Page 21 of Merging with the Billionaire

Tiffany passed the break room where Conrad was sitting with a cup of coffee in his hands. He wasn’t drinking it, simply staring at it. She waffled, debating about saying anything to him. Wouldn’t it be better if she just left? Wouldn’t that make it clear where they stood?

“Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Boswell?” Kari, the front desk receptionist asked, coming up beside her. She looked from her to Conrad, and then back. She leaned towards her and whispered, “This doesn’t have anything to do with the kiss you two shared at your brother’s wedding, does it?”

Tiffany’s head snapped to the side. Kari hadn’t been at the wedding, as only the highest-ranking employees had been invited. “How do you know about that?”

Kari must have realized she made a mistake about bringing up the matter because her cheeks tinged pink and she looked away. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, Miss Boswell, but everyone at the office knows about it.”

Great, just what Tiffany needed on top of Roger catching her with Conrad earlier. How was she going to put out this fire now that it had spread so far? She was good at damage control, but this seemed like it might very well do in her career. Should she get a fixer to cover it up? Roger probably knew someone, but she didn’t want to bother him with it while he was headed out of the country. What about her father? He probably used to, but who knew if he was even capable of talking with her about it. What was she going to do?

“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t contribute to the spread of false information,” Tiffany reprimanded her employee before turning away from the break room to leave. “My assistant isn’t at her desk, so let her know I won’t be back until tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kari said with a nod before scurrying away.

Tiffany didn’t get very far before she heard Conrad behind her. “You’re not just going to leave? Shouldn’t we talk about what just happened?”

“I don’t have time to talk to you, Conrad. I have to go.” Tiffany said, continuing down the hallway. He must have sped up to reach her side, because the next thing she knew, he was reaching out to stop her.

“You should make time. It’s important.”

“It’s not, though,” she countered. “It was a mistake, one that I was stupid enough to repeat, but I won’t any longer. I won’t let you use me to get back at my brother.”

“That’s not what’s going on,” Conrad objected with hurt in his eyes.

“Oh, really? Should we ask Celeste how you try to use the women in my brother’s life to hurt him?”

Conrad’s eyebrows came together in a furrow. “What are you talking about?”

Tiffany squeezed the edge of her nephew’s backpack in anger. She needed to control herself. It wouldn’t be appropriate to fight with anyone, let alone Conrad, in the middle of the office.

Dropping her voice to a whisper, she seethed out, “Roger told me all about how you hit on Celeste at Lana and Bryce’s wedding.”

His eyes grew wide with recognition as he pressed his lips together.

“What, nothing to say? No witty comeback or defense?”

Conrad shook his head. “I’m not going to deny that. I did that. However, they weren’t together at that time.”

“Even if they weren’t, we both know you were doing it to irritate my brother. I won’t let you use me to do the same thing.” Glancing around with apprehension, she added, “This isn’t appropriate to be discussing here.”

“Can we meet up later then?” Conrad requested.

Tiffany shook her head. “No, that’s the last thing we should do. You need to understand, going forward we are strictly colleagues, nothing more.”

“You don’t mean that,” Conrad argued. “You know there’s something going on between us.”

There was no point in arguing with him further. He didn’t want to listen. Maybe some time apart would make him understand how serious she was about keeping it professional.

Tiffany brushed past him without looking back. If she stayed, she was afraid she would look up into those gorgeous brown eyes of his and she would find herself back in his arms instead of heading to her waiting Town Car. She couldn’t let that happen. She needed to get as far away from Conrad Gaines as possible.

8

A month had passedand Conrad barely saw Tiffany. When he did, she only talked about business and kept him at arm’s length. Part of him knew he deserved it. He shouldn’t have kissed her at work. It put her in a vulnerable position to be ridiculed and mocked by everyone else, not to mention it strained her relationship with her brother.

He had wanted to apologize to her, explain that he had the upmost respect for her, but in the beginning, he had worried it would sound like he was only trying to sweet talk her back into his arms. After some time passed, it became harder and harder to find the right time to bring it up.

Now, he wasn’t sure if it was going to ever happen since Boswell Senior had passed away in his sleep just two weeks prior. His death ushered in complete chaos when the public found out. The shares of Boswell Oil were plummeting, partners and customers were calling in and breaking off deals, and the company was in jeopardy of either going under or being susceptible to a hostile takeover.

Conrad’s phone buzzed, drawing his attention to the number. He recognized the out of country area code. It was Daniel Maddox, which only meant one thing, he wanted to put into action their plan to move on Boswell Oil.

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