Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (36 page)

"But I married Tommy. I agreed to
love and honor him until death do us part," I said. "If I back out on
that, what does it say about my word?"

"I get it," she said nodding
thoughtfully. "But you were how old when you married him?"

"Nineteen," I said.

"A baby," she sighed, shaking
her head. "Nineteen-year-olds should not be allowed to get married, but
that's beside the point. The point is, did you envision the life you're living
now when you married him?"

"No, but..."

"No, but nothing," she said
fiercely. "I'm not saying you bail on people just because things get hard,
but get real, Emily. Tommy has a serious drinking problem that is just getting
worse, and he won't even acknowledge that he has a problem."

I nodded as I sipped my wine in silence.
She was right, but I wasn't sure that leaving Tommy was the answer.

"But if I leave him, I leave my house
and everything," I whispered. "I'll have to move in with my mother
and start over."

"There are worse things that could
happen," she said with a dark look on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, I'm just saying, it could
be worse," she replied waving me off. I knew there was something she
wasn't telling me, but I didn't get the feeling she wanted me to ask, so I let
it go.

"Trish, I don't know what I'm going
to do," I said quietly.

"I know," she replied. After a
few seconds, she looked up at me with a big grin and said, "But whatever
you decide, at least you know there's a drop dead gorgeous billionaire out
there who is lusting after you!"

We both dissolved into giggles.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

Austin

I
spent a good part of the night tossing and turning, thinking about why Emily
had rejected me and feeling foolish for not seeing the signs before she'd said
no. Making it even more frustrating was the fact that the analysis was
interrupted by the replaying of our kiss and my memories of what it felt like
to hold her body in my hands.

The natural progression of these images
steered my imagination down the path that led to me running my hands over
Emily's naked body and hearing her moan as I teased her nipples with my tongue
and let my hands roam lower. I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the
image of what I imagined she would look like writhing beneath me as I drove her
to the edge of desire. In my imagination, she was soft and beautiful as she
looked up into my eyes and I imagined myself poised above her ready to-

A knock on the door pulled me out of my
fantasy. Completely irritated, I got up out of bed, walked to the door and
yanked it open.

"What do you want?"

"I've got your breakfast, sir,"
said the nervous room server from behind a cart loaded with covered dishes.

"Oh, well, come in then," I
muttered as I stepped back and let him enter.

"Would you like me to set the table,
sir?" he asked, nervously looking around the room.

"No, just take it over to the couch
and set it up," I replied, waving my hand in the direction of the couch.
He wheeled the cart over and set everything up before moving back toward the
door.

"Is there anything else, sir?"
he asked.

"No, that's good. Thank you," I
said, then looked over and added, "Sorry about before."

"No worries, sir, it's early and I've
dealt with much worse." He smiled then bowed and exited the room.

I dug into my breakfast as I skimmed the
morning news for information about the pending strike. It seemed that the crew
was angry about the rumor that Marks Enterprises might be importing workers
from the United States in order to circumvent the 2009 Fair Work Act and lower
the cost of labor on the project. We had no intention of doing this, and I
wasn't sure where the workers had gotten their information from, but I was
going to do my best to allay fears and stop the rumors. I knew that if I
didn't, it would be disastrous for the new hotel and casino and even worse for
the company. My phone rang just as I was about to hop in the shower.

"Morning, boss," said Bax.
"Or should I say g'day mate?"

"Oh God, not you, too," I
groaned. "Spare me the fake Aussie crap and get to the point. I've got to
be out the door in thirty minutes."

"Very well, I've tried to track down the
origin of the rumors and have had zero luck," he began. "I'll keep
working on it."

"Good. What about Daniel and his
henchmen?" I asked as I poured another cup of coffee and carried it into
the bathroom.

"That's getting interesting," he
said. "There is something going on in Berlin, but I can't quite put my
finger on it. I sent a couple of our guys to poke around and see if they could
dig up any dirt."

"I hope you didn't send members of
the young executive club to do that," I said. "Daniel would smell them
a mile away and pull up shop."

"How dumb do you think I am?"
Bax asked. "Wait, don't answer that."

"Bax, my friend, I have never once in
the entire time I've known you thought you were dumb," I laughed. "A
total jackass, maybe, but never dumb."

He laughed loudly on the other end before
saying, "Well, thank you, I think. What time do you meet with the labor
reps?"

"An hour from now," I replied as
I looked at my watch lying on the bathroom counter. "I need to get
moving."

"Austin, don't get dressed up to meet
with them," Bax warned. "It won't win you any favor."

"There you go acting like a jackass
again," I chided him. "Seriously, Bax, we grew up with guys like
these, I know what I need to do to talk with them."

"My bad," he replied. "I
just don't want to take any chances, you know? We can't lose this company to
Daniel, Austin."

"I know, I know," I muttered.
"Nothing like adding a little pressure is there, Bax?"

"Fine, I'm just reminding you what we
have at stake here," he said.

"Thanks, I've got it under control,"
I replied.

"Good luck, man," he said before
disconnecting.

I knew Bax was right, but I didn't need
him reminding me of how much we had riding on this one meeting and how much we
stood to lose if I couldn't get the laborers to see that we weren't out to
screw them over.

I leaned over and turned the shower knobs
on full blast and stepped under the water, letting it pound the top of my head
as I thought about how to approach this meeting. Once I was done, I dried off
and decided not to shave. I pulled on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt followed by a
navy blue hoodie and a pair of well-worn work boots. I wanted the guys to see I
was one of them, even if I was the guy in charge of a billion-dollar empire.

But
for how long?
I wondered as I grabbed my wallet and
sunglasses and headed out the door.

As I headed across the lobby toward a
waiting car, I heard a familiar drawl, "Well, if it isn't Austin who
people call Austin."

"Hi, Honey," I smiled. "You
look lovely this morning."

"Well, aren't you a charmer!" she
laughed. Her hair was pulled up off her face in a soft ponytail with her
sunglasses perched on top of her head and her face looked fresh and clean, not
like the glamour queen she'd been the night before. She was wearing a
coral-colored shift dress that covered everything but her shoulders and was cut
high up her thighs with a deep v in the front and back. She looked young and
beautiful.

"No, I just speak the truth," I
laughed. "What are you up to this morning?"

"I'm off to meet Granny Vanny for
breakfast and then a little shopping," she told me as she glanced at the
screen of her phone. "Except that I don't think Granny is up yet!"

"She must be quite the partier,"
I said, secretly wondering how Honey was up and looking so fresh after last
night's drinking when I still felt woozy and tired.

"Oh, we girls have a strong
constitution," she drawled. "But Granny is usually up bright and
early. She must be adjusting to the time change. But enough about me, darlin'.
Did you have a talk with your young lady?"

"No, not yet," I admitted
sheepishly. "I've got some business to take care of before I address that
issue."

"Darlin', I'm going to give you a
piece of advice Granny gave me," she said as she reached up to take my
face in her hands and raise my chin so that I was looking her straight in the
eyes. "Do not put off saying the things you want to say, you never know
when time will run out and you don't want to live with the regrets."

I nodded solemnly as I looked at her. She
smiled warmly, stroked my cheek, and then stood on tiptoe to lightly kiss my
lips. "You're such a good boy," she said. "Now go take care of
your business, darlin'! I have to find Granny and get her up and ready to
shop!"

"Thank you, Honey," I said
before turning toward the door, and I'll be damned if the woman didn't smack my
ass and laugh.

#

I
arrived at the job site just as the crew was starting to pull their tools and
materials together. I waved down the foreman and asked if I could meet with the
crew before they headed off to their individual assignments.

"Austin Marks," I said as I
offered my hand.

"Good to meet you, Mr. Marks. Buck
Tucker," he said. Buck was a tall man with a white-blond crew cut and skin
like tanned leather. He hadn't been the first choice as foreman when we'd hired
him for the job, but after the original foreman wound up in ICU after having
heart attack during the first week, we'd tapped Buck as his successor. He'd
been working construction for over thirty years, and there wasn't much he
hadn't seen – or done – in that time.

Buck nodded and then put two fingers in
his mouth and loudly whistled at his assistant. The younger man nodded and went
to gather the guys.

"What's the main problem, Mr.
Tucker?" I asked, fairly sure I'd hear the answer I already knew was
coming.

"The men are up in arms about the
fact that they think they're going to lose their jobs, Mr. Marks," Buck
replied. "There's been a good deal of talk about replacing them with an
American crew who will work for less money and not be beholden to the rules and
regulations set forth in the Fair Work Act."

"Any idea where this information is
coming from?" I asked.

"Not a clue," he said as he
shook his head. "Though, there's something telling me that it's a
plant."

"What makes you say that, Mr.
Tucker?"

"Well, I've been in this business for
a long time, and I know the difference between a furphy with teeth and one
that's nothing but gums," he scoffed.

"Do you think the crew will identify
where they hear the rumor?" I asked.

"Buckley's chance," he said.
"These are working men, Mr. Marks. They've got families to feed and they
need to make a quid."

"I understand," I nodded.

"Do you now?" he smiled. I
stared back at him feeling like he was issuing a challenge I knew nothing
about.

"Actually, I do, Mr. Tucker," I
said evenly. I wasn't going to challenge him, but I also wasn't going to back
down. I knew from growing up in Brooklyn that there was a difference between
being the boss and having the respect of the crew. I was the former, but didn't
yet have the latter – and Tucker knew it.

"Well, then, give it a burl and see
what the boys say," he said, still smiling.

I nodded and stepped forward to address
the crowd of men standing in front of me holding coffee cups and wearing bright
yellow helmets.

"Gentlemen, I'm Austin Marks, CEO of
Marks Enterprises, and I'm here to address your concerns about the rumors that
have been flying on this site," I began. I raised my voice to make sure
that even the guys in the back could hear me. "I want to assure you that
we are not – I repeat, not – bringing in replacement crews from the States or
anywhere else, for that matter. Whoever started the rumor has knowingly passed
along false information and isn't affiliated with Marks Enterprises."

A murmur ran through the crowd as I spoke.
One of the guys in back yelled, "Pig's arse! You come in here spouting
your corporate line and expect us to buy it? Rack off!"

"Boys," Tucker warned with a
look and the guys settled down for a moment.

"Look, I know you're skeptical and
you have every reason to be," I said. "But I swear we are not going
to import any new work crews, and I will do everything within my power to
ensure that you feel safe and secure as you work on this site with this
crew."

The crew milled about grumbling under
their breath as Tucker stepped forward and said, "Look, mates, the man has
said his piece and he's got some good oil, I believe, so let's give him a
chance to come good, okay?"

"Right," came the smattering of
responses as the men walked away toward their crews.

"Don't take it too hard, Mr.
Marks," Tucker said as he watched his men get to work. "They're a
tough group, but if you do them right, they'll be loyal to you."

"Austin," I said. "Call me
Austin, Mr. Tucker."

"Then I guess you can call me
Buck." He smiled as he held out his hand.

"I'm going to do everything I can to
make sure I deliver exactly what Marks Enterprises promised, Buck," I said
solemnly. "None of these men will lose their job, I can promise
that."

"I have no doubt, Austin,"
Tucker said with a smile. "You seem like a man of your word."

"Will you let me know if anyone hears
anything about where the rumors started?" I asked.

"I reckon," he replied.

"Thank you, Buck," I said then
walked back to the car and headed back to the hotel, wondering how I was going
to staunch a rumor that seemed to have no origin.