Ruined Promises

by Stefanie Jenkins

  The office quiets down as our operations publisher, John Raymond, walks into the conference room.

  “I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, but it’s Monday morning and time to get down to business. I would like to introduce to you your new boss and owner, Bentley Harrington. Please give him the same respect you gave Paul.”

  I’m redoing my messy bun—I’m sure looking a hot mess still—when the room begins to clap, indicating our new boss has entered the room. Hopefully, he is as great a boss as Paul. I feel like I owe everything to Paul for giving me a chance. This is not the time to get emotional for what feels like the millionth time in seventy-two hours.

  “Good morning, everyone.”

  Oh fuck. That voice. I must be dreaming.

  “I’m Bentley Harrington, but you can call me Ben.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. When I open my eyes, I know exactly who I will be staring at. My mouth goes parched. I avoid eye contact and quickly reach for my coffee cup, splashing a little on the table.

  “Shit,” I mumble. My cheeks redden as I know everyone heard me.

  My heart begins racing again as I can feel his eyes on me.

  “Is everything okay, miss?” his deep voice asks, and I want to bury myself six feet under. Keep it together, Lex.

  “Ben, this is Lexi Baker, our events director,” John introduces.

  I swallow thickly as I know there is no more hiding. I try to even out my breathing as I lift my eyes to meet his dark eyes. This man is even more gorgeous than I remember. The golden flecks of his eyes, reflecting from the fluorescent office lights, the angle of his sharp jaw begging to be nipped, and that beautiful perfect smile that still flips my insides, but it quickly fades away when he takes me in.

  Ben runs his hand over his neatly trimmed beard, and I remember how the scruff felt on my skin. His facial expression gives away no indication that he knows who I am, but his eyes tell me everything. Questions clearly flood his brain, but I’m sure the main one is why did I run? I wish we were alone, not having a staring contest in front of my office. Or well, his office. Oh my God, he’s my new boss. I slept with my boss. I got off with my showerhead yesterday morning with thoughts of things my new boss did to me with his tongue, fingers, and cock. I can feel the blush creeping up my cheeks and chest in embarrassment.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Baker. I look forward to working with you.” He then turns to the rest of the staff, completely ignoring me. “I look forward to working with all of you. I am sure that the sale of Maritime Media was somewhat unexpected. Paul and I had spoken for some time about this deal, and trust me when I say he did not do this lightly. I know that his company meant everything to him; it still does. I also know that this company runs like a tight-knit family, and I intend to keep that going. Family means everything to me.”

  Ben’s facial expression changes, but only for a millisecond. If I hadn’t already been watching him so closely, I might have missed it. But I was watching him and did notice it.

  So far, this morning, I learned his first name is Bentley, but he goes by Ben. His last name is Harrington. He is my new boss, and family is everything to him. My stomach drops, and my breakfast is ready to find its way back up when I think of what else I don’t know. Does he have a wife? I don’t recall a ring on his finger when we had our fingers linked while dancing. My eyes wander down his body to recheck his hands; however, Ben has since placed his hands in his pockets.

  As my eyes rake back up, I can’t help but notice the way his suit molds to his fit body. Remembering the feel of his body on mine, my mouth waters, and my panties dampen. I need to knock these thoughts away. He is my new boss and entirely off-limits.

  “Well, I’ve held up enough of your time with me. John, I’ll turn this meeting back over to you.” I realize that I completely zoned out and didn’t listen to anything else he said. Great, this is off to a fantastic start.

  “Why don’t we go around each department and fill everyone in as to what’s going on this week or any important news to share.”

  Ben stands in the corner of the room, and I try to look anywhere but him as my fellow employees begin to speak, but my body fails me, and I get a glimpse of him in my peripheral vision. My breathing becomes slightly erratic as I notice that his eyes are trained directly on me. I grab the pen from my notebook and pretend to jot notes down as everyone speaks, but in reality, I am telling myself to keep it cool and not run out of the office and say goodbye to my dream job, all because for once, I let my vagina take the lead over my head. The last time I did that, look at how it turned out. Oh, wonderful, I have now not only slept with my old boss’s son, but I have also now slept with my boss. I am going to get myself a bad rap around here if people find out.

  A smack to my leg brings me out of my thoughts as I quickly whip my head to the right to Amy. She gives me a look indicating that it’s my turn. I’m as nervous, if not more, than my very first day here at Maritime Media. I slowly turn my head back to the table. I tell myself mentally the same mantra Hadley forced me to say to myself every time I wanted to cry when Dominic raised hell in here after we broke up. I am Lexi Baker. This is my dream job. I am the youngest events director for this company, and I got here because I’m a badass bitch.

  “Lexi? Anything you want to share from Events?” John chimes in, clearly annoyed that I wasn’t paying attention. Great start to a new week and in front of my new boss.

  I adjust myself in my seat and straighten my shoulders. I avoid all eye contact with Ben. This is what I’m good at. This is my calling. “Yes, of course, John. Sorry, I haven’t had enough caffeine this morning.” The room erupts in laughter. I place one hand on my notebook, the other on the table. “As you all know, the Best of Willow Creek Party is the biggest event of the year. The ballots were distributed in the last two months’ issues, as well as voting online. Once voting is closed shortly, I have the awesome job of going through the votes, and once they are tallied, they will be approved and finalized. I have the final venue options for approval. Oh, and don’t forget”—I turn to where the clump of sales reps are sitting—“we need auction items, so remember to talk to your clients. Ones that are winners, we will definitely want to go after for prizes, but even if you visit restaurants or salons or find those cute bed-and-breakfasts on the outskirts of town at the beach, bring me your suggestions, and I will reach out to them for prizes.”

  I feel like I just word vomited in the meeting, and it isn’t until I look around the room that I remember Ben is standing there. He is still staring at me intently, but the corner of his mouth is tipped upward. I wish I could figure out what his expression is trying to tell me. “That’s it from Events.” I shrug back into my seat when the person to my left begins to talk about Sports. I glance in Ben’s direction one more time before he adjourns the meeting. Seriously, what is wrong with me?

  “Okay, everyone, let’s get to work. My office door is always open, and I look forward to getting to know you all.” I avoid eye contact as I rise from my seat and gather my belongings. The conference room feels like it has been slowly shrinking the longer I’m in there. I need air; I need space.

  I quickly race back to the safety of my office, not wasting time to introduce myself to the new boss like the others are. Trust me, I know him rather well. He knows me inside and out. My heart is racing as I grab my phone and pull up my group chat with Hadley and Brynn. They are never going to believe this. I’m not even sure I believe this. I pinch myself just before hitting Send to make sure this isn’t all a dream.

  Me: 911!

  Me(draft): My new boss is

  A shadow approaches in my office doorway, and I look up from my phone. Seeing that it’s Ben, I quickly toss my phone on the desk. Shit! Another strike against me. First I’m not paying attention during the meeting, and now he catches me on my phone.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Harrington. It won’t happen again.”

  “Miss Baker, can I speak with you for a moment in my office?”
/>   I hold my breath the entire time, following him down the hall as questions fill my head.

  Am I getting fired?

  Does he want to talk about what happened?

  The last person I expected to see when I walked into the conference room was the same woman from Friday night who has been on my mind since she walked out of the bathroom that night and out of my life. It was almost like one of these Cinderella stories you hear about. The Prince Charming in search of his princess, but while all he had was a shoe, I only had a name: Lexi. Too bad Prince Charming back then didn’t have Google, not that it would have been much help for me either. Lord knows what sort of results would have come up if I searched “gorgeous Lexi, who I love the way she comes on my cock”? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s how you click on the wrong thing and download a virus.

  When our eyes locked, all coherent thoughts left my brain, and I almost forgot what I was doing here in the first place. I’m thankful that John was leading the meeting after my brief introduction, although the speech I had been preparing all morning was not that short.

  I couldn’t give anything away to my new employees, so I tried not to look her way constantly, but I could sense when her eyes were on me. Was she thinking about me as I had her? Did she regret her decision to run? By the time I had realized she was gone, I went back to the booth her friends had been in to discover they were gone, too.

  What are the odds that my Cinderella is my new events director? The way she spoke during the meeting about her department, she transformed someone nervous and uncomfortable to the confident woman I met the other night. Her eyes lit up. I could tell then and there that she loved this job.

  When John dismissed the meeting, I watched her quickly exit the room as if she were running from a fire. That fire was me. Employees had swarmed me, slowing me down, chasing her. I let her slip through my fingers once before; I wasn’t going to let her do it again.

  I excused myself from the eager employees introducing themselves to find where Lexi had gone off to. I found my way toward the hall of offices, hoping that as the events director, she had her own office.

  When I saw the nameplate outside the open door, I smiled before feeling like I was knocked entirely on my ass. I was reminded that I was now her boss, and she, my employee. Today is my first day, and I had already forgotten that, so preoccupied that I had found her.

  She jumped as soon as she saw me standing there and set her phone down. I’m not sure what I had thought we would accomplish when I asked her into my office, but as I wait for her to enter, I run my fingers through my hair. Get your shit together, Harrington.

  I contemplate whether to sit in front of or behind my desk, but as I watch her stroll into my office, I decide it’s best to sit behind it. It’s better for both of us, for me to show the authority but, more importantly, to hide my stiffening cock from view.

  “Please close the door, Miss Baker.”

  She slowly closes the door, and my eyes drift to the way the material clings to her firm ass. I jumble to change the direction of my gaze before she catches me. She runs her hands down her sides, straightening her outfit before taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of me.

  We sit there staring at each other, neither saying a word. Her beauty consumes me, literally leaving me speechless. I want to pull her into my lap and show her what her abandoning me the other night did to me. To give her a taste of what she missed, a taste of what I need. But that is not why I brought her in there. She is now my employee, not someone I can have my way with whenever I want.

  “Well, I guess we can both say that this turned out to be a more interesting Monday morning, huh?” I break the awkward silence with a chuckle.

  “I’m not exactly sure what to say. I guess out of all of the people I had to find on Friday, it had to be my new boss.” She stutters, “Not that I was out at the club to find someone. My friends and I were out celebrating, and you were there… Well, I guess I don’t need to fill you in on the rest.”

  Nope, she doesn’t need to fill me in. That night, and meeting her, has been running through my mind since I exited the bathroom expecting to see her just moments later and hopefully in my bed naked that night and so forth.

  “When we met, I had no idea who you were. But then again, Paul—I mean Mr. Jennings—didn’t say your full name when he mentioned that you would be starting on Monday. Not that it would have made a difference anyway.”

  I laugh awkwardly. “Well, that makes two of us. But in your favor, I prefer to keep my face out of the public, and I introduced myself to you as just ‘Ben,’ not Bentley or Bentley Harrington, the new CEO of Maritime Media.” I always hated that name; it’s why I prefer to go by Ben. “No one is at fault here,” I assure her. “It was just a coincidence. I saw a beautiful woman I wanted; there wasn’t much getting to know each other—well, verbally, at least.”

  She doesn’t respond, so I tilt my head toward her to bring her attention back to me. Where is her head at? When I raise my eyebrows, she finally comes out of her daze, shaking her head.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that… but you’re…” She’s cute when she’s frazzled. Shit, stop thinking like that; she’s your goddamn employee now, not your wet dream. She exhales a long breath, gathering her composure. “But you’re so young to be a CEO.”

  “Why, thank you. How old do you think I am exactly?” I smirk.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t exactly asking for your age, sex, and location before I invited your cock into my vagina!”

  The smile falls from my face with her raised voice. The last thing I need is for my personal life to spread throughout the office on my first day.

  Her shoulders deflate. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I don’t know. I just thought you were around my age or a little older.”

  I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. “I’ll take that as a compliment, but I’m thirty-five.”

  “Great, not only did I have my first one-night stand, it was with someone ten years older,” Lexi says softly. If it wasn’t dead quiet in my office, I might not have heard her. Wait, did she say that was her first one-night stand? And she’s only twenty-five? That is pretty impressive to be only twenty-five and director of events. She is the same age as Asher, and Asher has not even a quarter of the drive and dedication she has to have earned such an important position.

  Maybe I should bring Asher around her to see if some of that could rub off on him. Actually, hell no, I don’t want Asher anywhere around her. She is mine.

  No, she isn’t, and that eats me up inside.

  Lexi crosses her legs, and I can’t help but direct my attention to her toned limbs. I remember them wrapped around my waist the other night. Just the thought of that moment has me hardening again in my slacks.

  “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 w
as 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.