Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(6)

A few moments later, there was a knock at my door, and Catherine poked her head in. "I brought you some coffee. It sounded like you could use it."

That was the other thing about Catherine. She was fucking efficient. She was so good, it was probably why I found my work boring. She could anticipate anything, so I very rarely had to deal with any sort of crisis. Everything at work ran smoothly, almost like I didn't even need to be here. There was a thought.

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

She walked around my desk to stand next to me as she set the mug on the blotter. She rested her hip on the desk and smiled down at me. She was a professional, and at the same time, we’d been working together long enough that there was a familiarity between us. I wouldn't say we were friends, but we definitely had a connection that made us work together well.

"I suppose you caught the news footage of Bo last night,” she said.

I picked up the mug, taking a sip of the hot, dark brew. Another thing that Catherine excelled at was coffee. "I did. I imagine Pierce is having a conniption fit."

She laughed. "No doubt." She tilted her head to the side. "Were you like Bo when you were playing?"

"No." Not even a little bit. I had dreamt of playing professional hockey my entire life, so when I finally made it, I was focused on staying there. That wasn’t to say I didn't sow my oats and party. I just didn't do it to the level that Bo Tyler was able to do it. Bo got away with it because he was so fucking good on the ice. It was possible he’d surpass Gretzky as the greatest of all time.

Catherine gave my shoulder a light push with her perfectly manicured hand. "Oh, come on. You can tell me."

I shook my head. "Nope. I was living the dream back then. I wasn't going to fuck it up, no way, no how." I supposed it wasn't good to use the F-word in front of my administrative assistant, but she didn't seem to care. In fact, I think a part of her appreciated that while we had a professional relationship, around her, I could be myself.

She laughed and then straightened from my desk. "Well, I'll give you a few minutes. I'll let you know when your appointment is here."

"Thank you, Catherine."

I watched as she left, reminding myself how lucky I was. I had an extremely successful company, in part because my administrative assistant was the epitome of efficiency. She was smart and clever, and when she needed to be, she was the best damn gatekeeper any CEO could have. I had friends that asked whether I’d ever fucked her on my desk because she was also attractive. The answer was no, I never had, and in fact, I had never thought about it.

Catherine had a lot of things going for her, but I didn't feel sexually or emotionally attracted to her. The truth was, while I occasionally might have been sexually attracted to a woman, I had never been emotionally attracted or felt a pull beyond my dick for any woman except Analyn. And goddammit! Now I was thinking about her again. Maybe I needed to go out and get laid to get her out of my mind. With my luck, I’d fantasize about her, maybe even say her name while I came, ruining it with the woman I was with.

I forced myself to focus on work, pulling up recent data files to see how well the company was doing. There was a time when looking at my numbers gave me a thrill. Today it was more of the same.

A few moments later, Catherine knocked at my door again.

"Your appointment is here. I've put her down in the conference room."

I nodded and stood, putting on my coat and straightening the tie I’d loosened when I’d arrived. I felt like a dead man walking as I exited my office, which again made me feel pathetic considering how fortunate I was in my life.

I walked with Catherine down the hall to the conference room. Catherine entered first, and I followed behind.

I stopped short when I saw the curvaceous dark-haired woman standing next to the conference table. Holy fuck, it was Analyn.

Her eyes rounded as recognition came. Well, at least she remembered me. The way she had left, I wondered if she would. I had spent that night getting to know every inch of that woman and knew that I would never, ever forget her.

"Analyn Watts, this is Mr. Hampton, the CEO of Dream Team." Catherine handed me the folder with Analyn’s application. "Mr. Hampton, this is Analyn Watts.”

Watts. We hadn’t shared our last names a month ago. I’d cursed that since I couldn’t find her, but then I realized that had been the point. She hadn’t wanted to be found.

“Would you like me to get you another cup of coffee? Ms. Watts has already declined one."

My gaze stayed on Analyn as dueling emotions ran through me. On the one hand, I felt hope. Here was the woman I couldn't get out of my mind. Maybe I’d be able to see her again.

But another part of me had a growing anger at the way she had left after that spectacular night we'd had. It was stupid of me to be pissed off. It'd been a hookup. There had been nothing about that night to suggest that it was any more than that. But by the time I was drifting to sleep that night, I knew I wanted more than a hookup, but she had taken off without a word, taking away that opportunity.

"No, thank you, Catherine. That'll be all for now."

Catherine left the room, shutting the door, leaving me alone with Analyn. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask her and none had to do with the job. I reminded myself that she was expecting a job interview, which had me wondering why she was here. Had she lied to me about being from Chicago?