Arrogant Boss

“How long did it last? What was his body like? Did he go down on you? How big was he? Did you come? How did he-”

“Ugh! Stop!” I grabbed a pillow and covered my face with it. “I’m not going to talk about it.”

Denise laughed. “Well, what was so good about it then? Why did it qualify as-”

“Oh! I think that’s my phone!”

“You’re so full of shit!”

“No, I’m not! Can’t you hear it?” I grabbed my purse, the familiar ringtone becoming more pronounced as I searched for it. “See?”

Denise narrowed her eyes at me. “Saved by the bell, Em. But I won’t let you off the hook that easy.”

I finally found my phone, the screen lit up by a familiar name.

Julian Hunt.”Oh no. It’s him.”

Denise gave me a huge thumbs up, her eyes wild, and I hurried to answer.

“Hello?”

A familiar voice greeted me. “Ace.”

“Hi, Julian.”

“Did you get home safe from the airport?”

“Yes.” I played with the strap to my bag and tried to keep the smile off my face. “I did. Did you?”

“Yes.””Good.”

He cleared his throat, voice deeper when he spoke again. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

My grin widened. “I might have thought about you occasionally as well.”

Julian’s husky laughter sent butterflies through me, reminded me of his touch in that hotel room. “Let me take you out this weekend.”

“Take me out?”

“Yes. Food, some talk. I need to make sure you don’t have any regrets.”

I bit my lip. “I think I can show you that I don’t have any regrets.”

My statement was met with surprised silence on the other end. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case behind me-Denise gave a loud guffaw at my words. I turned and waved for her to pipe down.

“What was that?””I’m at a friend’s place. Denise, you remember?”

“Of course. How could I forget?”

“When do you want to meet?”

“Tomorrow,” he said. “Let me pick you up again.”

“Alright. And…”

“I’ll wait a block away.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“You will.” His voice sounded like he was smiling. “Goodnight, Ace.”

“Goodnight.”

We hung up and for a second, I just clutched my phone to my chest.

Tomorrow. He really did want to continue whatever-this-was for a while longer. The excitement of it all made me grin.

“That sounded really good. Like, amazing.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“You didn’t even hear his responses!”

“I didn’t need to in order to know he’s into you.”

“Denise!””He is.” She raised an eyebrow. “And so are you.”

I sighed. “I am. I’m such a goner, aren’t I?”

Denise grinned and offered me another macaron. “Yes. Welcome to the club, Em.”

The following two weeks were filled with more sex than I had had in a lifetime. Was it possible to overdose on orgasms and smiles? If it was, I would never consider rehab. Put it on my tombstone-“death by Julian Hunt.” Let it be known that I’d died happily.

We texted like we were teenagers, often and nearly always about something silly. The man clearly had more time on his hands than I thought megalomaniac CEO’s had.

When I pointed it out, he texted back that he was canceling meetings and regularly brushing off clients to give me the shortest response time possible. Okay, so he was clearly exaggerating, but his answer still did weird things to my stomach.

Despite my objections, our standing weekly appointment held. “We already meet up for this,” I’d murmured into his ear, my hand already trailing down the hard planes of his chest, finding the buckle of his belt. “Why do we need designated time in public as well? That’s time we could spend… doing this.”

“Because I want to spend time with you fully clothed, too, Ace.” Julian’s words had been decisive, but his hands, roaming inside my wrap dress, told a different story.

I had slipped off the dress, stood in only my underwear, and given him my best come hither look. “But I look so good unclothed.”

Julian’s groan of desire was the only response I got. He had made quick work of my bra and panties before spreading me wide and bringing me to the brink with his tongue and fingers.

Never before had I been so confident in bed, so bold with my statements. Julian always made me feel like the sexiest woman alive. Somehow, he wanted me just as much as I wanted him, and I reveled in it.

For our non-date-dates, I was always careful that we chose places away from work with low odds of bumping into anyone we knew. Julian rolled his eyes when I led him to lunch one day, blocks and blocks away from the office.

“Is this when you reveal that you’re a serial killer?” He teased, turning my own words back at me. “Luring me back to a shady studio and I’m never to be heard from again?”