Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (8 page)

“Can I give you a ride home?” Asher asked.

“No, it's fine,” I replied. “Eddie's already said he's
giving me a ride, right, Ed?”

I kicked Eddie's leg subtly under the table.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Don't worry, man, I've got it. I’m
just gonna finish up this beer and I’ll give her a ride home.”

“All right,” Asher conceded with a smile that came
across as a little disappointed. “Well, it has been fun. Again, well done on
the presentation earlier, Lilah, you totally killed it. I'm really looking
forward to seeing how your ideas perform in practice. I'm dead sure they're
going to be a runaway success. And, Eddie, it was awesome to meet you. I think
I'm going to listen to a bit of Razor's Edge on the drive home, actually.”

“Right on, man!” Eddie said with a smile as he reached
over to shake Asher’s hand.

“Thanks, Ash,” I offered as he stood.

He gave both of us a wave.

“Enjoy the rest of your evening, you two,” he said.
“And, Lilah, I'll see you at the office tomorrow.”

With that, he left—and left me thinking about all
sorts of possibilities.

CHAPTER 9

Asher

Rejected.

Not exactly an occurrence I was accustomed to. But
that’s exactly what had happened.

Despite how well we'd gotten along, how easily we'd
conversed, not to mention the smoldering looks that had passed between us—at
the end of the night, she'd suddenly flipped the cold switch and that was that.
I admit, I had hoped to get a chance to drive her home, but she'd declined—politely,
but still, it had been a rejection. No point in sugarcoating it.

And so, I drove home alone with my thoughts and my
music. Thoughts that couldn’t find their way to anything other than Lilah
Maxwell. What was it about her that had me so captivated?

It wasn't that I'd wanted a repeat of our
too much wine
kiss to happen. All right,
maybe part of me did, but it wasn’t just a physical connection I was craving
with this woman. No. It was the conversation and energy between us that I
wanted to keep going.

It had been ages since I’d last felt connected so
intensely with anyone, female or otherwise. The fact that she was a physically
stunning, intelligent, and sensual woman was merely icing on the cake. Sweet,
sultry icing.

But the fact that I was physically attracted to her
wasn't the sole reason I wanted to spend more time with her. I just enjoyed
being around her.

“I guess maybe it's a good thing,” I said aloud as I
watched the lights of the city fade in my rearview mirror and started the
ascent into the hills outside of the city limits. I tended to talk to myself
more often than I cared to admit. Hazard of being a bit on the private side—I
didn’t let too many people get close to me. That meant I didn’t have too many
close friends. The few I had, I didn’t see as often as I once did. And so, I
sometimes talk to myself. It helps me work through the chaos that happens in my
head.

“Maybe she doesn't want things to move too fast,” I
considered. I guess I didn't, either. The difference, though, was that I wasn’t
so sure she wanted things to move
at all
—while I certainly did. And that
was rather disappointing. Almost made me wish I hadn’t even gone to McGinty’s.

Make no mistake, I'd had a great evening with Lilah
and her brother. Meeting Eddie had been awesome on many levels. It brought back
all sorts of memories from my teenage years—memories of my rebellious phase
before the responsibilities and duties that came with my family name and
fortune had forced me to grow up all too quickly.

I was listening to my favorite Razor’s Edge album when
I finally pulled off the main road onto the drive that led to my estate. I
still thought of my grandfather every time I pulled into the driveway. Grandpa
always told me to treat my private life like a treasure, those who are close to
you and love you mean more than any amount of money and any publicity your
position could bring you.

I bought the land a year after he died and took his
advice to heart when I made sure the house wouldn’t be visible from the road by
leaving a considerable amount of forest at the front end of the property. In
doing so, the gate protecting the drive was also a few hundred feet from the
main road and not visible, but it was there and it was guarded. I waved at
Adam, the night guard, as I slowed to a stop and waited for him to open the
large, wrought-iron gate.

Adam was a former Army Ranger. When I hired him, I
tried to entice him to be part of my security team that traveled with me when I
had to travel abroad, but he’d turned the offer down. He didn’t want to be away
from his wife for extended periods of time. I admired that about him and even
envied him. Having someone in your life you don’t want to be away from even for
a few nights, that’s more enviable than all the power and prestige I could
think of. Adam smiled as soon as he recognized my face and returned the hand
gesture. The gates slowly began to swing open.

A deer stepped out of the trees, followed by her fawn,
just as I was almost through. I pressed the brake and let them pass in front of
my Maserati before I drove in. There were a few gaps in the fence around the
estate—gaps I'd specifically requested be left so that wildlife from the
neighboring woods could come and go through the grounds as they pleased.
Granted, it meant if someone wanted to get in, they could, but they would have
to do some serious walking to find the gaps.

Once I’d parked my car in the underground parking lot
where I kept my collection of sports cars, I grabbed my briefcase and laptop
and started toward the elevator that would take me up into my home. I paused as
I passed a white Lamborghini from the ’80s—one of my favorites. I glanced at
myself in the window.

“What's going on in your head, Asher?” I asked my
reflection.

I wasn't quite sure of the answer, but I did know that
Lilah was spending a good deal of time in there. With a quick shake of my head,
I made my way to the elevator and tried to turn my thoughts to other things,
like the work I needed to get done before my next meeting with my advisory
board.

I pressed the button for the top floor—my private
space consisting of my bedroom, a private living room, a small office where I
could work from home if I needed to, and, of course, my bathroom. I wanted to
think about work, but I couldn’t. More than anything, I needed to properly
relax, to try to get all of the distracting thoughts out of my head so I could
get a good night's sleep and be fresh and energized for the rest of the week. A
week that promised to be relentlessly busy. On top of everything, I had an
upcoming business trip to Paris on Friday that I'd needed to think about.

I exited the elevator and headed straight to my office
to drop off my briefcase and laptop—I'd initially planned to try to get a bit
of work done that evening, but I was neither in the right frame of mind nor in
the mood to get any work done.

On my way out of the office, I stopped to stare at the
item displayed in a glass cabinet on the wall: Colonel Tanaka's family sword. I
went back over to my desk, got the key to the cabinet, unlocked the case, and
took the sword out. It was a beautiful piece of art—if a deadly one—that
represented absolute mastery of a craft and tireless commitment to perfection.
It was a fitting item of inspiration, considering who I had become and what
drove me to succeed.

I drew the sword from its scabbard and studied the
craftsmanship, the intricacies of the detailing on the blade, and the lethal
sharpness of its edge. And as I did, I could almost hear the old Colonel's
voice in my head, reminding me to breathe, to focus, to gather all of my
thoughts and bind them together.

Breathe.

Focus.

I sheathed the sword and put it back in its cabinet,
knowing what I would do for the rest of the evening. I would spend some time in
my steam room. That would allow me to both focus my thoughts and sweat out the
toxins I'd accumulated from drinking. After that and a long soak in the hot
tub, I would no doubt be ready for a good night's sleep—and the five a.m.
wakeup that was waiting before a long day ahead.

I walked over to the intercom on my desk and buzzed my
butler.

“Sir?” he answered.

“Please get the steam room and hot tub ready. I'm
going to be making use of them tonight.”

“Certainly, sir.”

I took one last look at Colonel Tanaka's sword before
I headed to the steam room to put what the Colonel had taught me into practice…if
I could just get Lilah off my mind.

***

I glanced at my wrist. Again. It was the third time
I'd checked my watch in fifteen minutes, anticipating my lunch break. I didn’t
want to miss my window of opportunity, so I headed out of the office a few
minutes before noon.

“Please don't order any lunch for me today, thanks,” I
said to my assistant as I passed her desk. “I'm going out to get something.”

“Will do, boss,” she replied. “See you in an hour.”

I made my way to the area by the elevators and waited.
Surely, she had to come by sometime. My game plan was to ask her if she wanted
to go to the little cafe around the corner she’d mentioned had amazing bagels.
I was sure she'd say yes after she gushed about the place. I mean, why wouldn't
she?

A couple of my team members came past and asked if I
wanted to join them for lunch. I politely declined. Finally, after what had
seemed like an hour of waiting—though it was only ten minutes—Lilah came around
the corner followed by two of the younger female members of the team I had put
together.

“Lilah! Hi,” I said, beaming a smile at her. In
hindsight, I probably looked like I had been waiting for her when my intention
was to make it seem like a chance encounter at the elevator. “I’m heading to
lunch at that café you like so much around the corner. Would you like to join
me for a bite to eat?”

Strangely, she glanced over her shoulder at the other
two before responding. “I appreciate the invitation, Mr. Sinclair, but we're
going to the Italian spot a couple of blocks down to eat.”

“You are more than welcome to join us if you'd like,”
the blonde woman closest to her added with a smile.

“Uh, no thanks,” I replied. “It’s kind of you to
offer, but I'm pretty set on the cafe. Dying for one of their cappuccinos, you
know.”

“They do have amazing cappuccinos,” the woman
admitted.

“We'll see you after lunch then,” Lilah declared. And
just like that, the three women disappeared into a waiting elevator.

“What was
that
all about?” I mumbled to myself.
“It's
Mr. Sinclair
now? What the
hell?”

I shook my head and headed downstairs alone.

***

The rest of the week had been more of what seemed like
Lilah trying to avoid me. So, come Friday morning, I saved her the trouble. My
private jet began its descent into Paris at 6:45 p.m.—just in time to catch the
sun setting over the city. It had been a while since I'd been in France, and
while I was only there for forty-eight hours, I intended to make the most of my
trip.

After I'd made it through customs, I found my French
business associate Anton Leveque waiting for me in the arrivals lounge. Anton,
a devilishly handsome, middle-aged Frenchman, radiated a smile my way, strode
over and embraced me, planting a kiss on each of my cheeks as a greeting.

“Asher, my friend! It is good to see you! Come, come,
there is a limousine waiting outside! Here, let my assistant take your bags for
you.”

He barked out a few orders in French to a thin, timid-looking
young man in a suit, who complied without replying and quietly took my
suitcases from me. We then started talking as we headed out of the airport
toward the waiting limousine.

“It has been a long time since you were in Paris, no?”

“Nearly two years, I think. How have you been, Anton?”

“Splendid, just splendid! Well, you know about the
business—we've been emailing about that. We are desperately in need of an
innovative PR campaign which will, how do you Americans say? Light a fire under
people's asses?”

I laughed. “I suppose we might say that, yes. Well,
you’ve come to the right place, Anton. Don't you worry, The Sinclair Agency has
a few ideas for marketing and branding your new perfumes. And, we're meeting
with the top translation firm in Paris tomorrow to ensure that nothing is lost
in translation.”

“Yes, yes, do not worry, my friend. I have no doubt
that you can make things a great success for my new line. It is just that, this
year, you know, the competition has been so strong. We really need a
competitive edge—that's why we had to go to the best.”

“And, we will not fail you, Anton; I guarantee it.”

“Well, anyway, this a concern for tomorrow. We French
do not like to mix business and pleasure. And tonight, we are not doing
business. Tonight, we are celebrating your return to the city of love, of
passion! Tonight we will drink and be merry, my friend.”

I laughed and clapped him on the back before climbing
into the limousine. “That sounds excellent, Anton. Let’s get that celebration
underway! The night is young.”

“That it is, my friend; that it is!”

***

“One more glass, my friend, come on! It is the finest
forty-year-old whiskey around! Surely, you cannot say no?”

I drank the last sip of whiskey currently in my glass,
with the thumping bass from the music outside rumbling my insides with its
volume. At least here, in the VIP room, it wasn't as deafening as it was in the
rest of the nightclub.

“I don't know, Anton. We have a lot of work to do
tomorrow morning, and I'd like to visit a few museums, as well. Doing all of
that with a hangover maybe would not, uh, be such a great idea, ya know?”

Anton frowned as he drank the last of his whiskey. “My
friend, when were you last in Paris? It was two years, no? Come on; it would be
a sin to end the night this early. You cannot go back to your hotel now.
Besides, there is someone I want you to meet.” He pulled out his cellphone and
saw a message waiting for him. He read it and then looked up at me with a
cheeky smile. “And she has just arrived here with her friends. It would be very
rude to leave now, my friend, very rude, no?”