Think Outside the Boss (New York Billionaires, #1)

by Olivia Hayle

“I doubt a partner of yours would leave you alone this long.” “Well, I doubt I’d have a partner who put so little faith in me that he had to watch me constantly.” His eyes spark. “Oh, that’s not what I meant. No, he wouldn’t be able to stay away from the trouble you might be getting into.”

“I’m not this girl,” I tell him. His hands grip my hips, pulling me tight against him. “I know,” he says, voice hoarse. “It only makes me want you more.”

“Tell me one true thing about you.” He pauses, his gaze traveling across my nude body with unmistakable admiration. “If you hadn’t spoken to me tonight, I would have broken the rules and done so first,”

“Toby, did you say you had a date this weekend?” “Yes. I’m just hoping this guy isn’t as awful as the last one I matched with.” “Sock puppet guy,” Quentin mutters. “Sock puppet guy?” I ask. Toby gives a grave nod. “Sock pocket guy,” he confirms, pouring enough gravitas into the words that I hold up my hands in defeat. “Say no more.” “I won’t. Those details would haunt you.”

This expensive shoebox is my home now. The single window offers a view of the opposite building’s rooftops. Sometimes there’s pigeons on them. It’s riveting.

“Thank you, Mr. Conway. Very kind of you.” He puts down his sandwich. “Mr. Conway. A couple of days ago, I was Tristan.” I look away from the heaviness of his gaze, back down to my own sandwich. A stray pickle has escaped. “That was in a compromised position.” “Protecting my son’s elephant,” he says, “on a Ferris wheel from hell.”

Shaved. Scrubbed. Contemplated my life decisions. Blow-dried my hair.

Try to tear her mind away from the panic. She pulls me into it instead.

“I liked to climb trees when I was little. Large ones, small ones, didn’t matter. I climbed them all.” “Non-discriminatory,” Tristan notes with a nod. “Admirable.”

“I get it, Dad. You want to become her best friend first, before you tell her you like her.” My mouth opens, my brain drawing a blank. He’s using my own words against me. Clever kid. “But you have to talk a bit more,” he advises me, dropping my sleeve. “You were too quiet!”

“Besides, you want to marry her, don’t you, Dad? I can help you convince her.”