Foreplay with the Boss: Billionaires of Boston

20. Jameson

The situation was worse than I’d expected, and I knew I wasn’t going to be catching a plane tonight, and probably not tomorrow, either. Even if I worked non-stop, the rest of the employees—both the ones here, and back in Boston—were getting ready to leave for the weekend, and my client was pissed enough that I didn’t dare turn down his golfing invite for tomorrow morning. He’d left me with Doug, his “Number Two Guy,” to hash out details, and while we played eighteen holes, I was expected to tell him all the ways I was going to fix the mess. It definitely wasn’t how I’d choose to spend my weekend.

A certain auburn-haired employee flashed to mind, and there was no question I’d rather spend my weekend fitting in as many foreplay and sex lessons as possible. That alone made me glad I’d said yes to having her work for me, but after only two weeks as my assistant, not having her by my side made me realize how much she’d done in such little time. I kept wanting to call her into my makeshift office, even if it just meant bouncing ideas off her.

But it was a bad idea to get used to that, and I was fully capable of running an account myself. Look what happened when I’d left it in someone else’s hands for a little while.

The receptionist, an older grandmotherly type, knocked on the open door as she stepped into the room. “You two skipped lunch, and it’s nearing dinner time, so I decided to have food delivered before taking off.”

“Thank you,” I said, and the dude across from me mumbled something similar.

She set the bag on the table and then dug out the to-go container and utensils, and the scent of the food made my stomach rumble. She informed us that she’d be refilling the coffee station on the other side of the room, but not to mind her, she’d be out of our hair in a few minutes.

My emails and voicemails had been adding up, and I scrolled through my notifications, trying to decide what to tackle while I shoved down dinner.

I saw a voicemail from Kat and decided if anything could turn around my bad mood, it’d be hearing her voice.

She addressed me as Mr. Stone in an uber-professional voice and launched into a recap of the weekly reports—her voice was still sexy as hell, but I didn’t want to think about reports right now.

I opened the to-go box to find a beef brisket sandwich coated in barbecue sauce, so I tapped the speaker icon on my phone’s screen and picked up my dinner.

Kat told me that Rob had come to the meeting unprepared and I gripped my sandwich tighter, irritated at him for pulling that shit. Then I smiled when she said she’d used a page from my playbook and demanded it be in her inbox by two.

“I kinda implied I could fire him, so if he asks, could you pretend I could?” She laughed, and I pictured her sitting at her desk—no, make it standing so that her perfect ass was in my line of sight.

My heart hammered harder, and I took another bite of my sandwich, trying to hold it together as all the fillings started to spill out the other end.

“Also, I miss your big, thick cock.”

I choked on my food, then quickly abandoned my attempt to keep my sandwich together and dived for my phone.

The receptionist’s wide eyes made it clear that she’d heard. It took me two tries to turn off the speaker, and I cursed myself for being stupid enough to use it. But among the stupid was a mix of pride and desire, and that side overtook everything when I heard the rest of her message.

Foreverydaythatyou’regone,I’mgoingtogetthatmuchhornier,andIcan’tbeheldresponsibleforwhatabuseyourbodymighttakebecauseofit.You’vebeenwarned…

Fuck fixing things here. I was going to speed to the airport, fly back to Boston and give Kat exactly what she asked for.

I kept the message so I could listen to it later, when I didn’t have an audience. I glanced at Doug and the receptionist, trying to figure out how to apologize or explain since the air was nice and awkward.

I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry you overheard what was clearly supposed to be a private message between myself and an associate who’s filling in for me while I’m gone.” There. Mostly true, and it sounded a hell of a lot better than I’mfuckingmyassistant,butdon’tworry,sheaskedforlessonsonhowtobemoreassertivewhenitcametohersexualdesires,soit’sallgood. “I assure you I pride myself on being professional, and it won’t happen again.”

The woman pressed her lips together, a judgmental pinch to her features. “Sounds like you’re playing with fire to me.”

Hell yeah, I was, and I liked the way it burned. The ornery side of me—the one that used to rule my teenage and early twenties—wanted to point out that if anyone had done any harassing, it was Kat, so she should be giving the condemning look to her.

With one final scowl, the receptionist beat a hasty exit. Clearly she’d made up her mind about me, and she looked the type to report to human resources. It wasn’t like I worked for LoneStar, but it wouldn’t be good for my currently-stellar reputation for this kind of thing to get spread around.

I was weeks away from a big move with the company that would cement my position and turn around the way people discussed the Stone name, and something like that could ruin everything and leave the company looking for a new CEO to step in and reap the benefits of my hard work. No redeeming my dad’s mistakes and proving myself separate from him, and I’d have to start over.

“I hope you’re not stupid enough to be sleeping with one of your employees,” Doug said, finally speaking up instead of giving one of the noncommittal shrugs he’d given me all afternoon.

I worked to hide the way my muscles tensed. It’s not like I didn’t know it was a bad idea, and slightly unethical, but we had a mutually agreed upon arrangement. “None of your business.”

“True.” Doug sat forward in his chair. “But hear me out…One of my business school buddies just got finished with an ugly lawsuit because he was involved with a female employee who worked under him. He claims it was mutual, and I believe him, but when their relationship fell apart, she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit, and now he’s out thousands of dollars and a job. No one will touch him.”

Worry rose up and bound my lungs, even as I told myself that my situation with Kat was different.

Katwouldneverfileacomplaintorlawsuitoutofspite.Wouldshe?

I didn’t think she was the vengeful or even spiteful type, but say she got super pissed off when she found out that I was dissolving her father’s branch of the company and outsourcing the marketing to save Craze a ton of money…

Fuck.Ididn’tevengettoproperlyenjoythatmessagebeforerealityhadtocomecreepingin.

I prided myself on leaving emotions out of business decisions and on my iron self-control, but every time I was around Kat, all I wanted to do was grab her and bury myself between her thighs. I wanted to eek out every ounce of pleasure and tease, punish, and reward her again and again.

And even worse, I felt myself softening around her. Found myself thinking more and more about her when I should be focused on work, and there’d been a few stray thoughts about trying to find another way to do what I needed to without shutting down the Hartford branch, even though I knew it was the best, most fiscally-sound option.

It was probably a good thing I had so much to do here in Texas, because I needed a few days to clear my head before I went off half-cocked and did something that would ruin years of hard work. Like put my position as CEO in jeopardy, and have all the naysayers rushing to say that they always knew I would turn out just like my old man.