IN BED WITH THE BOSS

What if she took Betty’s advice-?

Scott hated that thought.

“Damn,” he muttered, not liking what was rattling around inside him. Where was the guy who focused purely on business? The guy who barely noticed a woman unless she was stretched out naked on a bed?

Perhaps that was it. He needed a woman. Sex, he named it. A long night of seething hot passion with the kind of woman who could appreciate what he could do for her without expecting the whole heavy emotional bit by return. He was not possessive. He was not even mildly demonstrative like Vivian had dared to suggest. If he touched her like she said he did, it was done with attention to polite good manners and respect. She was the one who’d misread the signals.

Okay maybe that was a lie, but he wasn’t excessively obvious about it as she claimed.

———-

Senator Adams Griffin was at first stunned by Scott’s decision to pull out of negotiations, then he grew increasingly more angry by Vivian’s apologetic inability to give him answers as to why they were being dumped. Within minutes of her finally managing to put the phone down on the uncomfortable conversation, several phones were ringing and Senetor Adams was demanding to speak to Scott.

When Senator Adams called Vivian again, she let Scott know and he agreed to speak with him. Vivian put him through to Scott and Ten minutes later he was striding out of his office with his too-handsome face locked into an iron-hard mask of contempt. He did not speak as he crossed Betty’s desk where Vivian was also sitting. He did not even cast them a glance. The dismissive tension he left behind him cloyed on Vivian.

In the end, she couldn’t stand it, and she took herself off to the café around the corner to buy herself some lunch. Betty tried to convince her to join them in the cafeteria but she declined as she needed some space to clear her head. While she sat at one of the small tables trying to eat a sandwich her tense throat did not want to swallow, a man from the accounts department came into the café. Seeing her sitting on her own he brought his sandwich to her table and joined her.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

After a shy start to her unexpected company Vivian surprised herself by warming to his easygoing brand of friendly humor and began to relax and enjoy herself. They walked back to the office building together and lingered to finish their conversation in the foyer for a minute or two. It was all warm and nice and friendly and fun.

Striding into his plush grey-and-black marble foyer, Scott caught sight of Vivian standing there, talking with someone from his accounts team.

Shock almost brought him to a halt.

She looked young and beautiful and relaxed and alive. Something hard and hot grabbed hold of his chest and hung on. Without knowing he was about to do it, he parted his grim lips to snap out her name, only to clamp them shut again when her ‘pet dog on a leash’ accusation leapt into his head.

He kept himself moving towards the bank of lifts and refused to look at the cosy duo again. Once he’d gained the privacy of his luxurious office, he went straight on the offensive and took out his mobile phone to start flicking through his contact. Five minutes later he had arranged dinner for that evening with the beautiful and very eager Olivia and was feeling much better about himself. Olivia was just what he needed…. she always had been. She was cool, smooth and practiced in the art of sex just for sex.

Young and irritatingly naive brunettes with more than a hint of fire in their bellies, and with virgin territory stamped all over them, did not and never would do it for him.

———

After a long day of work, Scott moved into the parking lot to get his car. He had scheduled a date that evening with Olivia and although he was really thrilled about it, he guessed it would do him some good.

When he tried to unlock his car, a movement caught his eye. It was Vivian, and she looked like she was struggling with something. When she bent over to inspect her car engine, the pose made his mouth go dry. Obviously she still had that effect on him, and scheduling a date with another woman couldn’t fix it. He was still upset with her because of her conversation with Betty, but he couldn’t just ignore and leave her there.

“Need some help?” he asked as he walked over to her.

Vivian turned around, surprised to see him. “Urmmm… I guess I do”. She replied. One hand propping up the rear hood, red painted fingernails drumming on the metal. She took off her shades and folded them, tucking one earpiece down between the cleft of her breasts. With a frank sweep of her gaze, she studied him. She seemed faintly amused.

“You know how to fix cars?” she asked.

“Why are you smiling while asking me that?” he asked.

“You should answer my question first,” Vivian replied.

“Fine,” Scott said. I don’t know the first thing about fixing cars, ” he admitted. “Now you answer my question.”

“Well… I didn’t need anyone to tell me that you don’t”

“So you are calling me spoiled….” he said feigning annoyance. “Just what kind of person do you think I really am, Vivian?”

“Fine… Sorry” .

“What’s wrong with it, though?”Scott asked.

“I have no idea,” Vivian said, as she rubbed her forehead. “It just refused to start, and I have to get to the cheesecake shop for my shift.”

“Urmmm. I guess I will take you there?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Vivian replied. “Thank you. I’m so glad you showed up”

“No problem”. He said, and tried not to stare, but she was gorgeous. With her full lips, hair dark and silky, beautiful eyes and lashes even silkier. A single tear drop of sweat trickled down between her breasts. A tiny gold cross on a dainty chain lay against her smooth skin. He nearly groaned aloud.

With a flash of her extravagantly gorgeous legs, she leaned into the driver’s side to grab her things, and Scott forced himself to look away. Together, they got into his car and Scott drove off. The ride was quiet in the beginning until Scott couldn’t take it any more. Anything was better than sitting in such a confined space with her in awkward silence.

“You worked really hard today,” he began, without looking at her. “Shouldn’t you be going home to rest?”

Relieved that the silence was broken, Vivian was eager to engage in some kind of conversation. “It would be nice, I admit, but I have a shift and no one to cover for me, so I guess I have to go.”

He kept his eyes on the road, “You know, you don’t have to keep working there.”

“I told you. I need to keep the job…”

“… Because I’m going to fire you when my assistant comes back?” he asked.

“Yes”

“I’m not going to do that, so stop worrying about it. You are good at your job so why would I let you go. Besides, I think Ruth wants to move to the same state as her daughter so she might not return, and even if she does, we can just move you to another department.. Or something… I’m not going to fire you.”

She risked a glance in his direction. “Thanks, but.. You’d move me to another department if she returns. Don’t you like me being your personal assistant?”

Scott’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. The thing was that he did like her. He liked her way more than he should have. That was the problem, and truthfully, he was still a bit upset over her conversation with Betty.

“Well, I thought you’d like it that way,” he replied, then added. “You see, since I’m this mean asshole who disrespects and discards women when he’s done with them.”

Vivian stared at him, but he refused to meet her gaze. “You heard…” she said softly. She had suspected that he had, but the confirmation from him only made her feel worse.

“Of course I heard, Vivian” he replied, “I’m not deaf”

There was a brief silence, before Vivian said softly, “I’m so sorry about that, Scott.”

He tried to brush it off like he didn’t care. “Oh screw it. It doesn’t matter”

“It does because you’re clearly upset about it”

“I’m not upset” he snapped, “I’m just… just… fuck it.”

“Betty and I didn’t mean it like that. The conversation just took a different turn by the time you came it. I’m sure you wouldn’t think like this if you’d heard the beginning of the conversation.”

“Fine, and I don’t want to hear the rest of it or the beginning.” he said, “Let’s talk about you and not Betty then. What do you think about me? What kind of man do you think I am? Do you really think that I use and discard women?”