Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(15)

"Yes, I have that. So this is just about my qualifications. You don't have any interest in me personally?" I was a little bit shocked to find I was holding my breath as I waited for his answer.

The right response had to be no, he wasn’t interested, because we couldn’t work together if there was a chance we’d sleep together. But I didn’t want to hear no. I wanted him to be interested in me. God, I was a mess.

He sat and watched me for a moment. "Do you want total honesty?"

I nodded.

"The attraction is still there."

My stupid hormones did a little dance at that. Thank goodness I had my good sense with me. "If that's the case, then there's always the potential that we’ll end up in an inappropriate office entanglement."

He frowned. "There would be no inappropriate office entanglement if you didn't want it. Now, if you found you were still attracted to me, that of course would be a challenge, which is why I have a new wager for you. If you take the job, I bet that I'll be able to resist sleeping with you."

I hated how confident he sounded. Shouldn't it be a little bit hard for him to resist me?

"If I make it a year and I haven't seduced you, I’ll host a victory party at my house, and you'll have to do all the dishes and cleanup afterward."

I studied him, thinking that was the dumbest bet of all. "And if I win?"

"If I lose the bet, I'll double your salary."

As much as I would've liked to have kept my face impassive, my eyes and my mouth shot open in shock. Already, the starting salary was better than I'd ever earned before. I wouldn’t be rich by any means, but I'd be able to finish paying off my debts, including my student loan, and even buy a house within the next year or two.

But doubled?

That was ridiculous, and at the same time, I felt like I’d be a fool if I didn't take it. If he won the bet, then I would be safe from being a cliché employee sleeping with the boss. But if he failed, I'd be making more money than I ever thought possible.

"This doubled salary, for how long would it go? One month?"

He shook his head. "As long as you have the job. And as long as you do a good job.” He leaned forward, his expression turning cheeky. "That's a pretty big incentive for you to try and make me lose."

It took me a moment to realize what he was saying. And he was right. For double the salary, I could wear tight skirts and flaunt my breasts in front of him to make him lose. If I were that sort of woman.

He sat back. "But I'm not worried that you will purposely tempt me into losing because having the job on your own merit is too important to you."

That's right, Buster. I nodded. "It's the most important thing."

He arched a brow. "So, do we have a bet?"

Once again, common sense was urging me to decline and walk out. There were other jobs out there I could apply to. But goodness, none that paid as well or were as important as this one. And while this little wager was stupid, I believed he wanted to ensure that I felt confident that he was offering me the job because I was the best candidate, not because he wanted to sleep with me again. Or maybe I was just talking myself into it.

Either way, I couldn't help myself. I extended my hand across the table. His large one wrapped around mine, and it was all I could do to push out the memory of the way his hands had felt on my breasts, the way his fingers had slipped so deep inside me. I gave a quick shake and quickly released his hand.

He smiled, and for a moment I wondered if it was a smirk, like he'd known where my thoughts had gone. "You start on Monday."





7





Reed





I skidded my mountain bike to a stop, the desert dust flying out. Pierce brought his bike to a stop next to me.

I reached down, grabbing my water bottle. "You're getting old and slow, man." I smirked at him as I took a long gulp of water. It was still early morning, so it wasn't hot, but the desert was dry, and it was easy to get dehydrated without even knowing it.

"You do know you cheat, right? You took that cutoff back there."

I shrugged. "The refs didn’t call it, so it can't be a foul." It was a joke we had from back in our hockey days. Any misdeed the ref didn’t call didn’t exist.

He rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched upward. Like me, Pierce missed our days of professional hockey. Unlike me, he seemed to have made the transition better than I had. He was coaching a team that might possibly make it to the Stanley Cup this year if their star player, Bo Tyler, stayed healthy and out of prison.

"I saw that Bo snuck back onto the golf course, but this time he wasn't hitting neon colored golf balls. Unless he was using a stripper’s tits as a tee."

Pierce shook his head and looked down. "Fucking idiot. He acts like a horny teenager all the time."

"So, why don't you put the kibosh on it? It can't be good for the team."

"Me and the rest of the team are starting to hate him, but the owner and management fucking love him. They love the publicity. Apparently, ticket sales are up. People want to come see that asshole play. He's a fucking genius on the ice, and as long as he continues to play like that, he can do whatever he wants." He gave me a pointed stare. "When we played, it was so much easier. I'm beginning to think you're right and our glory days are behind us."