Page 25 of Billionaire Boss's One Night Stand

Brad laughed once, the wise ass of us. “Damn, man. Can’t you take a hint?”

“No, he can’t,” Eli teased.

“Loren’s not interested,” Rupert said, the trio of them seeming just as annoyed as I was to constantly tell Tom to stop hitting on me.

I glanced at Matt, who remained quiet.

Because of course, he did. Other than that one time he told Tom to leave me alone, he didn’t speak up.

More than once, I'd wished that he’d step in. That he’d intervene and ward off Tom like he had with that drunk at the bar. He hadn’t hesitated to stand up for me then. But now, he seemed not to care at all if I was peeved with his worker. Actually, it seemed like Matt abhorred me, not in any mood to be my savior again.

Because Tom’s harmless, right?He wasn’t groping me or being overly lewd. Eventually, my rejections and lack of interest would speak loud enough for the message to sink into his head.

As I headed home, though, I wondered if it would always be like this, in one way or another. A grumpy, elite, rich guy for a boss and a forward, pushy coworker hoping to mix business with pleasure.

I liked my work. I was enjoying myself with the tasks I completed. Whenever we had ana-halight bulb moment as a team with a new idea coming to us because we approached something at a different angle, it was the best reward.

But the men here? I debated whether I was cut out for pushy men in the city.

I yawned—again—as I unlocked the front door to my building.

Back home, everyone knew everyone else and there simply wasn’t any motivation to try hard with the same old. Only when someone new moved to town—which wasn’t often—did anyone get aggressive with their attention and try to flirt.

I was a people pleaser at heart. It was both my blessing and curse. When I wanted to find volunteer work, it was a great connection, but when it came to my parents and my sister, it was a hex, the feeling of being obligated to make them happy.

From day one, I struggled to appease Matt. He was determined to see me as the enemy, always there to argue with. Convenient to bicker about details with. Available for him to glower at.

I had no idea why he had to hold a grudge against me. It couldn’t have been because I was bad in bed. He’d enjoyed himself that night.

It wasn’t because I slacked on the job. I put in long hours and never quit.

At first, the surprise of seeing each other on that first day caused some awkwardness. But almost a month later, he was determined to keep me squarely in the category of women he couldn’t stand.

And the worst part of the conundrum was how badly I wanted to get his approval. Deep down, it had to be another element of my people-pleasing effort. But when I compared the one-night stand, sensual, and needy Matt with the stern, rigid, hard ass boss at the office Matt, I couldn’t reconcile between the two.

I thought about him in my downtime. I dwelled on what I could’ve done wrong when I ate dinners by myself. And Iworried and fussed about what was so horrible about me to deserve that cold of a shoulder from him.

Because I miss you.

It was so dumb to yearn for what had only lasted hours, but the longing to have Matt grew more intense every day that he dismissed me. He’d made me feel so treasured, so worthy and special that one night, and I wished I could experience bliss and peace in his arms again.

After I prepared my leftovers, I stared at the plate of Chinese takeout and felt my stomach turn. It tasted wonderful last night, but now, as I willed myself to eat something, nausea filled me. Cramps gripped my stomach.

I can’t let this damn stress get to me.

I couldn’t allow Matt the power to ruin me like this. It was supposed to be a random fling, for God’s sake. I wasn’t supposed to have the chance to get to know him in another setting, even if he was a hard-to-please authority there.

Ever since I started on his team, I felt more and more tired. A general, inescapable fatigue took over me daily and nightly now. While I could chalk off being more tired than usual to the stress of moving, settling in, and getting my grounding at a new job, I wished it could settle.

“Oh, it’ll pass,” I muttered aloud as I set my food back in the fridge. I highly doubted it’d be any more appealing tomorrow, two days old, but I wasn’t in the mood to push myself to eat right now.

Maybe I can add some antacids to my diet?

Because it didn’t matter how tired I was or how funky my stomach felt. Iwouldpower through this. I had to, because I was determined to prove them all wrong. I would not fail in this opportunity to show that I could strike out on my own and make my life a good one.

I’d show Matt that I wasn’t some new girl on the team who’d wind up distracting them all. I’d convince him that I was there to focus and work, not be an “issue”. Tom was getting too persistent, but I was confident that not giving him my attention was the most honest way to let him give up hope on me.

And I’d be damned if I let my exhaustion and stress get the better of me to the point I’d consider surrendering and moving back home. That was the very last possible resort, and I wasn’t veering in that direction at all.

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