I choked out my address, holding back tears until we had departed from Ben’s property. Then I started to sob quietly in the backseat. My mood had crashed entirely, and I was overcome by a flood of emotions.
When I’d arrived at his house, and even when I’d seen who I was dancing for, I hadn’t expected that. Carl might’ve been the one who’d hired me, but Ben had clearly set all that up just to humiliate me.
Why would he even bother? The man had everything, and he’d already taken something from me that really mattered. Why was he coming after me now?
Memories of the day before came crashing into my head as I asked myself those questions. I remembered how I’d laughed at him when he’d offered me the bracelet and a date with him. Maybe all of this had been to get back at me.
In fact, there couldn’t be any other reason for it. That had to be why he’d done this, and it was so petty that my tears dried up and red crept along the edges of my vision. That pathetic, horrible, prick of a motherfucking devil.
For such a handsome, rich man, there had to be something he was overcompensating for if his ego was that fragile. Maybe that was what was wrong with him. He had the looks, the voice, the power, and the money, but he had a tiny ding-dong that he probably couldn’t even get up.
It didn’t make me feel much better, since he could keep his ding-dong and every part of his hateful self away from me, but at least my tears were well and truly gone now. Swiping angrily at the remnants wetting my cheeks, I took a deep breath and ordered myself to calm down.
I was better than this. There was absolutely nothing wrong with dancing for money, or with flipping burgers at the place down the road from his office, for that matter. He was simply an entitled snob who looked down his nose at the rest of us.
Sorry we can’t all be billionaires, asshole. Although if that was what money and power did to a person, he could keep it. It’s all yours, jerk.
It took me a minute to realize my phone was going off in my small purse, and I fished it out expecting it to be Kari blowing it up trying to find out how my first day had gone. Instead, I discovered that I’d been added to a group text about drinks this evening.
Adele: I got us a table at Forester’s Arms. In the back. See you there, former Prosper family.
Cursing under my breath when I remembered I was supposed to be going out with all of my ex-co-workers tonight, I leaned forward and gave the driver the address for the bar. The folks who had gotten fired with me were all getting together to catch up, commiserate some more, and complain about Reed Global.
I considered canceling and telling the driver to ignore my previous instruction and take me home instead, but then I figured I could use a drink. I definitely could use a complaining session about our former boss.
They all knew how it felt to be screwed over by dearest Benny Boy. Tying one on with them could be exactly what I needed tonight, so that was exactly what I would do.
Screw you, Benjamin Reed. You’re not the boss of me, and I won’t let your petty belittling take anything more from me than you already have.
Chapter 16
BEN
After Tori left, the mood at poker night just wasn’t the same. I wasn’t happy, and once again, it was her fault. She found a way to ruin everything, it seemed. Even my long-standing tradition of having the guys over for one epic night once a fucking year.
Sure, we played whenever we could, but this game was the one everyone looked forward to. It was the only one we scheduled a year in advance, and no matter what popped into anyone’s calendar, we fucking moved heaven and earth to keep the date unchanged.
People started leaving soon after she did, and my bad mood got even worse. About an hour later, there was no one left.
A few six-packs of beer had gone from the bar, but it was still mostly stocked. The platters of food had been picked at, but they were largely untouched. Chips still lay in piles on the tables, most of my friends not even having bothered to finish their games after her performance.
There had been plenty of low chatter, but no one seemed to be interested in returning to their games or the festive atmosphere that had been present earlier. Grumbling curses at the woman who was becoming a real fucking problem for me, I downed a shot of top-shelf tequila from a bottle that hadn’t even been opened while my friends had been there and grabbed a beer before heading to my patio outside to clear my head.
I froze my balls off when I sat down, but that wasn’t enough to make me move. Unfortunately, with clarity of mind came the realization that I wasn’t only angry, I was also feeling guilty. In the spur of the moment, I’d taken things further than I’d had intended.
Sure, I’d wanted to get her out of here before I did something rash, but I hadn’t intended to humiliate her. I didn’t feel good about it, either. In fact, I felt like absolute shit for laughing at her and embarrassing her in the way I had.
It had been lower than low for me to have done that, and she really hadn’t deserved it. Even if she had laughed at me and turned me down stone cold before, that had been in private. Obviously, she had the right to turn down anyone she wanted—myself included.
I couldn’t force her to date me, nor did I want to. She could’ve handled the rejection with a touch more finesse, but that didn’t excuse my behavior. What I’d done was much, much worse.
Regret consumed me, eating me up as the tequila mixed with the beer in my stomach, making it churn. I’d acted like a childish, butt-hurt snob and that wasn’t like me at all.
I should’ve been respectful, and I didn’t like the reason I came up with for why things had gone sideways on me. The truth was that the thought of her dancing so sexily for other men had made me feel jealous and that, combined with my need for self-preservation, had pushed me across a line I could never uncross.
Brooding like the angsty member of the world’s saddest boyband, I spent the rest of the night punishing myself by staying outside and getting wasted on my own. A fitting end to a shitty night.
The next morning, Carl, who was supposed to have been at home taking some time off, came into my office. I frowned when I saw him, already shaking my head at the lecture he’d undoubtedly come to give me.
“I don’t want to hear it. Unless you’ve come to share in my massive hangover, I’m not available at present. Please try again later.”
He chuckled but closed the door behind him and gave me a long look. “You want to talk to me about what’s bothering you?”
Sighing as I massaged my temples and swore quietly that I was never drinking again, I jerked my head in a nod that caused me a world of pain, and motioned him into a seat. “Yeah. I don’t think I can sink any lower than I already have, so why not offload like a fucking teenage girl?”
Carl didn’t deny my assertion about not being able to sink any lower. He simply shrugged and took the seat I’d offered. “What’s going on?”
I rolled my lips into my mouth, swallowing the bile the memories of my behavior the night before brought on. “I don’t feel right about what happened with Tori last night.”
“Yeah.” He dragged a hand through his hair, an apology in his eyes when they met mine. “I’m sorry about all that. I only meant for it to be a lark during our game, you know? I didn’t realize that the Tori in the ad I chose was the same Victoria Mitchell who used to work for the company.”
A thoughtful expression flickered across his features before he shook himself out of it. “I only realized who she was once her performance was almost over. As soon as I saw her in person, I thought she looked familiar but I only put two and two together when it was too late.”
“I don’t blame you for anything,” I said honestly. “Even if you had known, you couldn’t have known that it would turn out like that. That’s all on me.”
“Care to share with the rest of the class why you acted like such a brat?” he asked, not bothering to mince his words. Carl was one of the few people in this world who gave it to me straight every time, and I appreciated
him all the more for it. “You treated her like crap stuck to the bottom of your shoe. I’ve never seen you like that, and I’ve known you for a long time.”
“I know.” I let my head fall back, examining the stark whiteness of the ceiling while I admitted what I’d done. “The interview we had with her wasn’t the first time I saw her.”
“What?” His head jerked back. “Where do you know her from, then?”
“I don’t know her. I just saw her at that restaurant the day we were going through the employee profiles.” Thinking back, I remembered how captivated I’d been by her from the very first minute I laid eyes on her. “At the time, I didn’t realize she worked for Prosper. I damn near had a coronary when she walked in the conference room for her interview.”
“A coronary?” he repeated, disbelief clear in his tone. “You? Why?”
Finally bringing my gaze back to his, I shrugged as if none of this affected me when both of us knew that wasn’t the least bit true. “Because for the first time in a long time, probably since the day I met Nic, I couldn’t keep my fucking eyes off her. Although if I’m being honest, I never reacted to Nic like I did to Tori.”
His frown deepened. “Are you saying you fucked her?”
“No.” I chuckled without any humor, hanging my head as I contemplated the irony of the situation. “That’s the thing, though. I wanted to. More than I’ve wanted anyone. Probably ever.”
“So you saw her, you liked her, then you fired her and treated her like shit when you saw her again? I don’t buy it. What aren’t you telling me?”
“I was still getting there.” I hooked my hands together at the back of my neck, letting my fingers form a bridge as I leaned back into them. “After I fired her, I still couldn’t stop thinking about her. I don’t know what it is about her, but she was driving me fucking insane.”
I spared him the details about how she’d filled up my entire spank bank and kept me hard even though I’d barely even talked to her. “Eventually, I decided to go for it. I bought her a diamond bracelet to apologize for firing her, and then I asked her out.”
Surprise flashed bright and clear in his eyes, his brows climbing while his chin lowered. “I’m assuming it didn’t go well?”
“Nope. She laughed me out of her fucking apartment and told me to hire someone back instead of giving her the bracelet.”
Understanding dawned, and he nodded slowly while releasing a long breath. “And so, she rejected you and you wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine.”
I lifted a shoulder in acknowledgment. “To be completely frank with you, I’m fucking disgusted with the way I behaved. Nothing can excuse it, and now she’s wedged even deeper into my brain than ever before. It’s a complete mess.”
“Why don’t you go try to talk to her, human to human?” he suggested after pausing for a minute. “Maybe a sincere apology could pave the way for something more. You never know. Perhaps she takes the high road and forgives you. Even if she doesn’t, maybe it’ll allow you to forgive yourself.”
Before I could respond to tell him that I didn’t deserve her forgiveness and wouldn’t ask until I could find a way to earn it, my phone beeped with an incoming text. I glanced at the screen, intent on getting back to whoever it was later before I saw it was from my publicist.
“It’s Steven,” I said, frowning as I unlocked my phone and clicked into his message. “I haven’t heard from him for weeks.”
Steven and I had been working together for long enough that he knew how to handle his end of things. We didn’t need to speak often, and most of our communication went through our respective assistants.
If he arranged an appearance for me, his assistant emailed mine and he put it in my calendar. It was a good system, and it worked just fine.
“Really?” Carl said. “That’s odd. Maybe he wants you to do a charity thing for the holidays again.”
I felt my expression going grim when I read his message. “Nah, that’s not it.”
Steven: Thought you should see this. There’s a new video going viral featuring employees you seem to have fired. They’re singing a Christmas song about you. The world basically thinks you’re Scrooge now. Call me. This could be serious. Link attached.
After flashing the screen at Carl so he could read the message for himself, I clicked on the link even though I had a relatively good idea of what I would find. Apprehension prickled at my skin while we waited for the video in question to load, and my stomach sank to my feet when it finally did.
Carl walked around the desk to watch it with me, the color draining from his face as I felt it doing the same from my own. We watched it unfold in horror and then remained in stunned silence for at least a minute once it was done.
“Steven is right about this one,” Carl finally said. “It could be very, very serious. If it’s really going viral, we could be in real trouble, Ben. Depending on how it’s received, Reed Global just became the company who ruins lives and the public is going to rake us over the coals for it.”
Chapter 17
TORI
When I woke up, I groaned, mashed my spare pillow over my head, and tried to determine what had died in my mouth while I’d been sleeping. I hadn’t had a proper hangover in years, and I’d just remembered why I didn’t generally aim to drink everything in the entire bar.
My head hammered with every beat of my heart. My stomach was rolling even when I was lying completely still, and I swore I heard the rum shots laughing at me when I remembered how many I’d taken.
God, I drank way too much last night. I didn’t even remember getting home, which hadn’t happened to me since freshman year of college. Moaning when I realized I didn’t even know if I was at home, I shot up in bed and breathed a massive sigh of relief when I recognized my own bedroom.
My head protested the speed of my movement, but my relief was too palpable for me to care much. Well, whatever happened last night, at least I’m fully dressed and in my bed. Alone. Thank goodness for small mercies.
Looking down, I saw that while I was fully dressed, I was still in yesterday’s clothes. I’d slept in the elf outfit, and I felt ridiculous because of it.
Nothing to see here, folks. Just a hungover elf with little memory of what happened after I got to the bar last night.
On the plus side, it could’ve been much worse. Using that thought to fortify me enough to get out of bed, I went straight for the bathroom and showered for so long the water went cold. Kari was going to have my head for it later, but it felt like there was alcohol coming out of my pores and I couldn’t get out until I’d scrubbed it all away.
I also brushed my teeth four times, combed the rat’s nest out of my hair, and then went and put on my most comfortable pajamas. Once all that was done, it was time to try to get something other than the remnants of alcohol into my stomach.
As I sat in the kitchen nursing a strong cup of coffee, Kari came in. She was way too chipper and talking much too loudly for my poor, sensitive self, and I winced while putting my finger to my lips.
“Keep it down, please,” I begged, in too much pain to face an argument about it.
Her blue eyes softened in sympathy, which was weird, considering that we’d never taken it easy on each other before. Hangovers were self-induced torture, and therefore, we usually liked to have a bit of fun with one another to reiterate why drinking so much was a bad idea.
“Can I get you some aspirin?” she asked in a much lower voice than she’d used when she said good morning.
I shook my head, slowly so as to help my brain avoid the spikes that had apparently been inserted on the inside of my skull. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“I’m glad you asked,” she said cheerfully but still quietly, lifting her phone and unlocking it before she threw herself into the seat beside mine. “How much do you remember from last night?”
“Not much,” I admitted, still watching her with a healthy dose of suspicion. “Why?”
She just a
bout crowed with glee. “Let me show you what you got up to. I’m so damn proud of you for not just lying down and letting those asses at Reed Global win. You’re famous, Tori. People love you. They’re hailing you as a hero for the people who have been wronged by the conglomerates of the world.”
Whatever color I’d regained since waking up left my head so fast that I felt dizzy. “What are you talking about?”
“Just a little video you made.” She stuck her phone in my face and pressed the play button in the middle. “I freaking love it.”
My jaw dropped as I watched it, and the nausea I’d been keeping at bay was suddenly back with a vengeance. In the video, I was still dressed as an elf—the same outfit I’d woken up in. My eyes were glassy and my words were slightly slurred but unfortunately not enough that what I was singing couldn’t be made out or understood perfectly.
I stood on a small stage I recognized as the one they used for karaoke at Forester’s Arms, and the bar had gone quiet enough I could be heard even without a microphone. The song I sang was about a Scrooge of a boss who fired everyone a few weeks before Christmas. I went on to say he had no heart, was as soulless as his corporation, and deserved to be alone and miserable for the rest of his life.
The rest of my former co-workers were right at the front of the crowd, singing along with me. It made me think I hadn’t performed the song only once. At the very least, I had to have been at it for a while for them to know the words of the chorus.
Maybe it’s not so bad. At least I didn’t—
And that was when it happened.
I mentioned Benjamin by name before breaking into a jaunty bit about how he was as cruel as the Grinch and as cold as the Ice King. It didn’t end there, either. Even though I was obviously drunk in the video, the performance was intense and it was very clear that it wasn’t a joke.
Cringing until it finally ended, I took the phone from Kari to look at the page it had been posted on. If it was at all possible, I’d have to contact the person and ask them to take it down before it could cause too much damage.
Love Your Moves: A Billionaire Valentine's Romantic Comedy Page 10