Page 35 of Triplet Babies for My Billionaire Boss

Chapter Sixteen

Danielle

It was time for Lisa and me to catch up again, to go out for drinks, and to talk about everything that had been happening in our lives. There was no better time for us to meet up. I needed to talk to my friend and ask her advice.

“I’m so glad we have these nights out,” I said when we sat in our usual spot with our usual cocktails before us. “You have no idea what a tough time I’ve been having.”

Lisa reached for my hand, squeezing it. “You should have called me to meet sooner if you needed me, honey.”

I shrugged. “It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride to be honest.” I sipped on my straw. Alcohol was exactly what I needed tonight.

“Tell me what’s going on,” she said. “You know I’m always here.”

I took a deep breath.

“You know I slept with Rodney, right?” I started, and Lisa nodded. “Well, we did it again. The seduction thing you explained to me? It worked.”

Lisa grinned. “I told you. I know the tricks of the trade.”

I smiled sadly, nodding. “We agreed that it was the last time we would do it, before we did anything. Rodney is worried about how it might look if we’re together. He thinks he stands to lose a lot if it comes out, and I guess I understand where he’s coming from. It’s not exactly conventional.”

Lisa nodded. “You’ve never gone with the flow, though.”

It was true, but there had never been this much potential for trouble for doing something unconventional.

“We agreed we wouldn’t do it again, right? So there’s no reason for things to be difficult or awkward. I didn’t have an issue with it, even if I want to do it again. But he’s been acting so weird since then. He ditched work to avoid me, and since he’s been back, he’s been a total jerk.”

I explained to Lisa what he had said to me about my clothes and how he had threatened to take me to HR, even though what I had worn was never a problem before.

Lisa nodded, looking pensive. “I see what you’re saying. I think it’s the classic man-card problem.”

I frowned. “That’s not a thing,” I said.

“Well, I’m going to make it a thing,” Lisa said.

I rolled my eyes. “This ought to be good.”

“What I mean by that is that he’s trying to put his foot down to look big and in control. Maybe he feels like he’s not. So, he’s laying down the law, but he’s taking it too far. Do you know what I mean?”

I kind of understood her, and it made sense. Men were weird when their egos were involved. I wasn’t sure how this was about Rodney’s ego—I hadn’t been right while he was wrong—but I couldn’t see why else he would be acting like this.

“So, now I’ve been given a verbal warning about my clothes,” I said.

“Test it,” Lisa said, sipping her cocktail. Mine was almost finished, but she had barely touched hers. I guessed I needed the alcohol a hell of a lot more than she did.

“Test what?” I asked.

“His warning. See if he’ll follow through with his threat if you wear sexy clothes again. If he doesn’t, you’ll know he’s only trying to make it sound like he’s in charge.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand that part. He is in charge. He’s my boss.”

“The boss that fucked you. You’re equals in that regard, and maybe he’s trying to reestablish the pecking order.”

I groaned. “It sounds complicated. He’s a man. I don’t think men are that complex.”

Lisa shrugged. “I might be wrong, but I have to warn you, it doesn’t happen very often.”

She laughed at her own joke. I shook my head, but I couldn’t help smiling. I thought about the theory she was proposing. Could it be that Rodney was trying to look like he was in control of a situation he thought was getting away from him? Maybe. I didn’t know.

---