Page 21 of Flirting with my Billionaire Boss

“Where are you from?” I ask.

“I grew up in Savannah, Georgia, but my parents are both from Puerto Rico. What about you?”

“I grew up all over the world, but I claim Blue Mountain as home.”

“Did you go to a private school growing up?” she asks.

“No. I had a tutor who taught all the boys in our family. We traveled a lot, and it gave us more freedom. My dad needed to travel for the business, closing real estate deals across the world, and my mom didn’t want to be away from him or from us. So we went with him.”

“Was that hard as a kid?” she asks, her eyes soft with concern.

“Sometimes,” I admit. “But I loved traveling and exploring the world.”

“I love traveling too. I did quite a bit of it in my marriage to Markus. That was one of the good things about being married to him. Not much else was good,” she admits. “I’m sorry to be so negative about it.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s part of your life. I’d like to get to know you better and what you’ve gone through.” Because I did that with all my assistants, right? I’m getting myself into trouble. This woman has a lot on her plate. She probably doesn’t want to get romantically involved with someone else. I need to keep my distance before I take things to a place where I can’t take them back.

* * *

The next couple of months pass quickly. Callie and I make an excellent team, and we’ve traveled around the world by now. She was able to meet with my lawyer and get her divorce finalized. From what I understand, her ex put up a bit of a fight but relented in the end. For someone who wanted that much power, he gave it up easier than I would have thought. Although, my lawyer is the best of the best.

I gaze across the water from my comfortable position on the lounge chair on my yacht. Skipper perches at my feet and keeps watch over the sea. It’s June now, and we’re on a seven-day cruise of the Caribbean with my parents and my brothers, Langston, Ashton, Brensen, and Kaison.

I’m working from the boat, so I asked Callie to come along. At least that’s the excuse I give myself. I think the real reason may be because I don’t want to be away from her. My brothers have all met her by now, and they adore her. Brensen and Kaison have even teased me about flirting with my assistant, but somehow, it wasn’t very funny at the time.

“You know we gave Skipper his name because of how he rules this yacht,” I say to Callie.

“I can see that,” she says. “How does he use the bathroom when he’s on the boat?”

Kaison looks over to her from where he’s leaning against the railing. “He has a little patch of fake grass that he uses. It’s over on the other side of the ship.”

A dolphin jumps out of the water and dives back in, back arched. Skipper goes nuts barking.

“You show those dolphins who’s boss,” Ashton tells him.

Skipper jumps up onto my lap and licks my face. “Gross,” I say. “I just saw you licking your hindquarters with that same tongue.”

“Oh, come on,” Ashton says. “He just wants to show you some love.”

“Let him lick your face with his crotch mouth,” I say.

Ashton sits up in the chair next to me and smiles. “Nah, I’m good.”

I laugh. “See? You don’t want him licking your face either.”

“For such a cute dog, he sure is gross,” Callie says.

“What? You don’t like him peeing on your shoes?”

“I still can’t believe he did that. It was my first interaction with him too,” she says.

“He’s warmed up to you some. He just needed a little time,” I say.

“I’ve warmed up to him too,” she admits. “He’s not so bad once you get to know him. I still can’t believe he gave Martha that sprained ankle though.”

“At least she’s doing better now,” I say. It hadn’t taken her long to get back on her feet. It’s a good thing, too, because I couldn’t take much more of Callie’s cooking. I made every excuse I could to take us out to eat. Somehow, I think she’s planned that all along. Like she cooked badly on purpose to get me to take her out. If that’s what she’s been doing, it’s been working for her.

“You look like you’re out of sparkling water,” my mom says coming up to us.

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