And just like that, I was alone with my former one-night boyfriend.
Well, and twenty other new coworkers.
“We have a team meeting every morning,” Andy said, all business. “I know that sounds excessive to some, but I think it’s best if we all get on the same page. Now, these aren’t long meetings – they’re not exactly meant to solve problems, but rather bring any concerns at hand to attention.”
I nodded.
“I’ll show you around when we’re done,” Andy said. He flashed me another professional smile, then turned back to the group and began talking about goals and metrics.
My mind was spinning. I knew that I should be concentrating on his every word, but it was hard to pay attention when I was panicking. What the hell was I going to do? I’d worked so hard to get this job and now what? It wasn’t like I could just turn tail and go back home -- that wasn’t something that I would ever do.
But how on earth was I supposed to work for my one-night boyfriend? Andy, by the looks of him, had already gotten over the shock of seeing me like this. He was talking smoothly to the group as if he hadn’t just gotten the shock of his life.
Well, for all I knew, he hadn’t. For all I knew, it had just been a brief but awkward surprise.
For all I knew, he had a life here in Cleveland. A girlfriend, or even someone casual.
I felt my cheeks redden as the meeting ended and Andy turned to me.
“So, Sasha, do you have any questions for the team?”
I smiled as bravely as I could. “Not yet,” I said. “But I’m sure I will later.”
Everyone laughed and Andy dismissed my new coworkers back to their desks. Then, he walked over to me. Standing close to him made my heart pound and thump in my chest and I swallowed hard at the familiar scent of his cologne.
“It’s a bit of a shock to see you here, I have to admit,” Andy said. He gestured for me to follow him down the hall. “Especially as my new employee.”
“Trust me,” I admitted. “No one is more shocked than I am right now.” I took a deep breath and looked at Andy. “I never thought we’d meet up again in a different city.”
Andy nodded. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll give you the grand tour.”
I held my breath. I’d been hoping that he’d take me straight to his office and then ... and then what? Kiss me?
Deep down, I knew that was exactly what I wanted. To be swept into his arms again, to feel his mouth against mine. To share another passionate encounter.
That’s not going to happen, I told myself. Not now, and not ever.
“This is the supply closet,” Andy said. He opened a set of double doors and I saw stacks of notepads, pens, highlighters, and all other kinds of office supplies. “Later, when you’re getting settled, you can come back here and get what you need for your desk,” he said. “Sound good?”
I nodded.
“And this is the break room,” Andy said. He led me into a large room with tables, chairs, and some kitchen equipment. “Most people eat lunch at their desks, but once a month or so I order food for the team and everyone socializes for a bit. It’s nice, getting to know the people you work with,” he said.
I’ll say, I thought as I remembered how Andy and I had “gotten to know each other” back at Darla’s wedding. I was dying to make a joke about it, but the last thing I wanted to do was make him uncomfortable.
“And if you follow me, I’ll show you your cube,” Andy said. “It’s right across from my office.”
Sure enough, there was an empty cubicle across from a door labeled ‘Andrew Greene’. The computer looked new, and I bit my lip and frowned as I looked at the blank walls, already thinking of how I would spruce it up and make it my own with decorations.
“Now, if you’ll come into my office,” Andy said. He opened his door and motioned for me to follow him inside and sit at a chair opposite his desk. As soon as I did, my whole body tensed as I watched him cross the room and sit across from me.
“We should probably discuss what happened and how to move forward,” Andy said smoothly.
I bit my lip. “I wasn’t expecting to know anyone in Cleveland, let alone my new boss,” I admitted.
Andy nodded. “I’m just as surprised as you are,” he said. “I wasn’t as involved in the hiring process for your position as I usually am – there was a conference that had me out of state.”
I nodded, not sure what to say. The tension between us was white-hot and fiery – I could feel my palms sweat and I wiped them on my thighs.
“And although I am glad to see you, of course, I think that I should make one thing clear. What happened before, between us, can’t ever happen again. You’re my employee, I am your boss, and it would be entirely inappropriate.”
“Of course,” I said quickly. “I just really want to start things off on the right foot.”
Andy peered over his desk and glanced down at my feet, making me blush. My bright red heels maybe weren’t the most subtle shoes I owned – between them and my red toenail polish, I was starting to wonder if maybe I shouldn’t have picked something more demure, at least for my first day.
“With feet like that, I’m not sure how anything could go wrong,” Andy said.
I giggled as our eyes met. Sparks of hot electricity shot between us and I could feel my pussy tingling and my clit throbbing.
God, I wanted him again.
“I’m sure you’ll be an excellent addition to the team,” Andy said. “Why don’t you head over to your desk and I’ll call the IT tech to come over and help you get set up.”
“Thank you,” I said. I got to my feet and scurried out of his office before our eyes could meet again. My heart was pounding hard and fast and my mouth was dry.
How on earth was I ever going to be able to ignore the intense chemistry between us?
7
Andy – Monday
After Sasha and her luscious curves left my office, it took me a minute to catch my breath. I wondered on how earth this could have possibly happened – how the fuck was I ever going to keep my hands to myself with that magnificent woman strutting around? The killer thing about Sasha was that on top of her delectable body, she knew how sultry she was ... and she rocked it well. So few women were confident, especially women with that body type, and it drove me absolutely insane.
I had to close my eyes and breathe in deep for a few minutes, just to get my heart rate back down to normal. Thinking about Sasha – and knowing that she was literally right outside of my office – was driving me mad. I knew that I was going to have to push aside all improper thoughts and feelings, but doing that was going to incredibly difficult. I’d never been so affected by a woman before, and judging by the sparkle in Sasha’s blue eyes, she knew it.
Goddamn.
I was in a fucking mess.
After taking one more deep breath, I picked up the phone and called Billie, the IT tech.
“Rosen,” she chirped when she picked up the phone. “What can I do for you?”
“Hey, Billie,” I said. “We’ve got a new employee – Sasha Freedman, she started today. Would you mind heading over to her cube and checking in? She probably needs some help setting things up.”
“Of course,” Billie said. “No problem.”
“Thanks,” I told her. I was about to hang up, when I heard Billie’s voice coming from the receiver. I fumbled with the phone, nearly dropping it in my lap, then grabbed it and pressed it to my ear.
Billie was laughing. “I asked, where is she?”
Fuck, I thought. Real smooth, Greene.
“Uh, her cube is right across from my office,” I said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
Billie was still laughing and I cursed myself for being such a jackass.
“Sure thing, boss,” Billie said. “I’ll be right over.”
We hung up and I groaned, leaning back in my chair and rolling my eyes.
This was going to be so, so much harder than I thought.
/> Normally at work when I couldn’t concentrate, I’d play a little game with myself: sudoku, or give myself five minutes on the New York Times crossword to see how many words I could get. But with my heart thumping in my chest and my pulse racing, I had a feeling that neither of those stupid activities were going to do anything to help calm me down. I got to my feet and stretched, then walked down the hall. Thankfully, Sasha wasn’t in her cube, and I passed by holding my breath.
I walked further, until I reached the break room. At this time of day, just past breakfast and far too early for lunch, it was usually deserted. I sighed with relief as I walked inside and over to the water cooler for some cold water. Just as I was pouring myself a cup, I heard footsteps and turned around.
Zach Moody was standing there with a cocky smirk on his face. I pressed my lips into a thin line and tried not to show my displeasure at the sight of him. Although I tried not to think this way, it was hard to see Zach as anything but my rival. He was everything that I wasn’t: flirtatious, easy-going, roguish. Where I lived to work, Zach worked to live. He spent hours weekly charming everything in a skirt in our office, and often bragged about his after-hours exploits to anyone who would listen. The women loved him, and most of the guys liked him, too.
But not me. I hated him. We’d always been at odds with each other. When I’d first been hired, I’d been junior to Zach. Thankfully, my recent promotion had brought me up to the level of department head, and now that we were equals, I was convinced that he hated me more than ever. Zach had never wasted time trying to conceal his dislike of me, and I knew that I intimidated him, especially now that we held the same rank at our company. He’d made no secret of the fact that he felt Amanda had played favorites when she’d promoted me, even though I knew that I’d earned my position, fair and fucking square. Personally, I thought Zach was just pissed that he could no longer lord his superior status over me, favoritism or no.
The truth was, I had no idea why we’d always rubbed each other the wrong way. I’d had plenty of friends in life who weren’t exactly like me, and when I’d first met Zach I’d even hoped for the same – it would have been nice to have a buddy at work to hit happy hour with occasionally, or bitch about new procedures. Zach, clearly, hadn’t felt the same: from the first moment he’d seen me, he had obviously decided that he didn’t like me very much.
The only good thing was that we were in completely different departments. As the head of marketing, Zach and I rarely had to work directly together.
Which was a blessing, because there was no fucking way that I could be on the same team as Zach without wanting to rip him apart with my bare hands.
“So, Greene,” Zach said, moving closer and raising an eyebrow at me. “I hear there’s fresh meat in town.”
The very idea of him referring to Sasha as meat was enough to make me want to punch him. I balled my hands into fists and shoved them into my pockets to avoid the temptation.
“Yeah,” I said after a second, nodding. “I do. She reports to me.”
Zach snorted and laughed. “She should be on my team, bro,” he said, still smirking. “She’s way too stylish to fit in with your group. Unless pocket protectors manage to come back in style,” he added, laughing at his own joke.
I felt myself bristle and seethe with his insult, but not because it was a dig at me. Knowing that Zach had already seen Sasha – and was obviously drooling over her – was killing me. While I hated the idea of any other man looking at her, the idea of Zach doing it was particularly loathsome. He’d spent so much time bragging about his exploits and the notches on his bedposts that I knew he’d never give a woman like Sasha what she needed in bed. No, Zach was the hump ‘em and dump ‘em kind of guy: the kind of guy who would drop a girl in an instant if she didn’t give head but then refused to eat pussy because he thought it was gross.
I hated so fucking much that I could hardly stand it. By the look on his face, I could tell he was still thinking about Sasha – or more likely, Sasha’s tits and ass that were on prominent display – and I would have done anything to wipe the image clear from his mind.
“Find your own goddamned employees to drool over,” I snapped. “And stay away from mine.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized what I’d done wrong. The cocky smirk on Zach’s hateful face was fading, replaced by a boyish grin that I knew all too well. It reminded me of the sole time I’d come into work hungover, the morning after New Year’s, and Zach had made a point of taunting me all day: blaring loud music whenever he passed by office, heating fish in the office microwave, talking at high volume about how he intended to go home and drink whiskey all night long.
In snapping back at him, I’d admitted what I had most wanted to keep secret: the fact that I wanted Sasha, and the fact that I was already feeling possessive over her.
Damnit. If I hadn’t been so fucking caught off guard this morning, that never would have happened.
Zach cocked an eyebrow at me and gave me a look. “So, you noticed too, huh?”
“Noticed what?” I asked blithely.
Zach snickered. ”Come on,” he said. “You know. I know. Don’t make me say it out loud – HR would have a shit fit.”
Another wave of seething rage crashed over me and I did all but growl as I grabbed my glass of water and stomped out of the break room, back to the safety of my office. As soon as I was inside, I slammed the door behind me and sat behind my desk. With my head in my hands, I groaned.
There was no doubt about it: I had to get my head in the game, or I risked the horrible possibility of making another mistake. I didn’t want to let anyone – no, I couldn’t let anyone find out that Sasha and I had shared a sexual encounter weeks ago. That would only bring rumor and doubt, and likely painful consequences for both Sasha and myself, despite the fact that it occurred before she even began working under me.
Fuck, this was complicated.
No matter what, I had to vow one thing: that I was going to get my shit together, and focus on the job.
Not on the sexy woman now working in my office.
8
Sasha – Monday
After leaving Andy’s office, it took a long time for my heart to stop thudding. It was the strangest feeling in the world: I was in a totally new place with new people and new rules and new rooms, and yet I already knew my new boss so intimately.
Stop, I told myself as I tried to shove all thoughts of Andy and just how well I knew him out of my head. You can’t think like that anymore. He told you it won’t ever happen again.
So, believe him.
I did believe him, I really did.
But that didn’t mean that I could readily stop myself from fantasizing about that crooked smile and his muscular body. The way he’d touched me, the way he’d worshipped my curves and made me come so hard.
God, this was going to no doubt be the hardest thing I’d ever done, even harder than getting this job and getting my ass out of Ames, Iowa.
In an attempt to distract myself, I took a loop around the office and wound up back at the supply closet. I grabbed some things that I thought I’d need: post-it notes, notepads, pens, paper clips, and a cute pink tape dispenser before heading back to my desk and sitting down in front of my computer. I swallowed hard as I stared at the blank screen. What would happen if someone caught me looking at Andy?
Or worse, caught Andy looking at me?
He could be fired – we both could be fired. The idea of losing my job over something that had happened before I’d even started was ludicrous, but I’d heard of worse. My mother had once told me a story about her job, how someone had been fired because a coworker had a crush on them and they refused their coworker’s advances.
Well, it’s not like I’d ever refuse his, I thought as I looked longingly over the wall of my cube at his closed office door.
If he ever made them again.
“Hi!”
I looked up and saw a very pretty girl, a few years
older than me, peering over the wall of my cubicle. She had bright blue hair and dark eyes and looked as if she’d be more at home at a punk show than in an office.
“I’m Billie,” she said, sticking out her hand, which was covered with tattoos and heavy silver rings. “Billie Rosen.”
“Hi,” I said, standing up and shaking hands with her. “Sasha Freedman. Nice to meet you.”
Billie eased her way into my cube and looked at my computer. “I’m the IT tech around here,” she said. “If you’ll just let me perch here for a few, I’m going to make sure you have access to all the software that you need and your email and stuff like that. I’ll walk you through our systems here – it’s not really complicated, but you might want to take notes.”
I immediately liked her. She was the kind of girl who I thought everyone could get along with, despite her intense eyes and her beauty. I wasn’t at all surprised when she booted up my machine, cursed under her breath, then got to work clacking away at the keyboard with the tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth.
After we went over how to get into my email from home and a few basic systems, Billie hopped out of my chair and leaned against the wall of my cube.
“So,” Billie said. “You’re working for Andy, yeah?”
I nodded and tried not to blush.
“He’s great,” Billie said. If she noticed anything awkward about my facial expression, she didn’t give it away. “You definitely don’t need to worry about him. He’s kind of a hard-ass, but like, in a good way. He’ll always tell you what needs from you and how to do it. He definitely doesn’t expect you to read his mind.”
I nodded.
“Just work hard, and you’ll stay on his good side,” Billie said. She leaned closer and smirked. “And don’t do that thing where you immediately get in with a group of friends here and start slacking off. Andy hates that.”
I nodded again. She didn’t have to tell me how awesome he was – of course, I already knew ... but it wasn’t like I could say anything to the effect.
One Night Boyfriend (Be My Boyfriend Book 3) Page 6