Page 22 of Flirting with my Billionaire Boss

Callie looks at her glass. “It looks like I am.”

“Andrew,” she calls to one of the ship’s servers. “Can you bring Callie more sparkling water?”

“Of course, ma’am.” He comes over with a new glass for her.

My mom has taken an intense liking to Callie. I’d hoped that would mean she’d back off about me marrying Jenni, but that hasn’t seemed to be the case. Of course, it wouldn’t. Because Callie is my employee. Not a romantic interest. I have to keep reminding myself about that. Because I’ve gotten comfortable with Callie around. I’ve kept my distance out of respect for her marriage, but she’s a divorced woman now. No. I shake my head internally. She’s still my employee. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go after her. If she rejected me, I may have to let her go, and that wasn’t fair to her. I couldn’t put her in that position. I know she needs the job.

So I continue to keep my distance, but every moment she’s around me, I feel more drawn to her. She’s beautiful, and smart, and kind. A truly selfless person. Her ex-husband was a piece of work for ever mistreating her. I can’t imagine how he could ever do it to someone as amazing as Callie.

After lunch, I put on my swim trunks and go to the end of the ship where the ladder is. The sun is beating down on the Caribbean waters around us, and it’s the perfect moment for a dip in the ocean. I pass Callie, and I can feel her eyes on me.

“I’m going for a swim. Want to join me?”

“Sure. I’ll go get changed.”

I glance over at her face, and her cheeks are flushed. Does she feel the same attraction to me that I feel to her? She’s pretty hard to read most of the time. So full of her own secrets. She hasn’t really opened up to me about her past since that night we went to that nice dinner in Atlanta.

I jump in the water, and my brother Langston tosses an inflated tube out to me. I swim under it and pop up through the middle, arranging myself so I’m lounging on it. I relax out there for a while until I look up to see Callie standing in a polka-dotted one-piece swimsuit with ruffles all over it. Her long, tanned legs are hard to keep from staring at. She looks gorgeous. She jumps into the water with a splash and swims up to me.

“This water feels amazing,” she says.

“It really does. Especially on a hot day like this.”

We swim around for a while like that. She grabs the side of my tube and uses it to keep herself afloat.

“I’m getting tired,” she admits.

“Here,” I offer. “Climb up.”

“In your lap?”

“Sure,” I say. “Come on.”

“Won’t I crush you?” she says. “I’m huge like a whale.”

“Hardly. You look perfect to me.” Did I really just say that out loud?

Yep. Because now, she’s blushing. But then she climbs up. I grab her arm and around her waist and hoist her up. She laughs.

“I’m not sure this is going to work. We’re going to capsize this thing.”

“I have you right where I want you,” I say. And then, without warning, I tickle her.

She squeals, and writhes on top of me. “Stop!” she swats at my hand. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

And then she retaliates, going for my sides. But I can’t get away from her. She’s pinned me down with her body. “Okay, okay. I give in. You win,” I say between breaths.

All four of my brothers are standing at the railing, sending catcalls down to us.

She twists to look at me, and her face is only inches from mine, ignoring my idiot brothers on the boat. “Now you know who’s really boss,” she teases.

“Oh, is that so?” I challenge her. But what she’s saying is true and is becoming truer every day. She’s beginning to be the queen of my heart, but she doesn’t even realize it. At least she doesn’t seem to.

9

CALLIE

The sun is setting, and I lean against the railing of the boat to take it all in as I sip on a virgin daiquiri. I still haven’t told Weston I’m pregnant, but it’s getting harder to hide it from him. He and his brothers have offered me alcohol several times, and I finally told them I don’t drink. I just didn’t explain why. It’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out. That’s the thing about pregnant bellies. They tend to get bigger and bigger until they’re impossible to hide. Especially when you’re constantly going to exotic locations where you need to put on swimsuits.

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