Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Gramps,” I said to the
painting. “I really do.”
    With that, I headed off to take a shower and begin
what was set to be a very busy three days in Hong Kong.

 
    ***

 
    I stood in front of the mirror in my private bathroom,
checking my hair and straightening my tie. I wasn't sure why, but the thought
of interacting with Lilah Maxwell had me a little off balance.
    “Come on, Ash,” I said to my reflection as I pushed a
hand through my hair in an attempt to calm myself. “Yes, she's pretty. Yes,
she's fiery…and yes, you do like those things, you really do. But, come on.
You're the CEO of one of the most powerful PR firms on the continent. What are
you feeling weird about? Get it together.”
    I adjusted my tie and ran a finger over the deep cut
across my right cheek—a souvenir of the previous morning's sparring session
with the kickboxing master. For a fifty-five-year-old, he could still move as
fast as a teenager and I suspected his punches, kicks, knees and elbows were
just as devastatingly powerful as they had been when he'd been a younger man.
    “Okay, let's do this,” I encouraged my reflection, and
with that, I turned and headed to the office three doors down from mine and
knocked on the door.
    “Just a moment,” came a voice from inside: Lilah's
voice.
    “Sure,” I replied.
    The door opened, and there she was, dressed in a pale-blue
business suit that more than complemented her striking eyes. Her hair was
pulled back, but in a softer style than the day I’d met her. She beamed a warm
smile at me and extended a hand, which I shook firmly, but pulled away the
moment I was sure I felt a tingle pass between us.
    “Good morning, Mr...Asher,” she corrected herself as
our eyes met briefly. “How was your trip to Hong Kong?” she asked politely.
    “Good morning, Lilah. It was productive. Thank you for
asking. So, how do you like the new office?” I asked, stepping inside.
    “Oh, it's beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I wouldn't have
imagined that I'd be in an office this amazing so quickly. I was prepared for
it to take me a few years to work my way to an office view like this.”
    “When you've got talent and drive, sometimes things
happen faster than you think they will. But, of course, you will need to prove
yourself in order to maintain the view.”
    My grandfather always said you had to keep a decent
amount of pressure on your staff to keep them on their toes; nothing excessive,
but enough to remind them that nothing was set in stone. Complacency doesn’t
move a company forward. Hard work and ambition does. I could not–and would
not–tolerate complacency in my firm. Lilah, like every member of my staff,
needed to realize this.
    “I understand completely,” she replied, “and I intend
to do just that. My goal is to see to it that you have no doubt you made the right decision by offering
me this position. But more than that, I want to prove to myself that I
can not only do this job, but that I can do it brilliantly.”
    I smiled. “Excellent. Ultimately, the only person you
should ever need to prove anything to or compete with is yourself. As long as
you're bettering yourself every day, you're winning the race. That's my
philosophy, at least.”
    “It's a good philosophy.”
    I walked over to her desk and immediately noticed a
picture of her with a handsome, rugged-looking man staring at me from next to
her computer. It was completely irrational, but a sudden stab of jealousy shot sharply
through me.
    “Is this your boyfriend?” I regretted the words as
soon as they came out of my mouth. It was a stupid thing to ask, but what could
I do? It had already been said.
    “No, no,” she answered hastily, and I couldn’t help
feel a sliver or relief at her quick insistence. “He's my oldest brother, Eddie,”
she added. “He's also my best friend.”
    I stared at the man in the picture, and it began to make
sense. Once I looked closer, the physical resemblance between the two