Page 39 of Forbidden Boss (Manhattan Billionaires)

Tugging at my tie, I tossed it aside and stripped off my jacket. It was too warm in here. Too stifling.

I hadn’t been able to think straight since Nikki had told me she’d been kept up by another man. Before I realized she was teasing me, I’d wanted to turn the car around, tear through her apartment, and find whoever it was that had shared her bed—and end him.

It was an itch under my skin. An urge I could scarcely resist.

But that was crazy.

It was just because I was worried about this stupid scheme in the first place. I didn’t actually care if she slept with another man. It wasn’t like we were together. Not for real. I was just paranoid about this whole thing blowing up in my face. I’d made headway with Wilbur Monk for the first time in months, and I was antsy about anything that could make it fall apart.

Yeah. That was it.

Except when she’d laughed at that prick Dean Garrett’s jokes one too many times, I’d wanted to throttle him too. His eyes had lingered on her lips, her breasts, her mile-long legs, and I could see what he was thinking by the look in his eyes. Then he’d had the gall to actually ask her out in front of me.

I should have gotten up and left right then and there.

But.

Nikki was right. The whole reason I’d hired her was for this exact reason. She softened my potential clients so I could come in for the kill. She made it easy to cut the tension. She made me look good.

And though she’d only been in the position since the beginning of the week, I already knew that she was better at her job than I could have ever expected. She charmed men and women alike. She found topics of conversation and navigated them with ease. She laughed easily and made people feel good about themselves.

Last night, at the gala, I’d found myself actually falling for her charms. She made me feel good about myself just by leaning into me slightly when we walked, or giving me that little side-eyed glare whenever I said something she didn’t like.

And I almost went and ruined it by kissing her in the elevator.

Except I didn’t just want to kiss her. I wanted to tear her clothing to shreds and take her against the wall. I wanted her to understand that she belonged tome. That she was mine, and I wouldn’t tolerate anything less.

A knock on my office door brought me back to the present. I washed my hands and walked out to the main room in time to see Cole poke his head in.

“How’d it go?” He was asking about the lunch meeting.

“They’re in,” I said.

Cole whistled. “Between that and the Monks inviting you down to Grenada, seems like your little investment is already paying off.”

I grimaced. “Yeah.”

Cole frowned. “You don’t think so?”

“I’m just not sure how long I can keep this up,” I told him, and it was the truth. There was a reason I kept myself to myself. I’d learned from a very young age that I was on my own, and that was how I’d made myself into a success.

Now, a week into having this woman at my side, I was panting after her like never before.

This wasn’t me.

Besides, I didn’t like lying to my clients. I hadn’t said anything directly untrue, but I knew Monk and Garett and all the others inferred something more about my relationship with Nikki.

This had to end before it got too complicated.

“After we sign the deal with Monk, I’m terminating her contract,” I told Cole.

He rubbed his jaw with his forefinger, nodding. “You might want to wait a little while so it doesn’t look like you pulled a bait and switch on him.”

“I’ll come up with some excuse. We grew in different directions. Went our separate ways. It was amicable. Something that makes us both look good and doesn’t raise any red flags.”

“If that’s what you think,” Cole said.

“You don’t?”

---