William shook his head. “No. Lana told me your name was Livy. You introduced yourself as Livy. You never told me your last name, and I never asked. It was just supposed to be one night, remember? Just a memory?”
Now he was using my words against me and it infuriated me all over again. “Do you have to be such an ass? Is that a requirement to being the CEO of your own company?”
His eyes flashed at my name calling. “It’s pretty bold of you to call your boss an ass your fifth day on the job.”
“It’s pretty bold of you to screw your employee. Twice.” I wasn’t about to back down. “Did you have to humiliate me like that out there? Didn’t you already get what you wanted?”
William’s face fell. “I am sorry about that, Livy. I wasn’t trying to throw it in your face. I thought you would find it funny.”
“Funny? That’s what you thought? You caught me completely off guard out there, William. It was bad enough I had just found out I slept with my boss, but then you basically told everyone in the company. Maybe they didn’t understand the joke, but I did. I was mortified.” I really wanted to continue being mad but being with William again was distracting on so many levels.
“I never meant to do that. I thought you had found out, and that’s why you ignored my calls and emails. I just assumed once you started working here you must have learned who I was.” What William said made sense. I should’ve known who the CEO of Gravity was even before I started, but if not then, definitely on the first day. It was practically a miracle that it had taken so long for me to find out.
“That doesn’t make this okay,” I said, but my arms dropped to my side. William could tell he had a way in and he took it. He took three steps toward me and I didn’t back away.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you again,” he said. He reached for me again, and I almost let him succeed at his attempt. At the last second, I stepped away.
“No, William. We can’t do this.” I stepped around him, keeping a wide berth. “You’re my boss.”
“We were lovers first,” he reminded me. “Doesn’t that change things?”
“Maybe it does,” I confessed. “But we still can’t do this.”
He wanted to protest, to debate it more, but I didn’t let him. I yanked open the door quickly to cut off any further discussion on the topic.
I didn’t get much done the rest of the day. Fortunately, because I was so new, I didn’t have a lot on my plate yet. I was relieved when Tara stopped by and interrupted my thoughts but then she mentioned the happy hour.
“You’re going tonight, right?” she said.
I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to see William again. But I knew that even though it was an optional activity, I was expected to make an appearance. “For a little while,” I said reluctantly.
So at 5:00 sharp, Tara and I headed down to Clark’s Pub. William was nowhere to be seen and I began to hope that he might not show up. After an hour passed, I finally began to relax. A few drinks and another hour later, I was actually enjoying myself. And then I saw him.
William was standing near the bar, talking to one of the female attorneys from my department. She was laughing at something he said, and her hand grazed his arm. I was over twenty feet away but I could still recognize the flirtation behind her touch. She was pretty, but William didn’t seem very interested. He was looking around the room, searching for someone. I had a pretty strong feeling that he was looking for me.
“Excuse me,” I said to the group around me. “I need to use the ladies’ room.”
I took a guess that the restrooms would be at the back of the bar, but I must’ve made a wrong turn. Somehow I ended up outside, on a small fire escape.
“Shit,” I said, hoping the door hadn’t locked behind me.
I reached for the handle but it was jerked out from under my hand. Before I could react in any way, William stepped onto the fire escape and grabbed me.
“William-” I tried to protest but his lips stopped me. He pressed them against mine with longing desire. I gave into him, parting my lips so that his tongue could enter. He tasted like scotch, and I wondered briefly if he was drunk.
His hands skimmed my body, all the way down to the hem of my dress. He slipped his hands underneath the fabric and lifted my leg so that he could follow its curve up my thigh. “I’ve missed you,” he said, after pulling away slightly so that he could look into my eyes.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I said. My mouth was saying one thing, but my body was saying another. I wanted William. He knew it, and I knew it. My body was already throbbing with anticipation. With a very great effort, I pushed him away.