Page 12 of Her Temporary Boss (Slade, Inc.)

At quarter ’til five, Morgan’s nervous energy was at a boiling point. She hadn’t seen or talked to Mr. Slade since the “incident”, except for a short, all-business email he had sent her, asking for an extra copy of something.

She looked down at her keyboard, pretending that she was thinking or getting ready to type something, but really she was just waiting. After several minutes in this stalled position, she heard Mr. Slade exiting his office. Morgan held her breath as she sensed him coming toward her door.

“Ms. White, have a good weekend.”

His voice seemed to wrap around her and attach itself to her. The thought of being away from it and this man for the next two days had a spike of gloom rising. Morgan turned her gaze on him as she stood from her desk. She tried not to look nervous, but she got the feeling that she couldn’t hide her true self from this man.

“You, too, Mr. Slade.”

He smiled back at her.

“Sir? About earlier … I wanted—”

He cut her off with a hand in the air. “No words are necessary, Ms. White.”

His smile then grew much more mischievous. Morgan nervously twisted her fingers together while slightly bouncing on her toes. Should she feel rejected? Relieved? Embarrassed? She said then the only words that came to mind.

“Thank you.”

Chapter Eleven

“Dude, loosen up.” Mike slapped Connor on the shoulder.

He looked up from his whiskey and gave his friend a weak smile. True, there was nothing really wrong with him at the moment. His health was good, his business was great, and he had all the creature comforts he could ever want, but there was a hole inside that wouldn’t allow him true peace.

This hole wasn’t always there, however. It was like a cruel joke that was sitting just on the edge of his mind. A joke he couldn’t tell or laugh at. Connor lifted his glass in a cheers motion. He took a sip while Mike took a drink from his beer mug.

“Man, those two girls at the bar have been giving you the ‘fuck me’ eyes for the last ten minutes. Why don’t you go say hi to them?”

“I’ll pass.” Connor brought his glass up to his mouth again.

“If I had your body, face, and money I’d be bouncing my way through all the babes here.”

Connor snorted as he set his glass back down. If only it was that easy. It was true that he could probably find someone here that would let him work them the way he really wanted, but it wasn’t the same. Picking up a drunk chick and asking her if she would let him whip her, it wasn’t the same chase.

“Whatever, man. I’m going to take a piss.” Mike took one more long drink before leaving the tall table.

Connor’s gaze fell on the women in question. Both wore huge smiles and one gave him a small wave. He simply nodded at them, hoping they wouldn’t take that as an invitation to come over. He was mistaken.

The girl who had waved sauntered over to his table. He watched her exaggerated hip movements, obviously trying to put as much sex into her walk as possible. He exhaled roughly as she came to a stop next to him.

“Hi. I like your shoes.”

Connor tried not to roll his eyes.Could she not think of anything more interesting to say?

“Thanks.” He took a small drink and watched her expression. She was certainly waiting for a compliment from him. He wasn’t going to give one. This conversation was already painfully too long as it was.

“What are you drinking?” She gave him a huge, toothy grin.

“Whiskey.” He assumed she was waiting for an offer to buy her a drink. Again, it wasn’t coming from him.

There were several uncomfortable seconds of the woman giggling and swaying and Connor trying not to seem cruel and annoyed. Finally, she spoke again in a flirtatious tone.

“Well, um, me and my friend are going to an afterhours party. Would you like to come with us?”

Just then, Mike returned to the table. He had a huge smirk on his face. Mike gave Connor a “go get ’em” wink. Connor grabbed his glass and emptied it before standing.

“Sorry, I can’t, but my friend would love to.” He pointed at Mike before stepping away from the table. “Mike, call me later.”

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