Twisted by the Boss (Tempted Series Book 4)

by Hazel Kelly

  “So she assumed I was gay?”

  “She has an active imagination.”

  “I see. I guess I’ll just be flattered you mentioned me at all.”

  “I also promised her I’d ask your last name so she could look you up and make sure you’re not a criminal.”

  “Jeez,” he said.

  “Not that I think you’re a criminal.”

  “I should hope not.”

  “To be honest, I think she was really asking so she could creep you on Facebook.”

  “It’s Abbott.”

  I was sure I’d misheard him. “Sorry?”

  “Abbott. A-b-b-o-t-t.”

  I swallowed. “So your name is Benjamin Abbott?”

  “I prefer Ben, but yeah.”

  “Like The Abbott Hotel?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So you’re an Abbott?”

  “Am I speaking gibberish or something?”

  “What’s your relationship then to-”

  “William Abbott is my Father.”

  Suddenly Will’s controlling outburst made sense.

  “Are you okay?” Ben asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure? You look kind of pale all of a sudden.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me your Dad was my boss?”

  “I didn’t think it mattered.”

  I put my hand over my stomach where the nausea was building. “Actually, I don’t feel very well.”

  “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have spun you so fast.”

  I looked at him and it all made sense. The eyes, the smile, the overbearing confidence. How could I not have seen it?

  We went the rest of the way around in silence until we got to the exit.

  “Maybe you just need to warm up,” he said. “I’ll get you a hot chocolate and-”

  “That’s okay,” I said, sitting on the first bench I came to.

  He knelt down in front of me and unlaced my skates.

  It was so surreal I thought I might faint. “I think I would rather just go home.”

  He pulled my skates off and set them down beside him. The way he looked up at me filled me with dread. “Okay,” he said. “I’m really sorry again.”

  “Don’t be. I had a great time. I’m so glad I came.”

  “Me, too.” He reached up and dragged a thumb over my frozen cheek. “I hope I can see you again.”

  I forced a smile.

  I wished I could say the same.

  But I was too busy wishing I never saw him in the first place.

  Chapter 12: Will

  He was fifteen minutes late, and I was thinking the worst. What if he was late because she slept over? I would never forgive myself if I let her do that. Never.

  I took my head out of my hands when I heard a knock on the door.

  “Come in.”

  “Morning Will.” Ben opened the door and came inside.

  I don’t know why he insisted on calling me Will- though I suppose “Dad” wouldn’t have made me feel any more at ease.

  I gestured to the chair across from my desk. “Have a seat, Ben.”

  He took his coat off as he walked across the room.

  “There’s a rack behind the door,” I said when I realized he was going to throw his damp coat over my leather chair.

  “Ahh.”

  “Why are you late?” I asked.

  “I’m still getting used to making my way in on public transportation,” he said, collapsing into a chair.

  “Maybe if you spent less time styling your hair, you could make it in earlier.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Coffee?” I asked.

  “Sure.” He looked around for a machine.

  I picked up the phone and dialed the extension for the café downstairs.

  “The Abbott Café.”

  “Sonia, it’s Will. Would you send two black coffees up to my office. Cream and sugar on the side.”

  “Coming right away,” she said.

  I hung up the phone and turned my attention back to Ben. “How’s your new place?”

  “It’s great, thanks.” He scooted to the back of his chair and straightened his shoulders. “I really appreciate you organizing that for me.”

  “Thank Emily,” I said. “She arranged everything.”

  “How’s it going with Paul?”

  “Great.” He put his ankle over his opposite knee. “At first I was kind of annoyed that you weren’t going to have me shadow you right away, but I can see why you wanted me working with Paul. It’s amazing how much he knows about customer service.”

  “So you’re learning a lot?”

  “Tons,” he said. “I probably learned more from Paul in the last week than I did during my time at university.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” I took a deep breath. “After all, you’re here to learn about the business, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Not to flirt with my staff and take them on dates?”

  “Sorry?”

  “I understand you met Ella Riley and asked Paul for her number.”

  “Hell yeah I did.”

  I cringed at his enthusiasm. “And I guess you decided it was within your rights to take her out.”

  “Is it not?”

  “No.”

  “You’re messing with me, right?”

  “I don’t mess, Ben.” I thought of the cards in my desk. “She’s an integral part of my staff and that makes her off limits for dating of any kind.”

  “C’mon, Will. She’s a total fox. You’d have to be an idiot not to ask her out.”

  I exhaled through my nose. “Am I not making myself clear?”

  “You’re being perfectly clear. I’m just voicing my opinion. Which is that I think you’re being ridiculous.”

  I nearly snapped the pen in my hand in half. “Ridiculous would be putting my staff in a position where they might become uncomfortable at work. Plus, the fact that you’re my son means you need to be even more professional than everybody else.”

  “I understand that, but trust me. I never had any intention of making her anything other than extremely comfortable.”

  The glint of mischief in his eye really pissed me off. “I didn’t ask you here to negotiate. I asked you here so I could set the record straight since I took your common sense for granted.”

  “Ouch. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

  “Is it? You were fraternizing with my employees before you’d even been here a week.”

  “I asked a beautiful woman to go get a burrito. I’d hardly call that fraternizing.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Does it matter?”

  I tried to keep my tone level and stern. I didn’t want him to pick up on the fact that I might be asking for any reason other than the fact that Ella was my employee. “I wouldn’t ask if it didn’t.”

  “I met her out the other night.”

  “For drinks?”

  “No. I took her ice skating.”

  I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.

  “At Rockefeller Center,” he added.

  “Then what?”

  “Then she went home because she didn’t feel well.”

  “She did?” I hated the idea that she might be with him when she felt unwell instead of me. I was the one who knew her, who knew how to take care of her.

  “I’m not sure if she’ll see me again anyway.”

  “Why?”

  “She acted kind of weird after she found out you were my Dad.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know if you’re some kind of tyrant to work for or something- I haven’t been here long enough to know- but she wasn’t exactly delighted to find out I was related to her boss.”

  So she knows. She didn’t know when she agreed to go out with him, and the revelation totally put her off. What a relief. “I’m not a tyrant.”

  “Really? Because she seemed
pretty freaked out when I told her.”

  “Probably because she’s a professional and takes her job seriously.” I cleared my throat. “Unlike you, she’s sensible enough to realize that the two of you going out isn’t appropriate.”

  “I still don’t see what the problem is,” he said. “I mean, she’s proper girlfriend material-”

  “Enough!” I slammed my fist on my desk. “You are not to see her again outside a working environment. There are four million women in New York beyond the hotel walls, and I give you my blessing to date any one of them. As for the women under this roof, they are to be treated as respected colleagues and nothing more.”

  “Whatever.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said whatever.”

  “Look Ben, I’m looking after you here as a favor to you and your Mom. You’re not here to rock the boat and change how we do things. You’re here to observe how we do things from afar and take notes. Got it?”

  “Got it.” He looked down at the floor and up at me again. “I haven’t gotten Ella in trouble, have I?”

  I tilted my head at him.

  “Because she likes her job here, and I would feel terrible if I did anything to jeopardize it.”

  “Don’t worry. She’s not in trouble.”

  He blew air out from between his lips.

  “But I’m glad you recognize how important it is that she be allowed to do her job without distractions.”

  There was a knock at the door, and Sonia brought in our coffees.

  “Must be nice,” Ben said after she left.

  “What?” I asked, taking the lid off one of the coffees.

  “Being able to have whatever you want whenever you want it.”

  “It is,” I said, happy to let him think my life was as easy as it looked.

  “I hope I’m in that position someday.”

  “You will be if you work hard,” I said. “And avoid getting seduced by temporary distractions.”

  “I get it, Will. You’ve made your point.”

  “Good, then you can take your coffee to go. I have work to do.”

  “What am I supposed to do tomorrow when Paul isn’t here?”

  “Oh- I’m glad you asked. You’re spending the day with Martine. Dress appropriately.”

  “And Martine is…?”

  “The head of the housekeeping department.”

  “What am I going to be doing with her?”

  “Mostly cleaning I would guess.”

  “Cleaning?”

  “Believe it or not, the condition of the rooms here and our cleaning staff’s attention to detail is absolutely vital to the hotel’s success.”

  “That makes sense, but-”

  “In my experience, you can’t run a place like this- or hire and train people to run it- if you don’t have a thorough understanding of the standard of cleanliness that’s necessary to charge the kind of prices we charge.”

  “I know, but do I have to personally-”

  “If you don’t get it right away, I’m sure Martine would love to have your help all week.”

  Ben slapped his knees and stood up. “In that case, I’ll pay very close attention.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “See you later.”

  “Make it a great day,” I said as he closed the door behind him.

  I leaned back in my chair.

  So Ella knew. She knew he was my son.

  Surely she understood now why I was so adamant that nothing happen between them.

  It killed me that he took her to Rockefeller Center when I knew how much she wanted to do that. He probably showed off for her and everything when all she wanted was for me to hold her hand and escort her around the rink.

  I owed her an apology.

  Chapter 13: Ella

  When I heard Ben opening the door of Will’s office, I picked up the phone and made a face like I was listening really hard. He smiled at me and I nodded, pleased that he took the hint and didn’t stick around while I finished my fake call.

  After he passed I felt a set of eyes on me, but when I turned towards Emily, she averted her gaze. Fortunately, I didn’t care what she thought anymore. She was the least of my problems. I felt terrible for blowing Ben off the way I had when he didn’t do anything wrong. Even worse, I felt sick at how close I’d come to kissing him.

  No wonder I wanted to, though. His lips were strangely familiar. Maybe I should’ve kissed him. The whole thing was so messy. What’s the worst that could happen? Will didn’t want to be with me anyway. Then again, that didn’t necessarily mean that Ben did.

  There must be hundreds of men in New York that were as good looking as the Abbotts. Why couldn’t I go out with one of them? Or better, why shouldn’t I ignore all of them for five or six years until I had my shit together and could actually control my emotions.

  I was ready to pull my hair out when the phone rang.

  “Ella Riley.”

  “Can I see you in my office, please?” Will asked. His voice made my insides feel like mush.

  “Can I ask what this is about?”

  “You can come in here and ask.”

  I sighed and stood up, smoothing my skirt down. I turned my phone on silent so it wouldn’t bother Emily if someone called and then headed towards his office.

  “Come in,” he said after I knocked.

  I opened the door and closed it behind me. He was leaning back in his chair behind his desk.

  “What can I do for you, Will?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about a few things, the first one being your job performance.” He gestured towards the seats in front of his desk.

  “Should I be concerned?”

  “Not at all.” He slid open his top drawer and pulled out a stack of cards. Then he stood up and walked around his desk to hand them to me.

  “What are these?”

  “Customer feedback,” he said. “It’s obvious from reading them that you’re going above and beyond as far as your job description is concerned.” He sat down in the chair beside mine and angled his body towards me.

  “I’m trying,” I said, scanning the cards. When I saw the one from the Italian family, I laughed out loud.

  “It seems you’ve made quite an impression on many of our most important guests.”

  “I’m glad they enjoyed themselves here.”

  “They’re not the only ones you’ve made a lasting impression on.”

  I didn’t know what he was getting at until he scooted to the edge of his chair and put his hand on my knee.

  “I miss you, Ella.” His touch sent a wave of warmth through me and my whole body ached for him.

  I swallowed.

  His fingers wrapped around to the back of my thigh. I wished I could just let my legs fall apart and give myself to him. Instead, I stood up.

  He stood up, too, and looked at me. “Don’t you miss me?”

  I took a step back and my voice dropped to a whisper. “Of course I do.”

  He stepped forward so he was in front of me again. “So be with me.”

  I felt a lump in my throat and kept backing up.

  He followed.

  “I can’t,” I said, coming up against the wall.

  He slid one hand along my cheek up into my hair. “Yes you can,” he whispered. “You can let me have you right now.” He wrapped his other hand around my hip and squeezed. “Right here,” he whispered in my ear.

  I felt breathless. It was exactly what I wanted- to forget all my confusion and give in to him.

  I let my head fall back against the wall and looked at him. My anxiety formed a single tear that escaped down my cheek.

  He wiped it with his thumb and looked back and forth between my eyes. “I want you, Ella. I need you.”

  I felt my bottom lip start to shake but he stopped it with his lips.

  My hips pressed against him of their own accord as he squeezed my ass with one hand, holding my face with the other while he opened
my mouth with his tongue. It felt so good to be in his arms again, to feel warm all over for a change.

  I could feel him growing against me as his lips fell to my neck. I closed my eyes. I was already wet and ready for him. All I had to do was not stop him.

  He slid a hand up my inner thigh and found the warmth between my legs. His thick fingers rubbed me until my panties were soaked through and I heard a growl escape from his throat. I wanted him so bad I couldn’t stand it anymore. In my head, it was all wrong. Everything about it was wrong, but my body was driving me forward, and I couldn’t find the brakes.

  “Tell me you want it,” he said, pulling my skirt up. “So I can give it to you.”

  I whimpered and pressed my head back as he pulled my underwear down to my ankles. Without warning, he dropped to his knees and stuck his face between my legs, licking me where I was already wet. Then I felt his fingers push up inside me and my legs went weak. My pussy pulsed around him, sucking his fingers deeper inside me.

  I groaned when he pulled them out.

  “You taste so good,” he said, standing up. He stuck his fingers in my mouth. I kept my eyes on him as he dragged them out slowly, watching me as I sucked them.

  As soon as he removed his fingers, he started kissing me again. I heard his pants fall to the floor a moment before he pulled his boxers down. When he straightened back up, he and his dick were standing at attention.

  He put his hands around me and scooped me up. Then he walked backwards and sat down in his desk chair before lowering me down on his cock. I opened my mouth and gasped as his dick pushed my breath from my body. I righted myself and looked into his eyes as I felt him dig his fingertips into my butt cheeks so he could rock me against him.

  “I missed your tight pussy,” he said.

  I couldn’t speak. I had nothing nice to say. I hated myself for what I was doing, for giving into him when I promised I wouldn’t, when I knew he didn’t care about me like I needed him to. But I fucked him anyway because he was my favorite mistake.

  I pulled my knees up, planted my feet along the outside of his thighs, and grabbed the back of his chair. Then I lifted myself up until he was barely inside me and slid down again, letting him strike my center. It felt so good I did it again and again. Finally my thighs were burning and I let my legs drop back over the sides of the chair again so I could grind against the base of his rock hard dick.