Page 21 of Billionaire Boss's One Night Stand

“I need you to stop this. Whatever the hell you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything. I’ve given Tom no encouragement,” I stated firmly. I’d be damned if I was already in trouble on day one. “I literallyjustmet him. Scold him. Not me.”

“Don’t tell me how to lead my team.” He pointed in my face.

“Don’t tell me that I’m the problem.” I pointed right back at him, feverish to act on this threatening but useless gesture. Why did it feel so good to point at someone like this? It wasn’t as if daggers could shoot out of my fingers. And I wanted them to. The idea of fighting back with Matt would settle this score he was determined to start between us.

Why he somehow saw me as the enemy, I had no clue. But I wasn’t backing down.

“Are you here to work or not?”

“Yes.” I lowered my hand and fisted it so I would better resist the urge to grip the front of his shirt and… and…

Not kiss him.

To slap him. Shove him. Something.

“Clearly, you’ve got issues with the coincidence that we slept together. Had I known who you were and that you’d be my boss, Ineverwould’ve given you a second glance.”

His eyes turned flinty as he slid his jaw, making the muscles clench.

“I’ve already forgotten about last night,” I lied. “Let’s move on, shall we?”

I gestured at the glass door. Once more, the four teammates in the conference room hurried to look away, caught watching us.

“I’m here to work, nothing more,” I said, glad that I was stern enough to sound snarky, but not bitchy.

8

MATT

Loren claimed she was here to work. Nothing more.

The problem with her claim was that we’d already surpassed the concept ofnothing more. Together for that one amazing night last week, I’d had it all with her in that hotel room. Meeting her felt like kismet, but realizing I was her boss felt like a cruel twist of fate.

“Nothing more?” I grumbled aloud, content with being able to voice my criticism in the privacy of my office. I couldn’t glare at her outright. Anyone could see. But no one would hear me.

I wasn’t okay with her dismissal, her icy rebuke and sassy insistence to “move on” from our one night together. That was the whole allure of a fling. No strings. No follow-up expected.

Yet, with every passing day, I wanted something else with her.

Something more.

I wanted Loren. Badly. And it didn’t help that she stuck to her word.

That first day, when I couldn’t stand watching Tom be close to her, I hated the possessiveness that burned within me. She thought she could put me in my place. Not once did she back down. In any other circumstances, a brand-new employeeshould have no business talking back to her brand-new boss, but she had. Loren stayed firm, not taking an ounce of crap from me.

And I couldn’t help but admire that gumption. I didn’t care for pushovers.

Then, when she snapped back and determined that she was here to work, she went right ahead and did so. Scouring over reports, browsing through data, and speaking with Rupert, Brad, or Eli, she was already proving to be a dedicated worker, careful to pay attention to details.

And I would be an idiot not to appreciate that drive. Hard workers were worth their weight in gold.

But when she moved around and seamlessly fit into the office environment here, I felt hesitant to know I had to… share her, for lack of a better term. I knew her first, without knowing who she was. Seeing her adjust to everyone proved how much of a sweet people pleaser she could be. When she was kind and not pushy with Brad, the older but hip wisecrack, she showed that she respected his impatient nature. When she was observant and listened closely to Eli, the nerdy geek, she demonstrated how easily she could get along with even the quirkiest introvert. Then with Rupert, the shy nontalker, she could amp up her smiles and really show him that she wasn’t a threat.

Loren was a sweetheart—to everyone but me.

Maybe it’s a case of wanting what I can’t have?I came on strong that first day, bewildered that my new employee was the “stranger” I wanted to fuck again. No one could blame me for being shocked.

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