Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (33 page)

Chapter
Eighteen

Austin

I'd
been working for several hours when Emily poked her head in to check on me.

"Do you need anything, Austin?"
she asked in a voice that was so sweet it made me chuckle. Her brow furrowed
for a moment, but was quickly replaced by a smile that didn't quite reach her
eyes.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at
you," I explained, self-conscious about feeling like I needed to explain.
"It's just that the sound of your voice reminds me of all the good things
I remember about the neighborhood I grew up in."

"Really? Where did you grow up?"
she asked.

"Brooklyn, more specifically,
Bushwick," I said.

"And, I remind you of Brooklyn?"
she said with a doubtful look on her face.

"Well, not
Brooklyn
Brooklyn," I explained suddenly feeling tongue-tied.
"It's more like the feeling of being
in
Brooklyn and all the things we used to do on really great summer days."

"Ah, I see," she smiled this
time it reached her eyes and they took on a mischievous glint. "So, what
you're saying is that I sound like a childish summer day buried somewhere deep
in your memory and when you hear the sound of my voice, you're thrown back to
street corners where the fire hydrants are spilling water on the hot pavement
while kids dance in the puddles."

"How did you know-" I said,
stunned that she could conjure up such a specific memory – one that she hadn't
been present for on Grove Street.

"I have some similar memories of
summer afternoons in my neighborhood," she said, shrugging as if that
summer memory was the same for kids all over the country. "And they often
make me laugh, too."

I looked up at her from where I sat and
studied her face for a moment. She wasn't stunning like so many of the girls I
dated, but she possessed a simple beauty that none of them could match. I felt
something inside me stir as I looked at her. She'd taken off the flight
attendant uniform cap when we'd taken off and now, eight hours into the trip,
her neat little bun was starting to come undone. Tendrils had escaped from the
pins she'd used to keep it all out of her face and were softly framing her
face, and I smiled as I stood up and walked toward her.

A dark cloud passed flitted across her
face making me pull back just before I reached out to push the wayward hairs
away.

"Do you need anything right
now?" she asked in a very businesslike tone.

"Uh, no," I said as I covered my
surprise at her quick defense. "I was just going to stretch my legs and
use the facilities."

"I see," she replied as she
backed up into the main cabin. She was blushing again, and I had no idea why.
"I'll check back with you in a bit about a meal."

I nodded as I turned slightly away from
her so that she wouldn't notice the effect she'd had on me, and as I did, I
felt profoundly confused.

Chapter
Nineteen

Emily

The
rest of the flight passed without incident. Or with only minor incident, as the
Wexler twins, Cornelia and Crystal, overhearing Trish tell me about how the
drunk in 2A was becoming more hands-on than she was comfortable with staged an
intervention and shamed 2A into sitting quietly in his pod for the duration of
the flight. I didn't hear what they said to him, but Trish later told me that
Cornelia delivered a blistering lecture on the appealing lack of manners in
today's young folk. Crystal acted as her congregation and replied in typical
southern call and response fashion, "Mmmm hmmm," and "Oh Lordy,
yes," whenever her sister made a particularly pointed jab at the man.

We were giggling about it in the galley
when Austin walked in and cleared his throat.

"Oh, Mr. Marks, I'm so sorry!"
Trish exclaimed as she dropped a china teacup shattering it into numerous
pieces.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said as he
bent down to help her pick up the shards of broken Wedgwood. "That'll come
out of your salary, young lady."

"Oh my gosh, I know," Trish said
sheepishly as she looked down ashamed at having lost her cool cover.

"I'm teasing," he laughed as he
looked up at me and made my heart drop to my stomach. I could feel the heat
rising from my chest and spreading up to my cheeks and I cursed myself for not
being more like Trish. "No one pays for something we buy in bulk. I'm sure
customers break way more of this stuff than you folks do."

"Oh, right," Trish laughed
weakly as she deposited the fragments in a paper bag so that they wouldn't tear
open the plastic bin liner.

"I just wanted to tell you both that
you've done a spectacular job on this flight," he smiled warmly at Trish
and then looked at me. "And you. I don't think anyone would ever have
guessed that it's your first flight in first class."

"Thank you, Austin," I said,
shyly smiling as I looked up into his dark eyes. For a moment, I imagined what
it would be like if he took me in his arms and pulled me to him. I knew what
his body felt like beneath that tailored suit, but what I really wanted to do
was unbutton that soft silky shirt and bury my face in the smell of his chest
while I ran my hands over the bare skin of his muscled chest. I could feel his
hands reaching around and cupping my bottom as he pulled me tightly to him
before leaning down and tipping my face up so that...

"Earth to Emily!" Trish hollered
in my ear as she jabbed an elbow into my side.

"Ouch!" I cried. "What did
you have to do that for?"

"Because you were out there in outer
space somewhere, and I needed to bring you back to earth," she said dryly.

"I'm sorry, what did you want?"
I asked.

"Not me, Princess," she grinned
mischievously. "Mr. Marks would like a warm towel and a glass of bourbon.
I told him I'd send you in as soon as I changed you into the virginal vestments
that we usually use when we're about to turn our bodies over to customers for
the first time."

"You what?" I cried.

"Relax, I told him you'd bring it
right in," she laughed as she pulled out the bottle of Benchmark that we
kept hidden for only the most special customers and poured two fingers into a
heavy lead glass. I grabbed a towel from the warmer and put it on the tray.
Then, I swallowed hard and walked out into the cabin.

Austin was on the phone when I entered his
pod and he motioned for me to set the tray on the ottoman. I nodded and then
quickly left the room, closing the door behind me. I didn't breathe out until I
was back in the galley.

Trish and I began preparing for the
landing by storing everything we'd taken out and collecting what was still
floating around the customer's pods in the cabin. When I returned to Austin's
pod, the tray with the towel and glass was sitting on the floor outside the
door and I felt a little sad when I realized that I probably wouldn't get this
close to him again – ever.

Chapter
Twenty

Emily

It
took Trish and me nearly two hours to deplane everyone and clean up the galley.
We weren't responsible for cleaning the cabin, but we always tried to keep it
looking decent for the crew that came in to do the sweeping and polishing.
Often times, they'd do little special things like cleaning out the fridge or
scrubbing the sinks with steel wool to make the return trip even nicer, plus it
was just a decent thing to do.

By the time we made it to the shuttle
area, we had both been on our feet for almost twenty hours and were ready to
take a hot shower and then fall straight into bed for at least twelve hours of
sleep. That's how the long hauls often were. People always envied us, but I've
given up trying to explain how completely exhausted we are when the flight
actually arrives and how very little time we have to do any sightseeing or
shopping. They never believe me, and it's probably just as well.

At the front desk of the hotel, Trish
checked in first, got her room key, hugged me, and headed up to collapse in
comfort. We were staying at the Marks Hotel about two miles from the airport
and this time, we'd gotten luxury suites instead of the usual bed, desk, and
dresser rooms. I was excited to see how the other half lived and anxious to
soak in a huge tub.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Warner, there's no
reservation listed here for you," said the desk clerk as he tapped the
keyboard on his computer. "I'm not sure what happened, but there are no
suites available in the entire hotel tonight."

"Wait, what?" I said as I looked
at him through trip-weary eyes. My thinking was fuzzy and I wasn't sure I'd
heard him correctly. "Are you telling me that I've been awake for almost
twenty-four hours and that I now have no place to sleep?"

"Well, not exactly," he hedged
as he frantically tapped the keyboard as if conjuring a kind of magic that
would suddenly make a suite appear. "Let me check one more thing..."

"Oh God, I know that phrase," I
groaned. "Let me check one more thing" is the bane of any service
person's existence. It really means "abandon all hope, there's nothing I
can do, but I'll keep you calm for a few more minutes as I try to think of something
to save this situation," and I knew it because I'd used it myself.
"Isn't there a room somewhere in this place? I'm exhausted and I just need
to sleep."

"I'm checking..." he trailed off
as he pounded more frantically on the keyboard.

"Hey, Karl, how are you
tonight?" From across the lobby came a voice that I recognized.

"I'm...I'm...I'm good, Mr. Marks, how
are you?" Karl said miserably as he shifted his gaze from computer to boss
and then back again.

"Is there a problem?" Austin
asked as he looked at me and winked. I immediately blushed from the roots of my
hair to the tips of my toes.

"Well, it seems that we have no
reservation for Ms. Warner," Karl replied as his voice went from miserable
to desperate. "And I can't find a room for her anywhere in the
hotel."

"Ah, I see," Austin nodded.
"Well, how about you give her my suite and move me up to the penthouse or
better yet, just put Ms. Warner in the penthouse and leave me alone?"

"Oh, Mr. Marks, I'm not supposed
to-" Karl began.

"Karl, I'm not sure if you've
noticed, but I actually own this hotel, so technically it makes me your direct
boss," Austin said in a low voice. "As such, I'm ordering you to book
Ms. Warner in the penthouse for the next four nights."

"Okay, if you say so..." Karl
said as he gave Austin a suspicious look. "I don't know what Mr.
Bartholomew will say about this, but I'll tell him that you ordered it and that
should clear it up."

"Reginald Bartholomew? That old son
of a gun," Austin laughed. "I need to see him first thing in the
morning, anyway. Don't worry, Karl. You will not lose your job over this."

"I appreciate that, Mr. Marks,"
Karl said as he breathed a visible sigh of relief.

I watched the exchange like it was a
tennis match, and when it was over, I knew that not only had Austin prevailed,
but that I had truly lucked out. My excitement was tempered by the fact that I
was nearly dead on my feet and in desperate need of a bed. Karl quickly
assigned me a room key and told me he'd have the bellman bring my bag upstairs.

"There's no need for that, Karl,"
Austin waved him off. "I'll take her up there and show her around since I
know the place so well."

"Alright, Mr. Marks," Karl said
hesitantly, but wanting no more trouble, he let it go and watched Austin and I
walk to the elevator.

"You're crazy, you know that,
right?" I said in a sleepy voice as I rubbed my eyes and tried to focus on
the elevator door since I knew it would lead to a bed.

"Yeah, probably," Austin replied
with a weak smile.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little distracted,
that's all," he said as he looked away and then up at the lighted numbers
on the door above us as the elevator reached the ground floor and silently slid
open.

"Alright, well, thank you," I
said and offered him the best smile I had left.

"It's my pleasure," he said and
then looked away again.

Something was going on, but I was too
tired to try and find out.

Chapter
Twenty-One

Austin

I
took Emily's key and ran it through the special card reader above the keypad in
the elevator and said, "Now watch this."

There was a low ping and then the elevator
took off for the penthouse. This was one of my favorite features, the fact that
you could run your room key in the elevator and have it take you straight up to
the top floor where it let you off in the middle of the living room was luxury
at its finest, and for some reason, I really wanted to show it to her.

"Welcome to the penthouse, Ms. Warner,"
I said as I swept my arm wide to show her the view. "There's a full view
of Sydney Harbor Bridge over there near the dining room, and on this side you
can see all the way to the edge of town.

"It's quite the view," she
yawned as she eyed the king-sized bed that sat waiting for her to climb in to
it. "I'm sure I'll appreciate it better over coffee in the morning."

"You might," I said. I moved
closer to her and slipping an arm around her waist as I held her gaze and
murmured, "And, maybe even more so if you had company?"

I could feel her breathing against my
chest as I stopped and waited for a sign that my advances were welcome. As I
searched her face, I saw it – the hint of a yes that gave me the green light to
bend down and brush my lips across hers so gently that I felt something inside
me shift as I moved in to kiss her.

"Austin, no, I...I...I can't,"
she stuttered as she laid her palms on my chest and pushed me back.

"Oh, I see," I said backing up
and trying not to show my utter disappointment. "I'm sorry, I read the
signs wrong."

"No, no you didn't," she said as
she moved closer and softly placed her hand on my cheek. "No, you read the
signs exactly right. I just can't."

"I get it." I shrugged as I
looked away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you when you're so
tired."

"Austin, look at me," she said.
I looked down into her beautiful soft brown eyes and felt lost as she spoke.
"It's not that I don't want to, it's that..."

"It's that what?" I said
impatiently. "Just tell me, I need to know what's going on."

"I can't because...," she said.

I stepped back and looked at her for a
moment.

"I get it," I shrugged again.
"No harm, no foul. I'm sorry I misread the signs."

"Austin?" she said in a tone
that made me look back down at her for a moment. A moment was all it took for
her to stretch all the way up on her tip-toes and kiss me on the lips. It was a
soft kiss that held the promise of so much more than just lips touching, but
she only kissed me once before she said, "You need to shut up and listen
for a change."