Teaching The Boss Page 14

  Simon nodded and narrowed his eyes, but not in a judgmental way. It was more like his mind raced through all the options.

  “April isn’t our last line of defense here. Have you found any way around the buy-in?”

  “I’m pretty close to something. I don’t want to say too much before I have confirmation though, and if there’s other information out there, I don’t want to discount it. How did you question your coworkers?”

  April blinked a few times. “Um, question? I went out on a few lunches with Delia and Matthew.” Did Simon even know who Delia and Matthew were? “Did Sam tell you about the list he pulled?”

  Simon nodded. “The people who were there the night you two had your falling out?”

  April nodded. “Yeah. So I’ve been trying to be as friendly as possible, but no one has given anything away to me. Gavin has been on vacation for the past week, and when I bring up the subject of Donald and Sam, no one seems more interested than the others. I’ve even peppered in a few meaningless but obvious lies, and haven’t gotten a thing.”

  “Well, maybe you need bigger bait,” said Simon.

  April looked between Sam and Simon. “What?”

  Simon leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. “If what you’re trying isn’t working, you need to switch tactics. Throw out some bigger bait.”

  A sinking feeling gathered in April’s stomach. “Something so good they’d need to tell Donald.”

  Sam shook his head. “I don’t have anything valuable enough that Donald would want to know and that I feel comfortable releasing.”

  “Then make something up. Something juicy enough that his mole will have no choice but to make contact. Just make sure to tell each of the suspects something slightly different so you know which one ratted you out.”

  “Wait,” said April. “What if the lie makes its way out of the company? Isn’t this kind of stuff dangerous?”

  “Financial lies aren’t normally the best way to go.” Simon’s eyes shifted between Sam and April.

  Sam sat back. “You mean—”

  “A personal lie,” finished April. “You want us to go public with our relationship.”

  “Well…you can’t exactly tell different variations on the story that you’re dating. Besides, Donald already knows. If you were thinking about eloping, though…that would be news.”

  April’s gaze shot to Sam to gauge his reaction. Not that she even knew what her own reaction was. She and Sam hadn’t even discussed moving in together, even though she’d spent almost every night at his place. Now they were talking fake marriage proposals. Was Sam going to shrug it off and be fine with it? Was he going to be upset?

  Wait. If anyone should be upset here, it should be her. “You want me to lie to all my coworkers, who I will be working with for a long time, and tell them that I’m marrying their boss. What happens when the jig is up? Sam stands me up at the altar? I won’t ever be able to show my face.”

  Sam set a comforting hand on her leg. “She’s right. April has done more than enough for me already.”

  “Think of it this way. You two are in a real relationship. That part isn’t a lie. So, there’s one of two things that can happen here. You could live happily ever after. So, assuming the five suspects can’t keep their mouth shut, and let’s face it, they probably won’t, you just say you changed your mind about the elopement and then get married whenever the hell you feel like. Now, let’s assume things go in the other, less pleasant, direction. Do you really think you’d be continuing to work with those coworkers anyway? And, no matter how good of terms you two are on when, sorry, if you break up, it will still be seen as you leaving in disgrace.”

  A tense silence set over the three of them. April wanted to scream at Simon. Tell him to get out of her face and stop spewing his lies. But it wasn’t as though she’d never thought about what would happen if things with Sam did go sour. They’d only been together for a month. She was a practical, modern woman and Sam was hardly a saint. Adding in the complications with his father and the fact that she was in the middle of everything, Sam and she were hardly a match made in heaven.

  So she said the only other thing that came to mind. “You’re a dick.”

  Simon’s lips tightened. “They don’t pay me to be nice.”

  Sam stood up from the sofa and broke his silence. “Simon, I think it would be best if you left.”

  April looked up at Sam, once again trying to read him. He didn’t seem mad at Simon. She wasn’t even sure she was mad at Simon. He wasn’t wrong and everything he was doing was to help Sam. Somehow, she kept getting in the middle of helping Sam.

  “I hope I didn’t upset either of you too much. Think it over. As I said, I have other options, so this isn’t the end-all, be-all. I just figured it was a relatively harmless way to find out more information.”

  “I’ll be in touch,” said Sam solemnly as Simon retreated to the exit. Sam pointedly didn’t walk him out.

  Once they were alone, April shifted awkwardly on the couch. “Thanks for asking him to leave,” she said quietly.

  He leaned back down on the leather. “Thanks for calling him a dick.”

  She let out a soft laugh. “He was. But he wasn’t wrong. I know you. You’ve thought about this going wrong before.”

  His blue eyes met her darker ones. “I’ve thought about it. I’ve also considered the possibility of World War III, moving to California, and animals suddenly gaining the ability to talk.”

  April snorted. “For some reason, the idea of you in California seems like the least believable of all those.”

  “And that’s why I try not to think about it. It’s the same attitude I have toward thinking about us breaking up. I’m happy with the way things are now, and anything that messes with that equilibrium is something I’m trying to avoid.”

  “Samuel Hunt, of the great Hunt empire, is trying to avoid things? Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?”

  He stood and stretched his arms up. The movement pulled the last of his shirt out of the waistband of his pants. “Now forget about what Simon said. No more lies, spying, anything. If anything does happen between us, it’s probably because I’m an ass and you realize you’re way too good for me.” He held a hand out, and April let him pull her up and against his chest.

  “Says the handsome, rich, business prodigy.”

  He grinned down at her. “I like how handsome and rich are my top two qualities.”

  April playfully punched him in the arm. “That’s me. The consummate gold digger. I think you’re just fishing for more compliments.”

  “You want to know my favorite one?” His hands settled on her waist and pulled her close.

  She gasped as her entire body pressed against his. “What’s that?” she breathed against his mouth as he leaned in for a kiss.

  It started soft, but soon his hands ran up and down her back. He deepened the kiss, tongue just barely brushing her lips. April moaned as she pulled him closer.

  “There it is. That’s my favorite sound right there.”

  “Spoiler alert.” She gasped for air. “Take me upstairs and you’ll hear a lot more.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The next day, Sam and April stuck to their normal routine. She rode with him to work and she quickly hopped out of the car as he continued on his coffee run. She had a little extra pep in her step as she reached the bank of elevators and hit the up arrow. The elevators where she and Sam first kissed.

  This was good. They’d had the relationship talk and survived. She was basically in the clear in terms of spying on the accounting department. From now on, all she needed to focus on was her final exams and getting quality work done.

  The doors dinged open and April practically skipped onto the car. One more little blessing of the day: it seemed as if she’d have the elevator to herself. A rarity in such a busy building.

  But as the doors started to swing close, a hand shot between them. April quickly hit the door open b
utton out of instinct even though they were already separating thanks to the motion sensors.

  Gavin stepped in and glanced down to where her fingers still rested on the button. “Thanks.” He turned around to face the door.

  “No problem,” she said, as they fell into the customary elevator silence. Ugh, she should say something. This wasn’t a stranger; this was her boss. “So how was your vacation?” Vacations. That was a good, neutral work topic.

  Gavin’s face lit up. “Barbados was fantastic. The weather was perfect, hotel was amazing. I was able to relax on the beach while the wife read books all week.”

  “Hmm…” she murmured, imagining herself sitting under the sun while waves crashed on the beach. “I’d love to go to Barbados someday.”

  “You really should. It’s once in a lifetime.”

  April nodded as she watched the numbers tick up. Here she was with one of the few people who was in the building that night: she had him completely alone and they were talking about romantic, faraway places. “My boyfriend and I are looking for nice places to travel to.” Oh crap…she’d actually done it.

  Surprise flashed across Gavin’s face, but he hid it well enough. “I didn’t realize you were dating.”

  “It’s a low-key relationship. But we both have big families and no time for lots of planning. So Barbados was kind of top of our list.” She studied his face to see if he’d picked up on her clues.

  Right on cue, they hit the fifty-fourth floor. “Have a great day,” she called as she left Gavin behind.

  Instead of going to her cube, she ducked into the stairwell and went up the extra story to the fifty-fifth floor.

  Eric shot up as he saw her. “Good morning, April. Mr. Hunt isn’t in yet.”

  “He will be soon. I need to talk to him as soon as he gets here.” She strode toward Sam’s office. At the last minute, she stopped herself from just walking on in. Eric wouldn’t want her there alone and he didn’t understand the extent of their relationship.

  But he would soon enough. It was time for her and Sam to go public.

  “I’m sorry, April, but Mr. Hunt has a nine o’clock appointment and then off-site appointments until late in the afternoon. Are you sure I can’t take a message?”

  Damn it. It was hard for her to remember sometimes that she wasn’t the one in charge of his calendar anymore. If he was booked up most of the day, he’d need all the time he could get to check emails and put out the metaphorical fires that always seemed to crop up.

  She bit her lip as she debated turning back and going to her desk. They could always talk about it back at his apartment…

  No. This was a favor she was doing for him and it was important. If she was really going all in with Simon’s crazy ass plan, she was going to tell Sam as soon as possible.

  She took a seat in the waiting area and decided to wait him out. She was just reaching for the day-old copy of the New York Times resting on the coffee table when Sam finally appeared. She jumped off the not so comfortable couch in the waiting area. “You’re back,” she said with a smile.

  He stopped when he saw her, brow furrowing. “You’ve been waiting?” He gestured to Eric with a subtle tilt of the head. So what he was really asking was You’ve been waiting for me in front of Eric and you’re not worried he’s going to suspect anything?

  “I’ve been waiting,” she said simply. “Are you going to stand out here all day or can we talk in your office?”

  He gave her one more cautious glance before he led the way into his office. “Is everything okay?” He gently pushed the door closed.

  “Yeah,” she blurted. “Kind of. I did something a little crazy.”

  Sam crossed his arms over his chest as he intently studied her. “Should I be worried? I feel like I should be worried.”

  “No! It’s nothing bad.” At least not for him. “I wanted to let you know that I took Simon’s advice.”

  “Simon, as in the man you could barely stand last night?”

  “He had a point. An annoying point, but true. And I was in the elevator with Gavin this morning, talking about traveling. The opportunity just seemed too perfect to pass up.”

  “Damn it, April. What the hell are you thinking?” bit out Sam.

  April straightened. The harsh words were the last thing she expected from him. Where were her thanks? His appreciation for all she was doing for him? “I’m helping you.”

  “You’re putting yourself in a really delicate position here,” he said. “There’s a reason we haven’t gone public with our relationship. I’m trying to protect you.”

  Protect her? He was the one getting into a full-on war with his father. If there was anyone in this room that needed protecting, it was him. “I’m a grown woman, Sam. I can handle myself. My reputation is already going to be a bit dinged when everyone learns I’m sleeping with the boss, but that’s going to happen anyway.”

  Sam shook his head. “It doesn’t have to. We’re careful. If we don’t arrive together and don’t spend too much time alone together, which we’re doing right now,” he said with a pointed look, “then no one has to know what we’re doing. April, you’re one of the most capable people I know. I don’t want even one person thinking less of you because of me.”

  April took a deep breath. She knew everything he was saying was right. It was the same reason she’d been so mad at Simon. No matter what profession, the workplace was like high school. When two people hooked up, it was a big deal. But the big boss and his (former) secretary who just happened to get promoted? No one would really care if it was her college degree that got her there. They would assume she’d slept her way up. “They’re gonna find out eventually, Sam.”

  “I’m telling you, if we’re smart and careful, no one has to know.”

  “For a little bit, maybe. But, let’s be honest. This thing, whatever it is, is serious. I can’t say if there is marriage and babies in our future or anything, and I’m nowhere near ready to even go there. But I know this is more than just a fling. And I don’t want to hide what we have. I’m willing to risk this bit of my reputation because I’m proud of this. Maybe I wouldn’t mind showing you off to the world. Go out to a dinner together. Maybe see a movie. Normal couple things.”

  The corner of Sam’s mouth lifted. “And here I thought you were a homebody like me.”

  She snorted. “So you’re okay going public?”

  “Hell no.” He closed the distance between them. “But it’s your reputation at stake. If you want this, I wouldn’t mind the chance to show you off either.”

  She beamed up at him. “I’m not exactly a supermodel.” Way to ruin the mood, she thought to herself. He was being all sweet and romantic and here she went, fishing for compliments.

  “I didn’t realize you not being a supermodel affected how sexy I find you,” he muttered as he bent down to place a kiss on the sensitive spot where shoulder met neck.

  His warm breath rushing against her skin made her shiver and she leaned in closer. His hands fell on her hips and pulled her up against him. The evidence of his arousal pressed against her stomach. April gasped at the hard bulge. “Sam,” she whispered.

  “This is what you do to me,” he said against her ear. His hands moved along her back and her dress did little to keep the heat from his touch out. His grip suddenly tightened as he turned her body and walked her backwards. His lead made her unsteady, so she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on tightly for balance as the edge of his desk came in contact with the backs of her thighs.

  “Sam,” she repeated, this time with a note of shock. “What are you doing?”

  “Fulfilling a fantasy.” His fingers hooked in the knee-length hem of her dress and moved up.

  She let out a nervous laugh as the cool air touched the newly exposed skin. “What if we get caught?” she whispered.

  “I guess you’ll just have to be quieter,” he muttered as his hands reached her ass, now only covered by the flimsy silk of her panties.

 
Her laughter faded as she was bombarded with raw sensuality. Was he serious? Eric was just outside the door and anyone could come in at any time. The craziest thing April had ever done anything was kiss a date in the middle of a crowded sidewalk as he’d called a cab. A cab which she got into alone.

  Just when she was about to ask again whether he was serious, he hooked his fingers in her panties. The delicate fabric tickled her legs as they fell lower and lower until they pooled around her heels.

  “Step out of them,” he ordered, his voice deep and husky.

  April’s breath caught in her throat. What was she doing?

  He looked up, his normally bright blue eyes dark with desire. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

  She turned her gaze up to meet his. His eyes were calm and sure while hers were wide. The door was just a few feet away and anyone could be behind it. There was no lock to prevent anyone from barging in, but she knew from her years at the assistant’s desk that few ever barged into Sam’s office. But if they saw her and Sam…

  “April. Do you trust me?” he repeated.

  “Yes,” she whispered, gingerly stepping out of her panties as she stared deeply into his eyes.

  A self-satisfied grin covered his face as his fingers traced patterns along the back of her legs. “So beautiful,” he breathed as he looked at her bared lower body. He ran his palms up and down her legs, going higher each time until he finally reached the junction where her thighs met.

  “Sit,” he ordered. The calm and sureness in his voice helped to take away her lingering doubts.

  It was hard to think of all the reasons they shouldn’t when all she could focus on were the bolts of pleasure that shot through her at his touch. And he was only on her leg. Obediently, she set her palms on his desk and pushed herself up the tiniest bit until she was perched on the side. Biting her bottom lip, she spread her legs wider. He grunted in appreciation at her boldness.