by Tia Siren
Sabrina leaned across my desk with a frown. She ran a searching gaze along my face, reading the emotions there. Her curly brown hair bounced as she took a seat in the chair across from me.
“I’ve been standing here for the past minute,” she said. “I called your name three times. You’re lucky it was me standing here and not Mr. Burke, because we all know how annoyed he gets at his employees being spacy.”
“Yeah. I’m grateful it was you.” I cleared my throat while smoothing out the wrinkles in my sweater. “Is there something you need over here?”
“Nothing in particular. I just wanted to see if you were interested in going to a concert after work on Friday night.”
I wrinkled my nose. “A concert?”
“Yes, a concert,” Sabrina said. “We haven’t had a girls’ night out in a long time. I can’t even remember the last time we went out for coffee even.”
“It’s been a while,” I conceded with a guilty smile. “It’s just been so busy with work and with everything going on at home.”
Sabrina’s red lips pulled into a deep frown. “What’s going on at home?”
“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “Why would you ask a question like that?”
“Because I get the feeling that your boyfriend doesn’t like it when we hang out. That’s why I asked the question.”
We were treading into a sensitive topic. Again. Sabrina was outspoken about everything she didn’t feel was right. One time, I had managed to convince Sid to let Sabrina come to the movies with us, and it had ended in a shit-storm of arguments. She didn’t like the way Sid had dictated everything about the night. Sid didn’t like Sabrina’s attitude. I had been stuck between them, trying to please both of them at the same time.
“He doesn’t care if we do,” I said, and Sabrina scoffed. I looked away and at the computer screen. “I’m serious. He doesn’t care that we do. It’s just been busy at home is all.”
“Okay,” she said in a disbelieving voice. “If that’s the case, then what do you say about Friday night?”
I chewed on my bottom lip nervously because I already knew what Sid would say. But I also knew what Sabrina would say. “I’m not sure, Sabrina. It’s a concert, and I know how Sid feels about me going out when he’s on duty.”
“Do you need permission from him to hang out with a friend?” Sabrina asked hotly. “I mean, seriously. Does he think he’s the king of Salt Lake City? You’re a free woman to do what you want. No man should be controlling what you do when you aren’t doing anything wrong in the first place.”
“He’s a police detective,” I replied defensively. “He’s just trying to protect me because he knows what happens at things like concerts. He investigates murders and rapes all the time, Sabrina. Forgive him for being a bit concerned.”
“You can’t shelter everybody from the real world. It’s not him being protective, Jo. He’s trying to control you because he doesn’t trust you out there alone without him.”
A headache pounded behind my eyes. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I held up a hand when Sabrina opened her mouth to continue on.
“Fine,” I said. “Count me in.”
Sabrina narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t back out either. I’m securing these tickets as soon as I get back to my desk.”
“I won’t back out. I promise.”
“I’m holding you to your promise,” Sabrina said, rising from her chair. “I’ll drop the tickets off to you later this afternoon once I get them printed out.”
“Sounds good.”
I let out a pent-up breath the second Sabrina walked back across the hallway to her office. It felt like it was getting more difficult to maintain this delicate balance between my job, my personal life, and my friendships. Nothing ever felt good enough anymore.
The doors to Bastian’s office were still closed when I glanced over my shoulder to check that he was still in his phone conference. That was the last thing I needed—for Bastian to come out when I had my phone in my hand. That was a sure way to get fired right on the spot. I texted Sid with a pounding heart.
Sabrina invited me to a concert this Friday. I’m going to go.
I set my phone down on my thigh because I knew Sid would respond within a minute. He always had his phone on him. Even on his days off, he was on call for the police department. My phone buzzed thirty seconds later.
Absolutely not. U aren’t going.
I swallowed the bulge in my throat. It’d be nice to go, Sid. I haven’t hung out with Sabrina in a long time. I need to do something fun.
Getting drunk at a concert is your idea of fun? I winced at that. What the fuck will happen if some guy hits on u?
I texted back. That won’t happen. I love you. I wouldn’t let it happen.
It doesn’t matter if you do or don’t love me. There are sick fuckers out there that I deal with every damn day. You aren’t going to the concert.
Tears filled my eyes as I stared down at my phone screen. I had known this would happen. It was like talking to a wall sometimes when it came to convincing Sid that I could handle myself on my own. I didn’t need a protector.
You’re going to be working that night, I texted quickly. What’s the problem with me going when you’re working? If something happened, you’d know about it right away.
Those three little dots on my phone screen were the worst, knowing he was typing back a response. I waited for it. I waited for the slew of words while a long minute stretched by.
His message came through. I’m trying to protect you from sick people. If you want a boyfriend by the end of this conversation, then you better not be going. I don’t care what the hell your friend tries to say about it. You’re staying home Friday night like the good girlfriend you are 95% of the time. End of the damn story.
“Motherfucker.”
The word slipped out like poison without me meaning to say it. I clapped a hand over my mouth, but it was too late. Bastian’s doors were open. He stood right alongside my desk, surprised. My cheeks flared hotly as he cocked an eyebrow at me curiously. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Something wrong?” he inquired.
“N-no,” I stuttered out, hiding my phone beneath my desk. I could feel it vibrating like mad in my palm. “I’m sorry. Nothing is wrong. Everything is perfect.”
Bastian gave me a long and intense look with those icy eyes that left me squirming nervously on the edge of my chair. He didn’t move from the side of my desk. I let my phone drop inside my boot because I couldn’t pull the drawer out without Bastian seeing it. There were a few files in his hand, so I put my hand out to take them with the presumption he wanted them to be filed.
“Would you like me to file those for you, sir?” I asked politely. “I can do that for you—”
My hand knocked against the paper trays on the corner of my desk. Papers fluttered to the floor, along with a crash of plastic. Humiliation filled me as I rose quickly to my feet, but I stopped short when I realized Bastian’s eyes were focused on my breasts, not the papers and mess around his feet. My heart pounded to a different tune this time. There was no denying it. He was staring at me, and I loved it. My stomach fluttered in arousal as Bastian’s eyes flicked away to the floor.
I came around the desk hurriedly to gather the papers while Bastian crouched lithely to help. Our fingers brushed against one another’s when he handed me a stack. Electric sparks went up my arm at the brief touch, and my hands trembled as I rifled through the papers to organize them again.
“Joanna.”
The sound of my name coming out of those stern lips sent a shudder straight through my legs. I looked up to find that Bastian was a bit closer to me than expected. My heart leapt at his proximity. I could smell fresh cologne lingering on his skin, along with the clean, fresh scent of laundry soap.
“Yes?” I asked breathily. “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure everything gets put back together right and—”
“If you need anything,” Bastian said over me, firmly, “don�
��t hesitate to ask me. You can trust me with whatever is going on. There’s an open-door policy here in my office.”
I stared at him in surprise. Not once had Bastian extended any type of concern in my direction. He nodded briefly at me before continuing on his way down the hallway in the direction of the elevators. I let out a shaky breath while I organized those papers. My phone buzzed again in my boot. I reached down to pull it out and read Sid’s text messages.
Do you understand me, Joanna?
Answer me.
You better not be ignoring me.
I powered my phone down before tossing it into the desk drawer. I didn’t want to deal with Sid anymore throughout the day. I also didn’t want to focus on the way my stomach was fluttering from my exchange with Bastian. Rumors flew around the office about how he spent his free time with women. He had heartache written all over those commanding features.
Chapter 3
Bastian
The bass thumped hard against my chest as I squeezed through the excited crowd in the direction of the VIP lounge with Drusilla James on my arm. The nightclub was jam-packed with people. My investment would be doing well tonight judging from the lines outside. Not that I doubted the manager behind the club. He knew what the fuck he was doing to attract crowds in—the rich and the not so rich.
The tickets had been in my email long before I even thought about going to this concert. It was Drusilla’s idea for public relations purposes since she had been working with the manager of the club. Or some shit like that. I couldn’t remember exactly what Drusilla did all day long, but I knew what she could do at night. She could party hard, and she could fuck even harder. It was a match made in heaven for the time being.
“What do you think?” Drusilla shouted into my ear over the noise. “I suggested this band a month ago to get some more money in here.”
I didn’t care for the band. Popular music wasn’t my thing, but whatever it took to get sales through the door, I was all for it. I had seen the dismal numbers last month. I scanned the jumping crowd in front of the stage. Drusilla was good at her job. I had to give her that.
“Good call,” I shouted back. “Let’s get to our table near the bar.”
“No way,” Drusilla said and tugged me in the direction of the crowd. “I like this band. You have to at least stand through one song.”
There was no standing, though, when I let Drusilla drag me through the crowd. Her tight ass pushed up against my groin as she wiggled to the music. By all physical appearances, Drusilla was attractive for a thirty-something woman. Her body felt tight underneath the palms of my hands as she danced up on me to the beat of the music. Her hips were full and graceful as they writhed beneath my hands. Her dark hair fluttered against my face in a cloud of rose-scented perfume. Men glanced over at me enviously.
Yes. Drusilla would do nicely tonight.
She grabbed my hand when the song concluded. We made our way through the crowd to the booth I had suggested near the bar. I motioned for the waiter to sweep by our table so I could order us both drinks.
“I have to give it to you,” Drusilla said. “You know where to put your money. This is a good place to invest in. Very popular here around the city on the weekends.”
“Except for on Sundays. Everything is closed on Sunday here in Salt Lake.”
“For obvious reasons,” Drusilla said, rolling her heavily mascaraed eyes at that. She sat up straighter then to wave at a group of people near the bar. “Excuse me, Bastian. There are a few of my coworkers over there. I’ll be right back to join you for the rest of our evening together and the future”—she reached beneath the table to squeeze my thigh—“activities that you have planned for us.”
“All sorts of activities,” I said, running an appreciative gaze along her busty chest. They were obviously fake, but I wasn’t going to be too picky tonight. I needed something.
Drusilla smirked at me as she slithered out of the private booth we were seated at. She walked confidently over to the table a few feet away to address the crowd gathered around there.
I sat back in my seat to take in the bar with boredom. In truth, I didn’t like loud music and bars that much. I preferred taking my activities elsewhere because of the tabloids that made their money trying to fabricate scandalous stories about me. Most of the time, I didn’t care what people wrote about me in the gossip sites and papers, but the flashes of cameras that followed me were annoying as fuck. Billionaire. Semi-young. Unattached. The only reason they followed me around was because they wanted juicy gossip about me, true or not.
My eyes swiveled around the dimly lit room and back to the stage when the band kicked off again. I froze in surprise when I saw the last person I expected to be there, front row and center—Joanna Lind. Speaking of scandal…
I took in the tight black yoga pants she had paired with a pair of teetering heels with an inward groan. It hugged her toned body perfectly, and when she twisted around to shimmy alongside her coworker, Sabrina, I glimpsed the deep cut of her shirt that teased her perfect, round breasts. Her blond hair was free and straight tonight as it shifted around her shoulders while she danced along to the band and the crowd around her.
“Damn,” I muttered, smoothing a hand through my hair. All those fantasies about Joanna came flooding back to me right then and there. It wasn’t Drusilla I was interested in taking back to my penthouse tonight. It was Joanna.
Indecision weighed on me while I watched Joanna dance with a carefree smile spread across her pretty lips. There was no harm in going up to speak to her. We could talk outside of work, and I had meant what I’d said to her two days ago about talking to me about anything she needed to get off her chest. I heard rumors around the office about that piece-of-shit boyfriend of hers that sometimes called the landline obsessively to check if she was at work. I wanted to know what was going on in her life that made her never want to leave my office some days. No one liked to work as much as Joanna did. My entire life was built upon work, but even so, I liked to clock out at the end of the day to go home and relax. Not her, though.
I glanced over at Drusilla, who was tied up in a conversation with her coworkers. Saying hello to my own employee wouldn’t hurt. I downed the rest of my whiskey before heading through the crowd in the direction of Joanna and Sabrina. Neither one of them noticed me until Joanna glanced over to find me standing alongside them with a grin tugging at my lips. Surprise filled Joanna’s eyes as she twisted all the way around to look at me full on. Which was a mistake, given that her white shirt dipped down the valley of her breasts. A part me hoped that the liquid and firm flesh would slip out for just a small peek.
“Fancy seeing you both here!” I shouted over the music.
“No kidding,” Joanna shouted back, tucking a strand of hair bashfully behind her ear. “You didn’t strike me as the type of guy to enjoy bands and clubs.”
“I have an investment here in this place. I get free tickets all the time.” I glanced over at Sabrina, who was watching the both of us curiously. “Care for some drinks on me?”
Joanna glanced over at Sabrina, who shrugged her shoulders. They followed me back into the VIP lounge, and I gladly slid into the booth next to Joanna with Sabrina sitting across from us. I motioned for the bartender to return and take their order. An awkward silence fell upon the table as Joanna’s eyes skirted over me nervously.
“So,” I said, once they had ordered their drinks, “I didn’t expect to see my employees out and about tonight here in Salt Lake.”
“I practically had to beg Jo to come out,” Sabrina said, rolling her eyes. “You know, she never goes out. She needs to have some fun in her life.”
“It’s not really my thing to come to places like this,” Joanna replied defensively. “I’ve always been a stay-at-home type of girl. You know that.”
I nudged Joanna in the arm. Her bare skin felt warm and hot against the fabric of my shirt. I tried to ignore the fact that my cock twitched in response to sitting so close to
her.
“You were enjoying yourself out there,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so carefree since you started working for me.”
“That’s because it’s been a long time since her boyfriend has let her get out of the house,” Sabrina said. She ignored the dirty look that Joanna sent in her direction, but I couldn’t agree more with her about it. “I’m just being honest, Jo. He’s a fucking prick. He doesn’t let you have any fun. He threw a damn fit over you coming tonight even though he’s working. What kind of boyfriend does that?”
“We don’t need to talk about that right now,” Joanna said quietly. “Let’s just drop it.”
The center of Joanna’s cheeks burned as she looked down at the tabletop. I reached over to place a hand on her forearm, squeezing there to gain her attention.
“I meant what I said earlier,” I said. “If there is anything going on and you need help, don’t hesitate to talk to me.”
A small smile tugged at Joanna’s lips. “You’re my boss. I don’t think that open-door policy applies outside the workplace.”
“I’d make an exception for you,” I said, nudging her again. “Anytime. Any day.”
“Thank you, but—”
“Excuse me.” I looked up at the sound of Drusilla’s voice. She stood in front of the table with her hand on her hip, gazing down at Joanna with narrowed eyes. “You’re in my seat, darling.”
“Oh,” Joanna said, and she immediately slid away from me to make room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize someone else was sitting here.”
“His date is,” Drusilla said as she took her place next to me. She slithered up close to me and placed a hand on my upper thigh. “I’m Drusilla James. I’m sorry that I don’t know your names.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the theatrics. Sure, I’d leave with Joanna in a heartbeat if she asked me to go home with her, but she had a boyfriend to go home to at the end of the night. Even if he sounded like a prick from what Sabrina said and my other interactions with him.