The Boss(hole)
Page 7
A wave of freezing air blasted me as soon as I opened it. I frowned. It was way too fucking cold in here. She was going to get sick.
It took me a second to register what I was seeing. It looked like there was a blanket larva with a cord sticking out of it on her bed. It was a blanket-covered lump roughly the length of a small, sassy woman and some sort of loud machine was running inside the covers.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered. I walked over and yanked the cord out of the wall.
The blankets stirred, then Jules’ head popped out. Her forehead was plastered with wet hair and sweat. “Uh,” she said, blinking through sleepiness. “I was going to turn that off in a sec.”
“Turn what off?” I asked, yanking the covers back. The moment I pulled the covers back, I knew I’d made a mistake. Jules was topless and wearing only a thin pair of white panties beneath the blankets. The only saving grace was that she had her arms crossed and her knees pulled up in a way that kept me from really seeing anything.
Somehow, in the course of three days, I’d seen my personal assistant in her bra and panties before the office party, with her bottoms down and her ass out on the airplane, and now topless and nearly nude in her bed. It felt like the universe itself was testing my self-control.
I jerked my head to the side. “Shit,” I said through clenched teeth.
I heard the blankets ruffling as she pulled them up to cover herself. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you?” I countered. “I couldn’t sleep with that sound. I thought you were vacuuming or something.”
“Why would I be vacuuming a hotel room?”
“I don’t know? But you were sleeping with a running hair dryer under your blankets. Apparently I can’t assume you’re going to be doing something sane or logical.”
“My heater won’t turn on,” she said. “By the time I was done studying your stupid slides I didn’t have time to wait for someone to come try to repair it. I figured I’d just get through the next couple hours any way I could.”
“You’re lucky the bed didn’t catch fire,” I said, lifting up the hair dryer, which was extremely hot to the touch.
“What do you suggest I do, Mr. White?” she asked. God, she even looked incredible with her eyes puffy from sleep and her hair wild. She looked raw and unfiltered. Worse, I knew the only thing between her nearly nude body and my eyes was that comforter.
“You’ll sleep in my room. We don’t have time for this.” I started walking toward the door. “And put some clothes on. Bring your pillow and comforter, too.”
I didn’t wait up for her. I got to my room and looked around, making sure there was nothing incriminating in view. I didn’t make a habit of being careless with my identity, but I wanted to be sure.
She came shuffling in a little while later. She was wearing pajama shorts that barely covered her ass in the back and a white and blue striped top that was too thin to hide the shape of her breasts and nipples. I averted my eyes. This was a bad idea. I should’ve offered for her to sleep in Jordan’s room, but I didn’t want to admit to my sister that I’d gone into Jules’ room to check on her in the middle of the night.
It was bad enough to have to face my unprofessional attraction in my own head. I didn’t need my sister figuring out how bad it was getting.
“You take my bed. I’ll sleep on the floor. Just let me switch out the blankets.” I started to strip the comforter.
Jules shook her head, yawning. “No, it’s fine. We don’t need to swap them out.”
She handed me her comforter—the same one she’d just had wrapped around her naked, sweaty body, and pillow. I considered insisting we switch the blankets out, but she was already crawling into my bed.
Fuck.
I tossed the pillow on the ground and tried to make myself comfortable. The moment I laid my head down, I was washed in that smell of strawberries and sugar from her shampoo. Worse, the comforter smelled fantastic. Her scent was all over it, and I went immediately hard.
This was pathetic. Jules made me feel like some middle schooler with raging hormones. So much as a whiff of her scent and I was hard? Her hair brushing against me on the airplane and my cock was at full mast? It was ridiculous.
I glared at the ceiling, trying to focus on my anger instead of my arousal.
Jules rolled over on the bed, rustling the blankets. A few seconds later, she shifted again. Then again.
Within a few minutes, I realized she was the most active, restless sleeper on the face of the planet. She moved at least every few seconds. Between the intoxicating scent on her blanket and comforter, the rustling noises coming from the bed, and my aggressively hard cock, I couldn’t sleep.
It had to be around four when she finally stopped shifting around so much. Almost as soon as she stilled, she started breathing heavy. “Mmm,” she breathed. “Mmm.”
I went deadly still. She let out a long, satisfied sounding sigh, then started breathing harder. I desperately wished for a window into whatever she was dreaming about. Except I had a feeling seeing it would only drive me to an unjustified jealous rage or plant very unhelpful ideas in my head.
I squeezed my eyes shut and rolled to the side, careful not to snap off my erection in the process.
Absolutely ridiculous.
I silently swore to myself that I would never again hire someone I found so attractive. It didn’t matter if they were the most qualified, impressive candidate I’d ever met. It was simply too distracting. Too dangerous.
I drifted to sleep moments before my alarm rang.
Jules reacted to the blaring sound like she’d been splashed with cold water. She slung the blankets off and rushed across the room to God only knew where. But I was laying right between where she was and where she was going.
In a painful blur, her foot caught me in the side, and she went tumbling down to land right on top of me. She was only wearing thin night clothes and I’d kicked off my blankets from the heat I turned on to help warm her up.
I was completely awake the moment her small body pressed down against mine. We were face to face, her hair dangling down to tickle my ears on either side.
“Um,” she said. “Why are you in my room, Mr. White?”
“It’s my room. And I should be asking why you keep finding ways to inappropriately touch me.”
She ran her tongue over her teeth, grinning slightly. Her eyes slid down toward where our hips were pressed together. “Please don’t fire me for saying this, but either you live your whole life aggressively erect, or you’re enjoying it.”
I carefully took her by the shoulders and moved her off of me. “I’m not about to talk about erectile habits with an employee.”
She got to her knees, and I couldn’t stop from noticing her nipples were hard and pressing through the fabric of her shirt. She looked fantastic, even with her hair all messy and fresh out of bed. “I have a strict rule. I respect the privacy of anything that doesn’t try to press itself between my legs first thing in the morning.”
I let out a groan. This fucking woman. She really wasn’t going to drop it, was she? “I don’t sleep with my employees. That’s the only thing either of us need to know.”
She chewed her lip. It looked like she was thinking of saying something, but she got to her feet and crossed her arms, covering her chest. “You may want to tell that to your not-so-little friend, then.”
She grabbed her phone and headed for my door.
“Miss Adams,” I said, sitting up. “Breakfast in thirty. Meet me in the lobby. I’ll brief you for today while we eat.”
She looked like she was considering cold-blooded murder for an instant, then she forced a smile. “Yes, Mr. White.”
Once the door closed, I collapsed back into my pillow. I honestly had no idea how long I could keep this up. I was even beginning to wonder if it’d be better for us both to just sleep together once and get it out of our systems. Maybe we could agree to be adults about it and get back to work after.
I ran my hands through my hair and groaned in frustration. I couldn’t believe I’d been foolish enough to hire her when I knew damn well what I wanted to do. At this point, it was going to be a victory if made it back to North Carolina without fucking my personal assistant.
13
Jules
I took the world’s fastest shower and only had time to put on the bare minimum amount of makeup. When I met Mr. White in the lobby, my hair was still wet and I felt far from ready for the long day he was promising. I was banking on being able to rush to my room and change into business clothes and out of the leggings and t-shirt I was currently rocking, too.
Somehow, Mr. White had cleaned up to look just as impeccable as always. Less than half an hour ago, he’d been wearing a simple white shirt and thin boxers, and now he looked like he was getting ready for a photo shoot. It didn’t even seem possible, but there he was, clad in a freshly pressed suit that fit him more snugly than sin.
“Mr. White,” I said as coldly as I could. I was still annoyed with him. I wasn’t even sure why exactly. Except maybe that I’d never even had a fraction of this kind of sexual tension in my entire life with anyone. Meanwhile, the only thing he could say to acknowledge it was that he doesn’t sleep with his employees. He’d managed to assume I was suggesting we do something about the sizzling temptation between us and shut it down in one emotionless statement. Bastard.
“Miss Adams,” he said. His voice was as cold as normal, but he couldn’t completely fool me. I saw a little lingering something in his gaze. I was halfway tempted to check between his legs to see if the man was hard again. Then again, the damn thing was so big I probably could’ve seen it even if my back was turned. I wondered if he’d ever heard the medical advice to see a doctor if an erection lasted more than four hours, but I guessed I was giving him too much shit for that. I had been laying on top of him in the hotel room. I also knew “morning wood” was a thing. And on the airplane, he’d walked in on me with my pants down. Not that I would’ve considered it the peak of sexuality to see me sitting on the toilet, but I wasn’t going to kink shame the guy. Especially after I’d basically ruined my underwear from getting so wet because of our little encounter.
I followed him, telling myself it was all normal, just biological reactions between a man’s body and a woman’s body. Our bodies were just reacting to attraction. That was their job. And it was the job of our heads to decide if that attraction was wise to act on or not. This was definitely an “or not” sort of situation.
Originally, I’d been afraid to acknowledge my attraction for Mr. White because I needed the job. But now I thought I was just scared to see what would happen if we unleashed the growing tension. It felt like the two of us letting loose at this point might be roughly equivalent to splitting the atom. Atomic.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“There’s a restaurant here. We’re meeting some of my partners. Be on your best behavior. These are long-time friends of mine. I want you to make a good impression.”
“Oh, I’m meeting your friends now? I guess things are really getting serious.”
Mr. White stopped, turning to face me just before we reached the hostess who stood outside a white tablecloth restaurant within the hotel. “Jules,” he said. “I will admit I haven’t been entirely professional when it comes to our working relationship. That’s my mistake. But it’s a mistake I intend to fix. I suggest you do the same.”
I was torn between wanting to kick him between the legs and nodding my agreement. It was there again—that implication that I was just as guilty as him of egging on whatever this was brewing between us. I knew I should’ve just nodded my head, but it frankly pissed me off that he wanted to keep lobbing those assumptions my way. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Mr. White. Could you be more specific?”
He stepped closer, giving me a dizzying view of his green eyes. Those eyelashes of his were impressively long, too. “Are you sure you want to go down this road?” His words were laced with warning.
But I was still irritated with him, so I nodded my head. “Yes. Please, enlighten me.”
“I’m having trouble getting you out of my mind, and it irritates me. This weekend is absolutely critical to everything I’ve worked towards for the past ten years, and all I can think about is you. Frankly, I’m sick and tired of it. I want you off my mind, Miss Adams. And yes, I hold you personally responsible for causing such a distraction.”
My breath caught. He spoke with so much intensity that it literally felt like it sapped the air from my lungs. I licked my lips. “I think you’re an insufferable egomaniac. You have the emotional range of a robot, and you ask way too much of your staff. And speaking of your staff, I think we’d both have an easier time staying professional if you stopped letting it get hard and poking me with it or pressing my face into it.”
Something very dangerous flashed in his eyes. He was standing so incredibly close, and the few people passing by us to head into the restaurant or move about the hotel seemed to fade out of view.
I was sure he was going to kiss me. The knowledge came suddenly and without warning, but I could feel it in my core. I knew it was coming, and I knew I was going to let it happen. Worse, I knew I was going to embrace it, because two human beings could only endure so much tension before they burst. Or gave in.
“Adrian,” a man said in a deep voice. He seemed to appear from nowhere, and he clapped Mr. White on the shoulder of his suit, smiling broadly as he moved to his side and faced me. “Are we having an argument? Things looked pretty tense over here.”
Just like that, the thick air between us seemed to snap and I could finally breathe again. I stepped back, feeling my head clear. I could hardly believe I’d actually been so ready to kiss him—to do anything with him if it meant releasing the tension pounding in my lower stomach.
I looked at the newcomer. He was tall with tattoos creeping out from his suit sleeves to the back of his hands and up the base of his neck. His blond hair was shoulder length and thick. The gorgeous man stuck his hand out towards me. “I’m Travis.”
I smiled, shaking his hand.
Mr. White subtly gave the man a little nudge to break our handshake. “Travis and I have worked together for a very long time. Travis is a sales wizard. When a deal needs closed or a client needs greased, he’s the one I call. But come on, there’s one more person you’ll need to meet. He should be waiting for us inside.”
And just like we hadn’t been milliseconds from kissing our professional business relationship goodbye—quite literally—we all headed into the restaurant.
I forgot about what had just happened when I saw the beautiful interior of the restaurant. It was covered in greenery and stonework with running water that trickled over the stones and fed into shallow rivers of water. The whole restaurant felt like some temperature controlled perfect slice of nature. My mood immediately brightened. It felt like I’d spent the last half year in cramped apartments and oppressive offices. As much as I didn’t miss my old life, I had to admit being somewhere this beautiful felt nostalgic and comforting.
“Mr. White,” a young girl at the hostess stand said. She straightened like she knew his reputation, then grabbed three thick leather menus and led us to a table.
Mr. White and Travis were speaking about something as we walked that I couldn’t make out and didn’t try to. They shook hands and did the manly shoulder patting routine when we met their other partner at the table.
It looked like the three of them must’ve all gone to the same male modeling camp when they were kids. The guy waiting at the table for us was clean cut with glasses and dark hair. He had a sexy nerd thing going on.
All together, Mr. White looked like the one who would’ve played quarterback in high school. He was athletic, but in a lean, efficient sort of way. He was clean cut with enough intensity and danger to make him seem like the bad boy, even without visible tattoos. He looked like the one people followed.
The one in glasses seemed like the valedictorian type. I could imagine him giving a speech at graduation and secretly having the heart of all the smart girls. He was the too-good-to-be-true guy that parents loved.
“This is Noah,” Mr. White said. “He’s our infrastructure guy. Absolute genius. I’ve never shown him a system he can’t improve.”
The four of us took our places around the table. It looked like Travis was about to sit beside me, but Mr. White smoothly slid into the spot at my side, leaving Travis across from me and Noah to my left.
I felt completely out of place, so I tried to distract myself by burying my face in the menu.
“Don’t let the prices scare you,” Travis said. He had an easy smile that made me feel relaxed. I could see how he was probably effective in closing sales. That, and probably getting women into his bed with that straight-toothed smile and those dimples of his. “Adrian over here covers all company meals. Order as much as you want. It’s on his dime.”
As if Adrian could read my thoughts about Travis’s attractiveness, he splayed his legs slightly, which caused his knee to rest against mine.
I felt like he was marking me out somehow. Like a dog pissing on its favorite bush. How flattering.
If I wasn’t born with a silver spoon jammed so far down my throat that it was threatening to pop out my ass, I would’ve been hopeless with the menu at this place. It was all in French, and mostly obscure foods like quail eggs and imported meats the average person has never heard of. Thankfully, I recognized most of it from the things I’d been forced to eat.
But thinking of my childhood gave me a strange pang of guilt. Here I was, the daughter of the man these people were working for, and none of them had any idea. Of course, they had no right to know. It was my business if I wanted to use my mother’s maiden name, and I wasn’t obligated to tell them who my father was.