Page 30 of Billionaire Boss's One Night Stand

I went to bed that night, and the next few, agonized over how I should interpret my enigma of a grumpy boss.

When it finally came time for my dinner “date” with Hailey, a chance to catch up with her outside the Richards building over lunch hour on the days our schedules lined up, I was relieved to have a sounding board.

But when I arrived, I talked myself out of the ludicrous idea of telling my friend—and coworker—that I’d slept with my boss. That one-night stand felt like a naughty, dirty secret that no one should ever learn about. The idea of having some insightful girl talk would’ve been helpful, but I couldn’t risk it. Hell, I was half worried I could get fired if someone found out. It was as though we’d planned it. The chemistry of even meeting each other… We kept it anonymous, with no names or details for that one fling.

She was already at the inexpensive but cute-looking Italian restaurant. “There you are!” She waved me over, cheery and happy as ever.

“Am I glad to see you.” I sat after we hugged. “A person who smiles,” I teased with exaggerated mock shock. “Imagine that!”

She laughed lightly as I shook my head. “You know, evenIheard about today’s argument.”

“You did?” I raised my brows. Matt and I had made a habit of bickering. At first, I thought that our inability to see eye-to-eye was a strength, that I could point out his flaws and he could let me be aware of mine and we could both somehow improve ourselves.

Now, I was convinced he pissed me off however he could just to get a rise out of me.

“Yeah, I was up on the executive floor getting some papers signed and I caught a bit of it.”

I growled, shaking my head again. “That man is… insufferable!”

“Hey, I did warn you that he could be a jerk,” she replied.

She had. When she first suggested that I apply for the job vacancy, she gave me a heads-up that the boss was known to be a grouch, a hot-headed person few liked to be around. And now I knew firsthand. At that time when I interviewed, though, I assumed I wouldn’t be hired to work with someone so high up. I anticipated being a lower employee, starting out at the bottom of the ladder to work my way up.

And I also know when and how he’snota grouch. In bed, holding on tight as I?—

I cleared my throat and hurried to sip my glass of water. Perhaps a drink of something cool could counter the heat of the blush and stop it from taking over my face with that naughty, forbidden thought about Matt.

“I was kind of surprised when word started to spread at the office about you two fighting. Notfighting,fighting, but being argumentative.”

I furrowed my brow, skimming the menu and looking for the cheapest and simplest meal. Money was tight. New York was expensive, even with the basic studio I was renting. I had to be frugal. With my stomach still funky, on and off uneasy, I didn’t see a point in ordering something pricy if my appetite wouldn’t last for it.

“Why? Because everyone else just nods and does as he says?”

“No. And it doesn’t sound like you’re being disobedient or anything.”

“I’m also not nodding along and doing what he says just because.”

“You shouldn’t. I’ve just heard that you give him as good as you get.” She smiled. “That bubbly, happy-go-lucky approach you have sure fools a lot of people into assuming you could be a weak pushover, someone to walk all over.”

I smiled. “Nope. Not me. I’ve had enough experience with that where my sister is concerned.”

She sighed. “Has she been bothering you still?”

“Nope.” I let thePpop in that one-word reply. “I blocked her number a month ago when she called again to belittle me.”

“Good. Good for you. You don’t need that negativity in your life.”

“Yeah, now that I’ve gone no contact with my first nemesis, I’ve got another one to bother me.”

“Matt’s your nemesis?”

I cringed, hating how catty that sounded. “He is a good boss. He’s a hard worker, and he has high expectations…”

I just hate that he has shoved me out like a thing of the past.I didn’t know how we could make a relationship work, if he was at all interested. We worked together, and there had to be rules on how company employees couldn’t get together.

It was his rejection, I supposed, that stung. Particularly because I missed that connection we had for such a short time.

“And he’s got a lot of pressure. I heard that Wendy?—”

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