One after another, the employees came in for their meetings with us. We gave them the bad news, and some of them didn’t take it as well as Alfred had. A couple threatened to kill us before we had even had the chance to tell them about their package. A couple were happy, like Alfred, but the last two were definitely not happy. Even offering six months of severance wasn’t enough to soothe their agitation over being one of the people let go. But eventually, we made it through all six firings and finally collapsed into our chairs.
The first two had gone off within the half of an hour range, but the last four had dragged on for well over that time frame. It was nearly eight o’clock when we could finally relax.
“How’s your daughter?” I asked Kevin.
“She’s good. Amy finally got off work and met me at the doctor. It’s just an ear infection, nothing to worry about.”
“Can you grab a drink, or do you need to get home?”
“I can definitely grab a drink. I’m going to need one to calm all this nervous energy. That was definitely not a job I enjoyed doing. I really hope we don’t have to let anyone else go.”
“You and me both. I doubt most people are going to be as accepting as these guys were. How do you feel about that Club Lively place? I’ve heard a few other guys were checking it out the other day and said it was pretty hip.”
“Then I’m there. You know how hip I am,” Kevin joked as he started doing this horrible dance.
“Wow, you should do that dance at the club. I bet the ladies would be all over you. They’d probably assume you were a millionaire or something and that was the only way you were comfortable with being such a horrible dancer.” I laughed as I teased him.
“Can we swing by your house so I can shower? I don’t want to go home; I’m sure I’ll get thrown onto dinner duty.”
“Sure, let’s get cleaned up and go get me a lady for the night,” I joked. “I do need to make sure Rosie can stay late. Sometimes she has plans.”
I totally wasn’t going to pick up some random girl and bring her home, although I was pretty sure that was what Kevin thought I did all the time. With Clyde at home, it just wasn’t practical to bring strangers home with me, even if we’d be in my bedroom, and Clyde would be in his.
“Doesn’t she have a room at your house?”
“Yes, but she doesn’t stay with us all the time. Only when I need to go out of town or something like that. Normally, she heads home as soon as I get there. I’ve actually not had much time with Clyde the last few weeks, so I’m excited to get to have some time over the weekend.”
“Are you two doing anything special?” Kevin asked.
“Yep, going to see the Wiggles in concert.” I laughed.
“Oh, man I’m sorry. I can’t believe they are still around. I still have nightmares about the time I took my kids there. Totally freaked me out.”
“The Wiggles? Aren’t they just a children’s singing group?”
“Yeah, but they are grown men singing children’s songs and dancing around like maniacs. I couldn’t stop thinking about how that would be you and me if we lost our company.”
“Really? You are such a dork. I would only be Barney, never a member of the Wiggles,” I protested, and we both broke into laughter.
“Hope it never comes to that,” Kevin said as he turned serious. “This deal is going to work. I just know it is going to work out great for us. I have a feeling it will be a little rough these first few months, but then things are going to turn around.”
Kevin always had feelings about things, and he was right about half of the time. But I never argued with him. He had his ways of dealing with the pressures we were under, and I had my ways. But in the end, we were both interested in building a brand that others could watch. We wanted integrity to guide us, and that was exactly what we were doing.
Chapter 6
Anna
It was after nine o’clock when we finally walked through the doors to Club Lively. I had a little zip in my step from completing my first full week of work. For many people, this might have seemed something so small, but for me it was huge. I was finally independent and in charge of my own life.
Even though I hadn’t actually considered going into business, my little lie about going to college to get my MBA was actually starting to feel like an option. I loved being in the office, and I really enjoyed learning about the numbers and business side of everything. There was a lot to learn, though, and I knew it.
“Are you actually going to party tonight?” Summer asked as if my one week of not partying had been torture for her.
“I’m down to party all night long,” I exclaimed as I pulled her onto the dance floor.
“Don’t you want to get some drinks?”
“Nope, I just want to dance right now. Can we just dance?”
Summer reluctantly stayed with me, and we danced. The club wasn’t the coolest in town, but it had become ours over the years, and I felt comfortable there. The DJ had the music blasting, and Summer and I danced until we were about to fall over from exhaustion. It was a blast but sort of sad that the other girls hadn’t shown up yet. They had insisted that Club Lively was too boring, and they were only going to come after they finished at the much more popular Club O.
Of course, I wouldn’t be able to get into Club O because I’d already heard they were sticklers about the IDs. Luckily for me, Summer had agreed to come hang out at Club Lively, so I didn’t have to wait until midnight for everyone else. Patrick had planned on coming too, but he was held up with his work for a bit and wouldn’t be around until later.
“Drinks, now?” Summer asked as the music paused and a slow song came on.
“Yeah, good plan.”
Summer ordered us a few glasses of Vodka Sours, and we grabbed a table near the bar. My feet were already throbbing, and I was seriously dehydrated as I sucked the drink down much faster than I should have.
“Shit, I’m going to grab some ice waters,” I said as I threw my shoes under the table and stood up much too quickly. I lost my balance, colliding into a man as he walked past me. I wasn’t smashed drunk or anything like that, it was simply the combination of dehydration and drinking my drink too quickly.
“Are you alright?” the man asked as his hand wrapped around my arm and steadied me. “Where’re your shoes?” he asked with a laugh.
It took me a minute to steady myself and realize that the man I’d bumped into was Jason. He probably thought I was some sort of alcoholic with the way I’d just stumbled into him like that.
“Oh, hey, it’s you,” I said as I tried to stand up straight. “I’m okay; I just stood up too quickly.”
“Yeah, that’s probably it,” he said as he smiled down at me. “Celebrating a week of hard work?”
“Something like that. This is my friend, Summer,” I said without slurring my words and trying to seem as sober as possible. “I was just heading up to get some ice water.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Summer,” Jason said as he shook her hand.
Summer just sort of looked at Jason and laughed a bit before she went back to sipping her drink. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out if there was anything else to say to Jason but then decided it was best to just get away from him. Being this close to him made my knees week and my head spin.
“Okay, well, I better go. Have a good night,” I said as I walked toward the bar and stood there waiting to order some ice waters.
“You’re not old enough to be drinking,” Jason said as he slid next to me at the bar.
His arm pressed up next to mine, and the touch of his skin vibrated throughout my body. My nipples hardened, my center got wet, and every part of my body was on full alert with him touching me.
“I’m not?” I asked with a questioning look. “Hmm, that’s interesting.” The bartender came up, and I looked over at Jason who was smiling with amusement at me. “I’d like two ice waters,” I said as I raised my eyebrow at Jason.
“Nice choice.
”
“I’m not drunk,” I protested. “I was out dancing, and I’m just a little dehydrated.”
“Okay.”
“Really, I’m not drunk.”
“Okay,” he said more earnestly. “I’ll be around for a little bit. I’m having a drink with Kevin over there,” Jason said as he pointed to Kevin sitting in the corner. Kevin waved to me. “Come get me if you need a ride home or anything. I mean, if you end up drinking and not being able to drive. Since you’re not drunk right now.” He laughed.
“I really am not drunk,” I protested.
Jason just laughed and leaned in close to me. I could smell his cologne, the same cologne that had been driving me crazy throughout the week at work—the same smell that I went home with, thinking about well into the evening. That damn cologne.
“Just promise you’ll come get me if you need a ride.”
“Fine, I promise. But I can order an Uber like a normal person.”
“Enjoy your night,” he said as he pulled away and the bartender handed me two ice waters.
“You too.”
I watched as he sat down with Kevin, and the two of them looked over at me. It was weird seeing them outside of the office. Since I wasn’t living at home any longer, I had only seen Jason in the office, and things had been really professional there. But as he stood next to me, I didn’t feel like things were professional at all between us. There was a desire inside of me that boiled up almost instantly as he stood there. When his muscular arms pressed against mine, I wanted him. At that moment, all my promises to behave myself were slipping away as I sat back down with Summer and imagined what fun it would be to dance with Jason.
“He’s cute. Who is he again?” Summer asked.
“My boss and my neighbor. Well, when I lived at home.”
“Oh, yeah, the guy who you want to take your virginity. I remember. He’s really handsome. Maybe you should dance with him?”
“Summer, I can’t. He’s my boss now. It’s so complicated. I think I’ll have to find someone else.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’ve been fantasizing about this guy for years. He’s the one. You just need to make it work.”
“Ha, if only life was that simple. I’m starting to realize things are a lot more complicated than I thought. But I’m definitely going to keep my eye on him. Maybe when I’m done with my internship thing? Who knows?”
I wasn’t about to admit to Summer that I wanted Jason even more than I had before. This week I’d gotten to see him in his element and admired the way he worked and how he treated everyone around him. Before this week I’d only known Jason as the hot dad from next door. There wasn’t much substance to my crush at all, but now I’d learned more about who he was, and it drove my desire hotter than before.
The funny thing was that we didn’t even spend much time together throughout the week. He was really busy, and I’d been trying to prove myself and get the job done. I also didn’t want to be that girl who was throwing herself at him anymore. It had been fun when he was my neighbor only, but now I was going for something totally different. It was exciting having a job and building this life as an adult.
“Can we please go dance now?” Summer said as she dragged me out of my chair and back to the dance floor.
The music filled the room, and the bass thumped through my body. Our bodies moved and gyrated to the music as I let go of the stress from the week and had fun with my friend.
“When are Amy and Rebecca coming? And Patrick?” I yelled as we danced.
“I’m not sure, but that hottie sure hasn’t stopped looking at you,” Summer said as she grabbed me and pulled me closer to her. “He’s seriously been staring at you this entire time. Don’t look, but I think he likes you.”
“Nothing I can do about it now. I promised to behave myself since we are working together.”
“Did you promise to behave at work or all the time?” Summer’s arms stayed wrapped around me, and we laughed and laughed.
It was fun to hang out with Summer. She was all about having a good time, and that made it easy to forget the day to day boring stuff and just have let go. My other friends were fun as well, but not nearly as carefree as Summer was.
“I think I promised to behave while I was at work.” I laughed.
“Then you’re golden. Just be naughty outside of work.”
“Hey, you girls, let me in here,” Patrick said as he wrapped his arms around the both of us.
Patrick kissed me on the cheek and twirled me around, and sure enough, I saw Jason staring right at me. I couldn’t help it—I wrapped my arms around Patrick and kissed him on the neck while Jason looked on. Jason smiled and went back to talking to Kevin, but as I continued to dance with Patrick, I kept seeing Jason looking over and seeing what we were up to. It was a bit presumptuous to say he was jealous or anything like that, but Jason certainly was interested in what I was doing with Patrick.
“You’re drunk, aren’t you?” Patrick laughed as he grabbed my ass, and we playfully danced together with Summer.
The three of us were certainly an interesting sight to see if you didn’t know the dynamics of our relationship. Summer was kissing me and then kissing Patrick on the neck. She was always like that, and I’d probably been kissed by her more than by any guy in my life. She didn’t kiss me or Patrick on the lips, but she was drunk and laughing and loving on us.
Patrick was gay; he didn’t even like girls, but he loved to dance with us and have fun. He was an affectionate guy and probably wouldn’t have been kissing on me like he was except that I’d started it by kissing on his neck. He was having a good time, as were we all.
“I’m totally not drunk.” I laughed. “I’m just so happy to be done with my work week. And guess what?” I said without leaving him enough time to respond. “Jason is here with my other boss, Kevin. Can we play with them a little?”
“Oh, that’s what all this touchy—feely stuff is. You’re trying to make him jealous. I am a pretty handsome hunk of a guy,” he said laughing. “I can play the part of the hot heterosexual stud,” he said and then picked me up off the ground.
My legs wrapped around him as his muscular arms held onto me, and we danced to the beat of the music. Summer found herself another guy to dance with, just some random guy in the club, and the four of us were basically dirty dancing in the middle of the club.
Patrick played a straight guy pretty damn well as his hand ran down my body from my neck to my waist, and he pushed me backward and pulled me back toward him again. He was lifting me and moving me around like he owned me, and it was actually very hilarious. Patrick and I danced for at least twenty minutes before he finally leaned me nearly upside down and then pulled me back up toward him.
Then out of nowhere, he planted an erotic kiss on me that caught me so off guard. Instead of kissing him back, I pushed him away as I tried to gather my balance. My knees wobbled from all the dancing and jumping around we had been doing.
“Sorry.” He laughed. “I was getting a little too much into it.”
“It’s okay. I’m just a little nauseous. I’ll be right back,” I said as I went over to the bar.
I was extremely light headed. Maybe it was from Patrick tipping me upside down and back up again or perhaps it was just too much dancing. I climbed up onto a barstool and ordered another ice water to see if I could calm my stomach.
“You okay?” Jason said as he was quickly by my side. “Do you know that guy?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Kevin had to leave. Can I keep you company?”
“Sure,” I said as I sipped on my water. “I think I might have overdone it.”
“Quite the dancer. I enjoyed watching you,” Jason said as he leaned in closer so I could hear him over the music. “Is that your boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Good.”
My heart flipped right over in my chest. Then I realized he was close enough to smell, and I took in a deep breath of his perfec
t cologne. I tried not to look at him and did my best to keep that invisible wall up between us, but eventually, I turned to him, and that was it. I melted. His hands twisted my chair toward him, and he moved my legs so they were in between his as we sat there looking into each other’s eyes.
“I’m feeling a little better,” I managed to say.
“Good.”
“You say that a lot.” I laughed as I tried not to look him in the eyes.
He smiled at me, and I realized I had placed my hand on his thigh by accident. I quickly pulled it back, but Jason grabbed it and placed it back on him. He kept his hand on top of mine and leaned down so I was forced to look at him.
The heat between us was undeniable, and I felt it radiating from my hand through his body and back to mine. I wanted this man so desperately that I couldn’t see anyone else in the room besides him. My vision was tunneled in on him and how his muscular leg felt under my hand.
“Let’s dance,” he commanded me as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the dance floor.
The music was pulsing with a fast beat, but Jason pulled me close to him and held onto me as if we were about to do some sort of ballroom dance. One hand was wrapped around my waist, and the other held my hand up to his chest. We swayed with the music, and I was lost in his blue eyes. No words, just desire—unhinged desire like I’d never felt before.
It was different than when I’d been teasing him on the trampoline. In my backyard, I’d been playing a part, teasing him and trying to get him to cave in. But in the club, Jason was clearly in charge, and there was a connection between our touching and movements that drove my desire through the roof. If this was what it was like to have a guy like Jason, I wanted him. I wanted him right then and there.
There was no talking as we moved together on the dance floor. Our movements weren’t overtly sexual and probably even looked boring to anyone else who was watching us, but I felt the connection. The sexual attraction built up between us as his hand gently moved up and down my back while his eyes gazed intently into mine.
Bedroom Rodeo: A Billionaire Romance Page 34
