Page 20 of The Bargain

But what would happen after the ten years were up? How would I pay for Ronnie’s new facility and my mom’s assistance?

Well, if I were still with Sebastian…

No!

I would not think like that. Sebastian was not my personal fix-it-all.

I could do this on my own. Ten years was plenty of time to make improvements in my life, so I could afford Ronnie’s new facility and my mom’s improved support system.

Was I truly considering this?

I was.

God help me, I was.

If I were honest with myself, it wasn’t only about the money. Sebastian was right. If he wasn’t my boss and he had hit on me in the bookstore, I would have been on him in an instant.

But if I did this, no one could ever find out. My reputation would be ruined. People in the business world gossiped. Even after I found a new job, people would find out that I’d fucked the boss.

Plus, I loved working for Courtland Enterprises. I didn’t want to leave. The idea of being the CFO’s assistant didn’t exactly thrill me, but Declan Foster was a good, patient man who worked hard and was dedicated to Courtland Enterprises. I loved being Sebastian’s assistant, but if we were dating, I would still get to see him frequently.

I jerked my head up at a sudden knock on the doorframe of my office to find Kaylan standing in the open doorway, a smile on his lips.Shit!He was here.

“Good morning. Everything okay? You looked pretty lost in thought,” he said.

“Oh, yes. I…yes. Lost in thought.” I wasn’t making any sense. Time had flown by me. I’d managed to get only a fraction of my usual work done prior to Kaylan’s arrival. I hadn’t even gotten my coffee yet or finished compiling my notes for Sebastian’s meetings.

Shaking off my temporary brain fog, I got up from my desk and followed Kaylan to the coffee station in our small break room.

The top floor of the Courtland Enterprises building held a luxurious lobby filled with green leafy plants, colorful bouquets that changed with the seasons, and large comfortable sofas and chairs around coffee tables. At the end nearest the elevators was a large conference room that seated twenty-five people comfortably and two huge flat-screen TVs on the walls for presentations and web conferencing.

At the opposite end, after you walked through the lobby seating, you reached Kaylan’s desk. His job—other than assisting me with various tasks—was to greet anyone who tried to see Sebastian during the day. Even if they had a scheduled meeting or appointment, they had to get through Kaylan first.

Past Kaylan were two large offices—one for Sebastian as the CEO and the other for John Courtland, Sebastian’s father and the company’s chairman.

Just outside of Sebastian’s office, there were two smaller offices. To the left was mine. It was a modest size, but unlike Kaylan’s area, I had walls and a door, which allowed me to make private calls without anyone overhearing me.

To the right was a partially hidden office for Sebastian’s on-duty bodyguard, which was Carl most days. A push of a button could summon him instantly. There was an emergency call switch that alerted him hidden under my desk, Kaylan’s desk, and Sebastian’s. During my time in Sebastian’s employ, I’d needed to push it only once, and that was when a former employee had lost his shit after being fired for corporate espionage. It had been an ugly scene, and I prayed I’d never have to push it again.

We took turns making coffee at the Keurig machine and doctoring them up with creamer and sugar.

“Did you have a good weekend?” I asked, while wondering if adding more caffeine to my anxious jitters was wise.

Before he even answered, a broad, dreamy smile spread across Kaylan’s lips. Obviously, Kaylan had spent the weekend with his new boyfriend, Arden. “Yeah, Arden and I drove down to Red River Gorge and rented one of those cabins near the Daniel Boone National Forest. We spent our time hiking and checking out the different arches.”

“I’m surprised. From your expression, I thought maybe you spent the weekend in bed.”

“Well…” Kaylan cleared his throat, his smirk returning. “There was plenty of that, too.”

Kaylan had met Arden through a dating app that Sebastian had signed him up forwithouthis knowledge. It was lucky that Kaylan had matched with Arden for Valentine’s Day. The twohad been together for just over three months and were still in the hearts-and-rainbows phase of their relationship.

Was I jealous? Maybe a little. I’d gotten to meet Arden once when he’d popped by one afternoon to take Kaylan out to lunch. He was a sweet man who obviously thought Kaylan hung the moon, and I was happy for them both.

But did I have a shot at some of that same happiness with Sebastian?

The idea of dating someone as rich, handsome, and dynamic as Sebastian was mind-boggling. I’d always thought that rich people dated other rich people. They didn’t notice people like me who were scraping by, one bad day away from complete ruin.

“What about you?” Kaylan inquired, breaking into my wandering thoughts. “Do anything exciting this past weekend?”

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