Page 18 of Triplet Babies for My Billionaire Boss

Chapter Eight

Danielle

Rodney was right. We shouldn’t do it again. We shouldn’t fuck again. It hurt like hell when he’d said it to me. There was only one thing worse than rejection, and that was feeling like it hadn’t been good enough. Of course, I knew that wasn’t the issue. There was no way it hadn’t been spectacular for him, not if it had been spectacular to me.

Still, being told that once was enough felt like a slap in the face. Maybe I was just being sour about it because I wanted more–a lot more. I wanted as much as I could get of him. Now that we had crossed that line, now that I had gotten a taste of the forbidden fruit, I wanted it all.

At first, I hadn’t thought anything would happen. Rodney had always been my dirty fantasy, but the sexual tension had been bearable then. Now, I knew what it was like to be with him, to have him worship my body before taking what he wanted. To be denied now would be pure torture.

Which was why I wanted to do it again. I was hooked now. I understood Rodney’s reasons, and I agreed it couldn’t be a regular thing, but how much could one more time hurt? One more time would make me happy. Then, if he really didn’t want me anymore, I would back off.

How could I make it happen?

I thought about Lisa and what she would say: tease him until he can’t help but take you. Tease him until he can’t say no.

It could work. After all, Rodney had made the first move that night. I hadn’t kissed him, and I hadn’t dragged him off the bedroom. That had been all him, which meant there had to be more where that had come from.

If the sexual tension in the elevator yesterday had been anything to go by, this wasn’t nearly over for him. Which meant I had something I could work with.

On Tuesday morning, I wasn’t early the way I had been since I’d started working at Berry Software. I arrived at eight on the dot so I wouldn’t have to ride in the elevator with Rodney. I couldn’t stand the sexual tension if he would end up rejecting me. I couldn’t stand being that close to him if it wouldn’t lead anywhere.

I waved at the lady at the front desk, who gave me her usual expressionless face, and I stepped into the elevator with three people I didn’t know. We rode together in silence, not knowing anything about each other, not saying a word, and I was aware of how flat and empty the atmosphere was.

I stepped out of the elevator on the top floor and walked to my desk in Rodney’s office. He glanced up, and I lifted my hand in a wave. He jerked his chin up in acknowledgment, and I walked to my desk to start the day. I felt Rodney’s eyes on me for a moment, and I willed him to stare longer, but by the time I sat down behind my desk, his eyes were on the work in front of him again.

When I had been at college with Lisa, I had noticed that the harder it was to get me, the more men were interested. Men seemed to love what they couldn’t have. When Rodney had taken me to his bedroom, I had gone willingly. Maybe that had been half the problem. The fun was over. There was no pursuit. If I played hard to get, being stand-offish to Rodney instead of throwing myself at him, maybe what he wanted would be the one thing he couldn’t have.

Me.

Less than an hour later, Rodney called me into his office.

“Could you get me the contact details for a few people?” he asked, handing me a list of names. “It’s in the files somewhere.”

“Sure,” I said. I turned toward the door.

“Thanks,” Rodney said. I glanced over my shoulder to see if he was staring. He wasn’t. He didn’t call me back, either.

At lunch time, Rodney came to my desk.

“I’m going out to lunch,” he said. I expected him to ask me to go with him. I was ready to decline. Rodney didn’t ask. Instead, he said, “You can take your hour, but when you’re done, I need you to look at those files that were delivered earlier. I need to set up a meeting, and I need you to keep minutes.”

I nodded. Rodney nodded, too, and turned away from me, leaving the office. He had been strictly professional, talking about business and nothing more. How was I supposed to play hard to get, to reject him when he wanted me, if he was pushing me away first?

He couldn’t be this serious about not wanting to do it again. Surely, having a friendly conversation with me wouldn’t be a problem? We were working together, after all. I had hoped I could change his mind by being distant enough that he wanted me again, but he wasn’t taking the bait. Instead, he was doing the same to me, not allowing me to be desirable by pushing him away.

When it was my lunch time, I pulled out my cellphone and texted Lisa.

Up for a drink? I need to vent.

She replied almost immediately. Anytime.

Maybe Lisa would have better advice for me. She was the queen of playing hard to get, and she went into relationships and one-night stands with the exact same attitude: unattached. Guys thought she was irresistible, and that was exactly what I needed.

I met Lisa at the same bar we always went to when we wanted to catch up or ask advice.

“Please tell me this is about a guy,” Lisa said. “I need a bit of drama to feed on.”

I laughed. “Are you bored?”

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