My boss is a stuck up rich a'hole

SERAPHINA

I waited for the ground to open up and swallow me or better still for the world to end but it was like God was having a laugh at my predicament because none of that happened.

I remained standing where I was looking up into the face of my boss, Tristan Blackwell.

He did not move; just stood there, staring down at me with those silver gray eyes that had haunted my thoughts reflecting just enough amusement to make me want to scream.

For a long, unbearable minute, no one said a word.

Then slowly, he arched his head to the side.

“Well, this is very unexpected”

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “Mr. Blackwell…”

“Please,” he drawled, stepping closer, cutting off any hope I had of turning around and bolting.

“We are hardly in the office now, are we, Ms. Cross? I think you can drop the formality after everything that has happened between us.”

My eyes widened as they followed the trail of his hand to his crotch. He was aroused with my dance, that much I could see.

I took a step back instinctively, and my heel brushed the edge of the door behind me. I hated that my body reacted to his nearness before my mind could stop it. He was too close and he was making it impossible for me to think.

“Did you follow me here?” I demanded, even though I heard how weak that sounded.

His low laugh crawled down my spine, warming my insides.

“Follow you? Do not flatter yourself. This happens to be my first time at Velour. My friend, Julian owns the place so imagine my surprise when his best girl turns out to be my own employee”

I clenched my fists at my sides. “This is not what it looks like.”

He raised a brow. “Really? Because it looks remarkably like one of my department heads moonlighting as an exotic dancer.”

I opened my mouth to argue but shut it again. There was no good explanation for this and especially none that would matter to a man like him.

“I should fire you now and be done with it,” he said after a moment. “You understand that, don’t you? Obsidian has a code of conduct and I imagine our investors would not take kindly to knowing how one of our innovators spends her nights…” His gaze dragged slowly over me, settling on my breast pressing against the silk dress, wanting to escape.

Heat flooded my cheeks, anger and humiliation mixing in equal measure. “I do not see how my personal life is any of your business.”

He grinned at that and somehow made his cruelty worse.

“Everything about my employees is my business, Ms. Cross.”

“You are wrong, Mr Blackwell” I snapped.

“Hardly” he countered softly.

He stepped closer again, close enough that I could smell his cologne.

“Tell me, Seraphina,” he said my name like he was rolling it around his tongue… like he was trying to taste it.

“What would your excuse be if I asked why a woman like you who is supposedly respectable is doing here?”

 I stared up at him, my eyes hardening.

“I will tell you that it is none of your fucking business and I will also tell you that some of us have to work twice as hard to earn half as much as we do, Mr Blackwell.”

Something flickered behind his expression that I could not read but it vanished as quickly as it came.

“I suppose that is one way to put it,” he murmured.  “Still, you must see the… problem. You work for me, you represent my company and now, thanks to tonight, I have an image in my mind that is going to make our next meeting rather… distracting.”

My jaw tightened. “You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”

His smile deepened. “Immensely.”

I wanted to slap him and I also wanted to disappear….Preferably both at once, if you don’t mind, God!

“Why don’t you just fire me and get it over with?” I said.

“Oh, on the contrary.” He took another step forward, until he was so close I could feel the faint warmth of his breath.

He had me backed up against the wall, his body almost pressed against mine but not quite.

“If I fired you, who then would deliver on the deal you promised me?”

I blinked in confusion.

 “Two days, wasn’t it? You made a very bold claim in my office and I am curious now what you have to offer me, Ms Cross”

My pulse hammered. “You can’t possibly be serious.”

“I am always serious,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “But I am also flexible so let us make a deal, shall we?”

I did not trust that tone or the look in his eyes one bit but my pulse was hammering now and I was curious to hear what he had to say. “A deal?”

“Yes. You keep your job and your little secret stays between us. In return, I expect results. Something that will wow my imagination or else…”

I stared at him, incredulous. “Are you threatening me?”

He chuckled softly. “Such an ugly word.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“So I have been told.”

For a moment, neither of us moved.

I finally found my voice again. “You think you can use this to scare me?”

He smiled faintly. “Scare you? No. But I do wonder what else you are capable of. I suppose I will find out in… what now? A day and a half?”

I swallowed my pride, fury and the thousand words I wanted to hurl at him. “You will get your project.”

“Good.” He straightened, pushing away from me with such composure that it was impossible this man had been aroused by me.

“Then I look forward to being impressed.”

His eyes flickered to me one last time, taking in the full length of me, stripping me naked with dark eyes that had no emotions in them but somehow made me tremble.

And just like that, he turned and left.

For a full minute, I could not move. My heart thudded against my ribs so loudly. The fury and disbelief was so tangled together that it was hard to know whether I wanted to scream or cry.

I laughed instead.

Of course. Of course it had to be him. The universe had a wicked sense of humor and it was playing one of its jokes now on me.