Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (41 page)

Chapter
Thirty-Seven

Austin

Once
Emily had explained what the situation was, I understood that if I wanted to
win her over, I was going to have to take it slow. This was not going to be the
least bit easy, though.

Sitting across from me on the plane, she
looked so beautiful in the plain fitted dress with her hair pulled back and
just a touch of makeup highlighting her big soulful eyes. I wanted her to let
her hair down so I could run my fingers through it as I slowly caressed every
inch of her curvy figure. That one kiss we'd shared had unleashed a desire in
me that I'd never felt before, and I was now willing to do anything to ensure
that, in the end, she'd be with me.

"So, you're saying that you're
attracted to me, too?" I asked.

"Uh huh," she nodded, and I
noticed that she was blushing as she looked away. She was so sweet, but when I
kissed her, I knew she wasn't a virginal innocent. There was a passionate woman
under that calm demeanor, and I wanted to unleash her.

"But you don't want to do anything to
disrespect your husband even though he's kind of gone out of his way to
disrespect you. Am I right?" I asked.

"Well, when you put it like that it
sounds kind of like I should hook up with you," she said defensively.

"No, I'm not saying that at
all," I said, being careful not to overstep my bounds for now. I was going
to have to go slow and keep the pace steady until she figured out what to do
about her crumbling marriage. "I'm just stating facts. You won't
disrespect your husband, even though he's gone out of his way to disrespect
you. It sounds like you've got morals and values and that you're loyal to
people you care about. I don't think that's a bad thing."

"You don't?" she asked surprised
at what I'd said.

"No, I don't," I replied.
"I think it means that you are a decent human being and someone who is
trustworthy. And that makes you even more attractive."

"Thank you, sir...Austin," she
said as she blushed again. "But what happens now?"

"Now?" I grinned. "What
happens now is that I give you space to figure out what you need to do about
that husband of yours, but keep reminding you that I'm here and I’m
interested."

When she got up after a bit more
conversation and went back to the galley, I inhaled deeply, knowing that this
was going to be a difficult tightrope to walk and, at the same time, feeling
invigorated by the challenge. Nothing had ever come easy to me, not once in my
entire life, so I had learned how to put my head down and work hard to get what
I want. I was fairly sure that Emily's marriage was headed for an end, but I
knew better than to bank on it. So for now, I would focus my energy on solving
the problem with the Sydney crew and on finding ways to actually be with Emily.

Knowing that she wanted me, too, made this
even more challenging, but I wasn't going to shy away from it. Not when there
was so much at stake.

Chapter
Thirty-Eight

Emily

Once
the planed landed and we were back in Sydney, Trisha and I headed to the hotel
to get settled for the next five days. We had five free days to ourselves and
nothing holding us back from exploring the city and picking up the items on
Trish's mother's list of requests. It amazed me how quickly she'd come up with
a new list, but Trish just rolled her eyes and sighed.

I was in my room, a much smaller one than
the last time I'd been here, when I heard a knock at my door. When I opened it,
there was a bellhop holding a huge floral arrangement on the other side. He
handed it to me with a card and said he'd been told to wait for a response. I
took the arrangement inside my room and read the card. The vase was full of
grevilea, kangaroo paw, flannel flowers, and smokebush – a true native
Australian arrangement and it was stunning. The card attached to the
arrangement read:

Emily--Looking
forward to getting to know you and enjoying your company. Will you join me on
my boat tomorrow afternoon around 2pm for sailing and dinner on Depot Beach?
-A.

"Tell him the answer is yes," I
called out to the bellhop. "But he's going to have to tell me where his
boat is!"

"He said to tell you that there would
be a car waiting for you downstairs," said the bellhop.

"Oh, he did, did he? Pretty sure of
himself," I muttered.

"He said you'd say that, ma'am."
The boy grinned. "And, he said to tell you that he wasn't sure of himself,
he just likes to be prepared for all eventualities."

I laughed out loud and gave the boy a big
tip before closing the door. As I looked at the arrangement and thought about
tomorrow's boat trip, I felt guilty. I grabbed my phone out of my purse and
quickly tapped the screen and brought up Tommy's number and hit the dial
button.

"Hello?" a woman's voice
answered. When I didn't say anything, I heard her say, “Oh shit, it's your
wife!"

"Em?" Tommy said a little too
loudly. "Hey Em, how are ya?”

"Who was that?" I asked in a
cold tone.

"Who? Oh, that was one of the girls
in the shop," he said a little too quickly. "I left my phone on the
dock, so she picked it up for me."

"Don't lie to me, Tom Warner," I
said. "You know that I always know when you are lying."

"Em, don't do this right now,
please?" he said quietly. "Just not right now, okay?"

"Why is there a woman answering your
phone when I know full well that you are NOT AT WORK!" I yelled into the
phone. I was furious with him, not so much for cheating, as for lying to me
about it and knowing that I knew he was lying.

"Emily, let's just calm down and talk
about then when you get home," he said way more calmly that I expected.

"Are you cheating on me, Tommy?"
I asked.

"Em-" he began.

"Are you cheating on me? Answer
me," I demanded. "I want to know."

"Em, look there's more to it than
that. Let me explain when you get home," he said.

"Forget it, we're done," I said
with a trembling voice. "We are so done, and I don't need to come home and
have you lie to my face in order to know that."

"Emily, don't say that," he
pleaded.

"Go to hell," I said as I
disconnected the call and then blocked all calls and incoming texts from his
number. I knew he'd start blowing up my phone trying to explain away his
inexcusable behavior, and I didn't want to hear it. I looked over at the
flowers on the table and felt guilty that I'd judged Tommy so harshly, but
angry because I'd exercised restraint when I hadn't wanted to and he hadn't
returned the favor.

I knew right then that we were on a
downward spiral to the end of our marriage. The question was where would it all
end?

Chapter
Thirty-Nine

Austin

The
next afternoon, I was standing on the deck of the boat that would take Emily
and I on a tour of Sydney Harbor and then head up the coast to Depot Beach
where we could do some bird watching and see the groups of kangaroos that spent
the day sleeping on the beach. I'd arranged for us to have a private dinner on a
small beach near the water complete with a white tablecloth, candles, and a
four-course meal cooked on the beach by one of the hotel chefs. It had taken
some serious persuading (and money, but I had plenty of that) to get things
together so quickly, but when I was determined, I got things done.

Emily came marching up the plank dressed
in a low-cut peach sundress with matching sandals carrying a sun hat that would
shade her entire upper body. I smiled as she stepped onto the boat and then
felt a little alarmed as she marched over to me, threw her arms around my neck,
and kissed me on the lips.

"What in the-" I said as I
pulled back to look at her.

"Let's do it," she said in a
business-like tone.

"Do what?" I asked, completely
confused about what was going on.

"It, you know, let's do it," she
said sounding more angry than seductive. "Let's go have sex. Here.
Now."

"Emily?" I said as I put my
hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "What is going
on?"

"My husband is cheating on me,"
she said matter-of-factly. "So, I figure it's my right to cheat on
him."

I looked at her as she held her chin up
and dared me to take her below deck, but as I held her shoulders, I could feel
her trembling under my hands. She was angry and scared, and she was trying to
play the big dog card to make the hurt go away.

"Emily, I can't do that," I said
shaking my head. "And, you don't want to do it, either."

She stared at me defiantly before the
tears began to well up.

"You don't, do you?" I asked in
a gentle tone. "You don't want to do it like that."

She raised her hands to cover her face and
for a moment, she wept silently. I didn't get the feeling that she wanted me to
do anything more than hold her shoulders in my hands, so I stood stock still
until she'd stopped and looked up at me again. Her tear-stained face made my
heart ache, and all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and tell her it
would all be okay, but I knew doing that would cross a boundary neither of us
was ready to cross just yet, so I held her gaze, not knowing if she would agree
to continue with the tour or walk off the boat.

I stood waiting.

Chapter
Forty

Emily

I
stood on the bow of the boat with the breeze blowing my hair back from my face
as I looked out over the water. Standing close enough to be able to lean over
and speak into my ear, Austin narrated the sights we were seeing. He'd dealt
with my reaction over finding out that Tommy was cheating on me with a great
deal of restraint and right now, I was grateful.

We were on his yacht in the middle of
Sydney Harbor, touring the sites. The boat was unlike anything I'd ever seen
before, not that I'd been on many boats in my life, but this one was
extraordinary. It was a Mangusta Oceano super yacht that looked like a white
orca whale. As we sat on the front deck, a crew member brought out chilled
glasses of champagne and we toasted – to what I wasn't sure, but Austin seemed
to be trying to find a way to help me forget about the awful scene with Tommy
and show me that it was okay to have a good time. He soon took over the role of
tour guide as we sliced through the deep blue waters of Sydney Harbor, leaving
a white wake behind us.

"Over there is the Sydney Opera
House," he pointed out. "It's got quite a history since it took
almost twenty years to build."

"Oh wow," I said as I marveled
at the beautiful white sails rising up off of the building on the edge of the
harbor. "That's amazing!"

"It really is." Austin nodded as
he looked at me then quickly shifted his gaze back at the opera house.
"The designer won a contest in 1957 and it took an entire year to knock
down the Fort Macquarie Tram Depot before they could start construction. They
finally started in 1959, but it took until 1973 for the whole thing to be
complete."

"It took almost fifteen years to
construct that?" I said in awe as we made a second pass by the opera
house. "It looks like a group of white sea shells stacked up against one
another."

"It does doesn't it?" he nodded.
"The funny thing is that for as white as it looks, it's actually a chevron
design that mixes glossy white tiles with matte cream-colored ones."

"How do you know so much about
this?" I asked, turning to looked at him.

"I have to know a lot," he said
as he shifted so that he was facing me as he looked down. The distance between
us was incredibly close and I could feel him wanting to bridge the gap. I
wanted him, too, but I was afraid of what would happen if he did.

"I see," I said swallowing hard
and looking back at the building. Then cheerfully, I asked, "What else do
you know?"

"Let's see, I know that the Sydney
Harbor Bridge was built in 1932 and was modeled after the Hell Gate Bridge in
New York," he said with a smile. "And I know that Port Jackson is the
largest natural harbor in the world!"

"My, my, my, you're just a wealth of
knowledge, aren't you?" I laughed as I playfully patted his arm. I wanted
to keep my hand on him, but I quickly withdrew it when I felt the strong muscle
bulging underneath his shirt.

"I know a few things," he said
as he held my gaze until I looked away.

"Like what it's like growing up with
all this money?" I blurted out then gasped at my directness.

"No, actually I have no idea what
that would be like," he said shaking his head. "I grew up dirt poor
in Brooklyn. Just me and my mother in a small apartment in Bushwick. I didn't
know what money was like until about five year ago when I inherited all
this."

"Wait, you inherited all this, but
you didn't grow up with it?" I asked. "How does that happen?"

"Well, it's a long story and I'm not
sure it's really that interesting," he said looking away.

"It's one I'd like to hear," I
said softly. "I mean, you know all of my secrets, so why not share yours
with me?"

I watched his face as the emotions flitted
across it and wondered what he was thinking. Did he think I'd judge him or was
he worried that if I knew the story, I'd reject him? I waited, wondering if he
would talk to me or if he'd close off and head back to the safety of being the
tour guide.

"My father never met me," he
began in a voice so quiet that I had to lean in to hear him. "My mother
was one of his many secretaries and mistresses. The deal was that she got
everything she ever wanted, so long as she maintained a low profile, and she
did. Until she got pregnant with me. Then, he got angry because he felt she
went back on the deal."

"That's awful," I said shaking
my head. "How could he do that to someone he loved?"

"I'm not sure if my father ever
actually loved anyone," he said sadly, setting down his champagne class
and twisting the edge of a decorative pillow on the couch where we sat.
"Well, except himself. He was a self-absorbed man who loved money and the
thrill of the chase. He was an absolutist, so you were either for him or
against him, there was no middle ground."

"If you never met him, how do you
know so much about him?" I asked, trying to ease some of his stress.
"My mother told me a lot about him, but she only told me the good
things," he said with a wry smile. "It wasn't until I inherited his
empire that I learned about the other side of his personality, and honestly,
I'm still learning."

"But if he didn't want you, then why
did he leave you his company?"

"That's a great question,
Emily," he said. "I still don't know that I have an answer to that
one. All I know is that I was the only child in any of his marriages or affairs.
His wife never had any children and I guess my mother was the only mistress who
dared to defy his edict. So, I've often thought that I inherited everything
simply by default."

"That has to be a strange
feeling," I observed. I watched him become more agitated as he spoke. It
was obvious that this was a topic he didn't often discuss. "I mean, to
have a father who doesn't acknowledge you, but who leaves you his entire
world."

"You're telling me," he said,
laughing uncomfortably. "I have this weird split between an inferiority
complex and a God complex. I feel like that kid who made a birthday wish to win
a million dollars only to have it come true, and now I don't quite know what to
do with it."

"What about your mother?" I
asked. "Is she still alive?"

"Oh yes, very much so," he said
laughing. "In fact, she's probably going to call me any minute and check
to see if I'm still alive."

"Why? Are you that much of a risk
taker?" I laughed.

"No, not really," he admitted.
"It's just that I've been traveling so much that I haven't called her and
she likes to keep tabs on me. She worries."

"What is there to worry about?"
I asked. "You seem so utterly normal."

"Thanks, I think," he grinned.

"Yes, it was meant as a
compliment," I laughed as I touched his arm again. This time, I left my
hand there for a little longer than I should have. His arm felt so strong and
solid, and I flashed back to the night in the penthouse when he wrapped his
arms around me and kissed me so lightly. I inhaled sharply and then pulled my
hand back as if it has been burned.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Uh huh," I nodded, gulping air
and then following it with champagne. I didn't think about the fact that I was
rapidly downing alcohol, but if I had, I'm not sure it would have stopped me.
"But really, why does she worry?"

He stared at me very intensely for a few
seconds and then said, "You seem like someone who is trustworthy and can
keep a secret, am I right?"

"Austin, if you're worried that
you'll tell me something and I'll go spill it to the tabloids or something, you
don't need to," I assured him. "I'm not that kind of person, and no
matter what happens, I'm not going to talk about you to anyone – except maybe
my mother, who sounds like she came from the same background as your
mother!"

"It's entirely possible," he
laughed and then stopped. "My mother is this weirdly open 'citizen of the
world,' as she calls it."

"Ahh, okay, your mom's a
hippie," I teased as I patted his arm again. I left my hand resting on his
forearm as he spoke.

"Hardly, but sometimes she acts like
one," he laughed as he moved his hand up to cover mine. Neither one of us
looked down or said a word, but we knew. "The secret is that I think I'm
fighting off a hostile takeover at the company. I'm not sure, though. The guys
who worked for my father back in the day were not happy about me being named
CEO, and they have plotted and schemed to get me out of the leadership role
since day one. We all know it, but we play the game as though they aren’t doing
what they're doing, so it's hard to know if what's going on here is sabotage or
just a weird coincidence."

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"There's the threat of a strike
because the crew thinks that we're going to ship in foreign workers to do the
job for less pay," he said as he squeezed my hand. "We've never even
thought about doing it, but somehow the rumor has gotten around the crew and
they're threatening to walk off the job. If they do that..."

"If they do that, then you're really
in trouble if you're not actually going to bring in new workers," I
finished.

"Precisely," he nodded.
"But I don't know how to stop the rumors when I don't know where they're
coming from and I can't make them not strike if they don't believe me. I'm in a
real bind."

"But who would start the
rumors?" I asked.

"That's just it, we're not
sure," he said, getting lost in his analytical thoughts and taking me
along for the ride. "I think it's Daniel and his henchmen."

He saw the confused look on my face and
explained, "Daniel is one of the guys who worked with my father. He's
hardcore old school. You know, one of those guys when you think of mobsters and
mafia."

"No, seriously?" I burst out
laughing and pulled my hand away as I clapped in disbelief. Austin reached out
and gently took my hand in his, guiding it back to his arm without a word. I
looked up at him and saw a gentle pleading in his eyes, so I didn't pull away.

"Yeah, seriously," he said.
"Daniel and his guys have a project that they're trying to get green
lighted, but I've been dragging my feet because I don't have a good feeling
about it. I think they started this rumor to get me out of the country with my
mind on other things so they could push forward with their business deal."

"So, they're going behind your back
to get the other project started?"

"That's exactly what they're doing,
but I can't prove it." He nodded as he ran his fingertips over the back of
my hand causing me to inhale sharply as I felt the sensation. I wanted to move
closer, but I didn't dare. I wanted so much more than I would ever dare to
want, but I stayed where I was and simply listened.