Page 7 of Dear Billionaire Boss
I shrug. “It’s my job.”
“No.” He shakes his head. His expression sincere as he looks at me. “No, it’s not. But that didn’t stop you from taking it on without complaint. You’re someone I can always depend on.”
For some reason, it feels like he’s trying to tell me something other than what a good job I’m doing.Or am I just projecting what I wish he was doing?Either way, I could get used to this new side of him.
GRAYSON
It’s crazy for me to edge closer to the line I told myself I’d never cross. But the pull I feel for Maren is enough for me to reason away any excuse not to open up. I’ve been closed off for so long that the idea of opening to someone seemed impossible. But with her, I want to be an open book.
“Tell me what you have so far,” I say.
“I figure since you agreed that this party should lean more towards family friendly, so everyone can feel included, I’ve got booths that will be set up on the east part of the campus courtyard that will feature a variety of games, face painting, a few rides.” She points down at a hand drawn map. “And on the west part of the courtyard, there will be an assortment of food trucks and a tent set up for people to eat under. I’ve talked to head of IT to set up some speakers so that you can address the crowd directly and we can announce prizes throughout the day.”
I’m amazed by how much work and planning she’s completed in just one afternoon.
“I thought you said you’ve never planned something like this,” I say, unable to hide the amazement in my voice.
She looks down at the map and then back up at me. “I haven’t.”
“You’re amazing. You’ve done more work in one afternoon than Gina did in a month of planning.”
She smiles at this comment. “I don’t really think of this as work. I like putting together a plan and setting it up.”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m a little disappointed that you are so good at this. I thought that we’d have more time to spend together one on one. It would give me a chance to finally open up more.”
When I walked in here, I didn’t plan on mentioning the letter, but the urge to kiss Maren is too strong and I feel like I need to lay out all my cards on the table.
I reach into my suit jacket pocket and pull out the teal envelope. I set it down on the table between us. Maren’s eyes widen in surprise.
5
MAREN
There’s a second between Grayson mentioning that he wants to open up and when he pulls out the letter, and a part of me hopes that the two aren’t connected—but I was wrong.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I got it this morning.”
“I didn’t send that.”
“Someone did.” He chuckles. “Did you really mean what you wrote?”
Anger and embarrassment washes over me. I push away from the table, needing as much space between the two of us as I can get. There are many responses I could have imagined him having but laughing at me wasn’t one of them.
“Screw you,” I say through gritted teeth.
The shock on his face gives me enough time to nearly get to the door before I hear him moving behind me. I grab the door handle and pull, but his hand reaches out and closes it.
“Wait,” he breathes out. I can feel the heat of his body behind me. “I need to know if you meant what you wrote.”
I spin around. “Why, so you can laugh at me some more?”
“What?” His head jerks back like my words are a slap to the face.
“I know that I don’t look like the beautiful and thin Gina Marshall’s of the world, but I don’t deserve to be the butt of some joke to you.”
Grayson stares at me and just shakes his head. “I wasn’t laughing at you.”
