Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(10)

Not that I had anything against their being heavily coiffed and attractive. If we’d been in a club, I might have . . . Well, no, I wouldn't have. For one thing, they looked too young, and for another, too fake. However, they did know everything they needed to know about social media, but nothing about fantasy sports and online gambling. I knew all too well that social media marketing could turn disastrous on a dime.

Not just ruining a reputation by saying something stupid, but breaking the law as well. Gambling was one of those vices made legal only because it could bring in money to the state (prostitution was another). As such, gambling was highly regulated, and stepping out of line could cost me millions of dollars and my reputation.

I couldn't afford for a social media manager to accidentally post something that could ruin my business. For that reason, I needed someone who didn’t just understand marketing, but laws regulating marketing, the internet, and gambling. I wondered if Analyn knew any of that. Wait, no I didn’t. I couldn’t hire her.

When I finished interviewing the candidates, I told Catherine I needed to take a break and we’d meet after lunch to discuss them. I had done the interviews, but Catherine had done all the research on them. I'm sure she had visited all their social media accounts and websites, had already contacted their former employers, and when she greeted them for their interviews, she probably chatted with them to get an impression of them. I would rely on that to help me pick which of the three Barbies I should hire.

When I got back from lunch, Catherine had already had the candidates’ files reorganized and set on the conference table as she waited for me to return.

I loosened my tie, unbuttoning the top button of my shirt, and sat down in the chair with a heavy sigh. "Alright, let's get this over with. Why don’t we start with you telling me which one of these five you think I should hire?" I’d make this easy on both of us and hire the one she liked.

She pushed the file over. "Analyn Watts. I don't know why her interview was so short, but I think she'd be good."

I held back an annoyed growl as I pushed the file back to Catherine. "Not her. Who else?"

Catherine's eyes narrowed slightly, but being the consummate professional, she looked through the remaining folders. "Well, the young man seemed to know a lot about gambling, but he made me think of a loan shark or a used car salesman. I don't know, there was something smarmy about him."

"Agreed. So of the next three, which do you think would be best?"

She looked through each of the folders and then sat back, giving me a look that said I wasn't going to like what she had to say. "I still think Analyn Watts is the best."

I pointed to the three folders sitting in front of her. "One of those three should be able to do. They all know social media. Why don't you like any of them?"

"These three seem to know a lot about social media, yes, but it's all about them and being an influencer. They know how to make themselves look good on social media, and maybe push a few products, but Analyn has a degree in marketing. She didn’t walk in here thinking she was going to be the supermodel for your social media account. Now granted, many of the people who are your consumers can be swayed by tits and ass, but surely, you want somebody who knows something about marketing too."

I suspected other bosses wouldn’t be pleased to hear their admins using words like tits and ass, but over the years Catherine’s and my relationship had evolved so that she could be frank with me, to a certain extent.

"And besides, you don't need women like that prancing around here, distracting everyone else from their jobs. There's no chance that Analyn will distract anyone."

I frowned because, in fact, I knew Analyn would distract at least one person. Me.

"Analyn is professional without trying to be provocative or sexy,” Catherine finished.

And yet, to me, she was. "I don't want to hire her."

Catherine narrowed her eyes even more than she had before. I stared at her, hoping that through telepathy, she would know not to ask me why.

Because I knew it would only be so long before she did ask, I said, "Let me think about this." I rose from my chair. "I'll let you know later."

I went to my office, shutting the door, taking a seat in my chair, and scraping my hands over my face. Just my luck that the one woman who would be perfect for the job is the one woman I can't hire. I took the folders of the three women, mixed them up, did eeny, meeny, miny, moe, and drew one, deciding to hire whichever one I randomly picked from the pile.

I looked up her number and picked up the phone to call. But I couldn't get my fingers to poke the buttons.

Fuck. Catherine was right. Analyn was the most qualified professional for the job. But how could I hire a woman who with one look, I was back in a bar thinking about how she’d awkwardly sauntered up next to me and completely charmed me?

When I’d woken the next morning to find her gone, and felt the crushing disappointment, I tried to deal with it by telling myself that her company, and the sex, hadn't been as good as I thought. It was an illusion because booze had clouded my memory into thinking it was better than it was.

But who was I kidding? Analyn had a body that never ended. Curve after sexy curve. Her skin was soft. Her tits were round and full, and I’d have spent the night only focused on sucking them except her pussy tasted like an exotic fruit. When she came that first time, I drank her juice like it was the elixir of life. And then it just got better.