The Boss's Virgin, page 1
Contents
TITLE: The Boss's Virgin
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
GERALD
ANGELINA
Title: ENEMIES-IN-BED
Sara
Travis
Sara
Travis
Sara
Travis
Sara
Travis
Sara
Travis
Sara
CONNECT
THE BOSS’S VIRGIN
(Contains an exclusive never-been-published sexy novella)
By
Bella Grant
Copyright (c) 2017. All Rights Reserved.
ANGELINA
I rode shotgun with my best friend, Cody, in Old Blue, the beat-up truck his grandfather had left him when he died last year. It bumped along the dirt road that led out of Riverside, Nevada, as a wave of dust circled the truck. I coughed and sputtered along with Old Blue, but Cody just stared outside like it was nothing new, chewing on the grass blade that stuck out of the corner of his mouth.
I looked out at the pale blue sky and the sole eagle—or maybe it was a vulture—as it circled overhead. Its cry echoed over the grasslands as the truck bumped along. It creaked and made a sharp turn to the right, and I almost tumbled into a grinning Cody when the truck finally hit the asphalt.
“Just be careful,” I warned and gripped the handle on the door as I hauled myself back to my side of the long seat he and I shared.
“Not’n to be careful with,” he teased with a mischievous grin as he swung the truck to the left and I slammed into the door.
“Come on, Cody,” I cried, and grabbed the wheel. “Haven’t you done enough fooling around in town?”
He chuckled. “Nah. I reckon you needed one last go for the road.”
I shook my head and glanced at the suitcase in the back. I only needed one for where I was going. I hadn’t seen my mother in almost three years, and I finally had the opportunity to visit her, but it was probably just an excuse to ‘get out of dodge.’ I felt trapped in this town, already at the limits of what I’d hoped to achieve. I had graduated from Riverside College at the top of my class and was now the proud recipient of an undergraduate degree in Business Management. That only further qualified me for the bed and breakfast I owned and operated and which would be overseen by Cody while I was gone. He didn’t have a degree. He had gone right into the family business of haymaking, but he had a good head on his shoulders. I could trust him with the business.
“Have you ever thought about going away?” I mused as my eyes followed the miles and miles of green bordering us on both sides.
“I have gone away. Las Vegas, remember?”
“That’s not going away, stupid. Las Vegas is in Nevada. I mean like New York, or Canada, or the Caribbean. I’d love to go on a cruise, to be on the open water, seeing nothing but blue for miles around.”
“That’s easy. All ya gotta do is lie on the grass one clear day, like today, and look up. All the blue you can see for miles—”
I slapped him upside the head before he could finish. “Sometimes I don’t know how we even became friends, Cody Graham. You can be so—”
“Fun?” he laughed, and the freckles on his cheek flushed when he did.
“That’s not what I’d call it.”
“Well, I did go to Vegas, so I am more fun than you.”
I couldn’t even argue with his logic. He and some of the other boys in town had borrowed Cody’s father’s truck and decided to blow their life savings in Vegas. I had known about it, but of course, I couldn’t tell anyone, or I’d get in trouble, too. Luckily, they came home with some money left over, but something happened there they refused to talk about. They all looked ashamed for about a month after, and as close as Cody and I were, he wouldn’t tell. Not even when I showed him my favorite silk panties. He just brushed me off and started stacking his hay like he had seen a girl’s panties every day of his life.
“Anyhow, you’re getting your chance now… Where did you say you were going?”
“Washington,” I told him.
“Oh right, the Capitol,” he replied. He was quiet for a moment after she answered. “Think you’ll come back?”
“Of course I’m coming back,” I said hastily. “Why on earth would you think such a thing, Cody Graham?”
He was pensive and pinched his lower lip as he stared at the long stretch of country road that led me further and further away from everything I’d come to know in my twenty-three years.
He looked sorrowfully at me. “Cuz sometimes, when people leave, they never come back. Or if they do, they change.”
“Well you don’t got to worry about me changing much. And you can be darn sure I’m coming back.” I figured he was alluding to the fact that my mother, among some other of the town folks, had decided to leave Riverside once and for all. I wasn’t at that point where I would even consider it. After all, this was my first time going anywhere; Riverside was all I knew.
Pretty soon, we could see the sun glinting off the metal bodies of the airplanes as we got closer to the airport. Cody didn’t say much, but I knew what he was thinking. We had been like peas in a pod since we were six. This was the longest we would be apart, but I needed a break from this town. Plus, I was super excited to see Washington and experience city life. I’d seen the movies, and even the small towns they showed seemed a lot bigger than Riverside. There wasn’t much to see here, and maybe if I had been a boy, I’d have gone to Vegas with Cody and his friends.
My heart raced when the engine died, and Cody’s door creaked open. This was it. I was leaving Nevada. And I was scared shitless. My hands fumbled with the lock, and I kicked the door angrily when it refused to open. Then I slid across the seat and jumped out on Cody’s side of the truck, just in time to see him slinging my suitcase to the ground. He rested it at his foot and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“So, guess I’ll be seeing you around, huh?”
I rushed to hug him, and he squeezed me like one of us was dying and this was the last time we would see each other. “Okay, enough of that,” I hastened to say before the emotions completely overwhelmed me. “I’ll call you when I get there.”
He stood by the truck and waved, not moving until I was inside. I had never traveled by plane before, and my nerves got the better of me. I had forgotten to call Mom that morning, but we had spoken the day before. She would meet me at Reagan. Even the name made it sound important. I got bored as I looked around, waiting for my flight call. My butt was just molding perfectly with the hard seat of the chair when I heard it: Flight 1426 to Reagan National will be boarding at gate 3.
I practically flew out of the chair. Self-consciously, I walked to gate three. Here goes nothing.
***
My ears were still ringing when I exited the airport. I would not be flying very often; the air pressure had clearly messed with me. It was a good thing I had thought to read about flying before this flight, or I’d have gone to a doctor thinking something was wrong with me.
It was half past two, and Mom should have been there waiting. I stood outside the gates at terminal three for what felt like hours. I was tired, hot, and flustered, and I needed to lay down. Maybe it was jet-lag, but I wouldn’t know what jet-lag felt like if it walked up and introduced itself.
I paced the pavement, constantly checking the time and ringing her cell. Not once did she respond. My chest heaved, and I clenched my fists against my jeans and closed my eyes tightly.
Calm down, Angie, just calm down. She will be here. Just stay calm.
After another fifteen minutes, not even I was willing to listen to the voice in my head. “Okay, that’s it!” I grabbed the suitcase and wheeled it to a group of taxis I saw along the way. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing or where I was going, but I was tired of being in one spot, going nowhere. I almost made it to the group of yellow and black cabs when the phone rang.
“Mom, why aren’t you here yet?” I shouted, turning when I saw a few folks watching me.
“Here where?”
I moved the phone from my ear and looked at it with disbelief. “You’re joking, right? I’m at the airport.”
“Oh, gracious,” she yelped. “Um, um…” I could see her scrambling for a solution like she always did. “Can you take a cab downtown, sweetheart? I’ll meet you there. I’m so sorry, honey, but if you stay there and wait, I’ll only be longer.”
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the cab drivers. “Fine,” I told her. “Don’t leave the phone. I’m going to have to call you back.”
“Okay, sweetie,” she chirped, and hung up.
Typical Mom. I could see that the only thing three years away from Nevada had changed about her was her accent. Gracious? Please. Who talks like that? No one, at least not in Riverside. I had the feeling I’d be seeing a lot more of this and from a lot more people than Mom.
The ride downtown was not an unpleasant one, and I gazed out the window like a child, marveling at the building designs, the water parks, the skyscrapers, and the people. There was a lot more of those than I was used to, and they all seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. When I got out and stood on the curb, I felt like the ugly duckling—completely out of place in my faded jeans, red-and-white flannel shirt rolled up to my elbows, and boots. It was a good thing I’d brought some things I saw the passersby wearing, like tanks, shorts, and summer dresses, or I might as well walk around with a sign that read, ‘This is my first time anywhere.’
I stood at the corner, gripping the suitcase and looking wild-eyed at everyone as they passed. I didn’t know where exactly to meet Mom now that I was ‘downtown,’ so I pulled out my phone and tried calling her again. No answer.
“Christ!” I barked at the device. I tried several times until she finally answered. “Mom, I’m downtown. What now?”
“Oh, do you see a coffee shop across the street?”
I craned my neck until I could just see around the corner. “Yes.”
“Wait there, and I’ll meet you,” she instructed.
I was furious. It was already evening, and I wanted to get these damned boots off. My arms ached from lugging the suitcase behind me, and I stared angrily at it as I prepared to move it again. I tugged it behind me, and right as I was stuffing the phone into my jeans pocket, it fell.
“What the bejeezus is the matter!” I felt like something was out to get me or maybe the place was just too much for me. I didn’t bother stopping. I just grabbed the thing from the ground and hauled the suitcase around the corner, crashing into a man as he made the turn. I staggered back, almost falling in the process, until he reached over and pulled me back.
Now that’s embarrassing!
I flushed as I stood and smoothed the hair that had fallen over my face. I was struck by not just his height and obvious strength, but by his square jaw, chiseled cheekbones, and black eyes that seemed to burn a hole right through me. He was attractive, and my first impression of Washington’s men was, Wow!
GERALD
The phone rang, and I jumped to answer. “Hello!”
I was anxious because I was supposed to close a deal with a client before one of my competitors, like Aaron and Witter, snagged him. Sal Peters owned one of the largest hotel and restaurant chains in the world, and if my company had him on board, life would be a lot easier for me. Revenue would increase, and just having him would likely attract other sharks to my investment firm. Business was good, but when had better business ever been a bad idea? Hell, if I could get all the big guns, I could sleep well at night.
“Mr. Peters is on line two, sir,” Janene’s voice drawled on the other end.
“Put him through, Janene,” I instructed my loyal secretary who had been with me for close to a decade. I waited while she complied and twisted the tie around my neck that suddenly felt like it was choking me. My mouth dried when I heard Sal on the line.
“Sal!” I exclaimed. “Are you ready to get those papers signed? I had Janene draw them up and—”
“That’s why I’m calling, Gerald,” Sal began, and an ominous silence filled the line, like one that might precede the death penalty or a guilty verdict in court. “I’m afraid I won’t be coming in, after all.”
My jaw dropped. “What? Sal, I thought we had this in the bag. If you’re concerned that your stocks might not mature at the rate I intimated, then—”
“No, that’s not it. I’ve just decided to hold off on investing… for the time being.”
“Are you sure? You were here just two days ago, and you were very sure about it.”
There was a slight pause, which told me the one thing I didn’t want to hear him say but that I felt was the truth none the less. He had signed with someone else and had been advised not to disclose.
“I’m sorry, Gerald. We’ll talk soon.”
And he was gone. I held the phone in my hand for a considerable time, my ears throbbing. I listened to my heart threaten to jump out of my chest.
Well, there go my sweet dreams!
I slammed the phone down and shoved the chair back. “Goddammit!” I thought about who could have picked him up, and only one company came to mind: Aaron and Witter. Those sleazebags had been shadowing me for years, undermining me, stealing from me, and from right under my nose they had stolen one of my most promising clients.
But how did they know about him? I made sure everything about the potential deal was sealed as tightly as an oil barrel. I wonder what they offered him…
I seethed with rage and went over to the liquor cabinet. I poured some scotch into a glass and down my throat, and stood by the window as the liquid burned a path down to my stomach where it settled into a pit of warmth. I poured another and swallowed it as well. My breathing slowly returned to normal, and I looked at the Rolodex on the desk. I needed to find another mega client… and fast. I set the glass down and rushed over, wheeling the chair into place. I thumbed through the cards. As I searched, my heart was heavy because losing Sal Peters had been a huge blow. Finally, I stopped, locked my fingers behind my head, and rested against the cushioned chair. I just needed to clear my head… and to be more careful next time.
The phone rang again, and I snatched it up, hoping Sal was calling to tell me he had changed his mind and would sign with me after all.
“Ger?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Krystal? Hi, sweetheart. Don’t tell me I missed our lunch date.” It was highly probable that I would, considering the morning I’d had, and that I’d done it a few times before.
“No, you didn’t. But Ger, um… I just called to tell you…” She paused, and I swore my breathing stopped. “Is now a good time to talk?”
Every man knows that’s never a good thing coming from a woman, and I was tempted to deny her request. But I was also curious about what was bugging her.
“It really isn’t, but I know you, Krystal, and you will get your two cents in edgewise anyway. What’s going on? Is it work?”
“No,” she replied softly, her voice unsure. “It’s just that… I don’t know how to say this.” Another uncomfortable pause while I shifted in my chair and toyed with my tie. “Remember the first time we met at that party? You were so handsome, and I was thinking, now that’s the man I’d love to take home with me.” I could hear the smile in her voice, but she had more to say. “I can’t believe it’s been four years already, and I really thought that you and I would be together forever, you know.”
Another long pause, and I deliberately remained silent, waiting for her to get to the point. A smirk crossed my face as the thought that she was fishing for a commitment out of me popped into my head. My eyes darted to the top desk drawer, where the small black box awaited. I’d make her sweat for a little, and tonight, I’d ask her to marry me. I was already playing out the proposal in my head when her voice came on the line again.
“This isn’t working out, Ger,” she said sadly.
My thoughts fell flat. I bolted upright in the chair and leaned against the desk. “Come again?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming,” she shot back.
“Actually, I didn’t,” I replied through gritted teeth. “What’s this about?”
“I… I just think we aren’t headed anywhere. I feel like we’re growing apart.”
I felt like we’d been having two different relationships; she thought we were growing apart, while I thought we were getting so close I was on the verge of proposing to her. Had I been blind?
“Krystal, look, I know you’ve been having a hard time lately with work. Can we talk about this later?” I hoped she would agree so I’d be able to swing her back to my side when I popped the question.
“No!” she said forcefully. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Nothing to talk about?!” I all but shouted into the mouthpiece. “It’s been four years! What do you mean there’s nothing to talk about?”
“This is exactly what I mean, you getting angry all the time, so absorbed in your own head, and…”
“What?” I asked incredulously. She didn’t even seem to be describing me. “I’m self-absorbed?”
“Ger, we don’t have to do this. Let’s just agree to disagree and walk away with our dignity.”
