Boss Unyielding: A Secret Baby Office Romance (The Boss Series Book 1) Read online

  “Yes sir,” she said with a salute of her hand to her forehead.

  It irritated her slightly that he had offhandedly referred to her as his hired help, but she buried it for now and went with the good feelings he seemed to be riding on at the moment, while she could.

  He tightened his tie, straightened his black-rimmed glasses, gave himself a final once-over in the large, ornate mirror he stood in front of in the seating area, and turned to her with a spin.

  “Ready to go?”

  NINE

  It had been fifteen minutes since Farren had stepped out into the lobby of the country-club type setting their meeting had taken place in, and she had begun wondering if she shouldn’t just figure out her own way home for the night.

  The meeting had gone without a hitch, as expected. Rayner had gone in and charmed everyone with his take-charge approach and expert authority, as usual. Farren had a minimal role in the presentation, since her work was more behind the scenes, but it was important for her to be there, to know what her next steps would be. After the presentation, though, she had a front-row seat for the show that was Rayner’s seduction of the business-owner’s daughter.

  At first, it was subtle: a brush of the arm, his hand placed strategically at the small of her back, and that certain way he had about him when she looked into his eyes. Barf.

  Okay, maybe it wasn’t as disgusting as she would have liked it to have been. Maybe she just didn’t want to admit that a larger part than she felt comfortable with wondered what it would be like for him to touch her that way, or look at her that way.

  Or kiss her that way! She thought, as the elevator doors opened from across the lobby to reveal Rayner and the thin, willowy, Italian beauty in a passionate embrace. His mouth pressed so sensually to the woman’s, so pliant and soft, yet so in control. It certainly didn’t take him long, did it?

  Farren rolled her eyes and decided to study the grooves in the slate tiled floor beneath her feet. She thought she had come down here to get away from seeing all that. Turns out, it had followed her, first as ghosts that infiltrated and haunted her thoughts, and now right here before her in the flesh.

  Rayner said his goodbyes to the woman, carrying on a conversation with her in fluid Italian. Maybe she didn’t speak English. Maybe he didn’t want Farren understanding what he was saying, which she didn’t. She was sure whatever it was, it was silvery-smooth, rolling off his tongue like silk. Finally, he pulled himself away and said what sounded like his goodbyes.

  Thank God, Farren thought.

  He approached her, so she stood from the chair she had been occupying. She felt a strong urge to say something to erase the awkwardness, but she had nothing.

  “There you are. Are you ready to go?” he said.

  She nodded her affirmation without a word. He turned to change his direction toward the door and she followed, giving a last glance at the club, the ritzy people who milled about with drinks, and caught a last notice at the mellow music that played in the background.

  She was quiet on the ride back to the hotel, which apparently didn’t escape Rayner’s notice. He nudged her shoulder.

  “Great job tonight. You continue to impress me at every opportunity, Miss Fields. The way you handled yourself with the executives in that meeting…” He nodded in proud approval.

  “Thanks,” she murmured, not sounding all that grateful.

  “You disagree?” he asked, shifting so that he could see her better.

  She shrugged and shook her head. “Not at all. I thought you did well, too. I think the DeGradis made an excellent choice hiring you for the project. You charmed the pants right off of them tonight.” Some more than others, she finished the thought silently.

  She looked out the window, taking in the gorgeous views of this ancient city lit beneath the night sky. It was so rich with historical culture here, yet modernistic at the same time. She had never seen anything like it. It awed her and broke her heart in one fell swoop.

  “They haven’t hired us yet. We’ve still got another couple of meetings to go before they give the final word, but I’m confident we’ll have their business before the week is over.”

  He was quiet for a moment, awaiting a response, but none came. “Why are you so quiet? Speak candidly, Miss Fields,” he urged.

  She peeled her eyes from the window to face him again and fought an internal struggle on whether to actually speak candidly or to just keep her mouth shut. If she were smart, she’d do the latter.

  Instead… “Do you really think it’s a good business move to get so… personal with the owner’s daughter? I mean, if that goes south, then so does the deal. You’re willing to risk that for a piece of ass?” She couldn’t believe she had said it, but there it was.

  He nodded, acknowledging her message, but didn’t respond right away.

  “Sorry. That was out of line. It’s none of my business.” She was backtracking, but little could be done about it now. She steeled herself for the undoubtedly anticipated appearance of the Insensitive Ass-hole, thinking she probably deserved it this time, even if he did encourage her to give it to him straight.

  Finally, he spoke. “You know, you’re a lot more business savvy than I give you credit for. You never cease to surprise me, Farren.”

  That was not what she was expecting. Farren? She couldn’t recall him having ever called her by her first name before, and it was strange coming from his lips. So personal. She was speechless.

  “I can see where you’re coming from, and were it not for the decision hinging on the Senior Executive, Roberto DeGradi’s final determination, the young Miss DeGradi would not be an issue. But such as it were, she has his ear, and I’m counting on her to sway her father in our favor,” he explained.

  “I see,” she said. So he was using her? She guessed it only mattered that he keep up the charade until he got the contract, and then he could discard young Miss DeGradi like a penny in a wishing fountain.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said in a low, quiet voice.

  “Do you?” She faced him, looking him square in the eye, almost as if in a challenge.

  “I have an obligation to my company, Farren. I may not always like the tactics I have to use to get things done, but rest assured I get things done.”

  She got the idea there was more to the story than he was telling her there, but she let it go for now. He was right, after all. He earned every bit of his reputation for getting things done, no matter how ruthless his tactics were. She couldn’t fault him for that. He wouldn’t be the successful, dominating, powerful man that he was if he didn’t do whatever it took.

  After several quiet moments passed, Farren decided now was as good a time as any to ask Rayner a question she’d been meaning to ask all evening.

  “Oh, by the way, sir, I was wondering,” she began.

  “Yes?”

  “Is there a night I might have free while we’re here this week? Maybe a night that I don’t need to be at a meeting or anything?” Her nerves made their appearance once again, and she started scratching the nails of her middle fingers against her thumbnails in her lap.

  “Yes, I think probably so. Why? Did you have something in mind?” He glanced down at her hands and covered a large hand over hers to still her nervous movements.

  She looked at him with an apologetic expression and tightened her fists. When he moved his hand away, she continued.

  “Yes. I was wondering...” No, that wasn’t the right way to ask. “I was planning to take Bartolo Bianchi up on his offer to take me to dinner one night while we’re here.

  “What?” It was a simple question, but the volume it came out in within the small confines of the car gave her a startle.

  “Bartolo, the designer. He offered to show me around the city while I’m here. I’d like to take him up on it.” She wanted to add if you don’t mind, but she would not give him the satisfaction of asking his permission. He was her boss, but he didn’t own her, and he couldn’t dictate her
personal life any more than she could dictate his.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He said the statement in a tone with such finality, like he expected it to be the end of the conversation.

  “With all due respect, sir, I’ve thought about it and I’d like to go,” she said, trying her best to sound confident, but knowing she fell short.

  He eyed her thoughtfully for a moment. “I can show you around the city,” he offered.

  “Thanks,” she said with sarcasm, “but it wouldn’t be the same.”

  The truth was, she could only dream about Rayner being the one to take her out to a romantic dinner in Rome and showing her all the beautiful sights this amazing city had to offer. She would love to have him escort her, romancing her like lovers, but she knew that’s not how it would be. Maybe it wouldn’t be like that with Bartolo, but at least there was a possibility, a chance at an innocent flirtation.

  “I’ll think about it,” he said as they pulled up to their hotel.

  He got out of the car and strode off inside before she had a chance to argue. Was he avoiding the conversation? She couldn’t believe him. He was making her feel like an obstinate child. She had the ridiculous urge to stamp her foot and yell you can’t tell me what to do, but she knew it was irrational and pointless. She was young, but she wasn’t stupid.

  One thing was certain, she thought. This would not be the end of it.

  TEN

  “Tell me you will come visit me again, Bellissima. Summertime in Italy is an other-worldly experience. We can get lost in the vineyards and olive groves of the countryside, and make love beneath the Solstice moon.”

  Bartolo was laying it on thick, just as he had from the moment he picked her up from the hotel earlier that evening. After dinner at a gorgeous restaurant, the likes of which Farren had never seen before, where their meal was actually candle-lit and serenaded by an accordion-playing gentleman, he had taken her for a walk around the inner city. He held her hand, and every now and then stopped to point out his favorite shops and locales.

  At the moment, they had stopped in the middle of a bridge over a park stream, and he had turned to look deep into her eyes. His left hand held her right, while he stroked her long strands of hair with the other. His lips hovered dangerously close to hers, leaving her suspended within that delicate, tempestuous place that one could only experience just before a kiss. She couldn’t dare turn away.

  “I’m not sure it’s possible,” she breathed, “but I can try.”

  He leaned in and pressed a light kiss to her mouth. A girl could get used to this, she thought, wondering when he would take it a step further and kiss her like he meant it, but she didn’t push it. Likely, she knew it was all just a temporary flirtation that would never go anywhere in a million years, but since she found herself living in a dream at the moment, she figured she might as well make the most of it.

  He was standing close enough to her now that she could feel his phone vibrating in his pant pocket against her leg.

  “Is that a phone in your pocket, or are you just that happy to see me?” she teased, pulling away from him just enough that she could gesture down to where the vibration had originated.

  He smiled and laughed. “What if I told you both?”

  “Do you need to get that? I don’t mind,” she said.

  He pulled the phone from his pocket and glanced to see who the call was from, but instead of answering, he pressed the button to put the phone back to sleep. He shook his head and told her, “No no, it is fine. It is nothing I cannot tend to at a more appropriate time.”

  She smiled. “Really, it’s okay. It is getting late, and I’m pretty sure Rayner has a meeting scheduled first thing tomorrow. I should probably be getting back soon.”

  She left out that Rayner hadn’t wanted her to come in the first place, but she’d put her foot down and come anyway.

  “Very well, then,” he conceded, and led her back down the trails they had come to get back to his car.

  When he got her back to the hotel, he insisted on walking her up to her room. “I am a man. It is my duty to see that I have safely delivered you to your quarters, Bellissima,” he said, so she didn’t argue. Instead, she led the way.

  Once she got to the floor she was staying on and stopped just outside the door, she paused, digging for her room key.

  “I had such a nice time tonight, Bartolo. Thank you so much for inviting me, and for this whole experience. Everything was beautiful,” she told him.

  “It was my pleasure. I could not pass up an opportunity with such a beautiful woman. I hope you will take me up on my offer to come back and visit me sometime.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Well... goodnight.” She slipped the key in the door and waited for the green light to flash, indicating it was unlocked for her to enter.

  Bartolo took her hand and brought it up as though he were going to kiss it, but instead, used her hand to leverage her around to face him, pressing her body against his. Their eyes locked for a second, and then his mouth was on hers, hungry and eager. His hands explored the tight curves of her body through the outfit that he himself had designed.

  He murmured into the hollow of her mouth, “Shall we take this inside?”

  She absorbed his passionate assault but hesitated to answer. Did she want to invite him in? Of course she knew what that would mean, and while it had been an amazing night, and while he was an insanely attractive man, she knew it wasn’t something her heart really wanted.

  Before she could answer, he had her pressed against her hotel room door. She put her hand up between them, pressing on his chest, but he was built solid and didn’t budge. Then a door opened from across and down the hall, and a shirtless Rayner stepped out.

  “Miss Fields?” His deep, husky voice surrounded them, and it managed to break Bartolo away from her where her own strength was unable to do so.

  “Yes, sir?” Farren answered, looking in the direction her boss stood, and got an eyeful of the tattoo-covered muscles that rippled down his chest and stomach. A pair of gray sweat pants rested low on his hips, and for the first time, she got an unadulterated look at the work of art that his body was. Holy. Shit.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to return. We still need to go over some plans for the meeting with DeGradi tomorrow morning.” His eyes moved from Farren to her date. “Bartolo,” he said, nodding a tense greeting.

  Bartolo stepped back to put more space between Farren and himself. “Rogan, my old friend, how are you this fine evening? Your employee and I were just wrapping up our date,” he said.

  “Bartolo. Always good to see you,” Rayner replied, but Farren knew him well enough to know he didn’t mean a damn word he had just said, judging by his tone and the tightness she could see in his jaw all the way from where she stood.

  Bartolo must have sensed the hostility as well. He turned to Farren, took her hand for a final kiss, and put several more inches of distance between them. “I will leave you in the hands of your employer, Bellissima. I hope to hear from you soon.” He turned and nodded to Rayner his gesture of goodbye, and then retreated toward the floor exit to leave.

  Then Farren was alone with a shirtless Rayner in the middle of the hallway. She suddenly felt his scrutiny and wasn’t sure why she felt… guilty? What did she have to feel guilty about? Maybe that was just the effect Rayner had when his gaze pierced through her like that, like she had done something wrong. Like she needed his approval.

  “You needed to speak with me, sir?” she finally said.

  “I do, but you look like you’ve had a long night. Meet with me first thing in the morning,” he instructed.

  “Okay. In the morning, then,” she agreed. “Well... goodnight.”

  He didn’t say it back, but she saw the corners of his mouth pull up just slightly, in a way that almost looked like the beginnings of a smile. She slid her key in the door once again and disappeared into the solace of her room, wondering why that moment had felt so heavy and awkward
.

  Worse, instead of Bartolo, the sexy as hell Italian designer, she found herself dreaming of rippling tattoos on a hard chest all damned night. She awoke the next morning, anxious to get ready and pad her way down to Rayner’s room to find out what he needed to talk to her about.

  ELEVEN

  Rogan was a man who prided himself on control and restraint under normal, and most abnormal circumstances. He knew he had been asking for trouble when he hired Farren Fields. He’d had good reason to reject her candidacy for the tech support position she had shown up interviewing for that first day.

  He knew why she had made it that far in the process, and it had nothing to do with the impressive portfolio of the freelance work she had acquired for such a young woman right out of college. He had never seen anything like it, a glimpse into a brilliant, beautiful mind, but he knew his management team and what they were capable of. He couldn’t in good conscience put this attractive, capable, young woman in the path of the predatory men in his employment, especially Dallas Evans.

  Not that he was a saint himself, which was why he was in the predicament he was in now, fighting the urge to tear his hotel room door open, march down the hall to her, and claim that beautiful mouth and body for his own. But even he looked like a choir boy compared to Evans. If Rogan hadn’t owed his life to Evans’s brother, then the underhanded bastard would not be working for him now.

  Only once in the time since he hired her had he nearly succumbed to his overwhelming desire to take her in his arms and give her pleasure she’d never known could exist. A brief graze of his hand to the soft, smooth skin of her cheek in one small moment of weakness that he had quickly regained control over. He knew it was a risk, bringing her here with him on this project, but so far, he had been able to maintain a facade of cool indifference where she was concerned. Risky as it may have been, bringing her now was no mistake.

  While he had established control and set clear expectations that no one, under any circumstance, was to mess with her, he knew Evans couldn’t be trusted with him gone for a full week out of the country. He had no choice but to take her along.