One Night Boyfriend (Be My Boyfriend Book 3)

by Victoria Snow

  Not really, I thought. I was working on something incredibly time-sensitive that needed to be submitted by the close of business, but it wasn’t exactly like I could say ‘no’ to my boss.

  Especially not with the way she was looking at me right now.

  “Sure,” I lied. “What is it?”

  I was hoping Amanda would get down to business straight away but she sashayed into my office like she was on a catwalk, then went over to the window and looked outside before taking a seat across from my desk.

  “It’s about the upcoming conference, and our presentation,” Amanda said. “I was trying to get through a lot of this myself, but it makes more sense to turn it over to you.” She produced a thick folder teeming with documents and dropped it down on my desk with a heavy thud.

  “I’ll do my best,” I told her. “I’m being spread pretty thin right now as it is.”

  For once, it wasn’t a gentle lie in an attempt to get her to back off – it was the truth. Thankfully, in the week that had passed since Sasha and I had last hooked up, I’d been so busy that I’d barely had time to eat, much less think about how I was pushing a good woman away.

  “You’d better do your best,” Amanda said. She gave me another coy smile. “Because you’re coming with me to Vegas.”

  I blinked. “I wasn’t invited,” I told her. “I heard that the budget wouldn’t allow for it.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Amanda replied with a girlish giggle that didn’t suit her at all. “I took care of it.” She reached over and touched my hand with hers, stroking a nail over my tendons. “I’ll have my girl book you a flight and a hotel room.”

  A shudder ran down my spine and I had to resist the urge to yank my hand out of Amanda’s grasp. My mind raced for an acceptable excuse to get her to stop touching me, but thankfully she pulled back and smiled at me again.

  “Thanks,” I told her. “I appreciate it, but I can have Sasha do it for me.”

  Amanda smiled again. “Don’t be silly, Andy,” she said, then tossed in another giggle for good measure. “If your girl does it, we might not be seated next to each other on the plane.”

  Oh, Jesus Christ, I said to myself. Is she really serious with this?

  “Well, I’m sure it’ll be a great opportunity,” I told her. “Thanks.”

  Amanda looked as smug and serene as a cat at my praise. “Of course,” she said sweetly. “Nothing but the best for you.”

  Ugh.

  Even though I would have been an idiot for turning down the invitation to the Vegas conference, I was already beginning to dread what it meant. I’d been trying to ignore it for weeks, but it was clear that Amanda had a thing for me.

  And there was no doubt in my mind that she’d do whatever she could to wrangle alone time with me in Vegas.

  “I’ll get started on the presentation right away,” I told Amanda.

  She smiled at me. “I’m sure it’ll be amazing,” she replied, finally moving back an inch or two. She was practically doing everything but batting her lashes at me, and when she left my office, I sighed with relief. Anxiety was racing around in my mind and my heart was pounding, and suddenly I wanted a shot of something strong, like tequila.

  The worst thing was, I wasn’t even sure how I’d handle Amanda if it wasn’t for Sasha’s curvy presence nearby. I had to imagine that if it wasn’t for my spectacularly gorgeous employee and my insane attraction to her, I’d be a lot more capable when it came to rebuffing Amanda and her lecherous advances.

  Then again, it wasn’t like I’d ever been in this situation before. I’d never had a boss make any kind of advance on me, and it made me feel so fucking awkward that I just wanted to run away and avoid the situation. The absolute last thing I needed in my life was a weird love triangle between my boss, my employee, and myself ... and god knows, Sasha was perceptive enough to pick up on it if she ever saw the way Amanda talked to me.

  Fucking hell.

  What a mess.

  I sighed again and got to my feet. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I took a brief lap around in the office in an attempt to dispel some of the anxiety that was racking my brain. When I heard the sound of Sasha’s laughter, I froze. I was right out front of the break room, and I peered inside to see Zach and Sasha standing there, giggling together.

  “And it’s like, whoa, you know?” Zach said, leaning closer to Sasha and letting his eyes roam the curves of her body.

  Sasha giggled again. Her pale cheeks were flushed with two pink circles and her pouty lips were glistening and wet. Just seeing the way she stood there, laughing and throwing her head back, it was evident that she was always so full of fun, so full of joy and life, so present.

  I swallowed hard. I envied that about Sasha, the way she always seemed cheerful and eager. I’d never been that way – I’d always done everything on the dotted line. Whereas I didn’t consider myself one of those people who always seemed happy by default, Sasha was inherently joyful. Zach could have been telling her the lamest story in the world – which to be honest, he probably was – and she would have found something worthwhile about it.

  Clearing my throat, I walked into the break room.

  “And that’s the last time I went hang-gliding,” Zach added. “You can kind of understand why now, I bet.”

  Sasha laughed her golden giggle once again and I felt a sharp pang in my chest.

  Jealousy.

  “Andy-man,” Zach teased. “Surprised to see you out of your office.” He made a show of checking his watch and smirked at me. Then, turning to Sasha, he said very seriously: “I’m not sure if you know this about Andy, but he has a real boner for following the rules. He’s away from his desk and it’s not twelve-thirty on the dot ... someone’s switching things up!”

  Sasha flushed, but I was relieved to hear that she didn’t laugh.

  “Just getting some coffee,” I said shortly.

  “Stay up all night organizing your tie clips?” Zach asked.

  Sasha giggled, and I felt it again – that lightning bolt of jealousy, right in the gut, that made me want to sucker-punch Zach.

  I didn’t reply. I took a mug from the cabinet and put a K-cup in the Keurig, standing and waiting for my instant coffee to brew.

  “I was actually just telling Sasha about this fantastic opportunity,” Zach said. He raised an eyebrow at me and raked a hand through his unruly dark hair. “It just opened up on my team, and I think she’d be an amazing fit for it. I need a new assistant.”

  “I’m sure HR can put up an ad in no time,” I said coolly.

  “Well, that’s the problem,” Zach countered. “It can’t just be anyone. This person is going to have to be someone who I really like. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together. Late nights, long hours, overtime ... who knows?” Pausing, Zach grinned. “Lots of time spent in my office, just the two of us.”

  I knew he was pushing my buttons on purpose and trying to get a rise out of me. It was making me so angry that I could have punched him in the gut, but I took a deep breath and tried to let it go.

  “That sounds like a lot of work,” Sasha commented.

  “Oh, it will be,” Zach said. He turned to Sasha and gave her a long, lascivious look. “But for the right person, I think it’ll be a highly rewarding opportunity.”

  “I’m sure,” Sasha said.

  I should have taken my coffee and left but I felt like I was rooted to the spot. Listening to Zach flirt with Sasha – he was trying to steal her! – was killing me, especially after the encounter with Amanda that I’d just had.

  God, whoever said that working in an office wasn’t at all like high school had been totally fucking lying. Adults were no better than teenagers: there was still so much petty drama.

  Sometimes, it was enough to make me want to move to Alaska and work remotely for the rest of my life.

  “Yeah, well, I’m sure HR will put up an ad for legality purposes,” Zach said. “But I think Sasha here is the perfect internal candidat
e. No one could hold a candle to her,” he added.

  I took a deep breath. Don’t lose it, keep your cool, I told myself. With a trembling hand, I poured two packets of sugar substitute into my coffee.

  “I’d like to hear more about it,” Sasha said.

  I clenched my jaw.

  “The rest of today is pretty busy,” Zach said. “But why not get a drink with me after work? I’ll tell you all about it.”

  “Stop it!” I finally snapped, whirling around and glaring at Zach.

  “Stop what?” Zach asked innocently. He grinned at me. “It’s not a crime to get a drink with a coworker, Andy,” he said, shaking his head and still smiling like a shark. “But maybe if you knew how to relax and have fun, you’d know that already.”

  “You’re trying to poach my employee,” I growled through clenched teeth. “And I want you to stop it.”

  Zach blinked at me – for once, I could tell that I’d completely caught him off-guard.

  “And if you don’t stop, I’m going to file a grievance with HR,” I continued.

  Zach’s face slowly unfroze and he laughed, holding his hands up in the air.

  “I surrender,” he joked. “Andy – relax, man! I just saw Sasha here and thought it would be a good time to tell her about the new job, if she wants to hear about it. I’m not trying to cause any beef, man.”

  The fuck you weren’t, I thought as I stared at him. I knew exactly what Zach was doing – trying to get a rise out of me so that I’d make an idiot out of myself. Trying to steal Sasha.

  Hell, probably even trying to fuck her.

  The thought made the jealous beast in my chest howl with rage.

  “Hey, now,” Sasha said, giggling a little to herself. “This is the first time I’ve ever had two bosses fight over me.” She tossed her head and smirked at me. “Maybe I should go to HR and tell them that I deserve a raise.”

  Her comment lightened the tension in the room a little, but I still wanted to wrap my hands around Zach’s throat and strangle him.

  I couldn’t do that, though – I had to restrain myself.

  “Not a bad idea,” Zach cracked. “Anyway, back to the salt mines.” Whistling under his breath, he turned on his heel and left.

  14

  Sasha -- Monday

  “Fucking shithead bastard,” Andy snapped as soon as Zach had left the break room. I blinked at him in surprise – he was red in the face and his hands were balled into fists at his sides.

  I’d never seen him so angry before, and I’d rarely heard him curse. I knew that Andy wasn’t capable of violence or anything, but seeing him like this, with the veins popping at the side of his head, was more than a little frightening.

  I didn’t understand what had happened: I felt like I’d been watching a play and somehow, I’d missed a critical plot point that everyone else in the audience had managed to grasp.

  It wasn’t a great feeling, to be honest. I’d always been great at reading the room and taking note of everything ... to the point where Darla would always ask me what I’d noticed because she wasn’t as intuitive.

  Clearly, it had something to do with Zach. I wasn’t sure what to make of the Marketing Department head. He was hot – I wasn’t blind, after all – but there was something about him that I just didn’t trust. Despite the fact that I loved the sexy, rakish way how he dressed and the way he teased and flirted, I had the feeling that there was more to Zach than what met the immediate eye. It was almost like he was trying to make people think he was this total bad boy, as if he felt the constant need to prove himself.

  Besides, I wasn’t a betting kind of girl, but I would have put twenty bucks on the fact that he had been trying to hit on me when Andy had shown up. Everything he said seemed to be laced with double entendre, and I had the sense that Zach Moody was used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it. Before Andy had come into the break room, I’d been trying to think of an excuse to get back to my desk, but Zach had just kept talking and talking.

  Well, talking and staring, maybe.

  And then as soon as Andy had come into the break room, it had seemed almost like Zach was trying to make him mad, like on purpose.

  I didn’t get it. I knew that both Andy and Zach were the same rank at the company, but they were both so different that I wondered why they couldn’t just get along. It wasn’t like two friends who had a fun sort of rivalry.

  I wondered what else had happened between Andy and Zach that I hadn’t seen.

  Whatever it was, whatever had happened, it was so fucking obvious that they didn’t like each other.

  “Andy, um, what?” I asked. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Andy didn’t reply. He was still red in the face and he swallowed hard. Reaching out, I put my hand on his arm and gently pulled him off to the side, where there was a small cluster of tables and chairs. We sat down, Andy still breathing hard, and I looked at him. I’d never seen him so worked up before, not even in the middle of a steamy sex session.

  “If you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong, fine,” I said in a low voice. “But you have to calm down and keep your cool, okay? We don’t want anyone to find out ... you know, about us.”

  Andy looked at me and blinked, as if he was seeing me for the first time.

  “I’m sorry,” Andy said. He didn’t sound sorry – he still sounded angry, like he wanted to go hunt Zach down and beat the crap out of him.

  “Zach, that asshole, knows just how to piss me off and get under my skin,” Andy continued. He was staring down at his hands on the surface of the table, clenching and flexing the muscles in his fingers.

  “He’d better keep his fucking hands off you, or else he’ll wish that he was never born,” Andy muttered bitterly under his breath. “He’s fucking scum, Sasha.”

  “Cool it,” I told him firmly. “If you keep acting like this, it’s going to be so obvious that we were involved before I started working here.” Saying that out loud felt almost sad – almost like acknowledging that no matter what happened between us now, we’d never be as close and intimate as we had been before. And after, I thought, remembering the night of hot sex that Andy and I had shared after visiting the fountain.

  “Yeah, I know,” Andy said. He shook his head, closed his eyes, and sighed. “It’s just been a long fucking day, and it’s not even noon yet.”

  “I’m sorry,” I told him. “And look – no one is going to touch me without my permission, and I’m not even slightly interested in Zach. He seems like one of those guys who you shouldn’t trust.”

  Andy sighed. Some of the blood drained from his face, and he began looking almost normal again. I wasn’t dumb – I knew that at least some of his anger and frustration came from the fact that he was worried about anyone discovering our little secret.

  But if he kept this up, we’d be found out in no time.

  The thought made my stomach churn and clench anxiously. I was still concerned that Andy would lose his job – and maybe even be blacklisted from the industry – if anyone learned the truth that lay between us. I had myself to worry about, too. While Cleveland wasn’t expensive like New York or DC, my apartment was something that I’d only be able to afford with continued employment.

  “What’s the deal with him, anyway?” I asked. “Why does he love needling you like that?”

  Andy put his face in his hands for a moment, then shook his head and looked at me. His dark blonde hair was slightly mussed, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

  “Zach never liked me, not even when we first met,” Andy said. He rolled his eyes. “We were so different that I thought we’d be friends, you know? Like, at least able to help each other out here and there.”

  I bit my lower lip.

  “But I guess we just rub each other the wrong way,” Andy continued. “He thinks I’m this uptight, strait-laced pussy. And well, he’s too cavalier. He does whatever he wants and ignores the rules.”

  I nodded. “That ... seems pretty
accurate,” I said slowly, not wanting to offend Andy. The funny thing was, I never would have expected to be so attracted to someone who was, in his own words, so uptight and straight. It wasn’t like me at all: back when I had been in high school and college, it was always the bad boys who I had crushes on. The thing about Andy, though, was that he wasn’t like that deep down. He may have been Mr. Perfect on the outside, but he had a wild side in the bedroom that drove me even crazier. It was so sexy, knowing that he was buttoned-up on the outside and depraved with lust on the inside.

  It was like a little secret that only I knew about.

  “I’m just so by the book,” Andy said. He groaned. “Sometimes, I think it’s holding me back in my career.”

  I smiled.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “It’s just ... well, you know, our little thing.” I raised an eyebrow and blushed slightly. “That’s like, the opposite of by the book.”

  Andy smiled and shook his head. “Zach thinks that Amanda is playing favorites, that the only reason I got promoted to department head is because she’s got it bad for me.”

  “That’s clearly bullshit,” I told him plainly. “You’re an excellent employee and a great boss.”

  “Thanks,” Andy said. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I guess I’m just feeling a little trapped right now, between Amanda and Zach.” He paused and looked away, then met my gaze. The gleam in his dark eyes sent a shiver down my spine.

  “And the fact that I can’t stop wanting you, well, that’s ... inconvenient, to say the least,” Andy said in a low voice.

  There, I thought. He said it.

  He does still want me.

  Reaching over, I put a finger to his lips.

  “You shouldn’t say anything else,” I told him softly. “We don’t want anyone to hear.” Andy’s mouth was soft on my finger, and a small shiver of excitement ran down my spine when he smiled at me.

  “Of course not,” Andy replied.

  “You’ve got to keep your eyes on the prize, and beat the pants off Zach,” I told him quietly.