Forever, Boss: Bad Boy Office Romance Series Box Set with Bonus Novella

by Juliana Conners

  I’m not sure what to make of this situation. I’m flattered that Asher chose me as his mentee, but I want to have a nice, professional relationship with him. Isn’t it possible that he chose me because of my intelligence and proven track record of hard work?

  But then, that means he isn’t into my physically. Just like the Barbies predicted. Maybe even because of my cankles.

  I will myself not to look down self-consciously at my ankles. I don’t want to let the Barbies know they’ve gotten to me. And I know logically that the size or shape of my ankles haven’t changed one bit since I last looked down at them in the bathroom stall this morning.

  And obviously Asher doesn’t care about my supposed cankles. Whether he’s interested in being my mentor for professional reasons or personal reasons or both, he clearly chose me out of all the other possible mentees, cankles and all.

  Not knowing which choice to root for— Does he want me for my brain, or my body?— I feel restless, wishing that orientation could be over already. But it just drags on all day long, with no seeming end in sight.

  As the afternoon inches forward to a close, I’m mad at myself for being excited about seeing Asher once orientation ends. But I can’t get him out of my head, and I’m glad I’ll soon find out what exactly he has in mind to do with me.

  Chapter 11 – Madilyn

  Finally, the orientation ends. As I stand up to leave— trying not to look like I’m in too much of a rush— the Barbies and their Ken rush over to me.

  Looks like I’ve made some friends.

  “Hey Madilyn,” says Candace, a fake grin spreading over her face. “How are you? I’ve been meaning to come say hi. Catch up with you a bit.”

  “Hi there,” I say, trying to plaster an equally fake grin across my own face. “Last time I saw you was when I was lending you my Torts outline.”

  I watch her blush and I know she’s thinking about how she was too hungover all during law school to study properly. And she wonders why Asher would pick me to mentor instead of her.

  “I’m Mandy,” Mandy says. “We met at—”

  “The mixer,” I fill in for her, extending my hand for her to shake. “You really like those Rum Runner drinks.”

  Now it’s Mandy’s turn to blush.

  “And I’m Tara,” Tara pipes in. “This is Joe.”

  I resist the urge to remark, “You mean you’re the third Barbie, and this is Ken.”

  I decide I’ve gotten in enough zingers for the afternoon.

  Everyone shakes hands all around, and then I’m glad that the re-introductions are over. I also want the entire conversation to be finished for good so that I can go see Asher.

  “So it looks like Mr. Marks has assigned himself as your mentor,” Candace says. “Lucky you!”

  “Lucky me!” I repeat.

  “Did he give you a note?” Mandy asks, butting in. “I noticed he may have given you a note. What does it say?”

  “It just has some assignments to start working on,” I tell them, already having rehearsed my answer.

  “This soon?” Joe doesn’t even try to hide his jealousy. “Like what kind of assignments?”

  “Oh, some research memos and simple discovery stuff,” I lie.

  But to my defense, I’m sure that’s what kind of assignments Asher will give me, because they’re the typical assignments.

  It’s not like he’s going to assign me sexual duties or anything.

  Right? I ask myself again.

  “Look, it’s been nice chatting,” I tell him, more anxious than ever to go see Asher and find out what the hell he has in mind. “But it’s been a long day, and I need to head home.”

  “We were only trying to be friendly,” Tara says, crinkling her nose up like a pug dog. “You don’t have to be so snooty.”

  “I appreciate it,” I tell them. “I really do. I just have some plans and need to be going. And snooty is all just a matter of perception now, isn’t it? Let’s catch up soon though!”

  “Definitely,” Candace says, waving a perfectly manicured hand at me. She elbows Tara, as if to put her in her place for being snarky with me.

  Cankles: One. Barbies and Ken: Zero, I think, as I head off down the hallway on my own.

  I’m too excited thinking about what Asher has in store for me to care about them anymore. This day is finally going the way I was hoping it might but in a totally different way than I had ever expected.

  Chapter 12 – Madilyn

  In planning my first day of work before I’d actually started it, I’d assumed I’d head back to my office after today’s orientation and continue setting it up and start working on any new assignments or notes from that day’s instructions. But since I don’t have an office yet, I sit down at my cubicle and stare at my computer.

  There isn’t really any new work to get started on. At least, not until I see Asher. I just want to make sure that the Barbies and Ken leave, so they don’t see me going to his office on the seventeenth floor and start asking me even nosier questions.

  I upload the notes I took during today’s orientation session to my drive on the firm server. I think about opening up the billing software and seeing if there’s a category for “training.” I doubt it, since the only hours that count are actual billable and collectible time spent working on client matters.

  But then I see something flash in the corner of my computer screen. The IT guy had told me that app was for the intra-office instant messaging system. But I wasn’t expecting to get any messages yet.

  I gulp and then click on the flashing light, somehow knowing who it’ll be.

  Asher Marks: Did you read my note?

  My fingers hover above the mouse, nervous to answer.

  Madilyn St. Clair: Yes.

  Asher Marks: Well, are you coming?

  I gulp again.

  Great.

  I’m already being chastised by my new mentor. But I can’t help looking up and around and over my shoulder.

  How does he know I’m here?

  A thousand possible explanations run through my mind. He knows what time the orientation was scheduled to finish. It’s the end of the day so he assumes I’ll be here. Maybe the partners can see when the associates’ computers are online. The instant messaging system does alert them when I’m online.

  But I still feel as if I’m being watched.

  And I don’t know whether to be creeped out or intrigued. I guess I feel a mixture of both. Like with everything else today, my emotions seem to be a big jumbled mess and jump all over the place.

  I know I’d better answer him, right away.

  Madilyn St. Clair: Yes, just had to upload my orientation notes. I’ll be right up.

  His answer is instantaneous.

  Asher Marks: Good.

  This is clearly not a man who is used to waiting. He’s a man used to people jumping when he says jump. And he’s letting me know that I didn’t jump quickly enough.

  Oops.

  My heart pounds as I take the elevator up to the senior partner floor. It’s obvious that Asher is trying to exert some sort of power play over me, and I can only imagine what he has in store for me when I get to his office.

  If what the Barbies say is true, then he expects me do more for him than write research memos. Will he bend me over the desk and spank me? Does he have a bookcase that turns into some torture device or leads to a secret love den?

  I blush at my thoughts. I want to laugh at their ridiculousness but I also have no idea what to expect. I can feel my panties dampening a bit, and I can’t believe I’m getting turned on by thoughts of what my boss and new mentor could do to me.

  But they’re just thoughts, I remind myself, as the elevator door opens and I head to his office. And they’re natural. He’s older, powerful and really fucking hot, to boot. And it’s not like my love life has been on fire any time recently.

  I can’t help but feel lucky that the mysterious man I’d spent this morning masturbating over is now calling me to his o
ffice for some sort of intrigue.

  I take a breath, and knock on Asher’s office door.

  “It’s unlocked,” he says. “Come in.”

  Unlocked?

  Who has a lock on their office door?

  Apparently Asher Marks.

  As I step into his office, I realize he has a lot of things that other lawyers at the firm don’t.

  For one thing, his office is much larger than any other office I’ve seen in the firm. It has the best view of the Sandia Mountains. It boasts a large screen TV. A leather couch and recliner. A Mad Men-style bar, a golf practice area and stacks of weights and kettle bars.

  When I finally focus my gaze on him, as he sits behind his large mahogany desk, he’s still looking down at his work.

  “Madilyn. Come in.”

  He waves his hand at me, still without looking up.

  I obediently take a few steps forward.

  “Wait,” he says, holding up a finger. “Please close and lock my door first.”

  I pause.

  “It’s my office policy,” he says. “You’re to do it every time.”

  “Yes, Mr. Marks.”

  I close the door, and then lock it.

  “Call me Boss,” he says.

  He’s got to be kidding, I think.

  But when I turn towards him again he’s finally looking at me with a sincere expression on his handsome face.

  His brown eyes stare into mine in a way that seems as if he can see through me. He smells musty and masculine as if he’s been outdoors. His office smells like wood.

  “Yes, Boss.”

  I hope I don’t blush as I say it.

  I have to admit to myself that it feels exciting.

  “Okay good. Now come over here to my desk. I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Chapter 13 – Asher

  Madilyn St. Clair is finally in my office.

  And I can’t tell whether she’s happy about it or not.

  Damn it. Leave it to me to pick a mysterious one. But the mysterious ones often turn out to be the best ones. They just seem to test my patience along the way.

  I notice her tense, yet still eager posture as she approaches my desk.

  I don’t like that she fucking ignored the instructions in my note. She was supposed to come right to my office after orientation ended.

  I’ve done my due diligence. I know all about her. Down to the fact that she was dating a wimpy store manager, but judging by her Facebook page, she wasn’t very into him. According to Facebook they also broke up recently, which I knew would happen.

  But they have a tendency to get back together.

  That will change, I’m sure of it. I demand complete loyalty and devotion.

  I know better than to give up any power. That’s when a woman thinks she can walk all over a man. The minute he lets down his guard.

  Something about Madilyn told me she’d be a challenge. Probably the way she wasn’t “one of them”— the summer associates— but became one of them by the time it mattered; by the time the firm was handing out permanent offers.

  Maybe by the way she seems so focused and dedicated. It’s as if she doesn’t care to even pretend to be like the rest.

  I can tell I’ve got my work cut out for me. I need to keep close track of her.

  I ordered the construction on the wing of the associate floor that contains Madilyn’s office before she was scheduled to start work. I knew there would be no choice for anyone to put her anywhere else but in the paralegal’s cubicle section, which, ever since a data breach in a big case a few years ago, has a video- monitored security system and also has keyloggers installed on the computers.

  I have her right where I want her. Where I can see her, where I can watch her, where I can know what she’s doing and— to the best of my ability— what she’s thinking.

  And where I knew to walk by this morning and find a reason to chastise her. I knew that made her fucking hot. I could see her cheeks flush and hear her breath quicken.

  I know that after I walked away she went to the bathroom, even though she thinks I had stopped watching her by then. I bet she couldn’t help but play with her undoubtedly beautiful little pussy while she thought about my huge cock fucking her in and out for the very first time.

  Oh yeah.

  I also know that she’s a virgin.

  She doesn’t advertise that fact on Facebook of course.

  But I just know these things. From the way she carries herself to the way she looks at me with eager anticipation, I know that she still has her sweet juicy cherry and she wants me to pop it. And I plan to do just that.

  Right now I can hear her breathing in and out, just inches away from my desk. She smells like lightly scented lavender perfume mixed with the coffee I saw her drinking earlier.

  She’s obviously curious about what I want from her but I don’t want to reward her disregard of my instructions with any kind of clarity. She’ll find out soon enough what I’m all about, if she doesn’t already know.

  “Madilyn, I’ve put together some files I think you should start working on,” I tell her, nodding to an accordion file on a chair to my right, which has about five thin files in it as well as a manila envelope.

  “These are all client matters for which I think you’d be well suited to help me,” I explain. “Each of them contains explicit instructions for what I’d like you to do. I think you should begin looking them over this evening, and we can talk more tomorrow.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  She says it firmly yet cautiously, looking at me as if she’s expecting more.

  Good.

  I always leave them wanting more.

  We’re off to a good start, although a bumpy one.

  I raise my eyebrows at her to remind her that she’s forgotten something.

  “I mean, Boss,” she says. “Yes, Boss.”

  She takes a sharp breath inward and I can tell that she likes saying it.

  Yes, Boss.

  Please, Boss.

  More, Boss.

  I want her to say all of those things and more.

  I want her to say take my virginity, Boss.

  I want to hear her scream that while I’m making her moan and beg for my big cock.

  “Very well,” I tell her. “Our official training begins tomorrow. The instructions in the file contain everything you need. Welcome to the firm.”

  She hesitates and then nods. Her tongue briefly licks her full lips. I can’t wait to bite them and suck on them. But I have to time things right. I don’t want to jump the gun. I already feel myself getting a little too excited about this one for my own good so I have to hold back.

  She walks over to the chair and bends down slightly to pick up the file folder. All morning as I gave my presentation I had the pleasure of staring at her breasts. Like her lips, they’re full and inviting. And now I’m able to get a good look at her ass. Curvy and perky.

  Perfect.

  “Thank you, Boss,” she says, once she has the file in her hands.

  “You may go now,” I tell her, waving my hand at her and looking back down at the work on my desk.

  I want so badly to watch her as she walks out but I don’t. I know there will be plenty of time for me to see everything I want to see, soon enough. I just have to remain patient and fight this feeling of instant attraction and desire that’s so strong it seems it wants to consume me.

  I will take Madilyn St. Clair and make her mine. But I won’t let her fucking make me hers. I don’t belong to anyone but myself. I just need to fucking remember that.

  Chapter 14 – Madilyn

  That’s it? That’s all Asher wanted me to come to his office for? To give me these files?

  I’m at home, with the files spread across my kitchen table, and I can’t stop wondering why he seems so mysterious. He felt cold, distant. Like he was punishing me for something.

  Sure, he was professional enough, but something obvious was lurking beneath the surface, with many tellta
le signs.

  The way he instructed me to lock the door— this time and every time I entered his office. The way he told me to call him “Boss.” The way he made me walk to the side of his desk and pick up the files. I know he was watching me, even if he doesn’t know that I know.

  I remove a folder from the accordion file and look at the clock above the kitchen stove. Jimmy is usually home by now. I don’t want to get too engrossed with work before we have the chance to talk, but I also don’t want to stall too much, just waiting for him.

  I’d come home earlier than I’d planned, since this morning I’d promised him we’d talk after work. I want to make sure we’re on the same page this time, so that he stops blowing up my phone when I’m at the office.

  I’d wanted to rehearse a nice but firm speech in which I explained to him once again that we’re over and that it’s for the best. But I’ve been so busy thinking about Asher that I just haven’t had the time.

  Now I’m wondering if Jimmy actually took my advice and is spending the night at his brother’s. It doesn’t appear that he took any of his stuff. But maybe he just decided to leave with the clothes on his back.

  I open the folder and I’m immediately impressed at the caliber of the first case that Asher wants me to work on. It’s a commercial litigation case between the owner of a technology firm and some of its disgruntled former partners and shareholders. It’s definitely not a typical first year associate type of garden variety automobile accident or landlord/ tenant dispute case.

  There’s a note in the back of the file, written in the same neat, purposeful handwriting as the note that Asher had dropped in front of me earlier and it’s on the same folded piece of expensive, personalized stationery.

  Madilyn –

  Please review and type up a brief summary of the case proceedings to date, based on the docketing statement. Tomorrow we will go over your understanding of the case, and I will provide further instructions and specific assignments.

  – Asher

  That’s pretty short, sweet and to the point. And it’s something I can easily do.