Peter about any issues she was having while I’d been off with Lincoln. Yes, it should have been so simple.
But as I busied myself in my office returning all the e-mails from potential customers I’d received over the weekend, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to her. It was nine-fifteen. That meant Billie had already arrived for the day. Had she gone to the lounge to make a cup of coffee? Or had she gone straight to the office to crack on with work? I was so desperate to know more about her, I was tempted to go and find out, but I caught myself at the last moment.
“Stop it, Quentin, you’re being ridiculous,” I said, scolding myself with a shake of my head.
It was probably my own fault for starting off with such a mind-numbingly boring task, so I moved onto something else. I headed down to the quality assurance office to oversee the tasting trials of a new product we were thinking of introducing. I got on well with the technicians and they were always happy to get the opinion of someone higher up, so thankfully, it went smoothly. It was a good way to take my mind off of Billie as I chatted with my employees and got myself involved in the wine-making process.
After I finished up there, I headed to the restaurant to see how they were doing as they prepared for the lunch rush. The head chef, Anton, was as pleasant and accommodating as ever as I looked around the kitchens, however, the sous chef completely derailed the whole point of me visiting them when I went over to check on her.
“The new girl, Billie, seems really nice,” Tracy told me with a smile as she continued slicing spring onions. “You made a good choice there, sir.”
Even hearing her name was making me feel hot under the collar and my mood soured. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t the one who hired her,” I stated grumpily.
“Oh,” was all the sous chef could muster. “Well, she’s lovely regardless. I think she’ll make a great addition to the team.”
“Yeah, sure,” I muttered before scurrying out of the kitchen as fast as I could.
It was natural that people would talk about the new employee, but I’d never been so sensitive to it before. I wondered what it was about Billie that stirred me up so much and whether there was anything I could do to try and avoid making an awful mistake. Questions consumed me as I returned to my office and buried my head in financial reports.
By the time lunch came, I was grateful for a reason to get up and stretch my legs. I’d been a bit worried about leaving the office again for fear of either running into Billie herself or hearing someone else talking about her again. I headed for the break area where the lounge and kitchenette were situated, tactfully avoiding looking in the direction of Billie’s office. I thought I’d successfully avoided the busty brunette who had been occupying my thoughts, but I was wrong.
As soon as I opened the door to the lounge, I was confronted by the sight of Billie relaxing on the couch. She’d taken her little kitten heels off so they laid discarded on the floor and she had tucked her feet under herself comfortably while she ate her lunch. I could see that her toes were painted a cute pastel pink and she’d taken her hair out of her ponytail so that the strands were hanging messily around her face. She looked far too alluring for her own good and I needed to look at something – anything – else. A quick glance at her plate showed that she was eating some kind of creamy pasta with one hand while the other was tapping away on her phone.
For a moment, I wondered what she was up to. Was she messaging someone? If she was, who was it? Did she have a boyfriend? The thought caused my heart to sink and a low growl to rumble in my chest. Bitter jealousy gripped me and I couldn’t bear it any longer. I needed to get away from her before I did something I’d regret.
Right then, however, Billie looked up from the screen and her dark chocolate eyes locked with mine. She licked a small bit of creamy sauce from her bottom lip and smiled at me. “Hey, boss man!” she greeted cheerily. “How are you doing? It’s been a while!”
I needed to get a hold of myself. It was taking every ounce of strength I had in my body not to close the gap between us and jump her right then and there. But I had to get away. It wasn’t good for her; it wasn’t good for me. This needed to be stopped before it even started.
In response, I gave her a curt nod before marching toward the fridge and grabbing my lunch. Once I had the paper bag in hand, I walked toward the table furthest from Billie and faced away from her as I sat down. It was too tempting to look that way. I practically ripped open the bag when I retrieved my lunch from it as pent up jealousy and arousal fought inside me.
Unbeknownst to me, Peter had entered shortly after me and hurried to catch up to me after he saw my strange behavior. “Quentin, what is your problem?” he hissed in my ear as he sat down next to me. “She’s a nice girl. You don’t need to treat her like that. What do you think you’re playing at?”
I groaned and turned to face him. “I’m trying to do exactly what you told me to do: not sleep with her.”
Peter’s jaw dropped and his expression turned shocked. I knew he’d been joking originally when he said it and neither of us had known quite how attracted I would become to Billie, but now, it was serious and I had to keep my distance for both our sakes. However, the image of her looking so happy and relaxed as she rested on the couch wouldn’t leave me. It was something I imagined she’d do at home in her own space and it made me crave her in ways I didn’t truly understand.
Thankfully, Billie didn’t try to talk to me again throughout lunch and I was able to inhale my sandwich quicker than I’d ever eaten anything before. I barely e
ven spoke another word to Peter as I ate and he’d instead begun to talk to the employee sat on the other side of him.
“I’ll see you later, Peter,” I said as soon as I was finished eating.
“Wait, Quentin…”
I didn’t wait. Billie was still in the room and I desperately needed some space. Instead, I practically ran out of the break area without so much as a cursory glance backward. When I reached my office door, I paused with my hand on the door knob. If I stayed in the office, Billie could come find me. If I stayed in there, my mind might betray me again and start daydreaming about her. No, I needed to take myself somewhere else, someone away from reminders of Billie.
I turned on my heel and headed down the stairs until I reached the lobby. I hurried past the reception desk until I reached the main glass doors and pushed it open. Fresh air brushed against my face as I stepped outside and I took in a deep breath until my heart beat began to slow down once more. The sun was obscured by heavy clouds that day and it looked like it was going to rain in the evening. It was perfect weather for a brisk walk.
Something I always did when I needed to think was walk amongst the vines in the fields. It was difficult for anyone to find me out there and it was hard to bump into any field workers since I knew their timetables and routines. As such, I headed toward the nearest field and let myself in through the small, wooden gate.
The scent of sweet fruit on the air was familiar and calming. I walked along one row of vines and let my mind clear. As soon as it did, however, I was confronted with images of Billie curled up on the couch eating pasta. It was such a cute and domestic sight that it stirred something deep within me. It was then that I decided I needed to understand what exactly had attracted me to Billie in the first place in order to undo it.
With that in mind, I spent the rest of the afternoon weaving around the rows of vines and concentrating my thoughts on Billie, trying to figure out exactly what it was about her that was driving me so mad.
Dear Boss: A Single Dad Office Romance (Forbidden First Times Book 3) Page 6
