Page 9 of The Billionaire's Accidental Daddy Duty
The coffee burned my tongue, but I didn’t care. I was desperate for the relief it would bring me. I finished the cup then pushed the button on the fancy espresso machine in the breakroom. Why did I get so drunk last night if I knew I would have to be at work before seven? Luckily, I had managed to get to the office on time. Yeah, I was wearing the pant suit from yesterday, but the only one who’d noticed my outfit was Casey, and she was halfway to London right about now.
I pressed a cold hand to my forehead to ease the throbbing there. What exactly happened last night? I glared at the slow drip of coffee refilling my mug while I scoured my blurry memories. I clearly remembered Steve breaking up with me, the pity in the bartender’s eyes, and the handful of tequila shots. My stomach tightened. Okay, no more thinking about red wine and tequila. I grabbed my coffee and sipped fromit.
The scariest part had been waking up totally naked in a stranger’s apartment in the Upper West Side. Holy fuck, I didn’t even know how I ended up there. I did recall some crazy-ass dreams where I was making out with Henry Cavill and took off my clothes. Sometimes he was in his Superman suit, and others he was just wearing a pair of soft dark pants and a cashmere sweater that made me very sleepy.
Shame washed over me. I wasn’t the kind of girl to take a guy home and have sex the first night. Not that there was anything wrong with that. I simply wasn’t that person. I had a steady boyfriend. I played it safe. What I did last night had been dangerous. My heartbeat picked up the pace the same way it had done the whole time I was trying to make my escape from the swanky high-rise earlier while it was still dark outside.
Stop it.
I couldn’t dwell on last night anymore. I had work to do. My new boss would be in any minute now. I chugged the rest of my coffee and headed back to my desk. A quick peek in the corner office told me Declan wasn’t in yet. He was running late, which, according to Casey, never happened.
Plastering a smile on my face, I sat down to finish up the schedule for the day. He had a few meetings, and of course, a big talk with the new team. I had already reserved a conference room for that and even printed out the agenda. Declan didn’t like to waste paper, but he wanted everyone to have a written copy of what the next three months would look like.
I was feeling pretty good about my efficiency while thoroughly hungover, then my whole day came crushing down. Or rather, my whole escapade from last night came into fullfocus. Just two little words made everything play in my head like a movie.
“Bloody hell.”
I looked up to find a very angry and still insanely hot, Declan Winston Noble.
No, no, no, no. In my head, I clearly saw myself sitting in the back of his car. Why was I in his car? I met his gaze, and his scowl deepened. Does he remember? Maybe he was drunk, too. Who was I kidding? There was no way he was as wasted as I was.
“Declan, this is Isla Vendetti, your executive admin while you’re in town.” Nicolas ignored the daggers Declan was shooting my way. Or maybe he didn’t notice.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to stand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Noble.”
Please don’t remember me. Please don’t remember me.
“Right then. I know Casey already gave you the rundown of how I work. If you have questions, you can call her.” He strode into his office, leaving me with my hand extended.
Obviously, he remembered me, and probably thought the worst of me. I was the drunk girl who told him last night he looked like Henry Cavill and that he was so hot and so lickable. The words echoed in my head and made my throbbing head hurt even more. What now? Would he fire me? Casey was very clear on this one point yesterday. Mr. Noble expected his employees to work hard and be professional. More specifically, Casey had advised me to keep my googly eyes and flirting to myself.
Omigod, my boss saw me naked. Did we have sex?
I continued to wallow in self-pity and despairwhile he and Nicolas continued their conversation in his office. From my desk, I had a good view of both of them. Nicolas had his back to me. He was tall and broad shouldered, but Declan was bigger. Even in that tailored suit, I could see the outline of his biceps. And then my hungover ass decided it would be a good idea to picture him in a Superman suit. What the hell was wrong with me? I was about to lose my job. Drooling over my new boss was a bad idea—a horrible idea.
“Good luck today.” Nicolas stopped by my desk on his way out. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trousers and beamed at me. “Louisa is joining me for lunch today. She’ll stop by before noon. If you wanted to say hi, that would be a good time to do it.”
“Thank you.” I smiled, feeling all warm inside.
Of course, he wasn’t doing any of this for me. He was being kind and generous because he wanted his wife to be happy. Louisa and I had unresolved issues. No doubt Nicolas had already figured that out. He wanted her to have closure. I wanted more than that. I wanted to get to know my sister. We were the same age; we should be friends. My older sister was almost eight years older than me. To her, I was the pesky little sister she had to watch after school while Mom was at work.
Whatever Nicolas’s reasons for helping me, I was glad he was on my side. Maybe he talked to Declan and asked him to give me another shot. The idea that now I had a brother-in-law who stood up for me made my heart melt. I couldn’t lose this job. More than my new career was at stake. I had a shot at getting close to Louisa and her family. I had a shot at being friends with her. Did I ever fantasize about being besties withher and doing everything together—talk about boys, stay up late watching movies, or call her in the middle of the night because my boyfriend broke up with me and I got too drunk? Maybe.
The key to getting to know Louisa was to convince my new boss that I didn’t deserve to get fired over something that happened outside of work. So I put on a big smile, grabbed the agenda for today, and walked into the lion’s den—err, his office.
When he didn’t glance up from his desk, I offered a polite and very professional-sounding greeting. “Good morning, Mr. Noble.”
He inhaled deeply then slowly raised his gaze to meet mine. Jesus, the man was beautiful with his chiseled jaw, full lips, and intense blue eyes. Knowing he was also wicked smart and a god with computers had my nipples standing at attention.
Crap. Okay, no.
Think professional.
I cleared my throat and stepped closer. When I did, he sat back in his chair and glanced away for a second, almost as if he couldn’t stand the sight of me. He did want to fire me, but Nicolas must’ve asked him to let me stay. I didn’t care if he hated me. No, Ididcare. But I had to make myself not care. Last night wasn’t who I was. He couldn’t judge me based on that one thing. He couldn’t judge me period. Who did he think he was? Anger replaced some of the shame from before, and I stood a little taller. Screw him and his judgy pants.
“I have the agenda for today. We have the conference room for the day, and it’s all set.”
“Areyou expecting a gold star for doing your job?” He cocked an eyebrow.
