Boss I Love to Hate: An Office Romance(97)

“Speak, Phala. What do you mean?”

She spoke to her shoes as though the pair had asked her the question, “You of all people know how Brad is. How he treats women. You know how many women have gone through that door.” She motioned at his office door. “And out the company door. You warned everyone who walked through his office.”

I stepped into her, eyes burning with a fury that churned in my gut. “You don’t understand a single thing,” I promised. Because she didn’t. Brad and I had made love yesterday and the day before and the day before that. How he felt for me was different.

But it was her look. The same look I’d given other interns and account reps. And hadn’t they told me the same thing? Hadn’t they told me what they had with Brad was special?

I staggered back, and both hands flew to my chest.

Is this time different? Am I just another girl to him? Was he already bored? My mind was a tornado of thoughts, pulling me every way possible.

“Does he know?” I rubbed at my forehead and took deep breaths, feeling the walls of my world closing in. Isn’t this exactly where I was with Jeff? Right here, thinking he loved me all along, but really, he was screwing my replacement at his office.

I shook my head. The need to get out of this horrid place was unbearable.

“Does he know?” I blinked up at her through clouded irises. “Does he know that you’re his new secretary?”

She nodded again in confirmation, and that was when I ran. To the elevators, out of the building, to my car and straight to my apartment.

The tears were hot and heavy and endless. When Jeff had done what he did, I’d sworn I’d never end up here again, never be that girl again … and yet, here I was.





Brad

“What do you mean, she just left?” I stared at Phala, a former intern of ours because, after this, she was definitely fired. By me.

She stood there, teetering in her four-inch heels, looking anywhere but at my face.

“Brad, chill out. It’s not her fault,” Mason added, not making it better.

“And these?” I pointed to a stack of boxes by my Sonia’s desk. “What the hell are these?”

“Boxes?” Her voice was timid and unsure, and she searched Mason’s face for answers.

“Why are you moving in now?” Mason asked. “I said the sixteenth.”

She blinked, doe-eyed and clueless. “I thought you said the sixth.”

Fuck. My muscles tensed, and I gritted my teeth. I was so fucking livid. “Smart move there, Mason.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and took deep breaths, willing the blood boiling in my veins to chill.

“It was a simple mistake,” Mason said, though his voice was without its usual authoritative flare.

I pushed my finger against his chest, using all my restraint to keep steady. “If she fucking takes this out on me, I’m taking this out on you. If she fucking leaves me for this … you are a dead man.” I pushed a finger in his face. “Dead.” Then, I turned to Phala. “And you’re fired.”

Mason opened his mouth to speak, but I shut him up real fast. “Don’t even think of it. Since I’m not sticking my dick in anyone but Sonia, my previous secretary issues are no longer a concern.”

I stormed out of there, running to the elevators, out the building, and driving to her place.

The doorman let me up, and I banged on her door, relentless, pounding like it was a punching bag. She hadn’t been picking up my calls, and I expected her to be an angry, hell-raising mess, but when she opened the door, her face was eerily calm.

I stepped into her place, and immediately, I dropped to my knees. “I’m sorry. Mason and Charles didn’t even consult me.”

She lifted a shoulder, unaffected, and averted her gaze, walking farther into the apartment while I pushed myself to stand.

Her indifference gutted me. If she didn’t care about her job and could leave work altogether, maybe it would be that easy for her to walk away from me. I wanted her angry or even upset because that would only prove that she was as affected by this as I was.

“I want you to know I had nothing to do with it. I’ll find you another job.” I reached for her, but she flinched, and I dropped my hand. A deep, dire desperation I’d never felt coursed through my veins. “I love you, Sonia. I won’t let this get between us.”

She walked toward the other side of the room, arms crossed over her chest. I couldn’t read her face or see her eyes, my guide to know how she was really feeling.

“I can’t afford this place anymore.” She spoke quietly, mostly to herself.

“Move in with me then.” I didn’t hesitate when the words fell out of my mouth. I didn’t even flinch or second-guess what that entailed. I had hopped on the love train, running full speed ahead, and there was no stopping now.

She flipped around, her hands fisted at her sides, eyes blazing. “Don’t say stuff you don’t mean.”

Yes! A reaction. I’d take it.

“I mean every word.”

Where her features hardened, mine softened. Where she tensed up, I eased up and stepped into her. I wouldn’t touch her until she was ready, though my need to touch her was unbearable.

She shut her eyes and shook her head as though she were trying to shake things off in her head. “Stop, Brad. Just stop.” She hugged her stomach, her gaze dropping to the ground. “Please. Just stop.”