Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (49 page)

Chapter
Fifty-Four

Austin

When
Emily walked into the lobby two hours later, I stood in stunned silence as she
crossed the room. She was wearing a dress that fit her like a glove in a shade
of green that I'd never seen before – she looked like an angel floating toward
me.

"Well, hello," I finally
sputtered. She laughed lightly as she looked up at me. "I mean, you look amazing."

"Thank you very much, Mr.
Marks," she smiled. "It's all thanks to you and Marion in La Belle
Robe Boutique. I gave her the secret code and she had me done up in no
time!"

"You look amazing," I repeated
as I stood back and took her all in.

"You said that already," she
stage whispered with a playful smile. "But I love hearing it as many times
as you'd like to repeat it."

"Wow, I mean..." I had been
caught off guard. First, because I knew I'd missed her, but I hadn't known how
much until I saw her in the lobby. Second, because she looked like a dream come
true. I pulled myself together and asked, "Are you hungry? I've got
reservations for dinner for us at eight, so I thought we'd stop and have a
drink at this little bar I know."

"I'd love to, Austin," she said
looking up at me. I reached down and took her hand as I led her to the car
waiting outside.

Once inside, I turned and looked at her
again. Her hair was loosely gathered and tied back in a low-ponytail and it
looked both sophisticated and casual. I wanted to run my fingers through it,
but I didn't want to frighten her, so I reached up and stroked her cheek with
my fingers.

"I've missed you," I said
softly.

"I've missed you, too," she
replied with a smile as she raised her hand and covered mine. "I'm so glad
I ran into you."

I had the driver take us to Le Sherry Butt
and drop us off. We looked a bit out of place in our dinner dress, but no one
said a word and I grabbed a booth at the back where I sat Emily down and slid
in next to her. I wanted to be as close to her as possible, but I didn't want
to scare her off. We ordered our drinks and while the server went to get them,
I looked at her again and smiled.

"Tell me what's been happening in
your life," I said as I reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair from
her face.

"Oh, wow. Well, that's a story,"
she said shifting nervously in the booth. "I don't know where to
begin."

"It's okay, Emily," I said
trying to reassure her. "You can start anywhere and you can tell me
anything."

"Anything?" she asked looking
into my eyes.

"Anything," I assured her.

"First, I have to apologize,"
she said looking down at the scarred wood tabletop. Her hands twisted nervously
in her lap and she shifted in her seat.

"For what?" I asked.

"For running away from Sydney,"
she said quietly. "I wasn't running away from you, I was running back to
try and fix my life so that I could..."

"Could what?" I asked as I
reached down and took her hand. "What were you thinking you could do once
you fixed your life?"

The server bringing our drinks suddenly
filled the silence that hung between us. He set them down and asked,
"Would you like anything else?" I assured him that we were fine and
impatiently waved him away. I wanted to hear what Emily had to say, but I also
dreaded it knowing that she might be trying to tell me that she'd reconciled
with her husband and that I wasn't part of the picture anymore.

"I thought I could end my
marriage," she said quietly. "I thought I could..."

"Emily, just say it," I urged.
"You can tell me anything."

"I thought I could end my marriage
and get back to you," she blurted in one rapid sentence. My heart soared
as I heard her say the words I'd been hoping to hear, but she quickly followed
it with, "But when I didn't hear from you, I thought you didn't want me
anymore, that I'd been a blip on your radar and that I should just let it go
and remember what we had as a nice little interlude in an otherwise
unremarkable life."

I felt my stomach lurch as she told me
about reconciling with Tommy and how they were trying to fix up the house and
get it ready for kids. There was something wrong here, but I wasn't entirely
sure what it was. I listened to her talk about life with Tommy and how he was
trying to get sober, but I could feel that something was being left unsaid.

"Emily," I broke in. "Are
you happy?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, are you happy?" I
repeated. "Are you enjoying your life and loving every day?"

"Honestly?" she asked.

"Yes, always honestly," I
nodded.

"No, I'm not," she replied with
a sad smile and then dropped her gaze to the table. She ran her finger over the
edge of her wine glass and then looked up at me. I was surprised to see the
tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm not happy at all, but I don't know what
to do about it. My mother says it's my duty as a wife to hang in there and
fight for my husband. She says that I made my bed, now I have to lay in
it."

"Emily, what do you want from your
life?" I asked quietly.

"I want to be a good person!"
she cried. "I'm not someone who just abandons people when they no longer
fit my idea of what life should look like!"

"I know you're not," I tried to
soothe her, but she was getting more worked up by the minute. "Emily,
listen to me, please!"

"What?" she said suddenly calm.

"What is it you want out of your
life?" I repeated. "For you and only for you."

"I want to travel," she said.
"I want to go places and see things and experience everything that life
has to offer! But..."

"But what?"

"But I want to do it with someone who
actually loves me," she said in a small voice. "Tommy loves me, but
he's never going to leave Vegas. He thinks that life in the house we bought is
going to be enough. Two kids, barbecues on the weekends, holidays with his
family close to home, all in that small little house on that small little
street in that small little part of the world."

"Are you going to stay?" I
asked.

"I don't know," she replied,
raising her glass and sipping as she reached out under the table and took my
hand. I was surprised by how hard she gripped it, but she didn't look at me, so
I wasn't sure if I was supposed to acknowledge her touch or not. I squeezed her
hand to let her know I was feeling the same thing, but I didn't pressure her
for anything else.

"Tell me something happy," I
said changing the subject. "Tell me something fun you've done in the past
few months."

"I met a man who was feeding the
pigeons by the Eiffel Tower today," she said smiling at the memory.
"He told me that I needed to be more like the birds and choose the good
parts of my life better."

"This is interesting," I said
thoughtfully.

"It made me think," she replied
as she turned and looked straight into my eyes. I felt like I'd been shot
through by lightening as I held her gaze. And an instant later, she leaned
forward and planted a light kiss on my lips as she whispered, "Come with
me."

#

Emily
grabbed my hand and pulled me down the dimly lit hallway toward the ladies
room. She pushed open the door and pulled me inside then turned and locked the
door. She smiled as she crossed the room, stood on her tiptoes, and wrapped her
arms around my neck.

"Emily," I said hesitating.
"Are you sure?"

"Shhh," she whispered as pulled
my head down and kissed me with an urgency that I'd never felt before. I
hesitated for a moment, then gave in and wrapped my arms around her and pulled
her tightly against my chest. She fit so perfectly against my body, and I slid
my hands lower and gripped her round bottom as I urged her lips apart with my
tongue. If we were going to do this here in this tiny little bathroom, I was
going to make sure she felt what I was feeling.

I kissed my way down her jaw to the soft
place on her neck, where I licked and teased until I heard her moaning my name.
There wasn't time for formalities, so I reached down and yanked the skirt of
her dress up around her waist and then lifted her up onto the edge of the sink.
I could feel her breath coming in ragged gasps as I slid my hand up her thigh
and teased the warm juncture between her legs before pulling her lacy panties to
one side.

"Oh, Austin," she moaned as she
looked up at me. I could feel how much she wanted me and I felt my own desire
straining against my pants. She reached out and opened them as I continued to
tease her. She momentarily fumbled with the zipper of my pants, and then with
one hard yank, she had it undone. Her hands moved quickly as she pulled out my
stiff shaft and began stroking it as she whispered, "Yes, oh yes,"
over and over again.

I positioned her on the edge of the
counter and grasped the base of my throbbing rod as I pulled a foil packet out
of my pocket and split it open. I quickly rolled the latex down my engorged
shaft before positioning it at the edge of her moist opening. I could feel her
pushing her hips forward as she tried to force me inside, but I smiled and held
back, enjoying the way I was holding her on the edge. I let my fingers slide up
and down in her wetness as I teased the hard little nub that drove her desire.
She moaned and then cried out as I circled it before pressing it with my thumb.

I looked down into her eyes as I buried
myself deep inside of her tight wet center with one deep hard thrust. She cried
out and gripped my arms as she gave in and together we found our rhythm. I
pulled back slowly and then thrust in hard and fast, her hips meeting mine as
she matched my pounding beat.

"Emily, Emily, Emily," I groaned
as I felt her tightening around my shaft and drawing me deeper inside while I
searched for a way to climb inside her body and become one with her.

"Austin, oh yes," she moaned as
she reached up and pulled my head down so she could devour my lips. I could
feel us both heading toward the edge of orgasm, so I sped up the tempo of my
thrusts and she matched me with every beat. My hands gripped her thighs tightly
as I pounded harder and harder pushing us closer to a shared climax.

"With me, Emily, cum with me," I
panted as my hips thrust forward again and again.

"Yes, yes, yes!" she cried as I
slipped one hand between us and stroked her hard little clit.

I felt her begin to tighten around me just
as I reached the edge and began to fall over the cliff. She cried out as she
wrapped her arms around me and pulled me to her. Her hips thrust forward,
inviting me to go deeper as I groaned and let go. I felt the rush of release as
I gave into the orgasm that enveloped us both.

As we clung to each other, still pulsing
and throbbing, I ran my hands down her back and pulled her as close to me as I
could. I felt as if we were one, but I didn't know if she felt the same way. I
wanted her to, though.

"Emily?" I whispered.

"Yes?" she answered.

"We have dinner reservations for
eight," I said and then rolled my eyes, wondering what I was doing.
"We should probably get cleaned up."

"Mmm hmm," she murmured in my
ear as she nipped at it, sending a wave of pleasure down my spine.

"Now, don't start me up again,"
I warned. "We'll never make dinner if you do that."

"And that would be bad because..."
she chuckled.

I pulled back and looked at her. She
smiled up at me with shining eyes that made me feel ten feet tall. I shook my
head and stepped back before helping her down off the counter.

"I should probably fix my
lipstick," she laughed as she looked in the mirror and wiped away a bit of
lipstick that had migrated across her cheek. "And you should probably wash
your face," she said looking at me in the mirror pointing to my lips. I
stepped in behind her and grabbed a paper towel as I scrubbed at the dark color
that had stained my lips.

"Ah well, forget it," I said
after a moment. "Let them think I'm a freak who likes to wear
lipstick."

"Or a man who just took advantage of
a lady in a restroom," she grinned.

"Hey, who took advantage of whom?"
I objected.

"I think we both did a fair job of
it, wouldn't you say, Mr. Morning?" she smiled as she looked in the mirror
and applied a fresh layer of gloss to her beautiful lips.

"Indeed." I nodded as I tossed
the towel into the trashcan and prepared to open the door. "Shall we go
have some dinner?"

"I'd love to." She smiled as she
turned and faced me.

At that moment, I knew Emily Warner was
going to be mine. What I didn't know was how long it would take.

Chapter
Fifty-Five

Emily

As
I packed my bags and got ready to go to the airport, I thought about my night
with Austin and how being with him made me feel hopeful that I could change my
life for the better. After our passionate encounter in the ladies room at Le
Sherry Butt, we got in the car and drove to Le Meurice where Austin had
arranged for us to have dinner on the terrace overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

The table had been set with exquisite
care. The small table was covered with a snow-white cloth and each place
setting had been polished to a high shine. There were small glass vases ringing
the outer edge on the far side of the table, and each vase contained rose
petals and a floating candle. When lit, the effect was a soft glow that cast a
warm light on Austin's face and left me feeling overwhelmed by his attention to
detail.

We dined on the finest freshly made
seafood and beef dishes as we drank vintage wine and talked deep into the
night. He told me more about his childhood, and I shared my dreams of traveling
the world. I even told him about how when I was young I'd pour through the
National Geographic
magazines that my
mother scrimped and saved for and cut out pictures of far off exotic places
that I hoped to visit one day. Austin smiled as he listened to me talk about
how I dreamed of exploring the markets in Marrakesh and then float down the
Nile on a cruise ship.

He reciprocated by telling me about how
he'd run the streets of Brooklyn with his best buddy, Bax, eating pizza and
hitting on girls. He said that they’d struck out more often than they’d scored,
but that they agreed that the fun was in simply trying.

As I listened to him talk, I felt like I
was listening to the other half of my soul expressing all of my deepest desires
and dreams. Everything about Austin felt right in a way that everything with
Tommy felt wrong. As we talked late into the night, gathering all the details
about each other so that we could replay them in the light of day, I looked at
Austin and just knew that things in my life had to change. I couldn't bear
living such a dull, dreary existence with Tommy. No matter how much I'd loved
him in the beginning, we'd grown in very different directions and now were on a
path to destruction. I knew I needed to go home and end things so that I could
start anew. I wasn't entirely sure that Austin would want to start anew with
me, but at this point, that wasn't the issue. My freedom was.

I tucked my travel case into my rolling
bag and zipped it up as I scanned the room one more time to make sure I hadn't
left anything behind. Satisfied that I had everything, I grabbed the handle of
my bag and headed to the elevator. I was scheduled to work the flight back to
Los Angeles and then hop a shuttle to Vegas where I'd go home and break the
news to Tommy. I wasn't sure how well he'd take it, but I was certain that it
was time to call a halt to our limping marriage.

Once on the plane, I chatted with my
co-worker for a bit before we began preparing the cabin for our passengers'
arrival. I loved the way first class was laid out and how it gave everyone a
little bit of privacy on a crowded airline. Whoever had designed the cabin knew
what they were doing. I checked each small pod to make sure that there were
blankets and pillows ready and set a small box of chocolates on each ottoman to
welcome the passengers. It was a lovely touch that always seemed to surprise
and delight the passengers.

As we opened the doors and prepared to
welcome everyone aboard, I checked my nametag and made sure I was wearing my
brightest smile. Our first passenger required help lifting her baggage into the
overhead bin, so I stepped away and let Joan be in charge of greeting everyone.
I had just placed the bag in the bin and was closing the latch when I heard a
familiar voice say, "Is Emily Warner on this flight?"

I spun around and saw Austin grinning at
me from the doorway. My face immediately began burning as I blushed all the way
to the tips of my toes. He hadn't said anything about flying back on this
flight!

"Why yes, Mr. Marks," I said as
I walked toward him with my hand out. "I certainly am! How may I assist
you today?"

"I'm glad to see you, Ms.
Warner," he said, taking my hand and shaking it. We were both trying to
maintain a calm professional demeanor, but I knew down deep that he wanted what
I wanted – to run off to the back and pull of clothing as we searched for new
ways to sate our heated need for each other. "I'd appreciate it if you
could make sure that I'm not disturbed during the flight."

"Oh, okay," I said as my smile
faltered. He was on the flight to work, not because he couldn't stay away from
me. I had read it all wrong – again. "I'll make sure no one disturbs you,
sir."

"Except for you," he whispered
as he quickly bent down and spoke into my ear. "I want you to disturb
me."

"Oh!" I gasped and then smiled
up at him. "I see. Yes, sir, I'll take care of it."

Austin flashed me a mischievous grin as he
disappeared into his private pod, and I turned back toward the front door where
more passengers were waiting for me to direct them to their seats. This was
going to be an interesting flight, that was for sure.