Playboy Boss

by Roe Valentine

  Her fingers tightened over the chair arms, but she didn’t say a word.

  “I acted unprofessionally. I acted on impulse. And, I admit, I was wrong. I made a mistake. Like you did. Right?” He raked his fingers through his hair. Damn, it was hard to say this to her because he wanted to do it again. He wanted to act on impulse with her. He wanted her to get involved with him. “You’re too sweet a girl to want to get involved with a guy like me.”

  “What about Anisette and Tamsin and Pilar? Are they not too sweet to get involved with a guy like you?” Her voice cracked.

  “Scottie…” He hung his head for a moment.

  “No.” She stood. “You’re absolutely right. Last night was a huge mistake. I’m sorry I started it by kissing you. But I know nothing can happen again.”

  A heavy weight fell on his chest. He wanted to kiss her again. “Can we get past this?”

  “Already over it.” She turned and strode to the closed door, stopping before she opened it.

  “Scottie,” he called to her, not wanting her to leave his office that way. She turned back to him, her face solemn. It devastated him. He paused a moment before he could say another word. “You’re nothing like Anisette and Tamsin and Pilar.”

  Her lip trembled, and he thought she might cry. She didn’t though. Nodding, she opened the door and walked out without a glance back. He dropped his hands on his desk.

  That was not how he wanted the conversation to go. The look on her face made him want to go to her, comfort her. Make her know how he really felt.

  A couple of hours later, he walked out to her cube. He hated the fact that she would have lunch with Jeff. Worse, he hated that he practically forced her to be alone with Jeff. God, if Jeff kissed Scottie, he’d be beyond pissed. The thought made Konrad crazy, and he wanted to cancel their lunch plans.

  Scottie turned almost immediately to face Konrad. “Yes?”

  “I need you to send a dozen roses.”

  She didn’t hide her eye-roll well. Or her exasperation. “Another?”

  “Yes.” His stern boss countenance made her straighten. “To Anisette. I want the card to read, ‘Congratulations on your engagement.’”

  Her eyes grew wide, but she didn’t allow her face to betray her further. With a neutral tone, she said, “I will order them immediately. Anything else?”

  “That is all.”

  Another hour later, Konrad was at Hugo’s restaurant, glancing down at his watch. He’d worn the Rolex again, not the Richard Mille, which was his favorite. He’d misplaced it.

  “Would you care for a drink while you wait on your party?” the waitress asked, taking him from his thoughts.

  “Sure. I’ll take a scotch, neat.” He gazed up and her full lips curled in a smile. Normally, he’d have a thought about them. Have a quick fantasy of what her lips could do to him, but he didn’t. He felt nothing.

  She waited, her lips straightening out. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Mother fucker, I’ll be damned.” Dallas approached just as the waitress left. “I worried you wouldn’t show up like you didn’t last night.”

  “Keep it down, Halman. This is a classy place, for fuck’s sake.” Konrad stood, shaking hands with his friend. “You just missed the waitress.”

  “Damn. Is she hot?” Dallas sat, pushing up his rolled sleeves. The guy hated wearing suits. Konrad knew rancher’s dirty jeans and boots were more his style.

  Konrad laughed. Typical question. Maybe she was hot, but Konrad was too keyed up to notice. “You can find out for yourself, mate. Here she comes again.”

  The small brunette waitress arrived with a smile on her face but not Konrad’s drink in her hand. “Hello. Would you like to start with a cocktail?”

  “Sure, sweetheart.” Dallas’s east Texas accent grew thicker. Such a move. Konrad rolled his eyes. “I’ll have a Gentleman Jack on the rocks.”

  She nodded, reveling in Dallas’s appreciation of her.

  Konrad interjected. “Don’t be fooled, love. This bloke is not a gentleman at all.”

  Her cheeks blazed red. “I’ll back right back, gentlemen.” She winked at Dallas.

  They watched her walk away, though it looked like Dallas was enjoying the view way more than Konrad.

  “You’re such an animal.”

  A beaming Dallas faced Konrad. “And you’re not?” He placed his cell phone on the table next to his sweating glass of water.

  Konrad hated that he couldn’t disagree. He had been an animal with women for over a decade. A complete dog. He shook his head. Dallas still might be worse. “Not as bad as you, mien Freund.”

  Their eyes met. “I’ll take that as a bet.”

  “Stakes?”

  Dallas tossed a paper napkin toward Konrad. “Write down all the names of the women you’ve hooked up with this month. The one with the most loses. And pays for lunch.”

  Konrad thought for a moment, counting briefly until the number passed the fingers on one hand. He leaned back, flicking away the napkin. “Nope. A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

  Dallas threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll remember that next time I see one.”

  Could Konrad really do this? He was compelled to go along with the bet. What was the worst that could happen? He’d either confirm that Dallas was a bigger dog, or he’d face what he’d been avoiding. If he really wanted to turn over a new leaf, he’d have to face it.

  “All right, then. I’ll take your silly bet.” Konrad pulled a Montblanc pen from his jacket pocket. “Prepare to lose.”

  First, Konrad wrote:

  September Hookups

  He sighed as the women came forth to his mind. Hell, it was just the beginning of the month. Shit. He didn’t like this game. Despite the anxiety rippling through him, making him queasy, he continued writing his list.

  H Bar Bartendress

  Tamsin

  Anisette

  Hot Yoga Instructor at gym

  Pilar

  Greek Starbucks Barista on West Gray Ave.

  Temp S.R.

  His heart stopped. Bloody hell. Seven women. He remembered he’d shagged a couple of them on the same day. And two he didn’t even remember their names. Guilt and disgust seared through him. And when his gaze came to a stop on Temp S.R., he felt like the worst person in the world. He couldn’t even spell out her whole name. Too much shame fell on him. If she knew she was on a running list of hookups, she’d hate him more than she probably already did. Sick to his stomach, he lost his appetite.

  “Time’s up.” Dallas held up his napkin. All entries had names. All four of them.

  Just then, the waitress arrived with two drinks on her round tray and set them down on the table. “I’ll be back to take your orders.” She walked away to tend to another table nearby.

  “Only four? Dallas, you’re slipping.” Konrad turned over his napkin. He was too ashamed to look at it anymore. “I concede. I’m the bigger animal.”

  Dallas grabbed Konrad’s napkin, reading with an amused look on his face. “Greek Starbucks Barista on West Gray Ave.?”

  Konrad snatched the napkin and shoved it into his suit pocket, along with his pen. “Sod off.”

  Dallas nearly fell over from laughing, but then he stopped, his eyes narrowing. “Wait. That last one.”

  Konrad’s heart raced. “Yeah?” Nervously, he glanced back to the waitress, signaling for her. He needed an interruption.

  “Did it say ‘Temp S.R.’?”

  Konrad took a hefty gulp. Intoxication needed to come immediately. In the meantime, he refused to acknowledge the question.

  “Kon, did you screw your waitress-temp, Scottie?” His voice rose a bit.

  Konrad met his demanding gaze. Deny it? Admit it? He didn’t know which was smarter. “She’s not a waitress.”

  Dallas’s eyebrows lifted. “Did you?”

  Dallas was the only one who knew about Scottie, and Konrad needed to unburden himself. “Yes.”

  Realization came over
Dallas. “Last night. You were with Scottie, weren’t you?”

  “Not exactly. I was at happy hour with my employees like I told you.” He took another sip of scotch. The waitress interrupted, for which he was grateful. They each ordered twenty-dollar burgers and resumed the conversation once she’d left. Konrad sighed, feeling more burdened than before he came clean to Dallas, and he didn’t want to think of eating anything. “Scottie was at the happy hour. I walked her to her car. And…”

  “Dude, please don’t tell me you fucked her in the car.”

  “Fuck off.” Konrad felt the heat of anger rise through him. He calmed himself. “No, I did not fuck her in the car. That’s so fucking crude, mate.”

  “Sorry.” Dallas lifted his hands in defense.

  “She forgot her wallet in the office, and that’s where it happened.”

  “In the office?”

  Images of Scottie on his desk, skirt lifted above her hips, panties hanging off her ankle, came to him. He closed his eyes at the remembrance. “On my desk.”

  Dallas wasn’t laughing anymore. He gazed with an intensity that made Konrad refocus on his drink again. He stared into his glass, seeing the night all over again, feeling everything all over again.

  “You seem really fucked up about it, Konrad. This isn’t like you.”

  Running his fingers through his hair, he didn’t disagree. That was putting it lightly. He was more than fucked up. He was head first in an existential crisis. He was facing his morality. He was facing his belief system and all the things he thought were true about relationships.

  He couldn’t continue. “Did you see the email about the location for our hotel?”

  Dallas frowned. Good thing he knew when to let things go. He was much better at that than Fabian or Tylund. “I did. Are we talking work now?”

  “We are.” Konrad noticed his phone blink with a message. He picked it up, reading Fabian’s text. A brunch-on-the-yacht invitation for Sunday. “Pallis is having a thing on the yacht this weekend.”

  “Oh, right. He mentioned that last night. You going?”

  “I don’t see why not.” The sun and wind would do him good. Clear his mind. Make him see there was a world outside of his. “It should be right fun, yeah.”

  “It always is on Pallis’s yacht.”

  “Is he catering?” Konrad couldn’t help the question. Would he see Scottie again outside of the office?

  “I think he mentioned that same girl who catered the other night.” Dallas stopped mid-drink, his eyes meeting Konrad’s. “Oh shit. Do you think Scottie will be working?”

  Konrad’s pulse quickened. He needed Scottie to be on the yacht. “I don’t know.”

  The waitress arrived with their meals. Several bites into his lunch, Konrad still couldn’t get Scottie out of his mind. “I know I should not have shagged my temp. It was fucking moronic. I was too attracted to her because of the way she judged me, I think, which is so demented when you think about it.”

  He didn’t dare look up to Dallas, whose full attention he knew he had and who didn’t tussle him about his inarticulate thoughts. “But immediately afterward,” he went on, “I felt like she wasn’t just another hookup. She wasn’t just another fling I’d forget about. But I’m just like my father, right? I can’t see myself having these thoughts, but I do.”

  The silence stretched between them despite the noise in the restaurant. Dallas finally said, “You’re not your father, Kon.”

  Konrad looked up to his friend, their eyes meeting and holding for several beats until the waitress interrupted them again.

  “How is everything?”

  “Fantastic, darlin’,” Dallas said, winking at her.

  Konrad only nodded his approval. Everything was far from fantastic, but perhaps if he could accept he wasn’t noncommittal like his father, it could get better.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Scottie could not stop thinking about Anisette. She’d gotten engaged? Did that mean Konrad had lost a woman? Needed a replacement? Oh God, she would not be that replacement!

  Even knowing the reality of the situation, why did she still want him?

  “Are you okay?”

  “Uhh … yes.” She glanced at Jeff, offering a forced smile. They’d taken a later lunch than expected. La Carotte, a small French restaurant, was in walking distance of the office.

  “This is beautiful!” She scanned the tiny space. Only twelve tables lined the walls facing outside the massive windows onto the street on all four sides.

  “I got us a reservation earlier. I hope we can still get a seat since we’re an hour late.” He pressed his hand on her lower back.

  Her first instinct was to jump away from his touch, but the approaching host made it impossible.

  “Bienvenue. Bonne après-midi.” The host, an older man wearing faded black jeans and a long-sleeved gray shirt, greeted them. He had a modern haircut, short on the sides, long on top and a graying beard.

  “Bonjour, Etienne,” Jeff said with a bad accent.

  “Ahh, you’ve brought a date this time.” Etienne winked, patting him on the arm.

  Jeff laughed. “This is Scottie.”

  Etienne bowed his head. “Pleasure.”

  “I’m his coworker,” Scottie said, refusing to look at Jeff. She didn’t like the insinuation. They were not on a date. “This is such a beautiful restaurant.”

  “Wait until you taste the food,” Jeff said from behind her.

  “This guy is too much, mademoiselle.” Etienne laughed. “Follow me.”

  Agreed. It was all too much. Had Konrad not forced her to accept, she’d be at her desk eating a sandwich from one of the first-floor kiosks.

  At their corner table, Scottie sipped her iced water and stared out of the window. Images of Konrad infiltrated her mind. His touch. His smell. His mouth. If only Jeff could read her thoughts, he wouldn’t have asked her to this fancy French lunch.

  “How do you like working for Konrad?” Jeff’s voice pulled her out of her reverie.

  Not a single word came forth. How did she like working for Konrad? She wasn’t sure anymore. “It’s fine.”

  “Really?” His dark eyebrows lifted.

  She shrugged. Play it cool. “I mean, the work is whatever. Copying, setting appointments—” Having sex on his desk. Oh God.

  “Sending flowers to his women.” Jeff laughed.

  A wave of energy spiked through her. She didn’t like that. “Doing personal errands for him.”

  “So how many women does he have? I heard seven regular women.” He sipped from his glass Coke bottle, leaving the empty glass filled with ice the waitress brought to sweat.

  Seven regular women? When was that? She sighed. This should be more evidence that it was a mistake to hook up with him. It was over. No harm, no foul. Why was that so hard to believe?

  “I don’t know. I don’t ask questions.” Scottie rubbed the cold water drops running down her glass. “I’m just a temp.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “I gotcha. I guess it’s best to stay professional with him.”

  Too late. How was Scottie supposed to enjoy the rest of lunch?

  “How does he feel about employees dating?” She didn’t look at him when she posed the question.

  “It’s against policy.”

  Scottie looked up to Jeff, his eyes sparkling. “Well, I guess I’m not going to date anyone at Korr Corp.” She had no idea why she asked him that question. It only seemed to fuel some fire Jeff had been building since she met him on the grand tour of Korr Solutions.

  Without missing a beat, Jeff said, “You’re not a Korr Corp employee, though.”

  No, she most certainly was not. She also was most certainly done with the conversation.

  After the awkward lunch, Scottie returned to the office only when she’d made a detour to Space City Pawn, without Jeff. She counted the twelve hundred dollars she got for the pin, which was an insult. She should have gotten three times that much for it, but beggars c
ouldn’t be choosers. She swore she’d never be a beggar again. She couriered her portion of the rent in cash to Tara. What was done was done.

  Konrad came back to the office around three, holding a small bag with handles. He stood in her cube, commanding her complete attention, which wasn’t hard to give. Every nerve ending sparked at the sight of him. Distressed jeans, chambray button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows and Converse sneakers. Sunglasses were perched on top of his head, and his bergamot scent made her quiver deep inside. She liked his casual style as much as she liked him in a suit.

  “I need you in my office for the rest of the afternoon.” He pointed in the direction of his office. “We need to work on a major presentation for Monday afternoon.”

  Scottie stood, promptly grabbing a notepad and purple ink pen, trying to hide the exhilaration that ran through her. “No problem.”

  Denying her continued attraction to him was impossible.

  Stoic, and with no indication he shared her thoughts, he simply said, “Come.”

  Come. The one word sounded obscene from his lips, and it made her remember everything he’d done to her. On that same desk were the residual images of them succumbing to desire—the desire that was clearly still there for her, despite the fact he’d called it a mistake that morning. She’d agreed with him. Correction, her brain had. Her body had come to a different conclusion.

  Scottie followed Konrad into his office. How was she supposed to act around him? Let him lead. The only person she could control was herself.

  Konrad met her at the round conference table at the far end of his vast office. “How was your lunch?”

  The words sounded nonchalant, but the clench in his jaw suggested he was jealous. Was he jealous like he’d been last night on his desk, when they…

  Stop it.

  “It was fine.” With her fingertips, she skimmed the pile of folders he’d set down.

  “Glad to hear it. I hope Jeff was a gentleman.” The folders had his attention as he said the words.

  “He was.”

  Then he lifted his eyes to her, pinning her gaze. “Good. I’ll fire him if he wasn’t.”