Hungry Boss

by Charlize Starr

  She whipped around and barely had time to scream. His hand was on her mouth and he pushed her against the car.

  “Where have you been?” Adam growled, as she tried to push him off her. His hand was searing through the flesh around her mouth, he was holding her down so violently. She could feel the sharp metal of the door handle digging into her back as he held her there. Her first thoughts went to her baby. She didn’t want anything to happen to it.

  “I’ve been calling and texting. Where the fuck have you been?” he growled again, and Tamsin struggled against him more. How had this happened? She hadn’t expected things to get this out of control. She didn’t know Adam properly, of course. She’d met him at a bar months ago and drunkenly fallen in bed with him. She was trying to scream, and tried to scratch his face with her nails, but he pinned her down.

  “You’re coming with me,” he said, right in her ear. Then she felt the grip of his hand loosen and could finally scream loudly. But she didn’t need to, Adam was falling away from her, backward. She could barely see in the dark, but it looked like some force was pulling him away from her.

  She clutched at the tear in her blouse tightly as the darkness cleared. Somebody had grabbed Adam by the neck and shoved him to the ground. She heard the spine-chilling sound of his skull hitting the cement pavement. Then she heard a voice.

  “Stay away from her.” Crosby’s voice was unmistakable as he pulled Adam up by the collar again. Adam had a thin stream of blood gushing down his forehead where the pavement had cut his skin. He was gritting his teeth and trying to throw punches at Crosby, who held him by his collar at arm’s length.

  “Who is this asshole?” Crosby turned to Tamsin, who was cowering near her car.

  “His name is Adam,” she blurted out, shaking in her shoes.

  “Who is he? How do you know him?” he thundered.

  “She’s my girlfriend,” Adam growled, trying to look at her, but Crosby held him in place. He couldn’t move.

  “He’s crazy. I only met him once. He’s been stalking me ever since,” Tamsin wailed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.

  “She’s my girlfriend,” Adam screamed again, and this time Crosby brought him closer to his face. He was glaring into Adam’s eyes, rage boiling out of his ears.

  “If you ever try and talk to her again, if you ever even come close to her, I’ll kill you.” Crosby let go of his collar suddenly and Adam fell to the ground. “Get out of here before I call the police,” Crosby thundered, and it didn’t take long for Adam to get up and run away.

  Tamsin collapsed on the ground next to the car.

  “Are you alright? Your clothes are torn.” Crosby rushed towards her. His voice had changed, it was much softer now.

  “I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” Tamsin mumbled. Crosby pulled her up into his arms. His touch was warm and protective. She rested her hands on his shoulders, needing to be oriented before she could stand properly.

  “What if he comes back? What if he…” She was crying now, and he gently pushed her head to his shoulder and stroked her hair.

  “He won’t. And if he does, if he so much as texts you, you call me, okay?” His voice was still gentle. He was still stroking her hair and tightened his arms around her. She could feel her body shaking, but with the force of his arms, she was beginning to relax. This was the father of her child, although he didn’t know it.

  “C’mon, let’s get into the car. You need to sit down,” Crosby said, and he pulled the car door open with one hand.

  She sniffled, shivered and climbed into the car. Crosby shut the door, walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat.

  “Tamsin. He’s gone. I’m here, you need to relax.” Crosby closed the door. They were sitting in the darkness of the car together. She was still breathing hard, even though the shock of the experience was slowly wearing off.

  “I can’t believe that just happened. And it’s all my fault,” she said, more to herself than to him. Her hand was on her belly, it had gone there subconsciously. She wished she could feel it, feel that the baby was okay.

  “How is it your fault? He’s not right in the head, clearly.”

  “It’s my fault because I got drunk and slept with him and gave him my number. That was so stupid. Stupid.” Tamsin hit the dashboard with her hands and felt tears roll down her cheeks again. Crosby was quiet, letting her vent. “Who knows what he would have done if you weren’t here. If you hadn’t shown up, what might have happened to my….” Tamsin finally turned to him and looked into his eyes, allowing her voice to trail off. She had stopped herself just in time.

  Crosby looked worried. His face was crestfallen, and he was clearly concerned for her. Again, she was seeing a side of him that she had never known existed. Perhaps nobody else knew it existed.

  “Happened to your…what?” he asked, and she saw his eyes fall on her hand, which was still placed on her belly.

  “Why did you show up?” she asked, looking at him.

  “I found out where you worked, and I was waiting for you to leave. Probably just like that asshole,” he said, and she noticed how his eyes flickered. He looked like he was embarrassed, or at least shy to admit he had been waiting for her.

  “Why? After all these days,” she blurted out before she could stop herself. “Why were you waiting for me?”

  “I wanted to see you again and apologize. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind,” he said quietly. Tamsin looked away from him. She didn’t need another reminder of her bad decisions.

  “You don’t need to apologize. You were doing what you wanted. I was doing something stupid. As always,” she said, biting down on her quivering lip.

  “You weren’t stupid with me, Tamsin. There was a real connection there. I felt it,” he said. She turned to look at him. What was he talking about? Was this one of his games? What would he say if she told him the consequences of their actions?

  “I can see you don’t believe me. And why should you? But what started off as a ruse to get you into bed turned into something different. At least for me. Those things I told you about my childhood, about my father who I never talk about... I felt like I was talking to a friend. I’ve never told those things to anyone. We had just met, but I could trust you.” Crosby looked her in the eye as he spoke, and Tamsin wanted to look away. It wasn’t the same expression that had been in his eyes that evening at his house. He wasn’t in a daze, he didn’t have an excited glint in his expression. He was being serious.

  “Is there something else that you want?” she asked him, trying to keep her thoughts civil. She shouldn’t be letting her feelings run amok again. They had already got her into more trouble than she could handle.

  “Nothing other than a proper date. One date, at a public place with our clothes on,” Crosby said. Despite herself, Tamsin laughed. He was smiling too. The air was easier now and she could breathe better.

  “So you’re asking me out?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re more than just a conquest. I want to get to know you.”

  “What about all your other supermodel girlfriends?” Tamsin asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

  “Clearly I need to change my game plan. I haven’t found a soulmate among them. Yet with you, I could sit here and talk for hours.” Crosby reached for her lips, and traced her skin with his fingers. Tamsin closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. She wanted to kiss him, wanted to feel his lips on her skin, the clenching of his muscles underneath her fingertips. She wanted to run her hands through his hair. Tamsin’s neck craned as Crosby traced her throat with his finger.

  “Stop!” she shrieked in an attempt to snap herself out of it. Crosby pulled his finger away as if burnt.

  “What?”

  “I need to tell you something. I need to be honest with you,” she said, inching away from him. This was going to be very difficult, to keep her wits about her when she was so close to him.

  “What
is it?” he asked, and sat back in the seat.

  “That evening. When we…when I was at your house. I…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it, and she looked away from him. Crosby was silent. What was he thinking? When Tamsin looked back at him, she caught him staring at her hand on her belly.

  “Tamsin, are you pregnant?”

  They looked at each other silently, and then she nodded.

  “Mine?”

  “There has been nobody else since and at least for months before you. Ever since that night with Adam, six months ago, I had been keeping myself away from men,” she said. Her voice was quivering, and she watched as he moved towards her. Instead of anger, doubt or mistrust, which she expected to find, Crosby placed a gentle hand on her knee and looked into her eyes.

  “Well, I’m glad I was here then. I wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to my kid,” he said. She could see a smile beginning to spread across his face.

  “You’re not upset about this?” she asked him, and Crosby laughed.

  “Upset? No. Surprised? Yes. It wasn’t in my plans, but you weren’t either.”

  “We don’t know each other at all. I’m sure you don’t even remember my last name,” Tamsin said, her shoulders and muscles relaxing now. His attitude and the smile on his face had put her at ease.

  “It’s Clarkson. And so what if we don’t know each other? Doesn’t mean we can’t have a baby together. We’re already going on a date. I already admitted that I can’t get you out of my head. Maybe it’s meant to be.” Crosby inched closer to her and Tamsin sighed.

  “You didn’t look like a guy who believes in destiny,” she said, dropping her eyes to her lap. Crosby Jones was playing his magic on her, again.

  “It’s not destiny, it’s just you,” he said, and touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers. Tamsin closed her eyes and smiled.

  “So it’s decided then, a date with clothes on and…” But before she could finish, he interrupted her.

  “And the following ones don’t need a dress code,” he said, and within seconds, he was kissing her and making her forget where she was.

  *****

  THE END

  The Football Star's Secret Baby

  Description

  I’d rather die than tell him...

  Olivia Snyder is making do. Her daughter, Maya, is turning two in a few months and Olivia believes she has it all under control.

  She never really achieved her dreams because she got pregnant early… but what more could she ask for except that her daughter grows up happy?

  But then problems start to brew. Sophie, her childhood best friend, returns to their sleepy town for a family event. Sophie and Olivia meet up for their usual girl-time. But what Sophie hasn’t told Olivia is that her older brother Rufus is coming home too...

  Rufus has made it big in NFL. He had always been the town’s sweetheart but he has now quickly become the national heartthrob as well.

  This wouldn’t be an issue if Olivia wasn’t still hung up on him, his classic good looks, that dimpled smile and the way he has about him which makes all women fall at his feet...

  Olivia has secrets to hide: not only her feelings for Rufus, but also that they once slept together in college. She can never let Sophie find out that she slept with her older brother.

  Especially not now that Rufus is back in town... How will Olivia keep her secret, now that her life seems to be unravelling?

  Chapter One

  Olivia’s phone beeped beside her and she turned it over so she wouldn’t be troubled by the flashing light. She needed to get through this last hour without any more distractions. A woman was holding a stack of three books in her hand and waiting at the till when Olivia returned to take up her post. Three books was good, but not enough to hit her target for the day. A few people would have to miraculously appear in this last hour and purchase at least ten more books between them. The trouble was that nobody was buying physical books anymore, so independent bookstores such as the one Olivia was working at made very little money now.

  She smiled at the woman anyway as she zapped the barcodes on the books and then put them in a small paper bag for her. The woman handed Olivia the exact change and walked away. Olivia sighed. She looked at her watch again, fifty-five more minutes to go.

  The bookstore was empty again. Stacks of freshly printed books were piled on the front table, trying to attract passersby into the store to flip through them and, hopefully, make a purchase. Olivia stood behind the till desk, looking hopefully at the people on the street. She needed to make her target for the day, or it could mean risking her job. The management was cracking down on employees now, and getting strict with their sales targets.

  Olivia caught a reflection of herself in the shop window as she remained standing, looking out. Her usual brown curls looked frizzy, given that she hadn’t had the time to properly condition them in a while. Her large gray eyes looked wide and sleep deprived, especially without any makeup. Even her lips looked chapped and tired. She quickly reached for the lip gloss she usually stored in one of the drawers and ran the tube over her lips once, knowing full well that just some lip gloss wasn’t going to cut it.

  Her phone beeped again and, this time, she reached for it. The store was empty so there was no point denying herself the distraction from her boredom.

  She’d received a couple of messages from Sophie again. She was in town now and wanted to meet up. Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes. They had been friends since kindergarten and had grown up together. Now Sophie lived in New York and had a fancy job at a publishing house, while Olivia was still stuck in their hometown.

  She quickly sent a response back to Sophie, letting her know that she would only have a few hours on Saturday afternoon to meet. The rest of the time, she’d be busy at the bookstore or with Maya. Olivia loved Sophie, just as much as she knew Sophie loved her. But it was getting increasingly difficult to keep up with Sophie’s lifestyle now. She didn’t have the fancy lifestyle that Sophie enjoyed, didn’t live a high-flying corporate life, didn’t own the designer shoes or handbags that Sophie now flaunted. A rift was slowly developing between them, and Olivia was recognizing that they had less in common and fewer things to talk about. But she couldn’t let Sophie go, despite everything that had happened. She was still her best friend.

  Sophie replied with an excited text and an invite to come over to her parents’ home, and Olivia put her phone away. It was back to praying that she got a few more customers in before closing time.

  The boredom of not having anything to do resulted in her mind drifting to thoughts of Sophie again…and this time, Rufus as well, Sophie’s older brother. Rufus Frost. He was the guy who Olivia had grown up around, her teenage fantasy. She had spent her whole life drooling over and pining for him.

  Rufus was destined for stardom, he always had been. In school, Rufus was one of the popular kids, while Olivia and his sister were the nerds. However, Rufus always looked out for them and made sure that nobody ever picked on Sophie or her best friend. Not on his watch.

  College was the same. Rufus was the town hero, the rising football star who was going to take the town and the college to national prominence. Girls threw themselves at him, boys wanted to be him and parents wished he was their son. Nobody was left out of Rufus Frost’s charm spectrum, least of all Olivia.

  She grew up in his shadow, admiring him for his looks, his good nature and of course his superstardom. But Rufus had always been out of Olivia’s league. She knew that. Which was why, when he joined the NFL and his charisma and success carried on to the national level, nobody was happier to see him go than Olivia. She didn’t want to be in his presence anymore, she didn’t want to suffer all her life, pining away for a man she could never have. Even though it had seemed for some time, to her at least, that they might actually have a chance, Olivia knew the truth was that they never did. Rufus didn’t feel the same way. To him, Olivia Snyder was nothing more than his sister’s best friend.

/>   The bell hanging over the bookstore door tinkled, snapping Olivia out of her thoughts. A customer had walked in! The middle-aged man looked around the shop for a minute, his hands flying over the bookshelves, dragging out titles he thought he wanted. Olivia watched from the till with a smile on her face, ready to recommend books or spark up a conversation that might eventually lead to a sale.

  The man walked out of the store empty-handed. It was almost like the universe was teasing her. She was going to have to go home without having met her target today, bringing her one day closer to losing her job.

  ***

  Olivia parked outside her mother’s house and remained sitting in the car for a few minutes longer. She needed to compose herself before she went it. The door was left open as usual, as her mother was never in a habit to lock the house. Olivia walked in, adding a forced spring to her step and pasting a smile onto her face.

  Her mom was in the living room, in front of the television, with Maya on her lap.

  “Hello, kids,” Olivia greeted them chirpily. Her mom and Maya both turned, both equally happy to see her.

  “Hi, honey. How was your day with Nana?” Olivia reached for her daughter, who grabbed her by the neck and hung from it while they cuddled. Maya had not started talking properly yet, but could say a few words, which always made Olivia proud. She was certain that her daughter was going to be a genius.

  “How was your day?” Jen, Olivia’s mother, asked.

  “Good, good. We had a busy day at the store,” Olivia replied, still hugging her daughter and trying to avoid her mother’s inquisitive stare.

  “Really? I heard from Lucy that they’re planning on closing the store down. Not enough customers.” Jen had folded her arms across her chest and was glaring at Olivia while she spoke.

  “I don’t know why Lucy would say that. The store is doing really well now.” Olivia was still not looking at her mother, instead busying herself with smoothing the delicate blonde curls around Maya’s angelic face.