Page 3 of Billionaire Boss's One Night Stand

“I can’t wait for you to get here!”

“Me too.”

She sighed, noticing my glum tone. “Uh-oh. Let me guess. Becca was giving you her usual shit.”

I nodded, not sure if she could see the gesture on the video with the angle of my phone in the holder on the dash. Hailey and I became fast friends in college, and we’d stayed in touch over the years. She was all too aware of how vicious my sister could be.

“Loren, trust me. You are going to do great here.”

I nodded again, letting her pep talk lift my spirits. She was just that bubbly, bright kind of person who could always make the mood lighter by sheer force of her peppy will.

“Even if your boss might be an ass.”

I smirked. “After dealing with my sister? Ha. Bring it on, Mr. Richards.” I might not have had a long résumé to rely on, but I did have a lifetime of experience in dealing with an antagonistic downer.

She hooted and clapped, applauding me. “I believe in you, girl. You’re going to do great here. I know it.”

Lowering my sunglasses from the top of my head, I squinted through the sunshine piercing the clouds. It felt like an omen, the light after the darkness. And just like that, I decided to believe in myself, too.

Hours later, I reached my apartment. And then another few hours later, I got everything moved in. Even though the process was long and daunting, a stubborn sense of excitement gripped me.

I’d taken a leap of faith, and I was here, ready to finally start my life on my terms—after I slept. Moving was exhausting even on the best of days, but over the weekend, my nervousness gnawed on me.

This was such a big change, so many changes at once. Hailey came over to welcome me, and that helped, but come Sunday night, I felt too antsy and anxious to relax. Tomorrow was the big day. I’d start my new job, and I let the idea of going out to celebrate grow on me.

I could haveonedrink. I could explore and see what was around me here. I could move around. Hell, distracting myself with something to do would be better than pacing alone in my apartment. I’d already put everything away, and now I was… listless.

“One single drink,” I whispered to myself, wishing Hailey were free to join me on this spontaneous idea to go out. “Just one drink to celebrate.” After all, it wasn’t every day that I would leave home and strike out on my own like this for the first time.

I checked my summery outfit in the mirror one last time, then I rode the impulsive urge to go out and celebrate. I left my apartment smiling, so damn happy that I was taking charge of my life and doing what I wanted.

Nothing will stop me from being happy here, I promised myself as I stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Nothing and no one.

2

MATT

Ileaned back in my chair and tossed my phone to my desk.

Seeing good news was a heck of a way to end the workday. Actually, todaywasn’ta workday, or it shouldn’t have been. Not many were in the office this Sunday afternoon, but I’d needed to tend to a few things. I always needed to deal with work, but wrapping up my work with the good news I just read really felt good. It felt promising.

Those posts about our rival being dropped from a highly sought-after client could be like a boon for us.

“I’m just saying, it wouldreallybe good if Gammon chose us now that they fired DuPont,” John said. My friend wasn’t thoroughly up-to-date with client acquisitions. Why would he be, as the head of HR? However, he was one of my oldest and closest friends, and even he was aware of the long-standing rivalry between Richards and DuPont.

“But it’s no guarantee.” I pointed at my phone, where I had been scrolling through the facts that Gammon Industries, a mega corporation, had let go of DuPont LLC. “They dropped them from one PR campaign, citing dissatisfaction, but they are still hiring them for a couple of other accounts.”

John shrugged. “Smaller ones, though.” He couldn’t hold back on a grin. “This is a huge opportunity, to have them shopping around and considering us at all.”

I nodded, stacking my hands behind my head. The diagonal angle in my chair put a kink in my lower back, and I hated the reminder that I, once again, was sitting at the office too much. I put in a lot of hours. As one of the highest department managers, I had to be a workaholic. That was all my grandmother had raised me to be, anyway. Still, a better balance between my physical health and productivity had to be possible.

If I could get Gammon as a client, that’d be the pinnacle of my productivity…

“Yeah, but have you looked at what they’re shopping around for? What they want a new branding for?” A slight cringe crossed my face. I couldn’t help it. I liked to think I could sell anything to anyone. No matter how good my persuasive skills were, there was no denying I had zero experience or knowledge about baby products.

“I will admit that specific line of products is not your, uh, forte,” John admitted. “But that doesn’t matter. You’re a natural at marketinganything.” His smile widened as he stuck a finger up to emphasize another point. “And this new hire starting tomorrow will help tremendously.”

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