One night stand with my daddy's best friend
88

Bridget

Now I was the one avoiding Dane at work. Not that it was very hard. He tried to replace me only once and then I guess he got the message and didn't try again. The first day back at work after the charity event, Ethan came to my office mid-morning looking a bit stunned.

"I just got reamed out by the boss," he said, taking a seat in the chair in front of my desk. "Oh?"

"He interrogated me about our 'date'." He used air-quotes on the word date. "I told him the real deal, but I'm not sure he believed me. He acted out of sorts." He shook his head like Dane's behavior didn't make sense. I decided to keep silent about what happened in the limo.

"Is your position here at risk?" I asked instead.

"Nah. I don't think so. He gave me the spiel about the HR policy and how I couldn't break it even for a fake date or to get on my grandfather's good side." He looked at me sheepishly. "I hope he wasn't too hard on you. I'm sorry if he was. I told him it was all on me and not to take it out on you. I'm sorry, Bridget. I wasn't thinking that this little plot could cause blowback on you. You have way more to lose than I do."

"I'm not worried." At least I wasn't concerned about my job. I couldn't imagine Dane firing me without worrying that I could retaliate with what happened in the limo. "My big concern now is the presentation I have this week." Ethan waved my worry away. "You're going to do fine. The campaign is

great." He rose from his chair. "I'll let you get back to it."

After that, I kept my head down and out of Dane's way. To be safe, I had one of the administrative assistants take care of my copying. I ate my lunch in my office. I did everything I could to avoid seeing Dane.

To be honest, it wasn't easy. Despite what happened in the limo, a part of me wanted to see him. He was a compelling, if confusing, man. There was no doubt that there was an attraction on both sides. I wasn't sure what he saw in me, but whatever it was, he had difficulty resisting me. As a woman, it did the ego good to know a man was drawn to her like that.

But there were rules, not just here at the company, but in life. It wasn't smart for me to get involved with the boss if I wanted to be respected as a professional. I was young with little experience. It would be easy for those who worked around me to think I got this job by spreading my legs for the boss instead of on merit. At least I think I did. Did Dane hire me because of the attraction?

I shook that thought out of my head. If he'd done that, he wouldn't be working so hard to resist me. If I was a temptation, it would have been better not to hire me.

Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid him any longer. My presentation was today, and I was nervous as hell. I was actually doubly nervous. First, I didn't want to bomb my first marketing campaign pitch, but second, to have to do it for Dane was making me nauseous.

I gathered up all my presentation materials and my courage and headed down to the conference room. I arrived early to set up.

"Ready to knock it out of the park?" Lane asked as she entered the conference room.

My heart jumped, anticipating that Dane was with her, but she was alone. "I guess we're about to replace out."

"You're going to be great. I can't imagine there's anything you can't do to wow the boss."

"I can think of plenty of things that won't wow him." I hooked up my laptop to the projection equipment and pulled up the slides for my presentation.

"Just smile. That always seems to daze him."

My gaze jerked to hers. "What are you talking about?"

She smirked at me as she sat near the head of the table with her notepad. "I think the boss has a crush on you."

I scoffed and went back to setting up my presentation. "You're sniffing too much of your dry erase pens or glue."

She laughed. "The lady doth protest too much."

Panic slid through me, but I did my best to hide it. I used the remote to advance the slides, making sure they looked okay on the screen. "I think you're reading too many romance novels."

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.com is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! "I'm not reading romance novels, I'm reading Dane. The guy watches you."

"Probably to make sure I don't mess up."

"No. Like a bird of prey. Like he wants to eat you up. I don't think he realizes it. In fact, I'm sure he doesn't, but it's plain as day to me. You've captured his interest." She waggled her brows. "Yeah, well, he doesn't have mine." "Liar."

I sucked in a breath. "This presentation is important, Lane, and you're not helping."

"Sorry. I was trying to put you at ease. He's going to be watching you, not your slides. You can't fail."

I shook my head. "You're reading too much into things. Besides, there is an HR policy."

"Oh yes. I heard Dane giving Ethan an earful on the no-fraternization rule." She laughed and shook her head. "Dane's voice dripped with jealousy. He did not like the idea of you and Ethan together. Not one bit."

I looked toward the conference room door, afraid someone like Dane, might be overhearing this conversation.

"My point is, you're going to be fine." Lane smiled up at me. "Unfortunately, you've made me more nervous."

"You're going to do great," Ethan said entering the room. God, I hoped he didn't hear their conversation. "Just go through it like you did for me."

I smiled at him, his belief in me boosting my confidence. That is until Dane walked in. I hadn't seen him since the night of the charity event.

That night, he'd looked like James Bond in his tux and while sex with him had been a bad idea, I'd have liked to have stripped him of his tux and taken more time to explore his body and what made him hot in bed...or in our case, the limo. Today, he looked like a million bucks wearing a charcoal-colored suit, with a dark shirt and tie. I looked away, not wanting to get caught ogling him,

especially with Lane's sharp eyes upon us.

"Good morning," he said, looking at Lane, then Ethan, and finally me. He quickly turned his attention away from me as he sat down. I felt it like a rejection. He had some nerve acting like I was plebeian. Then again, I was the one that bolted from the limo and spent this week avoiding him. Good God, I was a mess. Focus, Jet.

Ethan came to stand with me. "Thank you for giving us time to present this new marketing campaign to you. I feel confident you're going to like it. Since Bridget did all the work on it, I'm going to hand the presentation over to her." He smiled and nodded at me, then went to sit at the table.

I swallowed as I looked down the table to the man whose blue eyes finally fixed on me. I didn't know what Lane saw, because I was pretty sure I saw indifference.

I cleared my throat. "Thank you, Eth...ah... Mr. Wheatly. I ...ah..." Get it together, Jet. "I was asked to come up with new ideas for marketing in the residential real estate part of the firm. Except for Selene Belfast, agents across the board are stagnating, and some are slipping. This plan is two-fold. The first is at the firm level, boosting social media presence especially on Instagram, and the second is at the agent level, training them and giving them tools to leverage social media, particularly visual and video options. The goal is to help them sell a life, not just a home."

I took a breath. Lane surreptitiously gave me a thumbs up. Ethan smiled and nodded. Dane was paying attention but didn't give me any clue as to how well I was doing. Maybe his impassive expression was the clue that I was bombing. I took a sip of water from the water bottle I'd brought in with me then turned back to give the nitty gritty details of the campaign.

This was my job.

Hadn't I told Dane that I didn't want my professionalism compromised by sleeping with the boss? Now was the time to prove that I deserved to be here. That I wasn't hired because Dane wanted to fuck me. That he didn't keep me on because he worried that I might sue him and the company for sexual misconduct.

I was here because I'd earned it.