Page 24 of One Bossy Date

“So?” Jim gave an exasperated shrug.

“I can’t have sex with my boss! It’s a bad idea.”

“It’s only a bad idea if the sex is bad. And there’s no such thing as bad sex. It’s an oxymoron. I always say: If your partner can’t get in the groove, then show them what you want. That shit is sex-zy, girl. You both get yours. You need to dust those cobwebs off. It’s time. Just ask him.”

I ignored his “dusting of my cobwebs” statement. Rude. No need to go into detail—it was depressing to say the least. “Trust me, the sex with him would be bad. You should see his place—it’s spotless. He controls everything—even what his employees wear.”

“Wait. You said, ‘controls everything.’ That’s not necessarily a bad thing, you know. You might like a little hair pulling or ass spanking. Never know until you try it. I can say—”

“Oh, my God. No.” I refused to admit his words had elicited a vision in my mind. A naughty one. But no. “Not gonna happen.”

Jim’s eyes rolled so hard I thought they’d disappear into his head. “Girl, you’re so picky. Even when a gorgeous billionaire falls right into your lap, you have qualms.”

“Qualms?”

“Yes, qualms. You go looking for faults, and you use them to deny yourself what you really need.”

Folding my arms and arching a brow, I asked, “And what do I really need?”

“Some good dick, AKA happiness, AKA contentment in life. Same thing.”

“I’m gonna change,” I said, walking away to my tiny room to do just that.

“Good idea.”

Shutting the door, I sat down on my bed. Anders’s face immediately entered my mind. I fell back onto the bed, closing my eyes. His dark-chocolate hair had been all messed up when he had appeared in that towel, and I imagined brushing a strand away from his eye as he stared down intently at me, without saying a word.

Then he would sternly order me to take off my wet shirt, my bra, my drenched panties.

And I would, of course, comply. Without hesitation.

The vision was now zooming out, and his tanned chest came into view, my finger left his cheek and slid down his smooth, puffed-up pec, and then down, down, down…

God, Zoe. It has been a while, hasn’t it?

The last time I’d had sex was with Leo, many, many months ago, as a way of letting off steam and quenching my sexual thirst. It had been clinical, rushed, but I couldn’t complain—it got the job done. I imagined that Anders would be the kind of man to take his time, to revel in the sight of a woman squirming beneath him, to make her moan his name, to thrust his steely, unfriendly cock inside her with deep, fierce, unforgiving thrusts. To treat it as he did everything else in his life—with calculated care and dominant, commanding, alpha energy.

I allowed myself the vision but didn’t take the thought any further, and I didn’t touch myself when thinking about him. Anders Windham was not only a taboo man, but also a busy guy who likely had no time for a relationship. I already had more than enough problems in my life, and I had no inclination to add any more by complicating things with my new boss. So, I would let myself look and feast on the view of Anders’s absolute, undeniable sexiness, but I would not touch. No siree.

As far as his personality went, he just wasn’t my type.

So basically, I was good.

At the very least, he would get Granny Dotty off my back. And Brody. I couldn’t wait to see the looks on the whole family’s faces when I walked into the party on the arm of the intimidating and superior male specimen that was Mr. Anders Windham.

10

ANDERS

After a long workout session in my home gym, I decided to take a late morning. For the last week, Zoe had come in to feed the dogs at about ten a.m. every day.

Today was the first time I’d be home when she came, which would be any minute. I was still in my bedroom fixing my tie when I caught the sound of the front door opening. She probably wouldn’t be in her panties this time.

Ares and Hades stormed off, and the next thing I heard was Zoe’s voice sweet-talking them.

“Hey, big guys! Oh, my word, look at you two, such beautiful beasts, aren’t you? Yes, you are!”

When I walked in, she was rubbing Ares’s head and Hades’s tummy, who lay on his back for her. I could tell that she was still nervous, flinching slightly when the dogs moved too fast or jumped in excitement. But I hadn’t come home to any surprises or wet floors recently, so it seemed like things were going well enough. If any disasters had taken place, there were no traces of them to be found when I returned from work. She was hanging in there. I appreciated that about her.