one night stand with my boss

CHAPTER-THREE

Ella.

As we stop at their table, Jessica says, “Hello, boys.”

The man with black hair turns towards us, flashing the most dazzling smile. “Hello, beautiful. We were just about to order drinks. Why don’t you both join us?”

Not one to argue, we start up a conversation quickly. As he holds up two fingers, he asks, “So, what are you girls doing here?”

“I lost my job today, so I thought it would be a clever idea to get drunk. I’m Ella.” I extend my hand for him to shake.

His hand is massive, and his skin is smooth against mine as he replies, “Elijah, it’s a pleasure to meet both of you.”

Jess leans over, extending her hand. “I am Jess, by the way.” She gestures between the two men. “Why are you two here?”

“Ah, the boss lost an investment because he was late for a meeting, the usual.” He nudges his head towards the other man. “He’s not in the best mood, as you can see.”

The man next to him doesn’t say a word; instead, he gives a death stare, prompting Elijah to hold his hands up in defense. “It’s the truth, bro. I won’t lie to the lovely ladies; they asked me.”

Without uttering a single word, the other man averts his gaze and doesn’t look back at us. After we get our drinks, we enjoy chatting—Jess is having a great time. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her let her hair down.

After a few more minutes, I can’t help but notice that Elijah’s companion is sitting quietly, looking at his phone and seeming bored. An overwhelming need to check on him comes over me.

Shyly, I ask, “I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, but are you okay?”

He glances at me, a hint of surprise in his eyes, but it fades quickly. He doesn’t say a word. Instead, he simply nods and looks away.

Okay, never mind; that was a complete and utter fail. Before I can do anything else, the song we both love starts playing. We leap up and grab each other’s hands. “Sorry, but this is our song. See you!”

Once we step onto the dance floor, we groove to the rhythm, dropping low and swaying our hips seductively, completely oblivious to our surroundings. We dance the night away. It’s been so long since we’ve been out together, and between our busy work schedules, it’s been hard to plan anything.

As another song plays, Elijah comes over. “Mind if I cut in?”

With a broad smile on my face, I hand Jess to him and step back to give them space. She continues to move her hips without stopping as he positions himself behind her, placing his hands on her hips and moving perfectly in sync with her. She wraps her arm around his neck, and he leans in to kiss the sensitive skin on her neck.

As soon as I divert my gaze and begin to move my hips again, someone grabs me from behind. Even with the drink inside me, I freeze, my heart starting to pound in my chest. A deep voice fills my ear, their breath sweeping across my skin. "Come on, baby, let's have some fun."

Before I can even try to get away to fight, he attempts to pull me away, causing my breathing to quicken and tears to well up in my eyes. Desperately, I search for Jess, hoping for help; however, she’s not looking at me and I can’t get her attention. So, I do the only thing I can think of: I scream. It probably won’t do much, but I have to try. I won’t let this man take me.

As I open my mouth, ready to let out the scream that’s bubbling up in my throat, a deep and angry voice booms. “What the f**k are you doing with my girlfriend?”

As I lift my gaze to the source of the commotion, I see Elijah’s friend approaching me. The person holding me responds, "I didn’t see her with you. Besides, I'm not doing anything wrong—I'm just dancing with her."

His eyes are narrowed, and his jaw is tight as he reaches us. "i suggest you let her go before i slam your head into the f*****g floor"

The guy loosens his grip while looking at me, and then my savior, seemingly realizing it's not worth it, tosses me in his direction. I stumble into his arms, seeking comfort in his warm embrace.

I'm sobbing, tears flowing down my cheeks. I can't believe that just happened. Who in their right mind thinks it's okay to grab someone without permission?

He gently takes my face in his hands and says softly, "Hey, it's okay. Look at me. Take a deep breath; I have you." The warmth of his green eyes calms me instantly, stopping my blood from rushing and my heart from pounding.

As I begin to breathe deeply, I see rage fill his eyes, but he doesn't act on it. Instead, he simply wraps his arm around me and walks toward Jess and Elijah, who are still dancing.

“Come on, we’re going back to my place. We can finish the drinks there.”

“What? Why?” Jess pouts, her expression quickly changing to shock when she sees my tear-streaked face.

“You’d understand if you were paying attention to the friend you're supposed to be with. She nearly got hurt—God knows what that jerk had in mind.”

Hearing him speak to her like that infuriates me, and I blurt out, “Hey, don’t talk to her like that!”

His gaze shifts between us, and when he catches sight of my face, his demeanor softens. “I’m sorry. You girls need to be careful; there are a lot of crazy people out here. Come on.”

Jess huffs, “Fine, but you better have music.”

As he turns to leave, he says, “Don’t worry, I do.”

When we step outside, I notice a limousine parked by the sidewalk. Turning to him, I ask, “You have a limousine? Isn’t that a bit much?”

He grins and replies, “It’s not mine—I hire the driver, and he takes me anywhere I want to go. It’s fitting, right?”

I whisper, “Weirdo,” as I climb into the car, only to receive a playful slap on the backside.

Turning to him, I say, “Excuse me, have some respect. I don’t know you.”

He holds his hands up, smirking. “Sorry, ma'am. I’ll behave.”

After a while, we finally arrive, and as we all climb out, I freeze. It’s pitch black, and I can’t see very well as is —the lack of lights doesn’t help. My breathing quickens as Jess reassures me, “It’s okay, El. I’m here,” sensing my reaction without me saying a word.

I jump out of my skin when someone grabs my hand. The man's name, which I still haven't discovered, reassures me, "It’s just me, Ella, it’s okay.” I try to look around, but it’s hard to see, so I squeeze his hand tightly.

“f**k me, are you trying to break my fingers?” he exclaims, and I loosen my grip a little. We climb into the elevator, relief washing over me the instant I see the light inside.

Elijah and Jess are in front of us while we stand at the back. With my head lowered, I say, “I’m sorry if I hurt you by squeezing your hand too hard. I didn’t mean to.”

He firmly grabs my chin, forcing me to meet his intense gaze. "There’s no need for that,” he says, causing my face to heat up.

It doesn’t take us long to reach his apartment on the 10th floor. Once inside, we’re led down a hall and into a room; when the light is flicked on, I’m amazed to see a bar.

What kind of person has an entire bar fitted into their apartment? You could fit ten people there; that’s how big it is. Shaking my head, I take a seat, with Jess following suit while Elijah grabs us drinks.

His friend goes over to a speaker system in the corner of the room, and in no time, music begins to play, spreading a smile across Jessica's face.

As she focuses on her man, I turn to the other tightly gripping my glass. I take a big sip before placing it down and saying, "So, do you always bring women back to your apartment without telling them your name?"

He tilts his head to the side, his eyes searching mine with a smirk. "What makes you think I have a name?"

I narrow my eyes playfully. "I’m sure your parents didn’t forget to name you, handsome."

He raises a brow before taking the seat next to me, angling his body towards me. He looks at his friend and then back at me. "Jackson," he says.

"Jackson," I repeat, but it just doesn’t sound right. Knowing it's my drunken brain, I add, "It's a nice name."

He nods. "So you lost your job? You don’t seem like the kind of girl who makes mistakes."

I grab my glass again. "I'm not. My jackass of a ex-boss couldn't listen to a word I said. Instead, he decided to go with someone else, even without any evidence."

"Oh, I see. So it's a he-said, she-said thing."

"You could say that. But I don't even know who was saying anything."

He shrugs. "Probably a co-worker who has a problem with you."

I try to think of anyone who might feel that way but come up empty. I always kept to myself at that place. Besides, it's done and over now; I don’t need to dwell on it. What good would that do me?

"So what do you do for a living?" I ask.

He stands, unbuttons his suit jacket, and slips it off before rolling up his shirt sleeves, revealing the muscles I noticed earlier. I know I shouldn’t, but I stare, which only makes him smile.

"I own my own business—an investment company. Well, my father does, but I will be taking over soon."

I nod, and for the next hour, we do nothing but talk. By the end, I'm completely drunk. When I stand up, Jackson says, "Stay with me tonight."

Stay with him? I just met this man a couple of hours ago. "What? No, I can’t."

"Why not? Your friend will stay here. Besides, it saves you from getting a cab."

He's right, but I don’t usually do things like this. I’m too much of a good girl. But for some reason, I find myself saying, "Okay, I will stay."

I don’t want to be the same goody two-shoes I normally am tonight. I want to be someone else, someone who has fun.

He grabs my hand and says, “Come on, let's go to bed. I’m sure you don’t want to see your friend having sex."

Turning around, I looked behind us. Sure enough, Elijah has Jess on his lap, their lips locked in a passionate kiss as she grinds on him. Quickly turning back, I say “Yeah, let's go. I do not want to see that.”

He leads me out of the room and into a bedroom. I stand at the doorway, hesitating for a moment.

He gestures with his head and says, “Come on, I don’t bite.”

Laughing, I step inside and take a seat on the massive bed. It’s silent for a long moment before he continues,

“Get under the covers, baby girl. We won’t do anything if you don’t want to; just get comfortable.”

As I cover myself with a blanket, I realize it's the drink making my brain think, "Please give me pleasure."