My Billionaire Boss Who Loved Me

Cornered

Maya

I stared at Eric, trying to make sense of what had just come out of his mouth, because there was no way I had heard him correctly.

His fiancée.

Me?

For a few seconds, I just stood there, staring at him because my brain was still trying to catch up with what had just happened.

I could feel the coffee soaking through my shoes and his fingers still wrapped around my wrist, but somehow the strangest part was that he looked completely serious.

I looked at him again, waiting for the smallest sign that he was joking or that this was some strange business tactic I didn’t understand.

Nothing.

He was actually serious.

I slowly glanced down at myself.

I was standing there with coffee all over my shoes, my heart beating so hard I could feel it in my chest, and absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do next.

Just this morning, my biggest problem had been getting through another day without losing my patience with him. Now I was standing in his office with his hand around my wrist while his entire family stared at me like I had somehow agreed to become his wife.

How did my life get here?

It wasn’t even funny anymore.

A few weeks ago, I was worrying about rent, work, and whether I could keep everything together for my family. I had spent so much time trying to make sure one problem didn’t turn into another that I never imagined I would end up standing in a billionaire’s office being introduced as his fiancée.

And of all people…

Eric Thorne

The same man who could barely say good morning without making it sound like I had already annoyed him. The man who expected everything to be done exactly when he wanted it, who could send me running around the office for something as simple as coffee, and who had a way of looking at me that made me wonder what I had done wrong even when I knew I hadn’t done anything.

The same man I had argued with just last night.

And now, somehow, he had decided that I was the woman he wanted everyone to believe he was going to marry.

I looked at him again he couldn’t even look me in the eyes.

What kind of sense did that make?

I tried to pull my wrist away, more out of instinct than anything else, but his fingers tightened slightly around it.

I stared at his hand back at him.

Seriously?

He was holding me like I was going to disappear if he let go.

Maybe I should just disappear, pretend none of this had happened, and somehow walk out of this office like I hadn’t just been dragged into the most ridiculous situation of my life.

I finally let my eyes move around the room, and that was when I noticed the people standing around us.

Arthur looked like someone had just slapped him across the face. His eyes were fixed on Eric, and from the way his expression had changed, I was pretty sure he hadn’t expected any of this.

Evelyn was no different.

I wasn’t exactly sure what her or the others were going to say. I barely knew these people, and judging by the looks on their faces, I was pretty sure they had already decided they didn’t like me.

And then, there were the lawyers.

They simply stood there with their folders in their hands, looking from Eric to me and back again, as though they were waiting for someone to explain what had just happened.

I couldn’t blame them.

I needed an explanation too.

The strange thing was, nobody was saying anything.

Everyone just kept staring at us.

And somehow, that silence made everything feel even more ridiculous.

I swallowed hard and looked back at Eric.

He still looked calm and that annoyed the even more.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think he had planned this whole thing and had somehow forgotten to tell the one person who was actually involved.

Me!!

I couldn’t understand how he could stand there so confidently after dragging me into something this insane without giving me a single warning.

Did he even think before he acted?

Because this wasn’t some small decision he could make and forget about later.

He had just announced something that could change both of our lives.

How was I supposed to explain this to Dad and Sophia? That I had somehow gone from being his assistant to becoming the fiancée of a billionaire?

They would probably think I had completely lost my mind.

I couldn’t do this. I just couldn’t.

I tried pulling my wrist free again, this time with more effort.

Still nothing.

What was wrong with this man?

Last night, he had looked at me like he wanted me nowhere near him, and now he was holding my hand in front of his family like I was the most obvious choice in the world.

I almost wanted to ask him if he’d hit his head on the way to work.

Maybe that was it.

Maybe the billionaire had finally lost his mind.

Because no sane person woke up one morning, looked at his assistant, and decided, Yes, that’s the woman I’m going to pretend to marry.

At least, I hoped no sane person did.

I took a slow breath and looked around the room again, suddenly wishing I could find a way out without making the situation even worse.

I didn’t know why the lawyers were there or what any of this had to do with me.

But I knew one thing.

I wanted to walk out of this office and go back to the simple problems I had been dealing with this morning.

At this moment, rent sounded better.

Work sounded better.

Even Eric’s ridiculous coffee orders sounded better.

Literally anything was better than this.

I just couldn’t understand what had gone through his mind before he pulled me into this, especially when he could have handled whatever was happening without involving me.

For someone who seemed to think ten steps ahead about everything, Eric Thorne had just made one of the strangest decisions I had ever seen.

And honestly, I wasn’t sure if he had thought it through at all.