Page 46 of Billionaire Boss's One Night Stand

18

MATT

Because I wanted to talk to Loren, she made herself unavailable and hard to get to. Of course, she did. That was how things went between us.

Monday came and she wanted nothing to do with me. The rest of the team noticed. When we split to delegate tasks, she jumped at the opportunity to go with Rupert and go over notes. Then later, after lunch, she volunteered to work with Brad in his office on something she hadn’t really dealt with yet.

We all had our specific tasks. I catered to everyone’s strengths and weaknesses so we’d work as the best team possible. But it was clear on Monday, even Tuesday and Wednesday, that she was going out of her way to avoid being near me.

It’s because of how we left things, you moron.The last time I saw her, I had my face in her pussy. Licking and sucking, then lapping up her cream. Unzipping my pants and slamming into her had been my last thought that evening at work, but this week, that seemed like a fantasy, an impossibility that would never happen again.

Sure, she had to be embarrassed. Tom walked in on us, after all. Loren and I knew it was a forbidden tryst at the workplace, but she was really taking this avoidance thing too far.

The more I thought about it, though, we had no reason to be embarrassed about anything. Well, it was wrong to try to get togetheratwork, but if we could talk and figure out how to be together outside of work, there wouldn’t be anything to be embarrassed about. We were all adults. And yeah, coworkers sometimes got together. Workplace romances weren’t unheard of.

Tom was the only outlier that threatened to derail any chances of us getting together without issue. The moment he told someone that he caught us in an incriminating position, a peaceful start to the relationship would be over.

He hadn’t told anyone yet. John wasn’t waiting to speak with me about a complaint from him.

Instead, he resorted to glowering at me, then her. When he wasn’t giving us beady stares, he was snarky with all of us, but especially me and Loren. Rupert, Brad, and Eli noticed too, because they’d put Tom on the spot and asked why he was being such an asshole.

Fortunately, he didn’t tell the rest of the team about what he walked in on. But that, again, seemed to be a decision ruled by ulterior motives.Badmotives.

I tired of seeing her aloof and acting so distant around me. When we were in that one smaller conference room where she’d kissed me, I looked at the chair I had sat in with a longing to have another hot moment with her. But she paled and seemed more tense and clumsy, as if the table held terrible secrets. Shelookeduneasy, and it bothered me that something that had felt so right and so good between us could now make her cringe.

Regardless, I couldn’t handle this waiting game. I refused to. I needed action to happen. I would talk to Loren. Or Tom. Orsomething. We had our big meeting with Gammon tomorrow. It was our second meet with them, and the stakes would be higher. They were interested in us thus far, but after this gathering, they could be more informed about staying with us or leaving to shop around after rejecting the direction of our pitch.

“I hope everyone wakes up on the right side of the bed tomorrow,” Brad quipped at the close of Wednesday’s work.

He emphasized looking around the room, noting each person who hadn’t gotten along well today. All of us seemed off. And that wouldn’t do with the upcoming meeting. This wait had gone on long enough.

Thursday morning, I broke down and decided enough was enough.

“Loren,” I said loudly so she and Eli would hear me when I popped into his office. She’d chosen to “hide” with him this time, saying they needed to readdress some of the details for this afternoon.

I was cutting it close, talking to Loren just an hour and twenty minutes before we’d need to be at the Gammon building for the meeting, but it would be better if she and I were on the same page and smoothed out the awkwardness that had been dogging after me since we kissed.

“A word,” I said. Apleasealmost slipped out of my mouth, but I caught myself in time.

She turned toward me but didn’t make eye contact. “Now’s not really a good time, Mr. Richards.”

“Nowisan ideal time to talk,” I replied through clenched teeth.

It stung that she’d want to hide and avoid me to escape the bliss of being with me, of kissing me. But I got it. She was new here. We weren’t supposed to matter to each other. Maybe I was crimping her style or she wasn’t ready to settle with just one person.

Maybe she was just coming out of a bad breakup. Maybe she wanted to explore the city as a single woman. She’d emphasized wanting to celebrate changes in her life, but maybe she didn’t see including me as being one of them, despite how quickly she caved to want me.

She set her lips together in a tight line and followed me out of the room.

I didn’t wait. Tugging her by the hand, I positioned her in an empty hallway, further from where anyone could see us through glass walls or walk by and overhear what we said.

For the last four days, I'd rehearsed how I would make my case. That I wanted a lot more with her than a forbidden quickie in the conference room.

“What’s wrong?” I hissed as soon as I had her cornered. She sulked at me, almost pouting that I’d dragged her out and put her on the spot like this. So short and petite, she was absolutely caged in and trapped.

I put my right hand on the wall and stepped closer with my left foot, making sure she didn’t try to dodge me and slip away.

The position messed with my mind. It triggered my libido too.Everythingshe did triggered me to want her more and more, and I gave up wondering if there was any stop to this addiction. I didn’t want this drugging pull to her to stop. It made me feel alive. Wanted. Adventurous, even. This antagonism running beneath the surface between us was too much of a thrill to want it to slow down or stop.

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