Chapter 2 - Mistaken Intentions

Maya’s face heated up as all attention was focused on her. All eyes in the room turned towards her. “Of course,” she said smiling sheepishly.

No sooner was the meeting over that she sprang up from her chair and started toward the door, but—

“Miss Thompson.”

His tone stopped her dead in her tracks.

She swallowed hard and turned to face him. Her colleagues excused themselves, leaving one by one, until the two of them were alone. The door clicked shut.

Silence.

Alexander stood there, staring at her, his face mostly unreadable.

Maya’s fists were clenched. “Look, about last night—”

He cut her off. “You took off before I could return your money.”

Her cheeks burned as she remembered the crumpled bills she had shoved into his hand. She didn’t realize it then but giving a rich man money after sleeping with him. Didn’t that make him a gigolo.

She gritted her teeth. “I—It was a mistake. Let’s just forget it ever happened. We’re both adults. ”

Alexander moved another step closer. “A mistake?” His blue eyes raked her. “You sounded confident enough when you paid a man for sleeping with you. Do you… do you do this sort of thing a lot?”

Maya clenched her jaw. “What? No!”

What did he take her for. She didn’t have that kind of kink.

His lips twisted into a smile. “Good. Because I’m not paid for my time like some kind of gigolo.”

She gasped. “Look I’m sorry, okay. Can we just pretend last night didn’t happen?”

Alexander cocked his head to one side. “Hmm.”

And then, in a blur, he leaned forward—his lips inches from her ear.

“Too bad,” he whispered, his breath on her skin. “I find it really hard to forget this.

Maya’s heart pounded. Did he want to continue from where he stopped. No matter what this was a workplace did he really have no sense of decorum.

She needed to get away. Now.

She didn’t say a word, and she turned on her heel to dash out of the conference room, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

An hour later, she sat slumped on her desk, nursing her headache.

Her head throbbed like a bass drum, her stomach roiled in knots, and her mouth felt as rough as sandpaper. This was why she never drank this much. She was paying back for last night in the worst possible way.

She closed her eyes shut, trying to make the pain go away.

Easy to say. Each time she tried to concentrate on the spreadsheet in front of her, some recollection of last night flooded her mind.

Maya moaned again, this time louder.

“Rough morning?”

She jerked her head up in a rush—big mistake. The movement brought another flurry of pain slamming through her.

Carla, her colleague from HR , leaned against her desk, smiling.

“You look like crap,” Carla said to her.

“Thanks,” Maya grumbled.

Carla got up onto the edge of the desk. “So. What’s with you and Mr. Blackwood?”

Maya’s stomach twisted. Of course, the office had already started talking. This people never let any piece of news pass them by. Unfortunately, she was not one to indulge gossips.

“Nothing.”

Carla raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? Because he called you by name yesterday after the meeting. And now there’s a delivery waiting for you at the reception desk. From him."

Maya’s eyes went wide. “Wait. What?”

Carla smiled. “Yeah. So tell me are you and him ….”

Maya’s skin crawled. “No. It’s probably a mistake with the package.”

Carla smiled knowingly but didn’t go further with the subject. “Well, go on and get it then.”

Maya wavered, then took a deep breath, pushing herself up from the chair.

When she reached the reception desk, her heart was pounding for reasons different from the hangover.

The receptionist gave her a gleaming black box. No mark. No label.

Maya furrowed her brow and carried it to her desk and sat down. She hesitated, holding it as if it were going to explode.

Then, after a breath, she opened the lid.

Neatly piled inside was a pile of crisp hundred-dollar bills.

Next to the cash was a white pill.

Maya’s heart pounded in her ears as she saw the note lying beside it.

She unfolded it.

Here’s your money back. Don’t forget to take the pill.

Her stomach heaved. Her eyes reddened.

Her fingers curled around the paper, squeezing it.

What kind of person does he take me for? A prostitute?

Humiliation burned. She had long since taken the morning-after pill upon returning home. Did he think she needed a reminder? Or worse—did he assume she was trying to trap him with a pregnancy? She didn’t even know him for God’s sake.

Maya stormed out of the reception.

She didn’t care who he was.

She didn’t care that she was probably going to end her career.

All she knew was Alexander Blackwood was about to get a piece of her mind.

She barely knocked at all before opening the glass doors to his office.

Alexander sat at his desk, reading from a sheet of paper, as another man—tall, blond, and handsome—sat back in a chair opposite him.

They both turned to her.

“Maya,” Alexander said calmly.

She slammed the box down on his desk.

His friend stared at him in disbelief.

Alexander’s lip curled.

“Something wrong?”

Maya’s jaw clenched in fury. “What the devil is this?”

He shrugged and reclined in his chair. “Your money. I’m returning it to you”

“And this”—she pointed at the pill.

Alexander leaned to the side. “You’re telling me you don’t need it then? I thought women took these things to prevent unwanted pregnancies”

Maya almost turned red.

“I already took one,” she shot back.

His lips quirked, almost amused. “Good to know.”

“You think I’m that kind of person. I’m not so desperate for money that I’ll try to get pregnant for some random guy just because he happens to be rich. You think too highly of yourself.

He didn’t answer.

She let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Just so you know you’re not my type and you’re the last person I want to have a child with.”

“I’ve had my share of persistent women.” , he said

Maya exhaled sharply. “You can think whatever you want about me. But I won’t be disrespected like this.”

Alexander studied her for a long moment not saying anything.

Only then did she notice the other man watching us them an amused glint in his blue eyes.

Xander’s friend—who had been watching the exchange—finally cleared his throat. “You’re feisty. I like that.”

Maya shot him a glare.

He smirked. “I’m Derek.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t care.”

Alexander let out a low chuckle. This girl was really bold. If she knew who Derek was would she still dare to be so emboldened.

Maya turned on her heel. She headed for the door.

“Maya.”

She froze.

She turned, waiting.

His gaze was steady. “You’ve been promoted to my secretary?”