Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(60)

“I went ahead and pulled up the report, and I know for sure that what we reported and what Catherine delivered was . . ." He tilted his head to his side and made a face like he couldn't find the right words. In my mind, the words I came up with included lying and misrepresenting.

"They do not convey what we meant. So, I'm here to go over the review with you again and let you know what we meant. We think you're an excellent worker, Analyn, and we believe in you. To be honest, we were providing information about the review during the time you came up with that mythical creature idea. A few others and I had some doubts. But we went through with it because you indicated that you’d already talked to Mr. Hampton about it. There are some on the team who felt that you overstepped the line by doing that. There is a hierarchy here, and while we are all friendly, there's an expectation that you would respect it."

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I realized he was right. At the time, I was sharing the idea with Reed because he'd asked me about my day. I wanted to prove to him that I could come up with great ideas.

"I'm very sorry. That's not at all what I intended. Reed . . . ah . . . Mr. Hampton had asked me about my day, and I guess I thought I would impress him by sharing my unique idea. But it was not my intention to go above you."

He nodded. "I think we all understand that now. We all love your creativity and enthusiasm. I think sometimes, you try to dominate with your ideas, so all we ask is that you listen a little bit more to your team because they have great ideas too."

"Yes, of course." I never thought that I was shooting down ideas of my team, but I knew that I could get overly enthusiastic, and perhaps in doing so, I was inadvertently suggesting to my team that I wasn't open to new ideas. I’d definitely work on that.

I stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to say something about my relationship with Reed.

"So, knowing that, is everything all right now?" he asked.

"Ah . . . yes. Thank you for clearing that up. I will admit I was surprised by the report."

He stood, and so I rose from my chair as well. "I was afraid you were. Now, go out there and get with your team to finish up our mythical creatures campaign."

I smiled. "Absolutely. Thank you very much."

As I went to my office, I sank down in my chair, blowing out a breath at this crazy day I was having. I showed up, demanding to speak to Reed, fully expecting to be fired at the end of it. Instead, we had sex, and we each admitted that this thing between us was more than just lust. The confrontation with Catherine unsettled me, but now, meeting with Clive, I felt renewed energy. I was still stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to my relationship with Reed, but deep inside, I had a little sense of hope. Like there would be a way for me to have my cake and eat it too.





31





Reed





I sat at my desk, unsure what the hell had just happened. I tried to let Analyn know that my feelings for her were more than just friendship or sex. And if I wasn’t mistaken, she said it was the same for her as well. But it didn't change the fact that I was still her boss, and she still wanted to protect her reputation.

I hated the idea that two people wanting to be together would cause malicious gossip. I hired good, competent people to work for me, but human nature being what it was, it seemed likely that they would think badly of her. It killed me to know that some, if not all, of my staff would see her as not earning her position.

Jesus fuck, I was in love with her. I was sure of it now. All these years, I'd been looking for a woman I could love and cherish, to make a life with, to make babies with, and just my luck, she worked for me. I had to consider that while our relationship was more than sex, it didn’t mean it included love on her end. If she loved me too, wouldn't she consider quitting her job?

I shook my head and let out a frustrated growl that my thoughts would go somewhere sexist like that. But being the owner and CEO, it wasn't like I could quit. At least not very easily.

A quick knock sounded on my door, and then it opened and Catherine strode in. Her expression was serious, bordering on anger. "I need to talk to you about Ms. Watts."

"I've got more important things I need to do." To be honest, I didn't know what they were, because once Analyn left I was having a difficult time getting myself focused on running my company. Maybe my distraction would cause it to tank, and it would solve my problem because I'd have no company to run anymore. Of course, if my company went out of business, Analyn wouldn't have a job, either.

"This is important too, Mr. Hampton." Her voice was sharp and clipped. I didn't much like the way she was speaking to me, and to be honest I was a little bit nervous about what she might tell me. Was she going to tell me something about Analyn that would blast a hole in my feelings for her as the performance review had?

I sat back in my chair, lacing my fingers together and resting them over my belly. I wanted her to see that I wasn’t too interested in whatever she was about to tell me. "All right, then."

"Not only is Analyn's performance lacking, but she has the potential to ruin things for you. How long do you think it will be before the entire office knows what you did in here?"

Anger boiled deep down, but I tried to mask it. My response was an arched brow. "Careful, Catherine, you're about to overstep your bounds again."