Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(13)

Memories of that night a month ago filled me. Memories of how I decided to be daring and go out on the town on my own. To pick up a man, if only just for drinks and conversation. Of how much fun I had talking with Reed, then dancing, and then of course touching him and having him touch me. My entire body tingled, which wasn't good when my intention was to cut things off with him.

I scanned the club, seeing him standing in the back and waving. Goodness, he was handsome. His smile was sheepish, and it softened my hard attitude toward him. That was dangerous, but I couldn’t back out now.

I made my way over, a tug-of-war playing out of my head about the wisdom of meeting him here.

"Thank you for meeting me. I was worried you wouldn't." He held out a chair for me to sit.

"I'll admit I'm questioning this."

"And yet you came? Why is that?"

I studied him, wondering what he was getting at. A month before when we spoke, everything that he said was clear. But today, in the interview and then now, his words seemed to have more meaning behind them.

Finally, I said, "You said you wanted to talk about the position."

He nodded as he sat down, and I was trying to decide whether I saw disappointment in his expression.

Stop trying to read things into his words and his mannerisms, I told myself. Whether he offered a job or not, I couldn’t take it. It wasn't just that I had slept with him or even how he had acted toward me during the interview earlier in the day that required me to turn down any offer made. It was a bad idea to work for a man I was still desperately attracted to.





5





Reed





I didn't know what the hell I was doing. When I had called Analyn earlier, I’d dialed the number and started talking to her before I was even consciously aware of it. But once I’d done it, I couldn't back out.

What an idiot I’d been to choose the Golden Oasis as our meeting place. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why I’d chosen it except for I didn't want to meet her at the office, and I couldn't very well invite her to my home.

Besides, if she was new in Las Vegas, the one place I knew she was aware of was the Golden Oasis. But the memories that flooded my mind as I entered the club for the first time since I had seen her a month ago were not ones a man should have about a woman he was planning to hire to work for him.

Memories like how sweet and adorable she was to have singled me out to sit with at the bar. How open and fun she'd been, making me feel things I hadn't felt in a long time. For a single night, she brought light into a world that had dimmed. Perhaps that was why I had been angry to wake up the next morning to find her gone. When she left, she took the light with her as well.

When she entered the club tonight, I watched her make her way to me, and although it was inappropriate, I couldn’t stop from admiring the sway of her hips or the way her dress accentuated her curves. It made me yearn to touch her again.

But if things were going to work out, I had to douse those feelings. I needed to treat her as an employee. I needed to push away that night we’d had a month ago and figure out how to look at her and not be reminded of how well we moved together.

It was stupid to ask her why she had decided to come. I had told her it was to talk about the job, so clearly, that was why she was here. Deep down, I must've hoped that she was here for another reason. That was stupid.

"I apologize for my behavior earlier today. I was rude and inappropriate, and I'm sorry."

Her eyes rounded, as if she was surprised by my apology.

I laughed uncomfortably. "I guess you hadn’t been expecting an apology.”

"No, I wasn't."

I hated how my behavior had taken something out of her. She wasn't the same open, friendly, and vivacious woman I had met a month ago. It proved how much of a dick I’d been earlier that she could only look at me with skepticism and suspicion.

A server arrived, and I looked over at Analyn, wanting to ask whether she wanted a cranberry and vodka drink. But I knew that bringing back memories from a month ago would be inappropriate when I was here to offer her a job.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked instead.

She glanced up at the server. "Can I just have a soda? Maybe with a little lemon in it?"

"Sure." The server looked at me. I probably should order something nonalcoholic too, but I needed to go with the drink I normally had when I was feeling less than perfect. "Bourbon and water." Sure, I’d had it a month ago, but it wasn’t a unique drink to trigger a memory.

Our server left to get our drinks, and I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. "I invited you here because I wanted to let you know that I want to hire you as the new head of social media marketing."

I'd anticipated surprise in her expression again, but instead, her eyes narrowed.

"You didn't even interview me."

"I don't need to."

Her eyes narrowed even further, and I got the feeling that I was fucking up, even though I wasn't quite sure how or why.

"How can you hire me without interviewing me?"

She leaned forward, glancing from side to side as if she didn't want anybody to overhear. Then her gaze zeroed in on my face. "You can't hire me based on what you know of me from a month ago."