Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(21)

I remembered back at the bar when I’d been so impressed that Reed had known the owners and the bartender. And now here we were at a restaurant that clearly knew him as well.

We followed her through the main dining area and to the back.

Curious. "Are we going to eat in the kitchen?"

The hostess looked over her shoulder at me like I was a country bumpkin. "We have several private eating areas where businessmen can have meetings or privacy for any reason."

Huh? What did that mean? What else were businessmen using these dining rooms for? Had Reed used it for something else? I imagined him with another woman, who interestingly enough was Catherine. No wonder I didn’t like her.

The way my body tingled, it hoped it was my turn for the non-business private dining experience.

“We celebrated my buddy Pierce’s birthday here once,” Reed said.

Oh, right. Life wasn’t just business or sex.

She led us into a room with a single table. How odd to have a private dining room.

"I hope you don't mind if I order for us,” he said as he pulled out my chair.

I shook my head. “That’s fine. I haven’t met a Chinese dish that I didn't like.” I sat down.

"All of the usual, but for two,” he said to our hostess.

She nodded. "I will let your server know."

"What's your usual?"

Reed sat next to me at the round table. "Dumplings, shrimp, toast, and Mongolian chicken wings."

I grinned at him, noting these were all finger-foods. "You don't know how to use a fork?"

He laughed. "It turns out that all my favorite Chinese foods can be eaten with my hands.” He held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. I had to stifle a groan as once again, the memory of his hands on my body returned. My body remembered too, and it got noticeably hot. I wondered if my skin was turning flush.

I looked away. Seeing a glass of water on the table, I reached over and took a large gulp, hoping to cool my hormones down.

"Of course, if there's something else that you would prefer—"

"No, those all sound very good."

He studied me for a moment and then he took a sip of water. "So, how was your first week? Are you enjoying the job?"

"I am. I really am." I knew I sounded giddy, but I wanted him to know that I appreciated that he had gone against his judgment and offered me the job. And that he was following through on his promise, or bet, to protect my reputation by not bringing up our past or doing anything to have the other staff question why I was there. "You have a really good marketing team, and your social media people are very good at taking a concept or idea and turning it into a compelling visual.”

He nodded. "Good to hear. Do you have any new ideas? Especially to attract new users?"

I had several new ideas, but the one I was most excited about was the one that the rest of the team wasn't so sure of. Maybe if Reed liked it, I could go back to the team and let them know. "I have this idea about a social media video campaign of having a fantasy league made up of magical creatures."

He frowned, tilting his head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

“I mean like having teams that have dragons and Minotaurs and unicorns and Bigfoot—”

"Bigfoot is magical?"

"Not just magical, but mythical too."

"So, like a yeti?"

I nodded. "It would be a minigame that featured all the best elements of what you do with all the other sports, but instead of using people, it would be these mythical creatures."

"What sport would they do?"

"It could be anything. They could run. You could have them play football. Or hockey," I added quickly, remembering he had once been a professional hockey player. "Or it could be a game we make up. I know you have fantasy sports leagues, but fantasy can also include the magical realms. Fantasy fiction is big right now, so it’s a play on that. If it’s too strange to use current sports, we could use historical sports like fantasy jousting or sword fighting."

He sat quietly thinking, but I couldn’t decipher if he was trying to find the words to tell me my idea was terrible or if he was considering the idea.

Finally, he nodded and said, “That is an unusual and unexpected idea, but I sort of like it. I knew you were creative. I haven't stopped thinking about how you—" He stopped short and his cheeks reddened, telling me that he was about to bring up something from a month ago.

At first, I wondered what I’d done that he thought was so creative? When I rode him backward? When I licked the underside of his balls as I stroked his dick, making him come in a huge mess on his perfect abs and chest? I didn’t think those were creative. Mostly, I did it out of curiosity and exploring sexual pleasure, something I’d never felt free to do until that night. Until Reed.

But then I remembered we were only boss and employee now. "It's best not to go there. Think of all the money you're going to lose if you have to pay double for losing the bet."

His head tilted to the side. “You make it sound like losing the bet could be a possibility.”

Of course, it was. I couldn’t tell him that, but I wasn’t sure how to respond. Thankfully, at that point, a server entered carrying our food.

Once he'd put the plates on the table and left, Reed cleared his throat. "Like I said, I think the idea is interesting. I know that when it comes to marketing, it's important to stand out, and that sounds like something that would make us stand out."