Page 16 of Faking It With My New Boss

“Seriously. He told me I needed to do what he hired me to do and not go off the rails,” I said. “Can you believe that?”

“What did you do?” she asked.

“I told him off, packed up my office, and stormed out. Don't you think that's what any self-respecting person would do in that situation?” I asked.

“Well…” she said, seeming to lead into something, but not going all the way into it.

“Well?” I repeated incredulously. “Well, what?”

“Okay, yes, he was totally out of line. That sounds like a really awful way to react and an even worse way to talk to you. But maybe he's just a hardass who wants things done in a very specific way and you didn't live up to it in exactly the way he anticipated. It isn't like you've worked there for a long time and he knows how good you are at those kinds of things. Besides, you can't expect somebody that gorgeous to also be tolerant and good at their job. It just wouldn't be cosmically fair.”

I ignored her. Even though I really couldn't argue with what she was saying. As much as it infuriated me, I couldn't help but admit Bryan was extremely attractive. Obnoxious, rude, and entitled, but hot as hell. There was something about him that worked me up. It got me thinking about things I never thought about, like stripping him down and climbing up on his desk with him. Or disabling the elevator while we were inside and seeing how much we could do before someone came to rescue us.

That was not at all normal for me. Those were the kinds of thoughts that never went through my head. Not just not for my boss. Not for anyone. I wasn’t one to get frothed up thinking about men. I just didn't get those sexual feelings. In truth, I had never enjoyed sex.

I spent my whole youth hearing about how amazing sex was and getting inundated by the message in the media and entertainment that it was the best thing in the entire world. It was worth going through anything, it was worth giving up friendships for, it was life-changing and created undeniable cravings that would drive a person crazy if they didn't get enough.

And then I had sex for the first time and it was none of those things. Convinced it was just because it was my first time and first times were always awkward, I tried again. And again. Rather than discovering the greatest thing in life, I felt let down and even a little put off by it. In the end, my resistance to sex became a big part of my marriage ending.

Now I was suddenly having all these thoughts about my boss, a man I didn't even like, and I couldn't figure it out.

I dragged lunch out for as long as I possibly could before heading back to work. Vanessa handed me my box of office goodies out of the back seat of her car before hugging me.

“Go get 'em,” she said. “And then when you're all done with that, get some work done.”

She winked at me and got in her car to drive away. I shook my head and went inside. It took less time to put everything away in my office the second time around, but finishing the decorations ended up the same way as the time before. I braced myself and walked down the hallway to Bryan's office.

He had it partially open and I stepped inside. “You wanted to see me?”

Bryan beckoned me inside and gestured for me to sit down.

“Tell me about these ideas again,” he said. “I have some thoughts I want to go over with you.”

We went over each of the ideas and I did my best to listen to him when he interjected. Bryan had some requests and more than a few demands. Some of which were supremely stupid. But I gritted my teeth and reminded myself I was only doing this to make money for school so I could push right ahead.

After leaving his office, I returned to mine and buried myself in the plans to sift out the ones that seemed the most popular and the most potentially successful. It felt like I had only been there working for an hour or two when the sound of a knock on my office door made me jump and my heart pound in my chest.

I looked up and saw Bryan gazing in at me.

“The office is closed, Courtney,” he said. “You can go on home now.”

I looked at the time and realized it was well past closing time.

“I'm doing some work on the ideas,” I said.

“Alright. Well, I'll tell security to lock up after you when you leave,” he said.

I was surprised he wasn't staying. I genuinely expected him to horn in on what I was doing and try to take over. Instead, he just packed up and rolled out of the office as fast as he could. That was when I realized he really was just punting this to me.

But I was still going to give the very best I could. I needed to push through as fast and hard as possible. After all, my classes started in just a couple days so I wouldn't have as much time after that.

Not that I had any intention of sharing that little detail with Bryan.

Chapter Twelve

Bryan

After going over all of her ideas with her the day before, I had to admit Courtney did have something going. She was creative and insightful, and her visions for the event definitely had possibilities. But that didn't mean I was just going to accept them at face value. After all, this was still my reputation that was on the line. Everything needed to be exactly perfect so I could prove I was fit to run the company.

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