Page 18 of Heartless Boss
No, it isn’t even like that. Those feelings are dead and gone. And okay. I’ll see you when you get here.
PA, Underwood Banking
From: Elizabeth Tanner
To: Gia Gallagher
Subject Re: Re: Re: Re: Hot-ass Roommate
It’s okay if you are, Gia. You can’t close yourself off to every guy you like. What kind of life is that? I know we agreed not to talk about he who must not be named and that night, and I get you’ve been to therapy, but I want you to be happy like you were before it all went down. Sometimes I miss the carefree Gia.
I don’t respond to her message. I close the email and start to sort out Gunner’s calendar for next week.
That night robbed me, and I don’t want to think about it. The slapping, the alcohol in my system, me lying on the cold floor and not being able to fight because I was too weak. It wasn’t my fault, at least that’s what my therapist told me, yet I can’t help but blame myself because maybe I should have never gone out.
A lump forms in my chest, and I swallow hard. If only I could go back in time and change what happened, I would’ve never gone to that party. Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have to struggle every day.
As soon as my lunch break is over, I get Gunner’s notes ready for a conference call.
* * *
I sit in the chair in front of Gunner’s desk. Yeah, I’m not ever sitting on his couch again until it’s drenched in bleach and sprayed down with holy water. With an iPad in my hand, I clean out his emails and sort out his files while he sits at his desk and types a proposal to a shareholder.
The air conditioner pumps out cool air, making my skin break out in a million goosebumps like a rash.
We haven’t really talked much about anything but work for the last three weeks because our work hours have been super crazy since I told him about me living in foster care, that I was an orphan. So I don’t know what he thinks about it. It’s hard to open up to other people. But Gunner radiates a vibe where you can talk to him without judgment.
“You want to play pool once we leave here?” he asks.
Keeping my eyes trained on the screen, I feel his beautiful eyes on me. “No offense, Wolf, but now that I can afford Netflix I’d rather catch up onThe Office,” I say as I hit the delete button on a file on the screen.
“You watchThe Office?”
I tear my eyes from the screen and stare at his face, my cheeks flushed. He has a wolfish look to him, despite having bags under his eyes. Sprouts of auburn hair decorate his chin. I actually prefer men with beards. “Do you have a hearing problem? I just said that.”
Ignoring my snide comment, he says, “You didn’t peg me as a person who likes comedy shows.”
“You didn’t peg me as Mr. Save-a-Damsel-in-Distress, yet here we are.” I stand from the black chair and tuck the iPad under my arm. “You need anything else?”
He leans back in his executive chair and uncuffs his designer cufflinks, loosens his brown tie. “Netflix and chill?” His voice is husky.
Is he asking me what I think he’s asking? I might not have had a boyfriend for almost a decade, but I know what it means. Izzy has done it before with some of the guys and women she’s dated, and I can’t believe he would ask me that. Well, that’s a lie. Gunner puts the capitalWin whore. Even though I want him to jump my bones, and I can’t help the way my body responds to him, and the thought of us sleeping together makes me wet as the ocean, I can’t act out on those thoughts. He’s tempting, too. It’s already hard enough living with him, trying not to want him.
“Gunner.” My voice cracks like an egg. “I’m not having sex with you.”
His eyes dilate. “Time the fuck out.” He creates aTwith his hands. “I didn’t ask you to fuck.”
I glance out the window. The sun is setting behind the tall buildings, and white fluffy clouds float in the baby-blue sky.
Why is he being so nice to me?
For the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around it. “Why?”
“Why what?”
I tear my eyes from the breathtaking view and glare at him. “You want to hang out with me? What’s your angle?”
“There’s none.”
