Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (44 page)

I thought I caught a fleeting flash of a
smile crossing her lips as she nodded and headed towards the door. She stopped
in the doorway and turned to say, "Thank you, Austin. You make me
feel...special."

I opened my mouth to say something when
the phone in my pocket began frantically buzzing. I grabbed it and saw that it
was Bax.

"You head downstairs, I need to take
this call," I said. "I'll be down in a minute." She nodded and
headed out the door.

#

"
What's
up, Bax?" I said as I answered the phone.

"Austin, you need to get over to the
construction site. There's a huge problem with the crew," Bax said, not
mincing any words.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"It seems that a couple of Americans
showed up and told the crew that they were being replaced next week," he
said. "The crew is pissed and they're threatening to walk off the job."

"What the hell?" I yelled into
the phone.

"I have no idea what happened, but
you've got to get over there and do damage control before everything goes
south," Bax said in a calm voice that irritated me.

"You're awfully calm about
this," I said.

"Yeah, well, I've been dealing with
it for an hour, so I guess I've used that time productively," he said
grimly. "I've got the helicopter ready to pick you up wherever you
are."

"I'm at the Palm Beach house," I
said. "How quickly can it get here?"

Bax put me on hold as he consulted with
the pilot then came back and said, "He'll be landing in fifteen minutes,
be ready."

"Bax, we need to put a stop to
this," I said thinking about what Emily had suggested. "Draw up a
contract that guarantees that we will not replace any workers with foreign
imported workers at any point during the project and fax it to me."

"Austin, do you think that's
wise?" he asked with concern in his voice. "I'm not sure you can
necessarily hold true to that promise. And, what if something goes wrong and
you need foreign workers?"

"I think it's the only way we're
going to stop this stupid rumor and ensure that the work on the site doesn't
get interrupted," I said. "Can you think of any other way? And think
about it, Bax. If we nip it in the bud right now, then we don't have to spend
the next two years flying back and forth to quash these rumors. Or at least, I
won't have to be flying back and forth."

Bax was silent on the other end and I
couldn't tell if he was thinking or making arrangements, so I waited.

"Okay, the contract is being
prepared, I'll have it faxed to you within the hour," he said. "But
for the record, I do not think this is a good idea."

"Duly noted," I said. "Try
to get it to me within thirty minutes. I'm going to be on site then and I want
something in my hand that I can give the crew."

"I'll do my best, boss," Bax
said and then added, "Good luck."

"Thanks, I'm going to need it,"
I replied and disconnected. I turned and walked into my closet where I quickly
found a pair of jeans, a work shirt, and some boots. I pulled them on, ran a
hand through my hair as I looked at myself in the mirror, and hoped that I
looked more like a working-class guy than a super rich CEO. This was going to
be a tough sell, but I knew that if I played my cards right, I'd win this round
and Daniel and his team would be forced to back off the crew.

I headed down to the kitchen and found
Emily seated in the living room with the tray of snacks neatly positioned on
the coffee table in front of her. She was nibbling on a piece of bread and
cheese and sipping her wine, intently looking out at the water, and she didn't
notice me enter the room. I stood looking at her for as long as I could, then
quietly cleared my throat as I walked over to the couch and rested a hand on
her head.

"Hey there," I said.
"Enjoying the view?"

"Oh my, yes," she said quietly
as she turned around to look up at me. "It's absolutely amazing. Are you
going somewhere? You're dressed like you are."

"Yeah, I have to take care of some
urgent business," I said with an apologetic smile. "But I want you to
stay here and enjoy yourself, okay? The masseuse will be here in about twenty
minutes and he'll take you down to the massage room, then you can enjoy a sauna
or soak in the hot tub, whatever you prefer."

"This is crazy," she said
shaking her head and laughing. "It's like I'm some kind of lady of
leisure!"

"Just enjoy it, okay?" I said.
"Oh, and the room at the top of the stairs, the blue one, is yours. All
the dinner dresses and things are up there, as well as pretty much anything
else you could want. Just go check it out when you're done with your
massage...or before. Whatever you prefer."

"Wait, am I Belle?" she said
with a serious look on her face.

"Belle?" I asked confused.

"Yeah, like Beauty and the
Beast?" she laughed. "Are you locking me up in an ivory tower where
I'll never be able to see my family again?"

"Oh! No, I mean, I can have someone
take you back to the hotel if you'd prefer it," I said suddenly
self-conscious. "You're not trapped her at all."

"I'm teasing you, Morning," she
laughed. "You're such an easy target!"

"That's mean," I laughed.
"You're going to make me rethink everything I had planned!"

"Like what?" she asked excitedly
bouncing up and down on the couch. "What's planned?

"Oh, you know, the usual, dinner,
dancing, a trip to my basement dungeon," I rattled off the evening's
activities.

"The basement what?" she said as
her eyes widened and she stopped laughing.

"Turnabout is fair play, missy,"
I said with a grin. "You can dish it out but you can't take it!"

"Oooooh! You're so bad!" She
laughed as she yanked a pillow off the couch and lobbed it at my head.

Just then, I heard the whirring of the
helicopter blades as it set down on the landing pad on top of the house. I
looked up and then back at Emily. "I gotta run! Be back as soon as I can!
Enjoy yourself and relax!" I shouted as I sprinted up the stairs and
headed to my ride.

Chapter
Forty-Four

Emily

After
Austin left, I sat on the couch looking out at the water, sipping wine and
thinking about his question. What was I going to do about my marriage? I had
meant it when I had told him that I wasn't someone who just walked away from
people, and my mother's words still echoed in my ear: "That's what
marriage is all about, baby," she had said. "You stick with it
whether or not it's what you signed on for, and you find a way to make it
work."

I didn't want to abandon Tommy, but I also
knew that he had a serious problem, one that he didn't seem willing to address,
and now I'd caught him cheating. I wondered what my mother would have to say
about that. Was I supposed to stand by my man while he ran around with other
women and made a fool of me?

I sheepishly looked around the living room
and thought about how maybe what I was doing was simply justifying my own
desire to have an affair with Austin. There was no doubt in my mind that he was
attracted to me and that I was incredibly attracted to him. He was handsome, smart,
down-to-earth – and being incredibly wealthy didn't hurt matters. I liked him a
lot and I felt incredibly drawn to him. There was something about him that felt
so familiar and comforting, while also sparking the attention of all of the
nerve endings in my body.

When I was near him, all I wanted to do
was touch him and get closer, but I held back because I knew that I wasn't in a
place where I could make a logical rational decision about the whole thing, and
I was scared of being swept up in feelings that I couldn't make sense of or
follow through on. I had to figure out what to do about Tommy before I could
start something new with Austin, but I needed back up, so I texted Trish.

Em_Flies: Hey you, what's up?

RedBird: Princess! Where R U?

Em_Flies: Wouldn't believe if I told U.

RedBird: Tell me anyway.

Em_Flies: His mansion.

RedBird: Mansion, mansion?

Em_Flies: Yep. Call you later?

RedBird: Call now

Em_Flies: Can't. Going to have a massage.

RedBird: Posh Princess, very posh. Call me
when ur done!

I walked down the stairs to the massage
room where a man with muscles larger than my thighs waited with a warm towel
and a bottle of massage oil.

"Hi, I'm Emily," I said quietly
so as not to disturb the calm in the room.

"Hello, Emily, I'm RJ," he said
as he offered his hand. "I'll be your masseuse today. If you'd like to
step into the bathroom and change out of your suit and wrap this towel around
you, I'll set up the room and then we can get started."

"Okay," I said and stepped into
the bathroom. I took off my suit and hung it over the bar next to the shower
and wrapped a fluffy white towel around myself before stepping back out into
the room.

"Come on over and lay face
down." RJ smiled as he gestured to the table. I did as he instructed and
soon he was rubbing the warm oil into my skin as he worked out the knots in my
muscles. I listened to the quiet music playing and let myself drift on a wave
of relaxation as I felt the tension leaving my body. When RJ was done, he
helped me up off the table and walked me to the sauna where I lay on the bench
feeling the heat leech the rest of my stress out of my body. When the timer
went off, RJ appeared and led me to the cool tub where I hopped in and felt the
refreshing water make my skin tingle before hopping back out and slipping into
the robe that RJ had left hanging on a hook next to the tub. I thanked him and
climbed the stairs back up to the second level where I peeked in the blue room
and saw that Austin had not only filled it with beautiful dresses, but also a wide
array of things designed to entertain and delight me.

I laughed as I picked up an iPad that had
a note on it that said, "In case you get bored, you can always escape
here!" On the dresser, there was an array of cosmetics and perfume and
jewelry that shimmered and sparkled. I picked up containers and smelled the
fragrances before trying on some of the sparkling jewels that called my name.
It was like being inside a department store that had been curated just for me.
Everything was designed to excite my senses and I felt a deep appreciation for
Austin's ability to think ahead and choose what he thought I would like best.
It was thoughtful and it told me that he was paying attention to me.

I ran back to the living room and grabbed
my phone, dialing Trish as I ran back up the stairs to my room.

"Hey, Princess!" she greeted me
warmly. "What's up?"

"You're not going to believe where I
am," I said.

"You already told me – the
mansion," she replied, laughing.

"No, I know, but where in the mansion
I am!" I said excitedly. "He created a whole room just for me!"

"Okay, wait a second, Princess,"
Trish said with an edgy tone in her voice. "That's starting to sound a
little bit like a creepy horror flick."

"No, no! It's not like that at
all," I laughed, but the comment lingered as I looked at the room through
fresh eyes. "Okay, maybe a tiny bit. But, Trish, he's got a room full of
stuff for me! Dresses, shoes, jewelry, and an iPad that has a note telling me
if I need to...escape I can do it with the pad."

"Emily," Trish's voice sounded
worried. "Are you sure this is all okay? I mean, from an outsider's
perspective it sounds weird, but then I know I'm not there, so..." she
trailed off waiting for my response.

"Trish, it's really okay," I
said, thinking about the boat trip and lunch on the beach and how warm his hand
felt in mine. "He's a good guy. Seriously."

"Okay, if you say so, then I have no
choice but to believe you," she said. "You're a big girl."

"I like him, Trish," I told her
quietly. "I really like him. A lot. I feel comfortable around him, I can
talk to him, and..."

"And he's a total hottie," she
finished triumphantly.

"There's that, too," I said
smiling into the phone. "I'm trying not to let that seep into things,
though. He understands that I have to work things out with Tommy before I can
make any other plans or promises."

"Sure, sure," Trish said.
"Look, the two of you have something, it's obvious to me. You just need to
dump that loser of a husband and move on with your life!"

"Trish, he's not a loser, he's going
through a rough time," I said with a warning note in my voice. "I
don't just walk away from people that I love because they're having a difficult
time. Besides, isn't that what marriage is all about? Sticking it out through
the rough times?"

"Look, I'm not sure who fed you that
line of crap," Trish said, sounding like she was trying to lecture me and
comfort me at the same time. "But here's the deal: you are married to a
man who is an alcoholic and who is not doing anything to shake the monkey off
his back. He is dragging you down with his drinking and his attempt at running
a business that costs you money. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, he's not holding
up his end of the bargain. Heck, for all you know, he's got another woman on
the side!"

Hearing her words, I burst into sobs.
Trish frantically tried to calm me from the other end.

"Em, Em! Emily!" she yelled into
the phone. "What is going on?"

I tearfully told her about the call I made
before I met Austin for the boat tour and how I thought she was probably right.
Then I told her how I'd thrown myself at Austin, and how he'd backed off and
told me to take my time and figure things out.

"Wow, that's some serious
restraint," she said quietly. "I mean, he could've taken advantage of
that right then and there. But he didn't?"

"No, he didn't," I said.
"And, I can feel how attracted we are to each other, but he keeps backing
off and giving me space. I like him, Trish. I really do."

"I can tell, Princess," she said
and I could hear the relief in her voice. "You deserve someone who will be
good to you."

"Thanks, Trish," I said in a
small voice. "I needed that."

"Alright, now go pick out a pretty
dress and some gorgeous shoes and get all prettied up for him!" she
laughed. "And, don't forget to take a few selfies for me!"

"I will," I laughed, feeling
relieved and happy that she'd given me her blessing to follow my heart.

After we hung up, I went over to the
closet where there were a number of dresses on padded hangers. I pulled each
one out, held it up to my body as I looked in the full-length mirror, and tried
to decide which one would look best on me. I wondered which one Austin would
like best, but then decided he would probably like the one I liked best because
I'd feel the most comfortable in it.

I settled on a diaphanous maxi dress that
had been dip-dyed ombre from midnight blue at the hem to the lightest shade of
robin's egg at the top. It was made from a jersey material that clung in all
the right places and made me feel like a million bucks. I chose a pair of
t-strap sandals in midnight blue and chose a simple strand of brightly-colored
Ippolita stones set in sterling silver and matching drop earrings as the only
adornments.

I went into the bathroom and ran a tub
full of water adding some of the fragrant bubble bath to the water. I sunk into
it and closed my eyes, replaying the day in my mind. The moments that were most
memorable were the ones where Austin and I were touching each other, and I went
back over each one of them in detail, wondering what it would have been like
had we taken it further. I immediately felt guilty about thinking of Austin
that way, before remembering that my husband was cheating on me, and suddenly
things didn’t seem so bad. I was free to do as I pleased and if fantasizing
about Austin was what pleased me, then I was going to do it,

The more I fantasized about what might
have happened, the more I wanted Austin to return home. I wanted to be around
him. And when I was honest with myself, I admitted that I wanted him. My
thoughts about Austin had started my blood flowing and as I sunk deeper into
the bath, I resisted the urge to let my hands wander down below the surface.

He was certainly having an effect on me.
All of me.