Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(7)

I motioned to the chair in front of her. "Have a seat, Ms. Watts." I had to be professional, and if she thought maybe I didn’t remember her, that would be okay too. Petty, I know.

She stared at me, and for a moment I thought she was going to leave. I arched a brow, in my mind, challenging her, asking her if she was going to bolt again. She let out a sigh, as if she was resigned to the moment. For some reason, that angered me more.

She pulled out the chair and sat down.

I sat in my chair, opening the file. "Let's start by having you tell me, have you ever walked out on anyone?"





2





Analyn





Oh. My. God.

What were the odds that I would run into Reed again?

Well, maybe it wasn't so unusual. I now lived in Las Vegas after taking up Betts on her offer to be her roommate. I suppose the chance was always there that I'd run into him.

To be honest, deep down, I hoped I would. But not at a job interview. How could I be interviewed by the man who’d done such delicious things with his mouth all over my body just a month ago?

Looking at him now made my body heat to the point I worried my skin was turning a rosy pink. How could I think about Instagram and TikTok while my body was remembering the way it felt when he slid inside me and made me orgasm until it felt like my head exploded?

But then something even worse happened. It appeared he didn’t remember me. How mortifying was that? At the same time, it gave me some ease that he wasn’t thinking about all the delicious things he did to me. To him, I was just another job applicant.

Of course, I'd be in this situation. Ever since I walked out on the boyfriend whose name I refused to utter, my luck had tanked. The only exception was the night I spent with Reed, but ever since then, I've had one bout of bad luck after another.

This morning, it was that my alarm didn't go off, so I overslept. Because I slept in and I didn't prepare everything last night, I didn't have time to iron my shirt, so it was wrinkled. I'm sure I looked like I'd slept in my car. Then there was the run I got in my only pair of pantyhose. And now this. I walked in to find my potential boss was the man I picked up in a bar a month ago. Thank God he didn't remember me, because what sort of woman did he think I was to have picked him up like that?

I watched him, noting that he didn't smile or seem very welcoming. It reminded me of how he looked when I saw him in the club.

He motioned for me to sit, so I took the seat while he opened the folder, presumably with my application. Would he recognize my name? We didn’t give last names when we met. Was Analyn so unusual that he’d figure out who I was?

He looked up at me, his pale blue eyes pinning me with a stare. "Have you ever walked out on anyone?"

I blinked, wondering what kind of question that was. It was only then that I realized he did remember me. And whatever his memory was, it wasn't a good one.

"I . . . uh . . ." Stammering wasn't a very good way to open an interview, but what were the odds I would get hired, anyway? "I've always been very committed to my jobs." I didn’t know what the hell to say. After all, I had quit my job in order to move out here. I didn’t regret it, but I had the feeling that not regretting walking out on him was a bad answer.

He tapped my resume with his finger as he continued to scrutinize me. "Do you ever regret any of your decisions?"

Right then, I regretted applying for this job. I was beginning to regret moving to Las Vegas.

Why was he so peeved at me? We had a one-night stand. A hookup. We had fun and then it was over. I didn’t linger or cling to him wanting more, even though when I woke the next morning, it was all I could do to drag myself out of bed since I did want more.

But I was a little shocked that I had spent the night with him because it wasn't something I normally did. Plus, I wanted to get back to Betts's house before she found out that I had been out all night. I didn't regret what I had done, but it wasn't something I was going to do again, and it wasn't like either of us had made any sort of commitment. So why was he mad at me? Was he mad at me? Maybe he was like this all the time.

Feeling confused and knowing that I couldn’t work for a man who’d seen me naked, I decided to cut my losses. I got the feeling I wasn’t going to be hired, anyway.

I calmly stood up. "Thank you for your time Re . . . Mr. Hampton, but I don't think I'm going to be a very good fit. I do appreciate your taking the time for the interview." For a moment, I waited for him to say something. The longer I stood there, I realized I wanted him to say something, but he just continued to watch me with those pale blue eyes.

"Thank you again." I hurried to the door and to the elevator, heading to the ground floor of the building. It wasn't until I was outside that I let myself breathe. But with that breath also came the crush of disappointment.

I had really thought this was the perfect job for me. I had a degree in marketing, and then in Chicago I’d spent the last four years working my way up to better positions. This one in Las Vegas, a social media marketing director, was right up my alley. I knew all the concepts of marketing, but my superpower was the ability to take a company and turn their message into interesting videos and images that made an impression on viewers.

While I didn't know a whole lot about sports, over the last week, ever since I applied for the position, I was learning everything I could about sports and online gambling. Not only did I research this company, but his competitors as well. I looked at all their social media followings and identified areas that could be enhanced and new ideas that I thought could go viral for them. But all that was washed away.