Chapter 8: Laziness and Excuses

~Ronan's Pov~

I can't take my eyes off her. All night, I've been staring like some idiot while she talks to someone else. And by that someone, I mean… Larry Buck. All night? She's acting like she's not my date.

I walked over to where they stood, chatting. Nyssa laughed at whatever the hell he just said. I don’t like that. Why would she laugh at his jokes? The guy isn’t that funny—have you met him?

“Fancy meeting you here, Larry,” I said, sliding my hands onto her waist and pulling her close to me. She stiffened and her smile disappeared. Weird, because she was laughing just a few minutes ago.

“Alpha! It’s been so long. I didn’t know you were back in the city.”

“I am.”

He smiled and looked back at Nyssa, his eyes drifting from where I held her to her eyes. “So, are you still taking up that offer? I can show you so many cities, and you’ve mentioned you love traveling.”

“I’ll… think about it.”

Like hell she would.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’d hate to be a party pooper, but there are some important people I want Nyssa to meet.”

“Oh… it’s fine.” Good.

Before she could oppose me, I dragged her away to the other end of the room behind the pillars. I pushed her against one of them—luckily, this spot was hidden from the party, giving me the chance to say whatever I wanted without prying eyes.

“What was that?”

“What? You tell me. What did you need me for? As far as I know, there’s no important person I’m meeting.”

“Why were you with Larry? What were you two talking about?” This isn’t prying, just making sure she’s not sharing my company’s business with strangers.

“Is that really why you took me out of there?”

“Answer the question, Nyssa.”

“No, I won’t because it’s a stupid question. You’ve been acting strange since we got here.”

“Have you forgotten that you’re my plus one at this party, not Larry’s?”

She rolled her eyes and tried to walk away, but I wouldn’t let her. I pushed her back to the pillar and placed my hand over her head to block her path.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?”

Her expression shifted from shocked to confused as she looked at me.

“Larry was just telling me about the cities and countries he’s traveled to. It’s nothing, really. He’s planning a trip and offered to take me along. Satisfied?”

“Okay.”

“Can I go now? You’re acting weird and meddling in my business. I don’t like it.”

I closed my eyes, giving her space to leave.

“You may be my boss, but you have no right to dictate what I do or who I interact with. I hope you understand that.” And with that, she left.

Fuck. What came over me? I can’t be feeling possessive over her like that.

—-------------------------------------------------

She's not answering my calls, and she's late to work. I have a meeting in five minutes, and she's the one with the file I need. I don't even know why I bother trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. Soon, everyone in the company will think I'm having a thing for my best friend's daughter because I let her do whatever she wants.

Nyssa dashed into my office, file in hand, dressed in a knee-length pencil skirt and a silk wine top that complemented her hair color.

"You're late."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I overslept and lost track of time. I promise this won’t happen again."

"You think? This is your second week working here, and your performance last week was terrible. You were sick, and now you're late. What’s it going to be next time?"

"I didn't know—"

"Read your emails; that's why I sent them to you. If you're too slow to do that, stick to your schedule. You don’t expect me to pay you when you don’t work like half of your colleagues."

She stiffened and dropped her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry I lost track of time. It won’t happen again."

"It better not. I can't keep excusing your laziness.”