Page 57 of Grumpy Boss in Love

I scoffed. He didn’t even deny sleeping withmodels. My usually confident self wanted to run away and hide her body in a potato sack. Had he compared me to those gorgeous, slender supermodels the entire time he rocked my world last night? I hated that I cared so much.

“Well, what is your type,Prince Westwood?” I’d never stop calling him that. He was the ruler of his empire after all.

Elliot leaned against the counter, still super close to me, and folded his arms over his chest. Those smoldering eyes of his—that could easily make a woman soaked between the legs—dipped to my chest, lower, and back up. “Curvy half-pints,” he hummed.

My vigorous egg-whipping slowed as I turned to gape at him. His lips curled upward when my mouth opened and closed several times, but no flippant retort emerged. This side of Elliot was unexpected. He’d let his guard down completely around me, it seemed. He was blatantly flirting with me.

My small, satisfied smile finally blossomed, and I jumped into teasing flirtatious mode. “Well, then, I suppose my type is arrogant, grumps who can make me cum multiple times.”

Elliot’s eyes widened and desire came to life in them. His throat bobbed and his nostrils flared as his gaze dropped to my mouth. He lowered his head toward me, and my breathing quickened as I eagerly awaited his kiss. His mouth was so close to mine that I felt the heat of it on my lips.

My eyes started to close, but they flew open when I heard a chirpy, “Good morning, newlyweds.”

Eleanor waltzed into the kitchen, wearing a broad smile. Elliot straightened, his jaw clenched. I caught his pained expression as he spun around to face the counter. My eyes widened when I glimpsed the massive boner he was trying to hide.

Eying the bulge at his crotch, I had to purse my lips to hold back my giggle. He shot me a pointed look, and I almost dissolved into laughter. Poor thing. But then I saw the amusement gleaming in his eyes and I smiled. I liked it when he didn’t take himself too seriously.

22

ELLIOT

Hurt flickered across Ruby’s face, and I was immediately swamped with guilt. We were in my office with my desk between us, conducting business as if we hadn’t spent three glorious nights indulging in each other.

Those steamy nights at the Meadowbrook Guesthouse seemed like an eternity ago when it had just been days. After getting back to Chicago, out of Ruby’s calming and fun company, I had a moment of panic. Alone in my apartment, overthinking things like I usually did, I decided that I’d gotten too close to her and shown her too much of myself.

The impulse to protect myself, because I had trust issues, kicked in full force. I’d avoided Ruby for days only to call her to my office this morning to demand that she sign an updated contract with another NDA. It was business just as our fake marriage was, and I thought it would make Ruby feel more secure about our deal.

Before we left the Wilsons, they’d begged for Ruby and me to visit them again. Together. That meant that she’d have to go beyond what I originally asked of her so it was only fair for me to offer her more than what we’d settled on. I hadn’t anticipated the kick in the gut I got from her disappointed expression.

“Elliot, you didn’t have to update the contract. I don’t mind visiting the Wilsons with you again. I really like them so you don’t have to offer me more money…” She huffed. “And wasn’t the first NDA enough?” she asked, gazing at the new contract that my lawyer had drafted.

“Well, it wasn’t as thorough as… It didn’t…”

“Cover us sleeping together?” she asked, sad eyes challenged me.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I said, “Look, Ruby, it’s nothing personal. I didn’t expect us to cross a certain line…”

Still, she stared at me with those eyes that were clouded with hurt.

“You have to understand that…” What was wrong with me? Suddenly, my brain couldn’t operate to articulate a simple explanation.

Maybe it was my guilt robbing me of logic because I knew damn well I’d hurt her feelings by presenting her with another contract. We’d gotten closer, emotionally, there was no denying it. During our time at Meadowbrook, I had glimpsed affection in her eyes when she looked at me. I wasn’t sure if she had meant for me to notice or not.

I suspected Ruby had gotten used to the idea of usas a little more than friends at least, so she wasn’t expecting another NDA which was evidence of my lack of trust.

I sighed and got up just to get away from her disappointed stare. It affected me in ways I’d never allowed anyone’s judgment to affect me before. I wanted to tell her that in my world, this was just what men like me did to protect themselves. The number of times I’d encountered women who had ulterior motives when it came to me was too many. As a Westwood, I’d always had to be careful when dealing witheveryone.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I get it.” Picking up the pen on top of the legal-sized sheets, she scribbled her name on the appropriate lines and got up. “I should get back downstairs.”

“Ruby, wait.”

She stopped and turned around. As much as she tried to keep her expression schooled, I detected the slight wobble of her chin. I gawked at her like an idiot before finally speaking. “Is everything okay? You know with Caroline. Is she still giving you a hard time?”

Her eyes dropped to the floor, and she shrugged, meaning that Caroline was indeed still making her life hell downstairs. Fury burned in my gut. What was that woman’s problem? Then it hit me that my marketing manager had always been a pain in everyone’s ass. I just ignored it because I never had any interest in HR problems until it involved someone I cared about. Suddenly, I felt bad about not settingallmy employees’ comfort as a top priority.

It was like the ice block that encased my heart was melting. I gazed at Ruby. Because ofher,the world was starting to look different. Shaking myself out of my stupor, I opened my mouth to tell her I’d deal with Caroline but she already had the door open.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ve only got a few more weeks left.”

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