The Intolerable Boss (New York Office Billionaires #3)

Chapter 1

LEXI

Sometimes, you knew exactly what had started it all.

What was the one thing that set off a chain of events that completely threw a wrench in the works of my not-so-balanced life?

In my case, it was a look.

Just a simple, part-judgmental, part-daring look from a nasty coworker as I wound up my workday.

“Spending Friday night alone at home again?”

When I thought back, maybe it hadn’t been the look. Maybe it had been the tone and the look.

It was my last day at that job, so I shouldn’t have let that comment rattle me. But I’d made the glaring mistake of confiding in my roommate about the snarky comment.

Unfortunately for me, my roommate, Sasha, agreed with said coworker. In a kinder, less judgmental way, of course.

“I’ll take care of Evie tonight,” she had said, referring to my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter. “All you need to do is dress to kill while I decide which bar you’ll hit. We agree that I’ve more experience in that department.”

Sasha definitely did. Just like I could rattle off the best indoor play areas for kids in a five-mile radius, Sasha knew bars.

I still blamed that coworker’s look for where I was tonight though.

Because now, three hours later, I was sitting alone in one of New York’s swankier bars, Aurelius, since, in Sasha’s words, if you were going wild, you might as well go full out.

She’d even gotten a cab for me and given very specific instructions for where he had to take me.

I wore my most expensive bracelet, worth thirty-five dollars, which wasn’t really helping me fit in, if you considered that the woman five stools down from me was wearing a real fur coat.

Behind me, there was a shimmering infinity pool, opening up to New York’s beautiful skyline.

Above, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a warm, golden glow on the polished mahogany bar.

So highly polished that I could see my reflection on it, and I was very tempted to fix my lipstick right here, but I suspected that the woman in the fur coat five seats away from me would be scandalized.

I caught sight of a man walking down the bar, handsome and tall, before he disappeared from my view.

I craned my neck for one last look, but to my disappointment, I didn’t see where he had gone.

What had I expected? Even if I’d caught his attention, what would I say to someone who frequented places like this?

I shook my head and looked around.

Plush, deep purple velvet stools were placed along the counter, and the air was filled with the clinking of glasses and the occasional hushed laughter.

Maybe that was why I felt like I stood out. I couldn’t laugh like that. How did one do hushed laughter?

If I didn’t know better, I’d say that I needed to practice hushed laughter later that night with Sasha, but I knew better. I wouldn’t be coming back here again.

A grand piano sat in the far corner of the bar, and a pianist effortlessly played a melody that felt like it belonged in a classic romance movie.

I almost snorted. I didn’t have to remind myself that romance was not real.

Dylan, Evie’s dad, had ruined me for love.

He’d been my high school sweetheart, the kind of boy who made flashy, big promises and knew all the right things to say. In the beginning, he made me feel special, like I was the only person in the world who truly mattered to him. And I believed him.

By the time we got into college at Wesleyan, the shift was so slow, so insidious, that I barely noticed it happening.

He alienated me from my friends, always finding reasons why they weren’t really my friends at all.

And when I accidentally got pregnant, he reminded me how expensive school was, and how exhausting it would be with a baby.

“Wouldn’t it be easier,” he’d asked, “to just focus on being a mom? On us?”

But when Evie was one and a half years old, and I finally realized the way he talked over me, dismissed me, made me feel small, even in my own home, I began thinking I couldn’t let my daughter grow up thinking that was love.

The final straw was discovering he’d tampered with my birth control, and lied about it when I confronted him about it.

So, I packed a bag, I took Evie in my arms, and I walked out of that relationship, even though I was terrified.

It was the hardest thing I’d ever done.

Sentimental music like that belonged here, in this shiny bar, where people wanted to forget about reality for a little bit and pretend things like true love existed.

I was better off spending this time with Evie.

I’d reluctantly agreed to Sasha’s plans, hoping to just have a peaceful drink at a pretty bar with a view of the city. But Sasha’s goals for me were admittedly loftier.

She had hoped I’d meet someone.

Ha!

“Another drink, miss?” the bartender asked, approaching me.

I stared at the empty glass in my hand. I’d ordered a fancy craft cocktail called The Clover Club, but I wished I could have something silly I used to drink in the past, like Sex on the Beach, but I was afraid this bar was too fancy to order it.

“Could I get the same, please?” I said sheepishly, handing the glass over.

The bartender returned with my drink, and I stared at it in distaste. I didn’t feel like drinking it, and I certainly didn’t feel like staying here any longer.

I was pretty sure a woman at a table across the room was Madison Vanderbilt-Smythe, the daughter of an oil tycoon.

The man who was guffawing heartily on the plush sofa with his woman looked like a popular international soccer player, who played for Real Madrid, but I couldn’t recall his name at the moment.

Still no sign of the other handsome man from moments ago. His custom suit had a sheen to it that I didn’t see on regular suits. I wondered if I ought to recognize him if this was the kind of place he visited.

I wished I could look him up, but since I couldn’t, I reached for my phone and decided to do a little online shopping while I had the time.

Who could resist the charm of new clothes, especially considering that I was starting my new job on Monday?

So, I scrolled through the app, and I didn’t know what it said about me that in five seconds, I got distracted by the lingerie section, but then I thankfully got a text message from Sasha.

SASHA

Evie is doing amazing. We painted unicorns together, and she’s yawning already, so we’re off to brush her teeth before bedtime. Have fun, Lexi, and don’t worry about her. By the way, the lasagna was lovely. You didn’t have to.

I’d baked her a lasagna to thank her for taking care of Evie.

I did have to. It was the first time in months that I’d be getting a night out, and I felt impossibly guilty both for leaving Evie and for having Sasha babysit her when she could have used a night out too.

So, I’d put together a lasagna and placed it in the oven before I headed out.

SASHA

Promise me you’ll have fun tonight. I’m just about ready to throw those coding books of yours out the window after tripping on them three times, but Evie insisted that Mommy loves those books, so I’m just going to put them on the table instead of leaving them on the floor.

I laughed at that. Evie, at four and a half years old, had no idea what coding was, but she caught me reading those books so often that she assumed Mommy loved those books almost as much as Mommy loved her.

When I wasn’t around, she used those books to make steps for her dolls to sit on, which explained why they were on the floor. Sasha was a clean freak, and why she continued to live with me and my toddler I still didn’t know.

LEXI

I promise I’ll stay out till midnight.

SASHA

Also, you should go all out on your night out, if possible. And, no, online shopping for sexy lingerie doesn’t count.

I was well dressed today, thanks to her intervention. She’d insisted I ditch my usual shirt and yoga pants for a short white dress and black heels, even going so far as to pick out nude lace underwear.

I’d laughed when she pulled those out, since I hadn’t worn them in ages, but Sasha couldn’t be swayed.

As if I could change myself by wearing fancy lingerie. I was still the same girl who had once turned down Chad Horwick in high school for Dylan because I was too nervous to go out with the prom king. Wealthy, beautiful men sent me shaking in my knees … but I had always been attracted to them.

I’d left home quickly once I had the dress on, afraid Evie might spill something on it, but this night out alone had simply been dull.

Before I could reply, a notification popped up on my screen from the Altika Fitness app.

I smiled, looking at the familiar interface that had helped me get my life back on track after I’d left Dylan.

Back then, the app’s simple workout routines and encouraging reminders had been one of the few things that made me feel strong again.

And now, starting Monday, I’d actually be working for them.

I’d be joining Altika Inc. as a software engineering intern.

After juggling months of studying while working my day job as a receptionist at a law firm, I’d finally gotten that acceptance letter.

The thought still sent a thrill through me.

Even without a formal degree, because I’d had Evie when I should’ve been in college, I’d earned this. And thankfully, it would pay better.

I glanced at the time and sighed. It was getting late, and I was ready to head home. Ready to close out my tab, I reached for my purse, my drink untouched.

There goes another twenty-five dollars, I thought as I tried to catch the bartender’s gaze.

There were very few things I could promise Evie, but a stable income was one of them. I was determined that even though Evie didn’t have a typical family, she would at least have all the benefits of a working parent without the drama.

Just as I was about to push off from my luxury stool, a man caught my eye.

The same handsome man I’d seen a while ago.

He was wearing an expensive suit that fit him like a glove. He had a white shirt underneath, crisply ironed and without a single wrinkle, even at this time of the night.

He was older, maybe in his late thirties, while I was only twenty-four.

He was basketball-player tall, and had wide shoulders.

His head was topped with dark-blond hair, cut short over a broad forehead.

He was arrestingly handsome, and I caught my breath, even as I noticed the flecks of white in his hair. He carried it well.

Everything about him was perfect, except for one tiny, disagreeable detail. A woman on his arm. No, scratch that. The woman practically fell on his lap, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and … I turned away. But not before I caught a snippet of their conversation.

“I think that’s the drink speaking, Tahlia, not you,” he said.

My gaze had fallen on her a few times earlier tonight, when I’d seen her compulsively check her purse.

Now, her purse was by her side, but he was taking her arms off his neck and trying to pry her off his lap when our gazes met. I turned away, but not before I felt a small jolt of electricity crackle in the air between us.

What was that?

I heard the woman say something, and when I looked back, the man was still watching me, intrigued and interested.

Strange.

He finally turned to the woman speaking to him and shook his head, standing up abruptly. It looked like he wanted to leave, but Tahlia wasn’t having it.

“We’re having another drink,” she insisted, settling down on the chair he’d occupied and signaling to the bartender that she wanted a refill.

The man put his hands on his hips in frustration, and our gazes met again.

I gave him a small, commiserating smile, and he tilted his head at me, smiling back, as though tempting me to laugh at his situation. The fact that he could find the humor in this circumstance only made me want to laugh more, but a real laugh this time, not a hushed one.

Deciding that my presence wasn’t pleasant for the woman with him, I turned away. No one wanted witnesses when you were having a bad day.

Retrieving my bag, I was about to walk off, aiming for a path that steered clear of them, when he caught my gaze. He got up and walked over in the direction I was headed, coming to a stop in front of me.

Oh boy. I could get into trouble with a man like this.

I needed to get into trouble, if you asked Sasha, but I also needed to not steal another woman’s date if you believed in girl code like I did.

I snuck a quick glance over my shoulder and caught Tahlia’s glaring at us.

The man took a step closer, and those brown eyes flashed with amusement as he looked at me. My heartbeat sped up. He was handsome in a way that reminded me of someone distinguished and powerful.

My heart swooned.

What? No. Back up. No swooning. He’s with someone else, remember?

When he spoke, he did so in a low, deep voice that was like a gentle caress. “Hey.” His warm scent enveloped me. “Could I ask you for a favor?”