“Was there a reason you called me in here?” Her soft voice pulls me from my thoughts. Oh, right, duh. She looks nervous. “Am I being fired? I know there are rules against this, but like we pointed out, neither of us knew who the other was.”
“What? No. I just wanted to lay the ground rules since we can’t avoid the situation.”
She bites her lip, and my mind travels to her doing that while trying to keep her moaning down while I plowed my cock into her. “And what is that exactly?”
“We need to keep this strictly professional. It was a onetime thing, and with you as my employee now, we have to promise it won’t happen again. That it was a—”
“Mistake?” I’m caught off guard by her choice of wording. I would never call what we did a mistake. Is that what she thinks? I completely lose my train of thought, now flustered that that is how she feels about it.
“Not at all,” I whisper, so softly that I don’t believe she hears me, or maybe she does as she seems to be lost in her own thoughts as she stares at me, her lips parted slightly.
“Miss Baker.” Damn, I would love to be in her head.
She shakes her head out of her trance. “You can call me Lexi. I mean for God’s sake, it was just about fifty hours ago that you were moaning my name with you buried deep inside me.” She quickly covers her mouth. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Please don’t fire me, Mr. Harrington. I really love this job.” Her eyes are pleading with me. “I promise I can keep this professional and not make comments like that anymore.”
“Well, just as you mentioned, you can call me Ben. I want to run this office on a first-name basis. Everyone on the same page. Just because I’m CEO, I don’t want to feel that I’m above anyone else.” She nods as my mind drifts to wanting to be above her with her on my knees and me in her— Shit, maybe I should just fire her. No, that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, Ben. That’s the last thing you need.
I stand up, adjusting my suit jacket, and extend my hand. Lexi places her delicate hand in mine, and I feel a jolt of electricity rip through my body. I’m not talking about the kind you feel after shuffling your feet around on the carpet and touching something; I mean the type of electricity that can bring a man to his knees.
“Yes, sir. If you don’t mind, I should get back to my office and start work. I have lots to get done today.”
I’m trying to figure out her expression. She went from being tense walking in here to what seemed like relaxed for a moment, and now I don’t think I can pinpoint it. I’m not sure if I upset her with what I said or not. Or maybe she does just want to get back to work. I mean, I can’t blame her—I’ve only been in the office for two hours and haven’t seemed to accomplish anything except a boner.
“Oh, sure, of course. I look forward to working with you, Lexi.” My eyes drift to her lips as she purses them and brings her bottom lip between her teeth. “Strictly professional, of course.”
I try to break the tension again that threatens to suffocate us both at the moment. Maybe I can figure out how to open a window to air it out. As Lexi leaves, my eyes drop down, admiring the way the pencil skirt forms to her perky ass once again. I’m breaking my own rule, not even five minutes after agreeing to it. I run a hand over my face and let out a grunting exhale.
Fuck my life.
Of course the mystery dream woman I haven’t been able to get out of my head since she disappeared from the bathroom at the club turns out to be my new events director. I’m Bentley Michael Harrington; of course I can keep this professional—I think?
What a day. I kept my nose buried in my work all day, avoiding Ben the best I could. When I left the office at six, I noticed his light was still on. We were the only ones left in the office. I debated walking over to say good night but thought better of it. Maybe he was just staying late to learn about his new surroundings.
When I arrive home, I find Brynn, Hadley, and Cal sitting at the island waiting for me.
“Hey, what are you all doing here?” I ask as I flip off my heels and enjoy the feel of my feet on the hardwood floor.
“Well, I live here, in case you forgot,” Hadley jokes with a smile plastered on her face. “But you texted 911, so I thought I would bring reinforcements.” She holds out her hands at Brynn and Cal in a “ta-da” fashion.
Oh shit, that’s right. I forgot that I had shoved my phone in my purse and never checked messages all day.
“Yeah, you can’t text 911 and then ignore us. I was ready to come over to your office to check on you.”
“I’m sorry. It was a long day.”
“Well, I brought plenty of wine.” Brynn holds up two bottles in front of her as Hadley walks over to the cabinet for the glasses. “And dinner to soak up the booze.”
I finally get a whiff of the delicious aroma of the local Chinese takeout place down the street. My mouth waters at the thought of the chicken and broccoli.
My eyes focus on Cal just as he looks up. “Yeah, well, I’m just here for the food, so feel free to ignore me.”
“Callum,” Brynn scolds, and he holds his hands up innocently.
“What? I’m just being honest.”
Hadley walks over and hands me a glass of red wine before taking a sip of her own. “Now come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
The stress I had felt since this morning’s meeting rolled off my shoulders. These girls, and even Cal, have my back no matter what. That’s what these girls do. I had begun to believe that they were my soul mates and that I don’t need a man on my mind.
Yet, there’s only been one man on my mind since Friday night. And now I’ve discovered that this man is utterly untouchable.
Gathered around the coffee table, now covered with an assortment of Chinese takeout containers, fortune cookies, and opened bottles of wine, I enjoy the company of my best friend. In true tribe fashion, we get completely sidetracked from the topic at hand, aka me and my 911, as they talk about their days. I’m not necessarily looking forward to being the center of attention here, so I just go along with it.
Hadley, who is currently sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, adjusts to sitting on her knees. “Okay, so explain the 911 text. Did you meet your new boss? Did you guys hit it off, okay?” she asks before shoving another piece of orange chicken in her mouth.
So much for avoiding that subject.
I swirl the cabernet sauvignon around in my wineglass, and my shoulders sag. “Oh yeah, I met him, all right, and we hit it off great,” I mutter softly, but loud enough for my friends to hear me before bringing the glass up to my lips and downing the rest of its contents.
I savor the taste, begging for liquid courage to make it through this conversation, but if there is anyone who wouldn’t judge my epic poor life decisions, it would be these people.
I close my eyes, and memories fill my head—from the satisfaction and warmth of his touch that night versus the coldness and panic I felt this morning.
Here goes nothing. I take a deep breath as I feel their eyes burning a hole in my skin, waiting for me to explain.
“I kind of slept with my boss,” I spit out before I chicken out.