Page 5 of My Forbidden Boss

My lips twitch. I’m entranced. I tilt on the edge of a precipice too narrow to stand on and I’m free-falling into a place I’ve never been before.

“This job isn’t open to anyone off the streets,” Andrea says. I give Andrea the side-eye, wondering why she’s so hostile. My shoulders sag. They have to work together. If Andrea doesn’t like her, then there’s no point.

I’m about to send her away when her stomach rumbles. She clenches a fist over her middle and her cheeks flush pink. I see the bones of her shoulders that her blouse fails to hide. I override Andrea and overlook what Adeline stirs in me.

I’m a grown man. I’ll deal with it.

Even if it kills me being her boss.

“This job is twenty-four seven,” I say.

Her chin hitches. “I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.”

“I expect excellence,” I say.

Nothing changes on her face. No twinge, no second-thinking, no horror. “I’ll do my best.”

Her voice is even. She knows what it is to work.

I turn to Andrea and ignore the frost. I’ll soothe her out later. “Get Sophie Chambers on the line, then walk Adeline through her induction. I’ll be in my office. I’ll take the ten AM meeting in the boardroom this morning. Bring Adeline to the meeting, and you can both take notes.”

I walk into my office, determined to ignore the instinct to glance over my shoulder and search for Adeline. I sit in my chair, drag in a lungful of clear air, but it does little good. My head is filled with the girl.

No. Not a girl. A young woman.

Andrea sits her at one of the desks in front of my office. I have an unobstructed view of Adeline from my desk. She’s there every time I look up.

Chocolate to a diet.

Sin to the devil.

She sits and her breasts push against her too-big blouse and my mouth waters. The material doesn’t hide her high perky breasts, or the way I want to gorge on them. I adjust the uncomfortable press on my pants against my dick.

I rub my eyes. Fuck, I really didn’t think this through.

I catch glimpses of Adeline throughout the morning. She’s focused, a frown of concentration on her face throughout the induction programs all employees are required to take. My work is blown while I watch her.

A regular stalker. That’s me.

Not only am I a dirty old man with inappropriate thoughts, I’m a predatory boss.

I’m hitting new heights today.

The morning proceeds in a blur of calls, meetings and the strains of Adeline’s scent. I’m watching, unable to concentrate on any real task when Andrea takes a call. Her face falls and she glances at me through the window.

She comes in. Obviously, something has upset her. Her mouth pinches. She doesn’t like what she’s about to say. “Mr Chandler, I’m so sorry, but I have to leave work early.”

It’s four pm, but that’s early for her. She’s more than worked enough time in lieu to have a month off. “You can leave anytime you need, Andrea.”

“It’s my sister,” Andrea says. “There’s been an emergency and she needs me.”

Her sister is expecting and it hasn’t been an easy pregnancy. From what I understand, Andrea’s sister is on her own. “Can I help with anything?”

Her brow creases and she shakes her head. “I don’t know yet, but… it’s just that…tonight. I won’t be able to make it.”

She looks as destroyed by her sister’s emergency and missing tonight’s gala, as if the two are equal parts disaster. “Don’t think anything of it. I’ll be fine on my own.”

She was meant to attend to help me as an extra set of ears. I hate galas, but I can’t miss the one tonight. Not with the potentially lucrative building project I want for Blue Sky on the table.

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