Page 23 of Billionaire Boss's One Night Stand

That total transparency concept hid nothing up here.

“Tom seems…”

“Aha.” He nodded.

“So, she has said something?”

“No. I think she’s the stubborn, independent kind of person to let things roll off her back and not get to her. And that she’s not likely to ruffle anyone’s feathers too soon.”

Not true.I got the hunch she’d love to slap me when we started into an argument.

“But Hailey Wallace, one of the women in Accounts Payable, is an old friend of hers. She was chatting with my assistant the other day and mentioned that so far, Loren loves her job. But Tom is too flirty.”

I rolled my eyes. “And he can’t take a fucking hint, either.”

“Is he being inappropriate? Harassing her?”

“Not yet, as far as I can tell,” I admitted. I didn’t speak up any further. His assessment of Loren was similar to mine. She did seem like someone to ignore a problem rather than report it. And it did appear to be nothing more than nonstop flirting, which she didn’t engage in.

But if I were to sic HR on Tom, what would I really be doing? Eliminating competition from going for the woman I couldn’t get out of my mind, but couldn’t have?

Besides, Tom was an excellent asset to the team. While he could be immature and act up like a classic goof, eager to be a comedian, he was an expert with graphics. He was a visionary at heart, and he was often the one who really connected our ideas with the end result of what the graphics department could make magic with.

“Hmm. Well, you’ll keep an eye on the situation,” he said.

Oh, I was keeping an eye onher, all right.

“But you’re fitting in with her, too, aren’t you?”

Stop asking me about how Loren and Ifit.

I shrugged. “She stays late and seems productive.”

He rubbed his lower lip, pensive. “What about these episodes of you two bickering that I’ve heard about?”

I flipped my hand in the air. “It’s nothing.”

Just… our love language, maybe.

“She’s not a pushover.”

“Uh-huh.” He arched a brow. “I’ve heard that you and Loren don’t exactly… well, how to put this…?”

Don’t exactly have a chance of hot sex again? Yeah, that sounds about right, unfortunately.

“You don’t see eye-to-eye on petty things.”

Again, I shrugged. “That’s just the nature of brainstorming.”

“Is it, though?” He peered at me, studying me so closely that I wondered if he could see through me and realize the truth.

I couldn’t stand Loren just the same as I admired her. And desired her.

John was the very last person I’d fess up to, though, because this wasn’t a matter of my meeting a woman and wanting more than a no-strings-attached fling. Loren was becoming a critical component to my reaching my goals. She would help getGammon as a client, and that would prove my readiness to be CEO.

“Yep,” I answered, wishing I’d spoken slower and not so forcibly.

Loren would not be the reason I lost this chance. She couldn’t be a distraction and ruin my concentration.

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