Page 26 of Boss Abroad

What the—“Melanie.” She carries on babbling. “Melanie! What the hell are you talking about?”

Melanie is the picture of discomfort as she takes a couple of deep breaths. “Okay, straight to the point.” She adjusts herself in her seat and says, “I've been made aware that you are a sex worker who had an encounter with Mr. Liam Gunn last night, and today you’re here for Mr. Max Sinclair.”

Gray bits of my brain matter can now be found on Melanie’s office ceiling. I’m what?

“So I must insist you sign this non-disclosure agreement before you leave my office. I've been authorized to pay you a quite generous sum for the inconvenience, but I also need to ask you to leave the premises immediately.”

I’m sitting, mouth agape, trying to assimilate everything Mad Melanie has just spilled.

First thing. Liam? How the hell does she know I was on a date with Liam yesterday? And why does she think I’m a sex worker? Oh, and she also thinks I’m Max’s hooker? It takes me more than a minute to gather my thoughts. What the actual fuck?

“Melanie. I’m a doctor,” I state, as definitively as I can, to eliminate all doubt. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but I know damn well who I am. “My name is April Hadden. Doctor April Hadden. I’m Mr. Sinclair’s physician. I don’t know why you’d think I’m a sex worker, but this is obviously a misunderstanding.” I’m too overwhelmed to process all the emotions running rogue through my body, but confusion is taking the lead.

“Oh, April.” She looks to the sides, up, anywhere but at me, desperate for this conversation to be over with. “Please don’t make up any more lies. This is hard enough already.” She lowers her eyes and her voice. “Mr. Gunn himself saw you here and told me he hired you as his escort last night. There’s really no use in pretending.”

Wait. “Mr. Gunn, as in Liam? The same Liam that I had a date with last night? Tall, perfect blondish hair, bearded, God’s-gift-to-woman-Liam. That Liam? Just so we’re clear.”

She swallows a laugh and makes her best attempt at a straight face. “Yes, that Liam. Mr. Liam Gunn, the club owner.”

“And that same Liam thinks I’m an escort?”

“Yes, my dear, he recognized you, so there’s no need to keep up the doctor charade.” The poor woman is all sympathy, with a gentle voice and a hand on her chest. “Again, you’ll find no judgment in me.”

I laugh hysterically. I look around for hidden cameras. OMG! Is Callie behind this? Did someone slip something in my coffee and I’m hallucinating? There’s got to be a better explanation than the one I’ve just heard.

I’m laughing so loud and so hard that tears come running down my cheeks.

To rub salt into the wound, Mad Melanie looks at me like I’m the crazy one.

I’m still cracking up like a maniac when it hits me. I had the best night of my freaking life and he thought I was a prostitute?

All humor leaves my body at once. I stop laughing, dry my face and look poor Melanie dead in the eyes.

There's no use in wasting another breath trying to sway her. Instead, I open my purse, check my makeup in my compact mirror, reapply some setting powder, shut it close and speak without an ounce of emotion, resting bitch face on full display.

“Melanie, please call Mr. Gunn and tell him I’m not signing anything before I speak to him. Pick up the phone and call him so I can hear you say just that.”

Now she can and should be scared. Now I’m positive I look like a certified crazy woman.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

april

Melanie does as she’s told and two freaking security guards come to take me to Liam’s office. No, the joke of being escorted is not lost on me. But being followed by these two huge men must mean that I’m considered that much of a threat, so it kind of boosts my self-esteem and I walk tall and proud, chin held high.

I knock on his door and wait for him to ask me in. One of the goons opens it and Liam says he’ll call if he needs them. Is he expecting me to make a scene? I’m fuming, but won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing how distressed he’s gotten me.

“Hello, Liam.” My voice is soft and a sweet smile plays on my lips, but I’d die of poisoning in a millisecond if I bit my tongue by accident.

He looks so different in this business version of his. So closed off, he’s almost unrecognizable. Not a bit of the Liam I got to see last night is sitting in front of me.

“Hello, April.” He doesn’t stop what he was doing before I entered. Liam keeps his eyes locked on his computer as he types away. He can’t even be bothered to look up from his throne. “If you’re here, I can assume you’re not happy with the sum you’ve been offered to sign the NDA. What’s your number? I don’t have the time or energy for this.”

I plop down onto a chair he isn’t polite enough to invite me to sit in. “Why not? Did I suck both cum and energy from your body last night?” His eyes finally snap to mine.

Great. Now I have his attention. He looks impressed, but angry too.

“And now you’re ready to suck Max’s, right?”

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