Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (50 page)

Chapter
Fifty-Six

Austin

When
I walked onto the flight and saw Emily helping stow a bag in the overhead bin,
I smiled. I knew she was on this flight and I'd booked a place so that I'd be
able to continue our previous night's conversation. After our bathroom romp,
I'd decided that trying to push it into an overnight visit in my suite would be
too much, so I'd dropped her off at her room and headed back to mine. It took
everything in me not to walk back and knock on her door.

I wasn't afraid of being rejected. I knew
that Emily wanted me as much as I wanted her. What I was afraid of was forcing
her to make a decision and having her hate me for it later. I didn't want to
end up like my father: a bitter man who'd forced everyone in his life to bend
to his selfish desires and lived to regret it. If Emily was going to be with
me, then she was going to have to make the choice on her own without me
pressuring her.

But I wasn't above a little enticement.

I settled into my pod and looked around at
the interior. When we'd designed the airline, I'd said that one of the things I
disliked the most about flying was that it made me feel like just another
number. There was nothing personal or unique about the interior of most airline
cabins, so I'd set out to collaborate with designers who envisioned the flight
experience as a way of asserting individuality, while conforming to standard
regulations. These pods were the solution.

Big enough to accommodate two people
sitting up and one sleeping, I saw it as a glorified sitting room. There were
standard amenities in every one such as television screens that rose up from
behind the ottoman, sinks with mirrors, and individual refrigerators at the
back of the pod behind the main seating area. There was a tray table that could
be extended to act as a desk or a dinner table for two and all of the linens
were top quality Egyptian cotton. The entire pod was self contained and
designed to allow the passenger to feel like they were traveling in their own
airplane.

When the captain turned on the speaker and
told the flight attendants to prepare for takeoff, I knew it wouldn't be long
before Emily would peek in and asked if I needed anything. Moments later, the
door opened and she stuck her head in.

"Do you need anything, Mr.
Marks?" she smiled warmly.

"Just you," I said as I motioned
for her to come in.

"I can't!" she protested.
"I've got a cabin to prepare for takeoff!"

"Then come back once we're in the
air," I said as I gave her the once over and sent her into a fit of
giggles.

"You're crazy," she laughed.

"It's entirely possible," I said
seriously. "You seem to have that effect on me."

I settled in with my laptop and began
reading the files that Bax had sent me on Daniel's German business dealings.
There wasn't anything new in the first several reports I read, and I began to
get antsy as I continued reading. I wasn't sure we were going to be able to
stop Daniel from going ahead with the Berlin project, and quite frankly, I
didn't know if it mattered. What did matter was whether he stalled the Paris
project. If he did, then we were going to find ourselves holding an enormous
amount of debt we'd taken on in anticipation of starting the project before the
end of the year. I sighed and rubbed my eyes as I looked at my watch and
realized that it was almost time to eat.

"What would you like for dinner, Mr.
Marks?" Emily asked as she stepped into the pod and closed the door. She
looked like the consummate professional in her form fitting dress and jaunty
scarf tied neatly around her neck.

"You really want to know?" I
asked as I pushed the tray aside and stood up.

"Mmm hmm," she nodded.
"It's my job to get you whatever you want. This is, after all, first
class."

I laughed softly as I gathered her in my
arms and kissed her lips lightly. She wrapped her arms around me and returned
my kiss as I felt the heat rising between us again. I knew we probably
shouldn't, but I couldn't help myself. When I was near her, all I wanted was to
touch her and feel her touching me. I sat back down in the recliner and pulled
her onto my lap as I slid a hand up under her dress.

"Oh Austin, we shouldn't..." she
whispered into my lips. "I'm working!"

"I know we shouldn't, but I own the
damn company, so I can," I said as my fingers slipped under the filmy
fabric covering her moist center and began gently stroking the velvety folds.
She moaned softly into the kiss as I played in her wetness. She was so soft,
and I could feel that she wanted me, too.

"Austin..." she groaned as she
stood up and slipped the panties down around her ankles before stepping out of
them. She bent over and unzipped my trousers, pulling out what I knew was a
raging hard on. "Oh my," she smiled as she leaned down and licked the
tip of my shaft causing me to shudder and push my hips up to meet her tongue.

Emily sunk to her knees and began running
her tongue up and down the length of my shaft as she coated it with her warm
wet saliva. It was so slippery and wet that when she wrapped her lips around
the head and began to gently suck, I groaned. I had to hold back as she worked
it with her expert tongue, teasing the underside and sucking the shaft as she
moved lower and lower, taking more of my length into her mouth. When she
finally took the entire length of my stiff rod into the back of her throat, I
gasped and looked down to see her looking up at me with those beautiful eyes.
It took everything I had not to release at that moment.

She sucked her way back up to the tip of
my shaft before starting a second descent. I wasn't sure I could hold out long
enough for her to work her magic, so I ran my fingers through her hair and
pulled her head up.

"On my lap," I said in ragged
gasps. "On top. Now."

Emily smiled as she stood up and offered
me the foil packet she'd tucked in the pocket of her uniform. I quickly split
it open and rolled the thin sheath down over my swollen member, then grabbed
Emily's arm and pulled her to me. She spread her legs as she reached down and
firmly grasped my shaft as she guided it to the edge of her wet entrance. For a
few moments, she rubbed the tip back and forth, covering it in her juices
before sliding it up inside her needy hole. I gripped her arms as she slowly
lowered herself onto me and then began gently rocking back and forth, driving
me deeper and deeper.

When I started groaning, Emily bent down
and covered my mouth with hers whispering, "Shhhhh, quiet," into my
lips. I kissed her back as I wrapped my arms around her waist and thrust up
into to her warm wetness over and over. I could hear her moaning into my lips
as we moved together in time, seeking a way to get deeper into each other's
bodies. I thrust up harder and faster as I felt us both on the edge of climax,
and then in one long stroke, I released as she tightened around me, throbbing
and pulsing.

I held her against my chest as we both
caught our breath, and when she had recovered, she raised her head and looked
down at me with a lazy sexy smile.

"Mr. Marks, you're going to get me
fired," she said softly.

"Don't worry," I whispered.
"I'm good friends with the boss."

Emily threw her head back and laughed
loudly before she stood up, grabbed her panties off the floor and pulled them
on again. I watched her, marveling at her beautiful body and her easy smile.
She leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips before asking, "So, Mr.
Marks, about dinner?"

It was my turn to laugh, and I looked up
at her and said, "Just bring me whatever you think I'd like, and I'll be
happy."

"Alright, then," she smiled as
she turned toward the door of the pod. "I'll take care of you."

"Oh, and Emily," I blurted out.
I wanted to tell her how much she already meant to me and how much I wanted her
to stay here and spend the flight talking and letting our passion take over.

"Yes?" she turned and looked at
me expectantly.

"Um, I'd like a beer with dinner
instead of wine," I said as I looked past her into the cabin. "Just
bring me whatever you've got."

"Will do, sir," she said giving
me a mock salute as she exited the pod and returned to the cabin.

I washed up in the sink and then sat down
with the laptop determined to figure out what it was that Daniel was doing, or
at least, pretend like I was while I thought about Emily's lovely smile.

Chapter
Fifty-Seven

Emily

Austin
and I spend the entire flight back to the States flirting, laughing, and when
everyone else had gone to sleep, we sat and talked. I was worried that my
fellow flight attendant would be upset that I was disappearing, but she said it
didn't bother her a bit (partly because she had her own thing going with a
businessman in 2A) and waved me off when I disappeared into Austin's pod once
we'd gotten the other passengers settled in for the night.

We talked about our mothers, our
childhoods, and the unexpected turns our lives had taken. I'd already told him
about how much Tommy had wanted to play baseball, but I hadn't told him about
the very dark days after the injury and how, some nights, I worried that I'd
come home from the bar and find he'd hurt himself – or worse. It was hard to admit
that part of the reason I was staying with Tommy was out of pity. I felt bad
that his dream had been taken from him, and guilty that mine had not been.

"In fact, Tommy was actually the
reason I became a flight attendant," I admitted as we sipped coffee in
Austin's pod. "He encouraged me to apply so that I could get out of the
bar. I didn't realize how much it would pull us apart, I guess."

"Did the job pull you apart?"
Austin asked.

"No, if I'm honest, we were headed in
different directions," I said. "I think if he'd been able to follow
the baseball route, we would have been separated by that, it's just that it
would have been easier for him. And, it didn't help that his methods of coping
with the pain were to start drinking and gambling."

"He gambles?" Austin asked.

"Oh yeah, he's a poker player who is
known for his ability to beat the house," I said shaking my head as if to
shake off the thought. "The problem is that he only seems to win when he
is stinking drunk and then that creates problems with his ability to play. He
loses a lot more than he wins. That's the reality."

"Not to be too nosy, but is it a
problem?" he asked tentatively.

"It's a big problem," I nodded.
"I haven't told anyone, not even my mother, but we are in deep debt and if
he doesn't rein it in, we are going to have to file bankruptcy soon. I picked
up extra flights to try and pay down some of his gambling debts, but with the
house payment and the repair business..."

"Repair business?" Austin asked.
"I thought he was part of the ground crew at the airport."

"He is," I nodded. "But he
thought that starting a car repair business out of our home would give him a
new line of income and help pay off some debt. The problem is that he's a
terrible businessman and we're constantly losing money on the business. I've
asked him to hire an assistant or let me do the billing, but he's too proud to
let anyone help, so..."

"That's really hard," he said as
he picked up his cup and sipped the hot liquid.

"We were too young when we got
married," I sighed as I tried to shift the course of the conversation to
get away from the uncomfortable financial situation I was in. It felt
embarrassing to talk with Austin about something so personal. "Everyone
said so, but we were stubborn and believed we could beat the odds. Wait, what
about you? You can't have been a monk all these years!"

"Oh, I'm no monk," he said with
a rueful smile. "I'm definitely not a monk. I like women, and I have a
number of women friends who keep me company when they're not busy with other
guys, but..." he trailed off.

"But what?" I asked quietly.
"Did somebody break your heart?'

"Who me?" he said surprised.
"I don't have a heart! C'mon, lady, you know that!"

I laughed loudly and shook my head.
"Oh no you don't! That's a complete lie!"

"No, but seriously," he said
looking at me. "It's not heartbreak that made me the way I am. I've loved
girls, but not been in love with them. I think it's because I watched my mother
and I knew somewhere deep inside that she was in love with my father and that
he loved her, but the situation was impossible, so they learned to live with
what they had."

"So, you were shaped by a love that
couldn't be," I said wistfully.

"No, it was a love that did exist,
it's just that they chose not to pursue it," Austin said. "I still
can't quite figure out why. I mean, my father could have seen my mother any
time he wanted, despite being married. And, my mother won't talk about it. All
I can figure out is that my mother drew a line in the sand and never backed
down."

"So, that is where you get your
stubborn nature from!" I laughed.

"Oh yes, it's a trait that runs
strong on both sides," he said and grinned.

"Good to know," I nodded.

"Emily, I know it might sound weird
to say this, but is there any way I can help you out of this situation?"
he asked.

"Oh, no. Thank you, though," I
said quickly. There was no way I was going to allow Austin to bail Tommy and me
out of the mess we were in. We'd find a way, somehow.

"Alright, well, if you find you need
help, please let me know," he said sincerely. "I'll help you in any
way I can. No strings attached."

"You're very kind," I said
smiling.

I looked out the window of the jet that
was taking me back to Las Vegas and Austin pulled me into his arms just before
the plane had landed. There was a deep warmth in his touch and he simply held
me tightly to him as he caressed my hair. Before he let go, he lifted my chin
and kissed my forehead as he smiled and said, "Soon. I know it will all work
out soon."

I knew what I wanted, but I wasn't sure I
was going to be able to get it. Dealing with Tommy had become a crapshoot and I
was worried about what I would find when I got home. I could feel the tears
welling up as I looked out into the night sky and watched the lights below fade
into the darkness.

#

When
I walked into the house, I knew things had not gone well while I had been away.
There were pizza boxes stacked high in the corner of the living room and the
kitchen floor was covered in a sticky substance that caused my shoes to adhere
to the floor with every step. There were dished piled in the sink, and some
looked like they had begun to grow mold. The house smelled like a combination
of rancid food and body odor, but there wasn't a body in sight.

"Tommy?" I called as I unstuck
my feet from the kitchen floor and walked back toward the bedroom. "Tommy,
are you home?"

I opened the door to the bedroom and was
assaulted by the smell of sweat and something I didn't recognize. Tommy was
dead asleep in the bed covered only by a sheet. He was snoring so loudly I was
positive he would wake himself up.

"Tommy Warner!" I shouted over
the sound of his snores as I ripped the sheet off of him and shook his
shoulder. "WAKE UP!"

"Huh? Wha? Oh, hey Em," he
smiled sleepily and rolled over to face me. He squinted up at me and covered
his eyes with his arm. "When did you get home?"

"Just now," I said in a stern
voice. "What in the hell has happened to our home?"

"Don't get all worked up about it, I
just had a few friends over," he said in a thick voice as he waved his
other arm at me. "I'll clean it all up in the morning."

"Tommy, that wasn't just from last
night," I said. "You haven't cleaned anything since I left! This
house is a disaster!"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't get your
panties in a twist, babe," he said turning over to look at me. "I
told you I would clean it up!"

"Tommy," I said quietly.
"This isn't working."

"What are you talking about?" he
said. "What's not working?"

"You and me, this," I said in a
sad voice. "We're not working. Our marriage isn't working. Nothing is
working."

"Emily, Emily, Emily," he said
as he sensed the seriousness in my voice and raised himself up to look at me.
"What do you mean, we're not working?"

"I mean," I said as I took a
deep breath. "I don't want to be married to you anymore."

"What the hell?" he yelled.
"What in the hell are you even talking about? Where did this come
from?"

"I'm not happy, Tommy," I said.
"I haven't been happy for a long time. And, I don't think you're happy,
either, or you wouldn't drink so much."

"I'm happy as hell, what are you
talking about?" he shouted as he pulled himself up out of bed and stood
naked in the middle of the room looking for a pair of shorts. I spied them on
the chair in the corner and pointed toward them.

"I'm not happy, Tommy," I
repeated.

"So what are you saying?" he
yelled as he pulled his shorts on. "Are you saying you're leaving me?
Because if you're leaving me, that's really crappy, Em. Really small, you
know."

"I know," I said nodding my head
in agreement. "I know it feels crappy, but I want out, Tommy. I want my
own life back. This life is your life, not mine. I don't want to live this
life."

"Wait, so now you're telling me that
when I had a shot at the majors you were willing to ride the train with me, but
now that I'm out of play, you're done?" he said in a low angry tone. He
was getting worked up and I could feel the anger building. He was hurt and felt
like I was abandoning him, but I knew that I had to do this to save myself. I
couldn't save him. I'd tried, but he had proven that he didn't want to be
saved.

"It's not like that at all, and you
know it, Tommy," I said gently scolding him. "You know I support you
no matter what you do."

"You just don't want to be married to
me anymore," he said in a very small voice.

"Correct," I nodded. "I
want my own life back."

"And, I'm not part of that
life," he said.

"No, you're not," I replied
honestly. "Not anymore."

"But I was at one time, wasn't
I?" he asked.

"At one time," I nodded.
"Back when we were young and foolish and had dreams of something
better."

"Well, will you at least stay and
help me get this place cleaned up?" he begged. I knew he was looking for a
way to extend our time together, and even though I knew I was on my way out, I
felt like I owed it to him to help before I left.

"Yes, I'll stay and help clean the
place up and then we can talk about how we are going to deal with this," I
replied.

"Will you come sleep in the bed with
me?" he asked as he lay down on his side of the bed and gestured to my
side.

"I don't think that's a good idea,
Tommy," I said. "I'll sleep in the guest room and in the morning,
I'll make us breakfast and we can talk about how to clean this place up."

"Oh Em, please don't leave me!"
Tommy cried suddenly. "I don't want you to leave me!"

I felt my heart cracking a little as I
looked at him, nodded, and said, "I know you don't, but I have to."

I walked out the door and down the hallway
where I opened the guest bedroom door and looked around. It wasn't the glamorous
hotels I was used to sleeping in, but it would do until I could figure out a
way to clean up the mess that my marriage had become.