Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Anna-Beth moved closer, putting the tray of food onto his lap. “I made you poached salmon, salad, and a special vinaigrette to go with.”
She lifted the lid off the food, and there was a delicious-looking lunch.
“I also cut some of the sourdough bread you like. I hope that’s okay?”
“Of course it is. Where is your food?” he asked.
“Uh, in the kitchen.”
“Go grab it and come and join me.”
She opened her mouth, and he just knew she was going to refuse him, which he didn’t want.
“I hate eating alone, and I’ve got no phone calls until this afternoon. My assistant booked them for the wrong time.” He gave a little tut, the lie dropping easily from his lips.
“Do you think that is appropriate?” Anna-Beth asked. Her cheeks had gone a delightful shade of red.
He wanted to reach out and cup them within his palm, and see if they felt as red as they looked. Instead, he kept his hands to himself, and his cock had gotten even harder. He was pleased the lunch tray was on his lap to hide his erection.
“I don’t know, is eating lunch with a friend not appropriate?” he asked.
“A friend?”
“That’s what we are, right? I know I’m supposed to be your boss, but we’re friends first. I’ve known you for twenty years.”
And now, he remembered that she was ten years younger than his forty years.
“You’re right. I’ll go and get my lunch.”
She spun on her heel, and George had every intention of playing the gentleman, but he couldn’t help admiring the curves of her ass as she left his office.
He closed his eyes.
Get it together, George.
He wanted her. From the moment she had arrived at his home, via Malcolm, he’d wanted her. It was a craving he hadn’t understood.
At forty years old, he’d not lived like a monk. He’d been with women, lots of women. In his twenties, he refused to have a serious relationship, jumping from one woman to the next, within hours. He’d been a bastard, he knew that.
Anna-Beth wasn’t just about sex. Although, he did want to fuck her. This was different. This was a desire to keep, which he’d never felt before.
****
Anna-Beth knew she could do this.
Staff ate lunch with their bosses all the time. She’d seen it at her parents’ workplace. A working lunch, where they bounced around ideas and resolved problems. It would be perfectly fine, and she didn’t even have to acknowledge how good he smelled.
She was tempted to check her reflection in the screen of the oven, but she stopped herself at the last minute. It didn’t matter what she looked like. George was her boss. This was the two of them being friends and nothing more.
She grabbed her lunch, which was the same as George’s. He told her from that first day that she would eat the same as him.
Anna-Beth wasn’t exactly sure on the full conditions of her employment, but she was kind of winging it. Also, she never wanted to ask. George being her boss was bad enough. She wondered if her brother knew about her secret crush.
Stepping back into the office, she forced a smile to her lips as she took a seat on the end of the sofa. She was tempted to move as far away from George as possible, but that seemed a little too rude, so she stayed close.
He hadn’t started his lunch yet.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, a little concerned.
Cooking fish wasn’t new to her, but she loved salmon cooked so many different ways. Poaching it was one of her favorite methods.
“No, everything is going to be delicious. I just wanted to wait for you.”
“Oh,” she said. She didn’t think she’d be charmed by that, and yet she was.
He waited for her. How had he gotten to be so sweet? So charming, and still single?
There were rumors of him being a playboy. Anna-Beth knew there were rumors about everyone and everything, including herself. She tended to ignore them as half the time, no one knew what they were talking about.
She held onto her knife and fork, and once again offered him a smile.
Stay calm.
He is your boss.
And you’re just eating lunch together.
This is not a date, or anything stupid.
“Enjoy,” she said.
Inside, she was cringing. What did people say just before they started to eat? She’d not been on many dates in her life. There had been a couple of men her parents had insisted she date—sons of other businessmen, associates, and other wealthy families. Those dates had been a disaster.
They often talked about some of their most brutal business practices. One guy had even told her how he’d gotten an assistant to fall in love with him, used her for her skills, and then when he’d gotten bored and she had no other ideas, he fired her and then bound her so tightly with a NDA, she would struggle to even start her own firm. Anna-Beth had assumed it was meant to be some kind of impressive tale, but she’d been horrified at what he’d done and ended the date immediately.