Changing the bad boy

Chapter 19

VALERIE POV

Preston's three brothers are talking loudly about something involving cars, but they go quiet as soon as they step inside the conference room.

Three pairs of eyes dart between me and Preston and it's like they know something completely inappropriate took place while they were downstairs.

Easton especially eyes me suspiciously and I'm pretty sure my cheeks are beyond pink, but he doesn't say anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the questioning look Andrew gives Preston, but the only response he gets is a shrug of Preston's shoulders.

I hope they don't ask because I don't want to answer any questions.

God only knows what just happened. How it happened and how I let it happen.

Ugh.

It's one thing to imagine kissing Preston and a completely different thing actually doing it.

I can't rectify my actions. Not that I'd want to, because that was a damn good kiss. But I can't help but feel guilty. I just kissed my boss, my younger, popular, swoon-worthy boss.

I'm a bit mortified at myself. At the same time, I'm fighting to hold back a giggle, thinking about how proud Fiona would be if she knew.

And how disappointed Lydia and Alana would be.

Oh god.

Hayes is the first one to move. He puts a big box of food down on the table, and Easton follows with a smaller one.

I see this as my chance and busy myself with unpacking the food like it's the most important job on earth. I'm delighted when I realize there are no plates and take the opportunity to escape into the kitchen to get some. And a couple of minutes to breathe.

I take longer than necessary to get the plates, enjoying the solitude of the kitchen.

I wipe my hands over my pants, smooth my hair back, and take a few deep and raggedy breaths until I have both my breathing and my heart rate at more acceptable speeds.

The talking stops again as I re-enter the room. The silence is uncomfortable. I plaster a smile on my face and hand out the plates while keeping my back towards Preston for as long as I can. There's an amused glint in his eyes when I finally do face him.

"Thanks," he says and I'm pretty sure my stupid face blushes.

The brothers are quick to grab food out of the food containers. Andrew's phone rings and he answers it with a surprised expression. So, want nave you count so far?" Hayes asks while Andrew gives instructions to someone over the phone on where to leave a package for him.

"There are discrepancies in the electrical records, "Easton comments as he sits down at the table.

"Tile setters too," Hayes adds, pulls out the chair next to Easton, and sits down.

Andrew puts his phone away and reaches for the food.

"The electrical ones look like they are at least fifty thousand, maybe a hundred."

"Damn," Andrew sighs.

"That's bad."

Easton nods and the others grumble in what I assume is agreement.

"Flag the record so we can review them in more detail later," Preston suggests after he takes a few bites of his gourmet sandwich.

Hayes picks up a napkin and wipes his mouth. "We should flag every discrepancy on all the estimates."

"I have little sticky tabs you can add to the paper copies, "I say, remembering the pack of sticky notes and tabs I bought at Walmart. I push back from the table and get up.

"Bring some for all of us, "Andrew suggests and I nod.

The rest of the lunch goes smoothly. Andrew talks about an upcoming company party which launches into stories of past ones. Including one where a human resource employee. He got so drunk he knocked into a server, making her spill all the food she was carrying while the employee fell down a flight of stairs.

"It was a huge mess,"

Andrew snickers and Easton laughs.

"It was a f*****g disaster is what it was," Preston adds.

Hayes grins and nods knowingly.

"What about the time when the Marketing manager hit on Mom?" Easton asks.

"s**t, yeah, remember that?

Dad was so mad," Hayes says with a chuckle.

Preston's eyebrows pull together, and he looks from Easton to Andrew. "Why don't I remember that?"

"You were probably still in college," Andrew responds."It was like seven years ago."

I hold back a groan. Seven years ago Preston was still in school. Damn. At that time, I'd already been married to my shitty ex-husband for over a year and had been at Glasgow's for over six.

Maybe kissing my boss was a really bad idea.

The age difference was more pronounced now than ever. While Preston worked his way up through the company, I started a family and got divorced.

"I usually made the company parties even when I was in school," Preston says a bit sterner than usual, like he's embarrassed to admit that he's younger than the rest of us.

Andrew c***s his head to the side, studying Preston."I think that was the year you spent half a semester in London."

"Oh," Preston's facial expression changed between recognition to surprise to amusement. "Well, what happened? Who was the man?"

Haves pushes his plate away

and leans back in his chair, a big grin on his face. "He's not here anymore. Dad fired him as soon as he found out."

Andrew chuckles.

"What?" Preston asks again, his face displaying a mix of amusement and shock."Why?"

"He hit on mom," Hayes deadpans.

"I got that part," Preston responds with a roll of his eyes that makes him seem younger than he is and I feel a stab of self-consciousness. He truly is young. "What did he do?"

"He approached Mom with a drink because her champagne glass was empty."

"Okay."

"From the open bar, Pres, "Easton comments.

Preston rolls his eyes again."Alright. That's not really a big deal, is it?"

My thoughts exactly.

"No," Hayes grins. "But it's what he suggested after."

"And that is?" Preston asks."God, you're an awful storyteller."

Easton laughs and takes over. "He suggested they snag a champagne bottle from the company stash and go back to his room."

"What the f**k?" Preston laughs. "He did?"

I can't help but giggle. I can picture it from all the stories I've heard from Lydia and Alana.

"Yeah."

Easton drains the rest of his Pellegrino water and adds, "He had no idea who mom was."

"Clearly," Preston agrees."If he did, it would've been career suicide."

"It was anyway." Hayes shrugged his shoulders."Dad fired him immediately."

"Damn, how come I never heard about this?"

"I think it embarrassed him, "Hayes responds.

"Yeah, he did not appreciate

that an employee hit on mom, especially not at a company function," Easton adds.

"Mom just laughed about it."

Preston takes a sip from his glass of water and shakes his head, the smile still playing on his lips. My smile has slipped off of mine and I'm struggling not to squirm in my chair. The lesson from this conversation should be "Don't hit on your boss."

Unsure if that story was brought up as a warning, or if it was just a coincidence, I get up and start cleaning up after lunch. At this point, I don't want to hear any more company stories.

Taking on this overtime job might've been a really bad idea. I need this job, and Preston is a complication. A temptation I don't need.

Well, need and need. My body sure as hell could use a round with him. Or two. I shiver at the thought and try to focus on cleaning up, ignoring the feel of Preston's eyes on my back.

I get rid of the garbage and go back to my desk to text Fiona to check in on the kids. She takes a couple of minutes to respond, but everything is good. They're at the park in the complex where I live. Or so they call it. In reality, it's just a small open space with burnt grass, a bench, and a half-functioning swing set. The kids are having fun chasing Mr. Mallory's cat, Blossom.

Blossom doesn't usually mind being pursued by the kids, but I'm not sure if it's because he's too fat to run away from them, or because he's hoping he'll get some kind of treat out of it. The cat is as food-driven as any animal I've ever met.

Mr. Mallory lives on the bottom floor of my building and the cat is always roaming around outside looking for something to eat, including mice.

I shiver at the memory of him playing with a half-dead mouse on the sidewalk right outside the building.

"Are you okay?"

I look up and find Preston on the other side of my desk. Inod. "Yeah, everything is

good."

He studies me like he doesn't quite believe me. I make an effort to put on a smile, but his narrowing eyes let me know I'm not fooling him. He can probably sense that I'm having an internal freak-out session.

And it's all about him.

I reach for my bag so I can put my phone back in, and avoid Preston's eyes for another few seconds. But it's just not my kind of day and things are not going the way I've hoped for. I miss one of the handles and it catches on the corner of my desk as I pull, causing the other one to slip out of my hand. I watch as in slow motion how the bag falls to the floor and bounces. All the contents of my mom-bag rollout.

Preston acts like a gentleman. He immediately drops to his knees to help me collect everything. But I wish he didn't.

There are all kinds of embarrassing things in that bag. Baby wipes, diaper rash cream, tampons, snot tissues, pacifiers, a half-eaten protein bar, and of course the star of the show -Fiona's gift.

The big freaking purple vibrator falls out right in front of Preston and hits the floor with a loud clang. As if that wasn't mortifying enough, the vibrating contraption turns on.

My mouth falls open, and I let out a terrified gasp.

The fake purple p***s squirm-hops across the floor, away from me, like some kind of slithering snake on steroids.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

Preston chuckles as I make a dive for it. I'm frantic to catch it before any one of his brothers exits the boardroom to see what's going on.

But it's even more embarrassing when Preston gets to it first. His hand closes around the purple shaft. And I want to die.

"Do you have a habit of carrying your vibrator around?" Preston asks teasingly.

"NO! Oh god, no. It was a present," I screech, my cheeks bright red.

"Uh, huh."

I try to grab the vibrator, but Preston turns to the side and holds it out of my reach.

"Preston," I hiss.

He laughs, but thankfully he finds the off button and uses one hand to shut it off.

"That's a nice present," he grins as he flips it over in his hand like he's appraising it.

"Um." I'm dying. My boss is holding my vibrator, and I have no idea how to respond.

"Looks like a decent one," he continues.

conuues.

"What?" My mouth falls open again as my mind starts to reel. Does anyone know about vibrators?

"It looks like it's good quality, and it has a natural form," he says, taking a closer look at the thick vein that runs along it. His eyes snap up and meet mine. His irises are no longer bright blue. They are a darker blue, and look stormy.

"Does it work for you, or are you missing the real thing?"

"Real thing?" I repeat, my mind is stupid.

Preston nods and turns the thing over in his hand again, appraising it. "It might get you off, but not in the way a real man could. Like I could."

My mind drops into the gutter again, thinking about him in bed with me. And all the possible things we could do, and how much better that must feel than the vibrator, even though I haven't even tried it yet.

There's a rush between my legs.

"It's a little small..."

"Small?" I repeat because clearly, my brain is so overwhelmed I can't do anything but repeat whatever Preston is saying.

His mouth splits into a predatory grin, and the look in his eyes goes dangerously dark "Veah small "

It does not look small. It's realistic, but bigger than my ex-husband for sure.

Preston hands it back to me. I reach for it, and my hand accidentally touches his. My entire body shivers.

He licks his lips and I'm reminded of the conversation I had with Fiona about the Cartwright brothers and their BDE.

Damn. She might actually be right.