Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (5 page)

“Thank you,” I said politely. But I couldn't help
letting out a giggle as he almost knocked the bottle over.

“Oops,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Nearly made a
mess there!”

He filled my glass with the last of the second bottle,
and we raised our glasses and clinked them with a smile passing between us.

“To your future at Sinclair,” he said.

“To my future at Sinclair,” I repeated before taking a
hefty swig of wine.

We continued to chat until our glasses were empty.

“Would you like-” he began, his eyes sparkling with a
suggestive glint.

“I don’t think more wine is a good idea for me. I
really need to get home,” I interrupted. I wasn’t sure wine was what he was
about to suggest, but I wasn’t about to assume or open that door wider. “I'm
exhausted.”

He nodded. “Yes. Less wine, more sleep. That's
probably for the best.”

“We both have a lot of work to do tomorrow, and trying
to get it done with a hangover will make for a pretty awful day. I think I've
had about as much wine as I can handle.”

“Yes. I wouldn't want to miss my morning workouts,
either.”

“Wait,” I slurred. “Did you say workout
s?
As in plural?
You do more
than one?”

“I'm up at five every morning. I’m in the gym for an
hour, and then later in the morning, I train with a Muay Thai master.”

“Muay Thai?”

“Thai kickboxing. That's where this little souvenir
came from,” he said, pointing at the bruise and mostly-healed cut on his
cheekbone.

I'd been wondering how he'd got it, but hadn't
mustered the courage to ask. “Oh. That sounds pretty intense.”
 

“It is. But that's the way I like it. I'm a man who
likes to push himself, Lilah—in
all
fields of activity,” he informed me,
his eye locked on mine.

“I see.” Heat flushed through me at the insinuation
and the intensity of the connection between us.

“All right,” he said abruptly, “let me take care of
the bill, and then I'll get my driver to pick us up. We'll drop you off at your
place.”

“That sounds great, thanks.”

***

Thirty minutes later, Asher's Rolls-Royce pulled up
outside my building. A tinge of regret crept through me at the thought that
what had turned out to be a wonderful evening was coming to a close.

Asher and I had been talking and laughing non-stop,
and on the ride back from the restaurant, there had been a few moments where
we'd stared a little too long into each other's eyes, only for one of us to
break the moment with an awkward laugh, abrupt turn of the head, or hasty
comment.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I couldn't deny
that I was enjoying it.

Asher's driver opened the door for us to get out of
the car. When I did, I stumbled on the sidewalk and almost fell. I was
definitely feeling more than a little intoxicated. I giggled and heard Asher
chuckle behind me.

“Hey!” I exclaimed. “That’s not very gentlemanly of
you! Laughing at a lady when she almost injures herself!”

“My apologies, m’lady. That's not what I was laughing
at,” he said as he climbed out of the car. “Look down.”

I stared at the sidewalk, but didn't see anything out
of the ordinary. “I don't see anything funny down there.”

“No, not there…here!” He pointed at his feet.

It took a few seconds for me to realize that his shoes
were gone and he was standing on the sidewalk in his socks. I burst out
laughing at the sight.

“Where on earth are your shoes?” I exclaimed, still
laughing.

“Back in the restaurant, I think!” he said with a
grin.

“Why would your shoes be at the restaurant?” I asked
between fits of laughter.

“I took them off under the table. They weren’t very
comfy. They were brand new, so they hadn’t been broken in. They’d really been
kinda uncomfortable all day. I sort of remember taking them off. Guess I forgot
to put them back on!”

We both burst into a bout of laughter.

“Would you like to take my shoes, sir?” asked the
driver.

“No, no, Alfred,” replied Asher. “I'll walk this fine
young lady to the lobby in my socks. I’ll be all right.”

Again, we both burst out laughing. Asher, however,
quickly put on a serious face and then held his arm out for me to take.

“Come, I'll walk you to the lobby,” he said in an
uncharacteristically gentle tone of voice.

I slipped my arm through his and immediately felt hot
energy passing from his skin to mine. He placed his other hand on mine with a
gentle tightness that sent a shiver of subtle pleasure down my spine as we
walked.

I leaned in and whispered, “Did you just call your
driver Alfred?”

A broad smile grew across Asher’s face. “I did.”

“Hmmm,” I offered with a grin.

“You want to know if I’m Batman, don’t you?”

I chuckled. “Nope.”

“No?” he looked genuinely surprised. “Why not?
Everyone asks that when they learn my driver’s name. It’s why I hired him.” He offered
a smug smile.

“If you’re Batman, then the less I know, the better,”
I said with matter-of-factness.

“Smart girl,” he replied.

We reached the entrance to my building and paused at
the doorway.

“Thank you for dinner,” I said as I turned to face
him.

“You are more than welcome. I had a really great time
with you tonight,” Asher said.

“As did I.”

Our eyes met, and I found myself moving closer to him.

“Do you…think we had a bit too much wine?” I
whispered.

“Maybe. But I’m feeling pretty good right now,” his
words were soft as he shifted closer to me.Slowly, his fingertips slid up my
arm and his hands each came to rest on either side of my face. I didn't resist;
I didn't want to resist. Every fiber of my being wanted him to kiss me at that
moment.

Moments later, his supple lips covered mine. As the
kiss deepened, I could have sworn I felt lights exploding behind my eyes. With
one hand, he ran his fingers through my hair, while the other eased down and
wrapped around my waist, pulling our bodies together. I rose on tiptoes so I
could wrap my arms around his broad, strong shoulders. His kiss was tender but
passionate, melting my resolve. Deep down, I knew it was a bad idea to be
kissing this beautiful man, but the heat of his mouth on mine was more than I
was able to pull away from.

Eventually, our lips parted and we simply stood with
our arms around each other, foreheads touching, both breathing heavily. We
stared into each other's eyes for a while, smoldering heat still passing
between us. I knew I had to step in and cool things off before anything else
happened that we’d both regret. I broke the silence.

“I…uh… Wow,” I said, somewhat awkwardly.

“Yeah,” he said, taking a step back, breaking the bond
our bodies had formed. “I didn't, uh, I didn't plan on that happening.”

“I'd better get upstairs,” I said as I disengaged completely
from our embrace. “We've got a long day tomorrow, and I need a decent night's
sleep.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Me, too.” His body language shifted
quickly the moment I stepped away from him.

“Thank you again for a lovely evening, Asher. It was
fun. I'll see you at the office tomorrow.”

“Yes, of course,” he said, looking like a guilty kid
who’d stolen candy from a jar he wasn’t supposed to have his hand in.

It was adorable, really. So much so, before I realized
what I was doing, I leaned in abruptly and kissed him again, but made sure to
pull back before it became as intense as the previous one.

“Thanks again,” I said with a smile. And with that, I
turned quickly on my heels and hurried into my building, leaving Asher standing
on the sidewalk grinning in his socks.

CHAPTER 5

Asher

I woke up at five a.m., as I always did, but getting
out of bed was a lot more difficult than it normally was. My mouth felt dry and
a dull pain throbbed in my head. As I heaved myself out of bed, a wave of
nausea threatened my system.

Hangovers: my main reason for avoiding alcohol. I
staggered across my bedroom to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my
face to try to rouse myself from the foggy haze I felt trapped in.

Another wave of nausea hit me, but it seemed to pass
quickly. I started to feel better after I splashed a bit more water on my face
and brushed my teeth. I knew that a green smoothie would sort me out and make
me feel better as well, so I buzzed my chef and told him that I needed one
stat
.

Make no mistake, I had no regrets about all of the
wine I drank the night before. I'd had a wonderful evening with Lilah.

To be honest, I couldn't remember the last time I'd
had fun with someone just talking. Inviting her to dinner was easily one of the
best spur of the moment decisions I had made in years. And while dinner itself
wasn’t likely going to make things a little awkward at the office, the kiss
we'd shared at the end of the evening was another story all together. That had
definitely been an unexpected turn of events, although I couldn't say I
regretted it. Given the chance, I’d probably kiss her again.

Still, I'd have to give what had happened some
thought. I hadn't hired Lilah because I wanted something to happen between us.
Yes, I'd been immediately and powerfully attracted to her from the moment I'd
first laid eyes on her. Her fiery personality, sharp, unconventional intellect,
and strong will were definitely things I found intensely attractive in a woman;
but it had definitely been her brilliant, out-of-the-box approach to the Harry
Winston project that had prompted me to offer her a position on my personal
staff.

That
had
been why I'd chosen her, I reassured
myself as I stared into the mirror.

I splashed another round of water on my face. First
thing in the morning after too much wine wasn't the time to think too deeply
about such things. I made my way to the kitchen and drank half of the green
smoothie waiting for me before I headed to the gym where Bryce, my personal
trainer, was waiting for me.

“A little late this morning, Ash,” he said with a
disapproving look on his tanned, angular face.

Bryce was never afraid to call me out when I slipped
up and had no reluctance about criticizing me harshly when he felt it was
necessary. That was precisely why I'd hired him. I wanted people around me who
were not afraid to voice their opinions. I didn’t want yes-men and flattering
lackeys.

“Yeah,” I said. “I was up late last night and had way
too much wine.”

He grinned. “Oh, so it's like that, huh? Well I guess
I'm gonna have to work you extra hard this morning to get you to sweat all
those toxins out!”

“Come on, Bryce, you can cut me a little slack this
morning. I feel like I got trampled by a herd of elephants last night.”

“All the more reason why I'm
not
going to cut
you any slack, Ash. You hired me not to. If I recall correctly, you hired me
because
I used to be a drill sergeant
and discipline is my middle name. Now, I'm telling you, if you want to be
trained like a marine, it's gonna be painful. Especially, if you slip up and
drink on a school night. Your personal screw-ups are
not
my problem,
Sinclair. I'm here to turn you into a
machine
, and if you can't
discipline yourself, then I'm here to step in and do it for you.

“Now get your ass on the treadmill! We're setting the
starting speed at twenty percent higher than usual to make up for your
stupidity! Go, soldier; go, go, go!”

***

The moment I stepped off of the elevator at the office,
my secretary had a dozen things waiting for me that needed immediate attention.
Because of that, I'd been too absorbed in work to stop by Lilah’s office even
to say hi in the three hours since I’d arrived. As luck would have it, though,
I was about to head out of my office when I saw her walk past my door in the
hallway. I immediately called out to her before she disappeared around the
corner.

“Lilah!”

She stopped and peered back into my office over her
shoulder.

“Good morning, Asher,” she said in a very
business-like manner.

A manner that definitely came across as a little awkward.

“Hey, can you step into my office for a second?” I
asked.

“Sure.”

I stepped back behind my desk, where I took a seat.

“So, uh,” I began as she sat down across from me,
“about last night…”

“Um, yeah…” she stuttered.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, not really knowing
what to say and hoping she’d give me something to go on.

“I have a little bit of a wine hangover,” she replied.
“I've had a killer headache all day and I've been feeling a little sluggish.”

“Me, too. At least you didn't have an hour long
training session with a former U.S. Marine Corps drill sergeant at five a.m.”

She laughed and immediately some of the tension in the
air evaporated. It was a relief to hear her laughter.

“That sounds like the absolute worst thing I could
have imagined doing at five a.m.!” she claimed. “I got up an hour later than I
usually do. I got here on time, but I’m usually half an hour early.”

“But you did get here on time, and that's a sign of
commitment and discipline,” I encouraged. I knew I needed to stop beating
around the bush and get to the point, even though I really wasn’t looking
forward to it. I wasn’t sure how she was feeling about the events of the
previous evening.

“So, about what happened last night, specifically at
the end of the evening…”

“Yeah,
that
,” she said, looking down at the
papers in her hands.

“Look, we'd both had way too much to drink, and when
I've had a lot of alcohol, I sometimes…well, do things I wouldn't usually do.”

“Yes, me, too,” she agreed. “We'd both had a few too
many glasses of wine.”

“So, it just happened because we were both rather
intoxicated, right?” I tried not to sound like I was fishing for confirmation,
but I was.

While I knew I likely wouldn’t have kissed Lilah had
we not been drinking, it wouldn’t have been because I didn’t want to. It would
have been because my logical side would have stopped me. The fact that she
paused before answering made me wonder if she was feeling the same way or if
she truly had no attraction to me unless there was alcohol involved.

“Yes,” she responded. “I would definitely say it
happened because we were both fairly inebriated.”

“I think so.” All I could do was agree.

There was a drawn-out moment of uncomfortable silence.
I was about to flip the switch back into all-business mode when she looked up
from the papers in her hands and our eyes locked.

“I'd like to have dinner with you again sometime,” I
said suddenly. It wasn’t at all what I had intended to say. I had intended to
steer our interactions back toward a strictly boss-employee mode, but
apparently my mouth had other ideas. “But no drinking. Or, uh, at least we
won't have nearly as much.”

Her gaze searched mine for a moment, and I wished I
could read her thoughts. “That, uh, sure. I’d like that,” she replied. For a
brief moment, I saw the guard she’d been hiding behind since she’d walked into
my office fade. A soft smile brushed over her perfectly-shaped lips. Then, just
as quickly, it went back to full strength. “But for the moment, I think we both
really need to focus on the Harry Winston campaign. That comes before anything
else.”

“Oh, of course, of course,” I agreed. “That is our
absolute top priority at this point in time. And there are a few new projects
coming up, as well, that could make or break us in the coming financial quarter.
Projects that I'm going to need you to be performing at your peak for. Projects
that we're all going to need to have absolute crystal clear focus for. So,
yeah, we shouldn't let…” Our eyes caught again and I had to refocus. “We
shouldn’t let anything distract us from that.” I said the words, but I didn’t
mean them. I wanted nothing more than to be distracted by this woman, and I
really couldn’t even explain why.

“Agreed. I'm here to make a significant contribution
to this firm, and I intend to put my best foot forward at all times,” she
assured me.

“That's what I like to hear. Anyway, I think I've kept
you from your work too long already. We do still have a long way to go on the
Harry Winston campaign, so I’ll let you get back to working on that.”

She nodded and stood. For a moment, I thought she was
going to say something else, but instead she simply nodded again and headed out
of my office.

***

I cranked up the punk tune on my Maserati's sound
system as I pulled out of the Sinclair Building’s parking garage, nodding my
head in time with the driving beat. While I usually played classical music on
my drive home to relax my mind after a long, hard day at work, since finding
out that Lilah’s brother was in a band I'd been into since I was a teenager,
I'd searched through my collection and added a few tracks by the Razor's Edge
to my playlist.

I weaved through the early evening traffic as the
track raged. I was barely two blocks from the office when I noticed a familiar
figure walking along the sidewalk.

Lilah. I would recognize her curves anywhere.

I pulled up to the curb and rolled down my window.

“Lilah!”

She glanced over her shoulder, looking surprised to
hear my voice. She saw me in the car and smiled.

“Hi, Asher!” she said as she stopped and turned to
acknowledge me.

“Do you need a ride?”

She hesitated before responding. “I suppose I could
use one, if you don't mind.”

“Not at all. Come on, hop in.”

She hurried across the sidewalk and climbed into the
passenger seat of my car.

“Nice ride,” she said. “I do love a Maserati.”

I grinned and gave the engine a rev. “She is a beauty,
huh? I have a soft spot for fast cars. Guy thing, I guess. You should come
check out my collection sometime.”

“Sure. I'm not exactly a gearhead, but I can
appreciate a well-built machine,” she revealed, her undertone just enough to
send a touch of warmth rushing through me. “And, I happen to know a thing or
two about engines,” she added.

I tried not to sound surprised as I replied. “Oh, you
do?”

“I grew up an only girl in family of older brothers,
two of whom are motorcycle fanatics, and no mom. My dad was a mechanic who had
his own garage, and he spent most of his waking hours there working on engines.
Being in the garage was pretty much the only way I could spend time with him, so
I learned a thing or two about engines while I was growing up.”

“Wow. Sounds like an unconventional childhood.”

“I suppose in some ways, it was. As yours was, I
imagine.”

“Yeah, I guess it was,” I replied. I wasn't quite
ready to discuss my childhood with her, even though talking to her did feel
like the most comfortable and natural thing in the world, so I decided to
switch the topic.

“So, why were you walking home from work? It's a good
forty-five minute walk from the office to your place, if I remember correctly.”

“My car's at the mechanic's,” she replied. “And, since
it was a nice evening, I just thought I’d walk instead of taking the bus.”

“Couldn't fix it yourself, huh?” I joked with a wink.

“I could have, quite easily, but I don't have the time—not
with the current schedule being what it is. Not that I'm complaining,” she
added hastily.

“Oh, well, good thing I drove past you when I did,
then.”

“And why is it you're driving this car today and not
being ferried around by Alfred?”

“I prefer driving myself,” I replied. “I often have to
use Alfred, though, just because of the volume of work I have. I can get quite
a bit done in the commute if I'm sitting in the car working on my tablet
instead of having to actually drive. Today's workload wasn't supposed to be too
intense, so I decided I didn't really need to be driven around by someone
else.”

She smiled and I couldn’t help stealing glances at her
as I drove. The woman was breathtaking. I wondered if she realized just how
much. I almost suggested that, instead of heading straight to her place, we
could drive over to the beach and take a walk on the promenade.

I stopped myself before I said it, though; she had
just made it clear that morning that she wasn’t interested in anything aside
from focusing on the Harry Winston campaigns. Instead, I decided to just make
light conversation until we reached her building. And so, I did. Though, I was
tempted to take the long way just to keep the conversation going.