Yes,I proposed to my Boss

Chapter Four

By the time I got home, I was exhausted.

Physically.

Mentally.

Emotionally.

Spiritually.

Every possible form of exhaustion had found me.

The moment I stepped through the front door, my mother appeared from nowhere.

Literally nowhere.

One second the living room was empty.

The next—

"REECE!"

I flinched.

"Good morning to you too, Mom."

"Don't 'good morning' me!" she snapped, marching toward me. "Where were you? Your phone was off! I called you all night!"

Oh.

Right.

My phone.

I pulled it from my pocket.

Dead.

Very dead.

Oops.

"Sorry," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I went out with some coworkers."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You?"

"Yes, me."

"You voluntarily left work?"

"Apparently."

She folded her arms.

"And?"

I cleared my throat.

"We had drinks."

Her eyebrows rose.

"Drinks?"

"A few."

"How many is a few?"

I looked away.

"That's not important."

"It is very important."

I ignored that.

"I got tired and slept at the hotel above the bar."

Which was technically true.

Mostly.

My mother sighed dramatically.

"I was worried sick."

"Sorry."

"And your phone?"

"Dead."

"And you couldn't borrow someone's phone?"

"..."

"Reece."

"...I forgot."

She stared at me.

Then shook her head.

"You will be the death of me."

I smiled.

"Love you too, Mom."

She pointed toward the stairs.

"Go away."

I didn't need to be told twice.

The second I reached my room, I dropped onto my bed face-first.

Peace.

Finally.

No coworkers.

No alcohol.

No shirtless CEOs.

The thought appeared immediately.

I groaned into my pillow.

Of course.

Of course my brain went there.

I rolled over and stared at the ceiling.

Sebastian Rhodes.

CEO.

Billionaire.

Owner of the company.

My Boss

And apparently the man I had accidentally spent a night with.

My face heated immediately.

"Nope."

I sat up.

"We're not thinking about that."

I thought about it.

Immediately.

His laugh.

His stupid calmness.

His stupid teasing.

His stupid—

"No."

I grabbed a pillow and threw it across the room.

The pillow accomplished nothing.

The memories remained.

Wonderful.

I changed into comfortable clothes—an oversized shirt and soft sweatpants—then spent the rest of the day attempting to distract myself.

Attempting.

Keyword.

Because every few minutes my brain would remind me:

You have seen your boss naked.

I buried my face in another pillow.

Weekend officially ruined.

Saturday passed.

Then Sunday.

I successfully convinced myself that the entire thing could be forgotten.

Buried.

Deleted.

Archived.

Never spoken about again.

By Monday morning, I felt almost human.

Almost.

And I had a new goal.

Revenge.

Those seven employees were about to learn that actions have consequences.

The moment I entered the office, I spotted them.

Laughing.

Relaxed.

Happy.

Disgusting.

"aren't you having a good time?" I muttered to myself

I adjusted my glasses.

Time to fix that.

One of them noticed me first.

The color drained from his face.

"Oh no."

Another followed his gaze.

Then another.

Then another.

Like dominoes.

"I told you she was gonna come get us."

"Well, shit."

"There goes my Monday."

I smiled.

A very small smile.

The kind that terrified people.

All seven immediately straightened.

Good.

Fear was healthy.

I walked into my office.

Opened a cabinet.

Found exactly what I was looking for.

Then walked back out.

The file landed on their desk with enough force to make them jump.

"What is that?" one asked cautiously.

"Work."

Their expressions fell.

I almost laughed.

Almost.

"You'll be recalculating every figure in that report."

Silence.

I continued.

"Then printing it in three separate formats."

More silence.

"Then preparing it for submission."

One brave soul checked the clock.

"We have two hours."

"Correct."

His face fell.

I adjusted my glasses.

"You kidnapped me."

His jaw dropped.

"You're punishing us?"

"Absolutely."

"That's abuse of power."

"No."

I smiled.

"This is accountability."

The complaints began immediately.

I enjoyed every second.

Two hours later they looked like survivors of a natural disaster.

Excellent.

Character development.

One by one they submitted their completed reports before escaping my office.

Some looked relieved.

Some looked traumatized.

One looked ready to resign.

A productive morning don't you say.

Eventually only one employee remained.

A young woman from the department.

She stood awkwardly by my desk.

I glanced up.

"Something else?"

"Actually..."

She hesitated.

That immediately caught my attention.

"What?"

Her eyes widened.

"You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"The boss is looking for someone."

I froze

Completely.

My pen stopped moving.

"Huh?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah."

Every alarm in my body activated.

Immediately.

"What do you mean looking for someone?"

"He spent half the morning visiting departments."

My stomach dropped.

"No way."

"Yes way."

I stared.

She continued happily.

"Human Resources."

My stomach dropped further.

"Operations."

Lower.

"Legal."

Lower.

"Marketing."

Please stop talking.

"And then our floor."

Oh, this was bad.

Very bad.

I swallowed carefully.

"Why?"

She shrugged.

"No idea."

My mind was already running.

Looking for someone.

Someone.

A woman.

A woman from a hotel.

A woman whose name he didn't know.

A woman who accidentally entered the wrong room.

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

The employee leaned against the desk.

"He was so pretty."

I blinked.

"What?"

She sighed dramatically.

"Our CEO."

Of course.

"When he came over here I forgot how language works."

I stared at her.

She continued.

"His skin? Perfect."

I rubbed my forehead.

"His hair? Perfect."

Please stop.

"His face came so close while he was talking and I nearly forgot my own name."

I really didn't need this information.

"He kept looking at everyone's faces."

I froze.

"What?"

She nodded.

"Like really looking."

That wasn't helping.

At all.

"He'd ask a question and then stare."

My pulse picked up.

"He looked at practically everyone."

Everyone.

Looking.

Faces.

Trying to recognize someone.

Someone he had only seen briefly.

Someone whose name he didn't know.

Someone who desperately wanted him not to find her.

Me.

Oh, God.

Me.

The employee continued talking.

I heard none of it.

My brain was busy planning an escape route.

Maybe I could transfer departments.

Maybe I could transfer buildings.

Maybe I could transfer countries.

All reasonable options.

"—and you weren't here."

That caught my attention.

"What?"

She nodded.

"You were helping Procurement, remember?"

Right.

I had been.

Thank God.

"So you missed him."

Missed him.

Or successfully avoided him.

Same thing.

I forced a calm nod.

"Interesting."

The employee smiled.

"Right?"

No.

Not right.

Terrible.

Absolutely terrible.

She finally left.

The door closed

Silence filled the room.

I slowly lowered my head onto my desk.

Thump.

"Ah, shit."

Because somehow—

Somehow—

Just when I had decided I wanted nothing to do with Sebastian Rhodes...

Sebastian Rhodes appeared to be looking for me.

And I had a horrible feeling he wasn't planning to give up.