Page 393 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“And, I’m glad you’re getting along there,” said Leanna. “Except, Elijah isn’t someone you’re workingwith.He’s the one you’re workingfor.And, I’m glad you’re enjoying his company, but you know, there are supposed to be lines and boundaries between bosses and personnel. It sounds like you could become something more than just an employee, and that might not look so good to other people. Plus, you don’t really know that much about him.”

I couldn’t help scoffing at that. “Leanna, please! He’s a billionaire! I think you can assume certain things from that. He must have a fantastic work ethic. He must be really responsible. And, he must be someone that people can respect — someone thatIcan respect.”

She was as skeptical of me as I was of her. “Addie, listen to how that sounds. People get rich all kinds of ways, not all of them respectable. A lot of rich people are the furthest thing from respectable. We’ve both heard Daddy give entiresermonson the difference between being a rich person and being a good person. Remember Daddy’s sermon on that part of the Bible that says you shouldn’t ‘lay up your treasures here on Earth?’ Well, ‘laying up treasures’ is what rich people do, and they may do things to ‘lay them up’ that some people wouldn’t be too proud of.

“I’m not saying Elijah isn’t nice. I’m not saying he isn’t kind and smart and charming and great-looking.All I’m suggesting is that people do things to get rich that maybe aren’t the nicest and charming things a person can do.”

This wasn’t what I wanted or needed to hear. “Are you saying Elijah may be secretly some kind of… I don’t know, some kind of scoundrel? Leanna, I know I’m not that experienced and I haven’t been around the block that much, but all in all I think I’m a pretty good judge of character. That’s whatIlearned from Daddy. And really, if there were anything underhanded or suspect about Elijah, I’d feel it. I trust my instincts and I think I can trust him.”

She gave in. “If you say so. I’m just really thinking of you. Every time we talk, I can tell how much you’re loving it there. I just always want to see you as happy as you’ve been since starting that job. I love you and I want to know you’re happy, that’s all.”

“I am happy, Leanna. Really, I am. And, Elijah is nothing to worry about.”

My sister took me at my word and accepted that I could trust my instincts. And as I spoke to her, I reassured myself that I was right, that I hadn’t led myself astray by getting better acquainted with Elijah.

After we finished our chat, though, I sat on my bed where I’d been talking to Leanna on my laptop, and my sister’s words chimed back in my mind. She did have a point about wealthy people and the less than ethical ways they sometimes become wealthy. They may break or bend any number of the rules that make society decent, humane, civilized, and just. They may break or outright ignore the law, or buy off the people who are meant to make and use laws to protect everyone else. They may do even worse things than that.

It all reminded me of what Barbara had said to me in the lobby. Her words came back to me right in the wake of my sister’s.Anything you hear about his past is in his past. It has nothing to do with his life today.

She thought Elijah was one of the good guys. What she said suggested that he had some dark patches in his past, but then so did a lot of people. The fact was that she thought — and I agreed — that Elijah was one of the good guys. Barbara, who’d worked for him for years, knew him better than I did, so if push came to shove, I had to agree with her.

My own words repeated to me next.Elijah is nothing to worry about.

I was sure I was right.

The next thought that I had to contend with was the clear fact that Elijah and I were getting closer. I could feel it happening. I knew he must be feeling it, too. We were starting to relate to each other on more than just a professional level. Elijah and I were connecting as people, and it felt as if there was a possibility of that connection growing deeper, stronger.How deep and how strong could it get?

Once again, there was the question of Elijah possibly wanting to fuck me. And again, there was my own resolve that I would not be the one to initiate it.Was I doing the right thing by not initiating anything?I wondered. Perhaps I should open things up, not to the act, but to a discussion. Perhaps I should ask Elijah, straight out, what he expected from our acquaintance. Was he looking for it to be more than an acquaintance, or was he interested in enjoying each other’s company and not each other’s…you know.

I seriously had to consider what he might say if I asked him.If he said he wanted to do it to me, how would I respond? Would I let him?I knew that if I let him, I would love it — absolutely love it. There was no way I wouldn’t enjoy that face kissing me, that body with my hands all over it, that dick I’d imagined in the gym shower entering me and taking my virginity away. Being fucked by Elijah would have to be the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me — if he wanted it and if I allowed it.

Other questions came to me.If I resisted Elijah and resisted my own desire for his body and his cock, what would that mean to my job? Should I be worried there? Was Elijah the kind of man who would hold sex, or the lack of it, over me for the sake of my job? Would I be forfeiting my position in his company by not getting into positions with him in bed?

No, I couldn’t believe that of him. If I believed Elijah was a good person, essentially, then I must believe he wasn’t the kind of boss who would hold sex over me that way, using it as a condition of employment. He wouldn’t do that. I just knew he wouldn’t.

But, my own desires were now becoming clearer to me. I was working for a man that I wanted to fuck me.

I’d watched him work out, and worshipped his body. I’d indulged in a steamy fantasy about him taking a shower. And, I had entertained the idea of letting him fuck me if he wanted to. These feelings had taken root and started to grow in me from the moment I first saw him.

Feelings like this, if they exist, won’t just go away. They have to be faced by both parties involved. Sooner or later, such feelings have to come out from under the surface and into the light.

It wouldn’t be later. It would definitely be sooner.

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I spent the rest of Saturday morning straightening up and cleaning the apartment with music playing on my living room speakers just to take my mind off that conversation with Leanna and the mix of feelings with which it had left me. I managed to burn up some energy as well as distract myself that way.

After that, I decided just to lie down on the couch and take it easy for a bit. Perhaps while giving myself a little rest, I could figure out what to do with the rest of my Saturday. I might go out and see a movie, if something that I liked was playing. There was any number of things I might do.

What I actually ended up doing was drifting off into a nap, in spite of the good night’s sleep I’d gotten the night before. Of course I got a good night’s sleep; I went to sleep thinking of how much I’d enjoyed Elijah’s company before his strange friend showed up. I went to sleep thinking of how gorgeous he was, how nice he was, how hot his body was. Those same thoughts took me into an unplanned little snooze.

I found myself in the soft leather seat of a sleek, powerful muscle cars. Its engine purred like a tiger who’d just been fed. In the driver’s seat at my left sat Elijah, managing to look even sexier than usual in sunglasses. Jazz music played on the car’s speakers as he drove the muscle car down roads I recognized.

Soon, we pulled up on my street in Youngstown, in front of my house. Elijah cut off the engine and smiled over at me, “We’re here.”

Warm feelings washed over me as we got out of the car and the front door of the house opened. Leanna and my father stepped out onto the front landing, smiling broadly, happy to see us. “Hey!” Leanna called, bounding down the steps excitedly, my father following her, giving us a wave of welcome.

On the front walk, she threw her arms around me, and we hugged the embrace of siblings who’d been apart for too long. She looked appreciatively over my shoulder at the handsomeness who’d brought me home. Elijah offered Leanna his hand.

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