The Bachelor: a one-night stand boss romance

Chapter 29

Monday morning,Shane just happened to be passing by the reception area at Rusted Truck for a cup of coffee when he heard, “Excuse me, does Avery O’Leery work here? Can I see her?”

That got his attention. He turned, cup in hand, and couldn’t believe what he saw. It was Ben, the lying, cheating little shit. Of the short stature and even shorter moral standards. “I’ll handle this,” he told the receptionist, whose name he couldn’t remember.

“Yes, Mr. Hart.” She smiled at him and went back to her computer screen.

Ben glanced over at him, a smile on his face that instantly fell off. “Hey, I know you.”

“I know you, too.” Shane was happy to see Ben, in a twisted kind of way. Now that Avery had made him aware of the office gossip, he had noticed that people were watching them with curious eyes when he came in, even though he was there for a different songwriter, whose modern brand of country rock he frequently recommended to his artists. There were whispers and darting eyes whenever he looked at someone. He couldn’t believe that one, he hadn’t noticed before, and two, that Avery had been putting up with it for two weeks. He had been trying to be as professional as he possibly could but it didn’t seem to be curbing the whispers one bit.

If she was going to have to put up with that nonsense, he wanted their relationship out in the open, but Avery was reluctant. He was there only briefly for a business meeting that hadn’t gone well and he was not in the best of moods. Ben was going to be sorry he had chosen today of all days to show up at the publisher and ask for Avery.

“Where is Avery? I’d like to see her.”

“Why is that?” he asked, forcing a casual tone.

“Why do you care?” Ben swept a disdainful glance up and down. “Are you dating her now? Are you here to take her to lunch or something? How romantic. Dude picks girl up on street, lives happily ever after.”

The guy clearly had no clue who Shane was, and he had to admit he almost felt sorry for him. “No, I’m here for a business meeting.”

Ben frowned. “Does Avery even work here or is that just bullshit her mother made up? It wouldn’t be the first whopper lie that woman told.”

Shane changed his mind. He didn’t feel sorry for Ben at all. “Oh, she does work here.”

“So go get her.”

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” He never used a dick line like that, but now he was more than happy to throw it out there. “Because I’m pretty sure if you did you wouldn’t want to have this potentially embarrassing conversation in front of the staff here.”

“Who are you?” Ben asked, eyebrows drawing together. His voice was lower, like he had finally figured out he might not have the upper hand in this situation.

“I’m Shane Hart, the producer. My sister is Jolene Hart. And I’m the man who thinks you’re an asshole.”

Damn, that was satisfying to watch astonishment cross Ben’s face followed by fear.

It was why Shane hated being anger. Because anger provoked fear and that was what his father had gotten off on. Right now, he understood it, because he was enjoying Ben’s fear. Which he didn’t like. At all. He didn’t want to be that guy. He refused to lose his cool.

“You don’t even know me,” Ben said.

“Oh, yes, I do. You’re a guy who likes to control women. You were rude and patronizing to Avery, and the whole while you were fucking around on her, like the little weasel that you are. Now you’re here, for what? Hoping she’ll get you a job?”

The look of guilt on Ben’s face showed him he was right. “That takes a lot of damn nerve, Ben.” His voice had gotten louder. The receptionist was watching with wide eyes, her hand on her phone, like she thought she might have to call security. He took his voice down a notch. He wasn’t going to cause a scene.

“I just need a job,” Ben said. “I’m not trying to cause trouble.”

Shane switched tactics. “I’m impressed with your balls, buddy, I have to say.”

Ben looked confused at his jovial tone. “Look, I’ll just call Avery later.”

Shane gave him a casual smile. “No, you won’t.” He clapped Ben on the shoulder, casually, friendly-like. But his grip was tight. “She doesn’t want you bothering her.”

“Maybe Avery should decide if she wants to talk to me or not.”

The guy was both stubborn and stupid. The words Shane spoke were firm, but he kept his tone casual. “I’m going to give you a little advice, Ben. If you cared about Avery at all, you wouldn’t do things like show up at her work or contact her mother, and you need to go home and think long and hard about that. She gave you eight years of her life, give her the courtesy of leaving her alone. If she wanted to talk to you, she’d reach out.”

He didn’t want to throw a punch at Ben, no matter how much the asshole deserved it. The urge, the anger, wasn’t even there, which was an amazing feeling. He only wanted to protect Avery.

He wasn’t his father and he knew that, fully believed it right in that moment.

He’d grown up, become someone entirely different from that angry kid who had been taught to lash out with violence.

Ben stood there for a second, like he was assessing his options before he turned and left the building.

“Who was that?” his sister asked, coming up beside him.

“Avery’s ex-boyfriend, looking for a job.”

Jolene eyed him curiously. “You look very calm.”

“I am. Time and place, sister, time and place.”

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” Jolene asked, sounding a little in awe of the idea.

He gave her a grin, amused by her reaction. “Yep. Head over ass, JoJo. I’m going to marry that girl in there if I have anything to say about it.”

Jolene smiled back, reaching out and squeezing his arm. “Holy shit. The bachelor takes a wife.”

That made him laugh. “Sounds like a country hit.”