Impossible (to Resist) Boss: Billionaire Romance

by Arabella Quinn

  I fiddled endlessly with the wet blouse, before finally managing to push my arms into the sleeves and began fumbling at the buttons. “I’m … so sorry. I just… uh…”

  He looked queasy. Like he’d just witnessed something revolting. “I suggest you use the women’s restroom for … whatever you’re doing.”

  His eyes kept flitting to my chest. I instinctively crossed my arms to block myself from his withering gaze.

  “And I suggest you find something to cover yourself up with!” He turned and stomped out the door leaving me alone with my humiliation.

  I turned to regard myself in the mirror. My mouth still hung slightly open in abject disbelief at what had just occurred. My eyes were still wide with surprise. My face was still beet red and heated. And my blouse was practically transparent when wet. It left nothing to the imagination. Oh Lord!

  When I could stall no longer, I left the bathroom. There was no way I could spend one more minute in the office with Mr. Kaine. I passed his desk without stopping. “Mr. Kaine, I’m not feeling well. I’ll be leaving for the afternoon.”

  “Good.” He sounded relieved.

  I headed to my desk and pulled the lightweight cardigan off the back of my chair. I hastily put it on and then grabbed my handbag before practically running out the door.

  ***

  Jason closed his eyes and rested his head in his hands. He had come back from the meeting with the private investigator to work out his next move. Now he couldn’t get the image of Lilliana out of his head. Worse yet, he couldn’t stop imagining Lilliana not only half-naked, but completely naked. Completely naked … and very wet.

  When he had returned, he had stopped to chat with a few people before heading to his office. It was strange when he noticed that Lilliana was not at her desk. He hadn’t even realized until then how much he had been looking forward to seeing her.

  Then he had smelled something. Somebody’s lunch. He frowned when he saw the half eaten pasta dish sitting on her desk. He hated smelling other people’s lunches at work, that’s why he had initiated the rule. He instantly felt irritated. The moment he stepped out, she was off breaking the rules.

  She obviously needed a little disciplining. That thought, accompanied by the very graphic image of leaning her over her desk and spanking her curvaceous ass, gave him an instantaneous boner.

  That was what was on his mind when he stepped into his bathroom. In fact, he had been elaborating on his little fantasy. It was quickly becoming XXX-rated when he had walked in on Lilliana.

  Lilliana was stripped down to the waist, with nothing but a thin white bra between him and those luscious tits of hers. He was practically drooling as he saw the dark shadow of her areola through the thin material. His cock was pulsing painfully in his pants.

  One glance down and Lilliana would have caught him pitching a tent. He sputtered some nonsense to her and then escaped as fast as he could. Another minute in there and he might have acted on his lust and made the hugest mistake of his life. One wrong move and he could have been sued up the ass for sexual harassment or who knew what. That was the very last thing he needed right now.

  Unfortunately, he would never be able to unsee her breasts. In reality, he desperately wanted to see every single inch of the rest her body. And do wicked things to each and every one of those inches. He groaned and swiped his hand through his hair. How was he going to get through seeing Lilliana every single day and not being able to touch her? He was becoming dangerously obsessed with having his way with her.

  Still, he was a man of complete control. There were plenty of women to soothe his sexual needs. Lilliana was off-limits. She was the best secretary he had ever had. He needed to keep their relationship strictly professional even if he could somehow manage to seduce her. He simply had to push those X-rated thoughts about Lilliana right out of his head.

  Chapter 5

  Lunch with my friend, Becca, was always a treat. We got together every couple of weeks to catch up with each other and dish dirt. We had been talking about her new boyfriend for half the meal when she suddenly redirected the conversation.

  “Enough about me and Mike. What’s going on with you? Any new men in your life?”

  I hated that I didn’t have anything juicy to report. “Sadly, no. Still going through a dry spell. Luckily I have my book boyfriends to keep me company.”

  She looked doubtful. “Last I checked book boyfriends don’t give you orgasms.”

  Mortified, I looked around the restaurant. “Shhh. Keep it down.”

  Becca giggled. “Don’t act like such a prude. I know you, remember? How about your new boss? Have you gotten into his pants yet?”

  “What!” I tried my best to sound indignant, “I have absolutely no interest in Jason Kaine. Remember I told you what an absolute jerk he was?”

  Becca cocked an eyebrow disbelievingly. “I remember you going on and on about him. I remember you saying he was a jerk.”

  “The hours he makes me work are insane. He needs me in some weekends too! And the worst part is I don’t have enough actual work to do. It’s the most mind-numbingly boring job in the world. I hate it.”

  “Then why don’t you quit?”

  I gasped. “Quit? No. I can’t.” An image of my resignation letter, which I knew by heart, flashed through my mind. “What I mean is – the pay is amazing. So are the benefits. And this job looks amazing on my resume. The work isn’t that bad. I manage to keep myself busy.”

  Becca stuck out her lower lip in mock sympathy. “Poor Lilly. Stuck in a dream job. Not too much work, fabulous pay and an insanely sexy boss who happens to be the infamous Jason Kaine. Awww, my heart breaks for you.”

  I laughed. “Cut it out.”

  Becca leaned forward, studying my face. “Tell me you don’t find him the least bit attractive?”

  I stuttered my reply. “Of course he’s not ugly. But looks aren’t everything.”

  “Not ugly?” Becca looked skeptical. “Some would say he’s smoking hot. Don’t you find him sexy? Irresistible even? C’mon. Admit it.”

  I felt my face growing heated. “Well, I guess you could call him sexy. But not irresistible. If you knew him, you’d know what I mean.”

  Becca leaned back. “Hmmm. He would look terrific on the cover of one of those paperback romances you always read. I’m actually surprised you’re not ga-ga over him.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not completely immune to his good looks. In fact, I’ve been discreetly reading some of those very romances at the office during my slow times. And sometimes I catch myself imagining Jason in the lead role as hero.”

  Becca quirked an eyebrow. “Jason, is it?”

  I giggled. “And one time, during a particularly steamy scene, Jason caught me red-handed. I almost died. Luckily, I had switched out the cover for a boring self-help book so he didn’t know what I was actually reading.”

  “Oh you rebel! Reading dirty books at work. You’re such a bad girl.” Becca rolled her eyes sarcastically.

  I ignored her teasing. “I told you about all Mr. Kaine’s rules. He would fire me if he knew I was reading romance novels on the job. That wasn’t the only close call either. He’s almost caught me a few times. I’ve got to be careful.”

  “We’re back to Mr. Kaine now, are we? Well, you better quit reading when he’s around then. I know how absorbed you get in your novels. You’re going to get caught sooner or later.”

  I took a sip of my water. “I know you’re right. But it really is so boring when I don’t have anything to do. Mr. Kaine monitors the internet usage, so I can’t surf the web like normal people do at work.”

  Becca’s eyes lit up. “I have an idea! Why don’t you channel all that sexual energy you have building up and write your own romance novel? No one would think you were doing anything but working if you were just typing away on the computer. And that way you could have Jason as your very own personal book boyfriend. You can make him do whatever you’d like. Bring all your most secret fantas
ies to life.”

  “That’s ridiculous! I don’t have any fantasies about Jason!” My protests sounded false even to my own ears. “And I don’t know the first thing about writing a book.”

  “Lilly, you’ve read thousands of romances. How hard could it be?” Becca had finished with her lunch and signaled to the waitress. We both had to get back to work.

  I pushed aside my plate. “Reading and writing are two very different things.”

  “I’m not saying you have to win a Pulitzer. Do it for fun. To pass the time.”

  My mind was spinning. “Whoa. I’ve never thought about it before. I’m not even sure I could put my thoughts into words without being embarrassed. Writing about sex and stuff?”

  Becca stared at me like I had two heads. “Since when did you become such a prude? I don’t remember you being like this in school? You’ve got to live a little. You’ve been cooped up for too long.”

  “Maybe.” I didn’t want her to leave disappointed though. “By the way, did I mention that Jason Kaine saw my breasts?”

  That got her attention. “Holy shit! You’ve been holding out on me. Spill.”

  I told her about the whole mortifying experience including how revolted he was about the whole thing.

  She shook her head. “I hardly doubt he was revolted! There’s not one man on this planet that would take a look at your body and feel revolted.”

  “Well, he certainly didn’t pin me against the wall and try to ravish me. He looked more like he wanted to wash his eyes out with bleach. He turned and ran out as fast as he could.”

  “That’s strange.” Becca brushed aside my dismay. “But there you go. There’s the first chapter of your book. Just take your experiences with Jason Kaine and embellish them a bit. Or a lot. You’ve got to sex it up a bit, for sure. Write what you wish had happened.”

  A few images flitted across my mind and had me blushing. I dug through my purse to find my lipstick for a quick touchup to cover my embarrassment.

  We got up to leave. I gave her a hug. “Thanks for listening to all my work complaints.”

  “No need for thanks. It’s all very intriguing. The next time we meet for lunch I want a copy of the manuscript. I can tell it’s going to be a very sexy read.”

  As I headed back to the office, I couldn’t get the idea of writing my own romance novel out of my head. Could I actually do it? Despite what I told Becca, I certainly had enough fantasies about Jason Kaine to fill an entire novel. But did I dare put them to paper?

  Chapter 6

  Jason looked up from the report he was skimming. The numbers didn’t lie. Things were looking grim. Another month had gone by and he was still no closer to finding out who was sabotaging his company. When he heard the slight crackle coming from his phone’s intercom, he set aside the damning report and waited for Lilliana to speak.

  “Mr. Kaine, Mr. Travers is here to see you.” There was a slight note of question to her voice. She was subtly asking if she should make an excuse and send him away or allow this unscheduled visit.

  As much as he wanted to take her up on her unspoken offer, he declined. “Send him in.”

  He had been expecting this visit from Bill sooner or later. It was less than a week earlier that he’d seen William Travers III, his Chief Operations Officer, at the board meeting.

  As Chairman of the Board, Jason had carefully prepared the agenda, but there was no hiding the dismal financial numbers that were plain as day in the quarterly report. Most of the meeting had revolved around this precipitous turn of events. He had been his most persuasive to assure the board that everything was under control, but he knew he was on borrowed time.

  Bill Travers had been with the company since its inception, and Jason had known him even longer. As COO, Bill was the most involved in the day-to-day operation of Kaine Industries beside himself. It was reasonable that Bill had grave concerns that needed to be addressed. It was just that Jason didn’t have many answers to give right now.

  Lilliana led Bill into his office. She waited while the two men greeted each other and shook hands before she asked, “can I get you anything, Mr. Travers?”

  “No dear. I’m fine.”

  There was a hint of condescension in Bill’s voice that he instinctively knew would rankle Lilliana, but she was a professional. Her face didn’t change a bit. She knew how to play the game and Jason admired her all the more for it.

  “Mr. Kaine, you have a call with the Stark group scheduled in ten minutes. Would you like me to reschedule it?”

  “No, I don’t want to put it off. Push it back 15 minutes for me. Bill and I should be finished by then.” At least that gave him an excuse to get rid of Travers; otherwise, he might be stuck answering the other man’s questions all afternoon.

  Lilliana turned to leave the office, but she stopped abruptly as a silver object landed near her feet with a loud thud.

  Bill was fiddling with his hands in his pocket. “Oh my, I dropped my pocket-watch.”

  Lilliana, decked out in sexy high-heels, gracefully bent down to pick up his watch. Jason was mesmerized for a moment, unable to peel his eyes away from the tantalizing view. He felt a rush of excitement gather in his cock as her skirt inched up revealing even more of her thigh, and of course, her ass looked like absolute perfection in this position.

  His brief moment of lusty admiration was quickly dashed as soon as he figured out what was happening. It was as if an icy cold bucket of water had been dumped over his head. The old pervert, Bill, was checking out her ass. He’d dropped the damn pocket watch on purpose.

  Lilliana straightened up and handed the watch back to Bill all the while completely unaware of the bastard’s sick leering. Jason sat down at his desk, keeping his clenched fists hidden from view. He wanted to slam his fist into the lecherous fuck’s face for disrespecting her.

  The guy was at least 30 years her senior, married for as many years and a scout leader to boot. Jason had always thought of Bill as morally superior to himself for living such an idyllic lifestyle beyond any reproach, but now he questioned that assumption. In fact, he had the urge to call Bill out and defend Lilliana’s honor that very minute, but he couldn’t afford to lose favor with any members of the board during this precarious time at his company. He had to bite his tongue.

  “Bill, have a seat. What’s on your mind?”

  Bill’s eyes followed Lilliana’s retreating form until she left, closing the office door behind her. He was practically licking his lips.

  Finally, he sat down. “Jason, any progress taking care of our little situation?”

  “I’m working on it, Bill.”

  “You said it would be taken care of. In fact, you promised that it’d be taken care of before the board meeting. That was a complete cluster fuck.”

  Jason agreed. “It wasn’t ideal.”

  “I’ve been fielding phone calls from nervous board members all fucking week.” Bill started sounding agitated.

  “I’m sure you’re handling them all just fine. We’ve got to keep projecting confidence for now -”

  Bill cut in, his voice growing more perturbed by the second. “We’ve got the Weston - Colt contract coming down the pike and the Triton deal is already in the works. If they get wind of any trouble, they’ll pull out. The board is getting worried, dammit. And I can’t say I blame them.”

  “I need you to keep a cool head, Bill.”

  Bill took a deep breath and calmed some. “Have you made any progress figuring this shit out?”

  Jason sat back in his chair. “I’ve eliminated some more people. Someone is covering his tracks well. But, I’ve got to say – it’s looking like an inside job at this point.”

  Bill leaned forward as if to stress his point. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of this and fast. I’m already hearing some rumblings about you. The board is losing confidence in your judgment. I don’t know how long I can hold them off. We lose another deal…”

  His voice trailed off. Both men were silent
for a moment before Bill spoke again. “You’ve investigated all the personnel involved in the deals?”

  Jason nodded.

  “How about all the supporting personnel – the admins?”

  “Yes. IT swept everyone and I personally went through everyone’s files. Nothing turned up suspicious. And we really tightened the ranks on the last deal.”

  Bill grunted in response. He sat back on the leather couch and sighed. “It’s a fucking pickle we’re in.”

  Hoping he had let off enough steam and was going to leave soon, Jason remained quiet.

  Bill glanced out the glass door of Jason’s office and spotted Lilliana. “Mmm. Lilliana, she’s something else! Didn’t she used to work for David Shipley?”

  Jason felt himself tensing. “Yes.”

  “How long has she been working for you?” Bill kept eyeing her through the glass.

  “About seven months now.”

  Bill glanced back at Jason. “Seven months? She began right around the time that shit started going south around here?”

  Jason clenched his jaw. “What are you implying?”

  “Did you check her out?”

  “She’s an exemplary employee.”

  Bill scoffed. “Of course she is. If she’s pushing insider information, it’d be fucking stupid to get fired.”

  Jason kept his voice even. “She was screened just like everyone else.”

  “Think about it. She’s got access to everything.” Bill took another long look at Lilliana, whistling under his breath. “Don’t let those sweet tits and juicy ass cloud your judgment. You banging her?”

  Jason had to reign in his anger so he didn’t wind up strangling the asshole. “Dammit, Bill. That’s enough.”

  “I’m just sayin’. Don’t let her lead you around by the dick. You’ve got to keep your head together. We’ve got some serious problems.” Bill stood up. “And we don’t have much time. Keep your eyes open, Kaine.”