Page 54 of The Boss

Shit. What was I supposed to say to him? How could I tell him why I was leaving after everyone else had? Was I a good enough liar to convince him that I hadn’t been doing something with Nate I really shouldn’t have been? I couldn’t tell the truth, obviously. Even if he hadn’t specifically told me to stay away from Nate earlier that day, I couldn’t have told him what I was doing.

“Just finishing up a few things.” I laced my fingers together so he couldn’t see them tremble. “I have double the workload until a replacement assistant is hired.”

That,at least, was true.

“Heading home for the night, then?”

Any other CEO would’ve ignored an employee that he didn’t really know unless he was discussing something important. Not Mr. Kordell, though. He wanted to make small talk during our short trip down to the lobby.

“Yes. And you?” It was a lame question, I knew, but a polite one, and one I could ask honestly.

I didn’t like lying in general, and I certainly didn’t like lying to him. I hated it, in fact. But I couldn’t show that either. So much I couldn’t say or do. How did I keep getting myself in this situation?

“The same,” he said. “Maybe a little wine with dinner while I binge watch a show I’ve been waiting for.”

“I’m in the middle of a good book.” I offered that bit of information without much forethought.

“I’ve been looking for a good book. I spend far too much time watching TV.” Mr. Kordell straightened as the elevator dinged the arrival into the lobby. “What’s the title?”

Even more color flooded my face, and I was certain I was never going to have a conversation with this man that didn’t involve my total humiliation.

“Desi’s Dream Harem,” I mumbled.

Dammit.

Thirty-Four

Nate

I hated New York traffic.

After Ashlee had left my office – not bothering to look back a single time – I’d waited behind, giving her enough time to leave the building before I went to my car. We’d had our fun, but the thought of the awkward silence that an elevator ride would bring made me all too glad that she didn’t expect that sort of thing.

I’d almost been whistling when I reached my car, and based on the strange look Angus gave me, I’d thought for a moment that I’d done it out loud. Maybe he’d just been surprised to see me…happy. I supposed that’s what I was feeling. Happiness.

It had been so long since I’d felt anything besides…honestly, I didn’t know what I’d felt all these years. I couldn’t call it contentedness because I didn’t know what that was either. I could remember happiness from when I was a kid, but I didn’t think I’d ever been content.

Even if I couldn’t name it, I still knew that I felt better now than I ever had with any other woman. Except I wasn’t with the woman right now. I was just thinking about her. Thinking about what we’d done, how it had felt to take her right there in my office. I wouldn’t be able to look at that chair without thinking about how hard her pussy had gripped my cock when she’d come.

It was going to make working difficult.

And this traffic was making everything else difficult at the moment.

“Are you all right, sir?”

I looked up to see Angus giving me an eye via the rearview mirror. “I’m fine.”

He fell silent, and I stared out the window. It was a fairly gray late afternoon, chilly and dreary, but at least it wasn’t raining. I wasn’t a fan of the rain.

Then an image of Ashlee popped into my head. Her standing outside in the rain. Clothes molding to fit those amazing curves of hers. The hard points of her nipples poking through her shirt because, of course, she wasn’t wearing a bra. I imagined kissing that Ashlee, mingling the taste of the water with the taste of her.

Fuck.

It hadn’t worked. Time with her hadn’t lessened my desire for her, it’d just made me want her more.

The problem I had now was that I didn’t know if Ashlee wanted the same thing. Had this been all she’d needed to getmeout ofhersystem?

I still had those thoughts running through my head when I arrived home. I thanked Angus and headed inside. I’d almost convinced myself that I could figure out a way around all of it, but then I stepped off the elevator only to find that I wasn’t alone. For one brief moment, I thought it was Ashlee, coming to tell me that there were things she wanted me to do to her and that she wouldn’t be satisfied with any other man–

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