Friendly warning: your “assistant” is using you for an easy job, and your business partners all know it and are laughing at you.
What the fuck?
I read it over again, rage filling me and flushing my cheeks with hot heat. I looked at the sender’s email again, trying to make sense of it or find some clue as to who it might be. But it was impossible. I hit the “reply” button, ready to confront them, but stopped myself from typing. Giving them a response would only embolden them. Whoever it was.
I shut my laptop and slid it away from me like it was poison. I lay back on my bed and stared up into the darkness. Someone wasonto me and Juliet, and the thought made my stomach sink into the boxspring of my bed. I thought we had been so careful, up until tonight.
And tonight had beenincredible.
But now it was all ruined.
If this person was real and was really onto us, it would be bad. Really bad.
My reputation would be ruined. The press would have a field day with a scandal like this, ruining me. The business deal from today would fall through the cracks, along with potential business deals in the future if everyone thought I was a sleazeball CEO. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let all my hard work go to waste. As much as I couldn’t stop thinking about Juliet, maybe it was time to take Will’s advice and keep my distance. If only I had taken his advice sooner…
Chapter 21
Juliet
I woke up to the blare of my alarm, giving me its third and final warning to get the hell out of bed. I groaned as I rolled over and hit it with a good whack of my hand, silencing it. I had snoozed long enough. Even though I would have loved to stay in bed for another solid four hours, I had to go to work. Not usually a place I would want to be after maybe four full hours of sleep, but the thought of Chester being there gave me a little more incentive.
I could not believe we had sex in his office last night. Twice.
It was just as good as I had built it up to be in my head, if not better. The risk was worth the reward, even though I had been slightly paranoid the cleaners would somehow catch an earful over the loud humming of their vacuums. We had kept it quiet.I could still feel Chester’s finger against my lips, moving as he moved, his hips rocking into mine.
I stretched out in bed and let out a satisfied sigh, then peeled the sheets off me and set my feet on the shag rug below my bed, the softness tickling my toes. I glanced one more time at that devil of a clock and determined I had just enough time for a shower, a coffee to go from my own kitchen, and a swipe of lip gloss.
With my travel mug in hand, I hailed down a cab down on the curb, while attempting to button my blazer with the other hand. Quite a feat for being slightly hungover and exhausted…and sore in all the best ways. The ride to work was thankfully quick and I was surprised to have arrived five minutes early. I truthfully could have just slept there, but with no extra clothes, it would have raised some questions.
As I strode for my office, I saw Chester’s door was closed, but the light was on. I pursed my lips slightly. His door was never closed this early in the day, as his meetings started later, and we liked to exchange a little flirty greeting when either of us arrived. In my own office, I took a long sip of coffee and checked my lip gloss, the only makeup I had time for, before grabbing my iPad. Every morning, we went over his schedule for the day, and the butterflies in my stomach were quick with anticipation to see him.
I knocked on his door softly.
“Come in,” his muffled voice came through the door.
“Good morning,” I said in a sing-song voice as I walked into his office, where we had just been ravaging hours before. I looked out the window to the morning view of Manhattan, looking for any trace of us and what we did against it last night.
“Morning,” said Chester gruffly, not looking up from the papers in his hands.
Not quite the greeting I was expecting. Maybe something had happened with the government deal he had told me about last night. I brushed off his cool greeting and took a seat across from his desk.
“I have your schedule for the day,” I said, sliding over the iPad, making sure to give him a good view of the new lace bra I had bought last week.
He barely looked up before putting a hand up. “I’ve already looked it over,” he said.
“O-Oh. Okay.” I nodded.
Never has this man ever gone over his own schedule for the day. It was like he needed someone to hold his hand through it. Up until this point, I thought it was an excuse for us to have more time together, be it all of five minutes.
“Will that be all?” he asked coolly.
“Um…yes. I guess that’s all,” I said, hating how my voice shook with the hurt that was constricting my heart.
Chester’s eyes were cold and had barely graced my own for more than .5 seconds until they were back on the paperwork in his hands.
“Is everything okay? Did something happen with the deal?” I asked, sliding the iPad back toward me before clutching it against my blazer. I felt foolish for trying to get his attention with a new bra and an extra button undone.
“The deal is fine,” he said, now looking at his computer, his tone dismissive.
