Playboy Boss Page 7

  Pilar tilted her head, her gaze soft on his, waiting for more from him. “Tell me.”

  An interruption saved him from having to say words out loud that he wasn’t ready to. He and Pilar turned their attention to the person standing at the table.

  “Pilly,” a good-looking, well-dressed man said in accusation. He was younger than Konrad, and he didn’t look pleased. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

  Pilar glanced at Konrad, her eyebrows quirked. “I told you I had plans tonight.”

  Konrad wanted to laugh. Obviously, this guy was on Pilar’s rotation. Leaning back in his chair, he felt an odd sense of relief at the turn of events.

  “Who’s this?” the man asked, not looking at Konrad but pointing a finger at him.

  Konrad didn’t care for that but let it go. This wasn’t his fight.

  Pilar slapped down his pointed finger. “Esteban, this is my friend Konrad. Konrad, this is my other friend Esteban.”

  “Other friend?” Esteban wasn’t impressed.

  Konrad didn’t chuckle that time, gaining a pointed looked from the shafted Esteban.

  “Yes.” She didn’t blink an eye. Good God, she was just like him. Konrad knew that tone. That look in her eyes. That dare-to-defy-and-you’ll-be-gone attitude. That was him.

  “Nice to meet you,” Konrad said, holding his hand out.

  Esteban ignored Konrad, which made Pilar even more furious. “You’re being very rude, Esteban.”

  With panic tangling his voice, he demanded, “So what we talked about last night didn’t mean anything?”

  Konrad felt bad for Esteban. His heart twisted with the display of emotion, but he wondered if he could ever show that kind of emotion. If he could make a complete ass of himself for someone. There was a freedom in it that Konrad never considered before. In fact, he’d always considered it bondage.

  Pilar stood. “Excuse me just a moment, Konrad.”

  Konrad leaned back in his chair. “Of course.” He watched them leave the table as he drank from his short glass of scotch. Immediately, he thought about Scottie again, wondering if she would show up to work the next day. He hoped to God she would.

  After dinner, Konrad drove Pilar back to her private on-campus apartment for international students. She’d been silent instead of her usual talkative self. He parked and faced her, taking in the light catching her blue-black hair. Pilar’s eyes were dark like onyxes, but all he could see were Scottie’s hazel irises the second before his assistant put her lips on his.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, taking him from his thoughts.

  Konrad turned off the music. He needed to think about what he intended to say, how he intended to tell Pilar what their future would look like. “Yes. Are you okay?”

  “I’m sorry about Esteban.” She sighed in exasperation. “He’s so persistent and needy.”

  “Looks like it.”

  “He’ll get over it.” She pushed her hair over her one shoulder and smiled at him. He knew that smile. It was her come-to-my-room smile. But he wouldn’t go in that time.

  He couldn’t.

  “I didn’t get to really talk to you.” He glanced down at her legs.

  She uncrossed them, knees shifting in his direction. “I know.” Her eyebrows arched the more she focused on his face. “You aren’t okay, are you? Is it because I met your friends the other night?”

  He shook his head. “No. It’s not that.”

  Her fingers moved over the console to touch his thigh. When he didn’t touch her back, she pulled away, a frown on her face. “What is it? Tell me.”

  He struggled for the words simply because he’d never had to describe these feelings he was having before. “I’m going through something, Pilly. I don’t know. I need to pull away for a little while.” Or forever. He wasn’t sure.

  “You don’t want to see me anymore?” Her eyes widened, but she wasn’t emotional the way Tamsin had been.

  “I do want to. But not in the same way as before.” The struggle got to him. For the first time, he was raw in front of someone. “I need to put all this to a halt and figure out some stuff in my life. I still want to talk to you, though. I mean, if you still want to talk to me.”

  Silence infiltrated the cabin. Not awkward though. It was light and comforting.

  “Is it someone else? It’s okay. You can tell me.”

  “No… I don’t know.” He shook his head. He could not stop thinking about Scottie. About their time together at the EaDo property. The kiss. He could not stop thinking about how much he wanted her, wanted to kiss her again.

  “It’s okay, guapo. I understand.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek.

  Before he knew it, she opened the door and closed it, leaving him alone in his car with just his thoughts. And all his thoughts were about Scottie.

  Chapter Ten

  Scottie didn’t see Konrad on Thursday morning, and she’d had her eye on his door, waiting for him. He hadn’t come in the office. Would he? It wasn’t until the afternoon when she received an email from him. He’d be visiting other Korr properties for the rest of the day. So, she’d have to wait longer to see him again. All for the better. Had to be. She shouldn’t be waiting for him in anticipation, thinking of the way she threw herself at him in her one moment of weakness. But he was such a good kisser. The kiss consumed her. She’d not kissed a guy in at least a year. Probably more. Damn, she felt so off balance thinking about him, wondering what would have happened had she not pulled away.

  Later that day, a few minutes before five, he returned to the office, not saying single word to her as he stomped to his office. Not even a hello. Fine by her. Something affected him. Nothing she needed to worry about. If anything, she needed to get him off her mind for good. What transpired between them was a mistake. A stupid, thoughtless mistake. She needed to forget it and focus on her work. The temp position would be over soon, and, she hoped, she’d have a permanent job elsewhere. Away from Konrad.

  Scottie was warm. Too many thoughts roiled in her head. God, this whole forgetting what happened wasn’t working out. Give it a day. That seemed like too long. Just as she was about to glance in Konrad’s office, her office phone rang, making her jump with the loud buzz. Scottie looked at the caller ID screen mounted on the top. It was Jeff from Korr Solutions. She’d forgotten about the weekly happy hour. With the way she’d been feeling, she badly needed a drink.

  Scottie picked up the receiver. “Hey, Jeff.”

  A force beyond her control made her gaze drift to Konrad’s office. A piercing pair of blue eyes startled her from across the aisle. He stared at her, a furrow at his brow, making her heart skip. God, he is beautiful.

  “Are you still coming to happy hour? We’re about to walk over.”

  “Uhh … yes, of course.” She shifted her gaze back to the phone, her heart still skipping and making her breathless.

  “Meet us in the lobby.” Jeff was ecstatic, and Scottie wish she could feel the same enthusiasm for him. She really just wanted the adult beverage to get her mind off her life.

  It would be cool if Konrad joins us. The thought came upon her so quickly. You’re an idiot, Scottie. A drink with him would be a bad idea.

  “I’m leaving now,” she said, wanting to get out from under Konrad’s pull on her.

  Scottie gathered her things to leave after she hung up. Stepping out of her cube, Konrad surprised her. He stood near her desk, a folder in his grip. Her hand flew to her chest, covering her wildly beating heart. “You scared me!”

  “You’re so skittish, Scottie.”

  She glowered. “You do like to sneak up on people, don’t you?”

  A smile was his response. She could only imagine what he was thinking, and it made her avert her gaze from his curled-up, sexy-as-hell lips. Lips she’d kissed.

  Oh God.

  “So where are you off to, then?”

  None of your business. She relented. “Bowie Brew for the coworker happy hour.”

  Konrad’s e
yes grew darker. Smile gone. “Did you see my response about Anisette’s thank-you card?”

  Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t roll your eyes. Player Konrad was back. The Player Konrad who needed Scottie to manage his women, which she was tired of doing.

  “Yes. I emailed her a response to her thank-you.” Now turn around and walk away.

  “Brilliant.”

  He said nothing more, yet didn’t leave.

  “Okay … well, they’re waiting for me in the lobby.” She half turned away. “Unless there is anything else you need from me…”

  Scottie’s frustration grew exponentially. But it was toward herself, not him. After their trip to the EaDo property, she should stop thinking they could be familiar with each other. As if the kiss changed anything between them. It didn’t. They still only had a professional relationship. If only her body could get on board with her brain.

  “No. I don’t need anything else from you.”

  Of course not. She didn’t need anything else from him either.

  Chapter Eleven

  Go see her. No, I can’t.

  Those statements dueled in Konrad’s mind for at least a half an hour after Scottie left, leaving a trail of her sugary perfume behind. The faint smell remained in his car, and he savored it until it left. He must’ve been hooked if he was savoring her perfume as if it were an IV giving him energy. But there he was doing it. Decision made. He wanted to smell her perfume again.

  Screw the Thursday happy hour he’d had with his mates every week. Konrad needed to see Scottie again. Out of the office. He needed to be close to her. Maybe nothing would happen. It didn’t matter. He just wanted to be near her.

  An email notification chimed his computer just as he was about to leave. He glanced at it, annoyed to be kept any longer. Fabian had sent him a link to the Houston Society Pages engagement announcements. Front and center was a picture of Fabian and Antonia, smiling like fools. A caption underneath it read: Two powerhouse families unite with the engagement of Antonia Robuchon to Fabian Pallis.

  The same dense, dull feeling Konrad had at their surprise engagement dinner came back full force. Oh God, could it be possible Konrad’s feelings had progressed to outright jealousy of their engagement? That he himself wanted to have exactly what they had?

  His gaze drifted to the announcement below. Shocked at first, he looked away just to be sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. He read the announcement again.

  Houston socialite Anisette Bonnenfont and real estate mogul Blaine Craft announced their engagement among family and close friends last night at an intimate dinner. They plan a Turks and Caicos destination wedding next spring.

  Blimey. Was everyone getting married?

  Konrad sat back in his chair. His mind spun with the news. He didn’t know she had been dating someone else. Good on her. Anisette deserved a real estate mogul who could give her forever. He was sure that was why she’d visited him, to tell him she wasn’t available for anymore dalliances, for the convenient get-togethers he’d demanded of all his women. And he’d ditched her. Sent her a Chanel scarf instead.

  Fuck, Korr, you’re a real tosser. No more. He didn’t want to be that anymore.

  He looked up from his computer, staring at Scottie’s cube through the glass wall. His obligations were gone. All the women he’d been seeing, he’d either pushed them away or they’d left him. The slate was clean again.

  He looked back at the announcement on his computer screen and wondered what it would be like to read his own engagement announcement. Konrad shut his laptop, his body soaring to get to Scottie.

  The moment Konrad stepped foot in the Bowie Brew, he got a whiff of cheap liquor. He may as well have sniffed a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Never would he be caught dead in a dive bar, but this wasn’t about appearances. He was there for something that might be a terrible idea.

  A rowdy group at the far end of the bar caught his attention. His group. They carried on with drinks in their grips. Scottie was the one who laughed the loudest, which brought a smile to his face. He wished she laughed more around him. She had no idea how beautiful she looked when she laughed. He approached, noticing Scottie held a beer. He’d not pegged her for a beer girl. She looked more like a fruity type. Fuzzy navel maybe. Or sex on the beach. Images popped in his head about sex on the beach. With her.

  His body responded to the images, and he had to stop his stride for a second to contain himself. Then, warm and zipping with energy, he moved again toward the group, wondering if she would still be calm as if nothing had happened between them, as if they didn’t share secrets. He must have sent out telekinetic messages to her, because she turned her gaze to his, her eyes widening from the surprise. It wasn’t exactly an indication she was happy to see him, and it made him wonder if he had been too presumptuous. Did the kiss affect her at all? But then a small smile curled her lips, and he was energized again.

  Konrad approached the group, smiling with each acknowledgement of his employees.

  “Well, look who’s graced us with his presence. The boss man himself.” Jeff’s voice boomed over the loud bar. He might have already had one drink too many.

  Konrad bowed to an awkward applause, and when he stood to his full height, he noticed Scottie’s eyes on him. Light flashed in her olive irises, making him think she might be happy to see him. “I just wanted to make sure my employees are not terrorizing anyone in my name.”

  “Never!” Jeff said, deceitfully joyful. There was no mistake he wasn’t enthused with Konrad’s presence. “Have a seat.”

  An empty seat beside Scottie beckoned Konrad. He pointed to it. “That chair has my name on it.” All eyes were on him as he squeezed between Scottie and the empty chair, his hand touching her arm in the process. “Pardon me.”

  His heart pounding, he leaned into Scottie, getting a whiff of her perfume, and peered at her glass. “What are you drinking?” he asked.

  “Uhh…” She seemed bothered but didn’t back away from him. “It’s pear ale.”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t take you for a pear ale type of person.”

  Her eyebrows quirked up, eyes glittering. “Oh really? What type of person did you take me for?”

  Don’t say, “Sex on the beach.” “I don’t know. Something fruity.”

  “Fruity?” She was amused with his assessment.

  “Right. Like … a fuzzy navel or something so dreadful as that.” He laughed, and to his surprise, she did too.

  “I most certainly am not a fuzzy navel drinker.”

  “That’s excellent. You can keep your job then.” Konrad winked at her, but it was the heavy silence around the table that pulled his attention back to his employees. They’d caught Konrad flirting with Scottie, because that was exactly what he’d done.

  “And what kind of person are you, boss man? Let me guess, schnapps?” Jeff stared at Konrad, straight and unwavering. If Konrad didn’t know better, Jeff had challenged him to a duel of sorts.

  The group snickered a little in the awkwardness that blanketed the table.

  “Very clever, Jeff.” Waggling his finger, he lifted it to his temple.

  “Why is that clever?” asked one of his female software engineers, probably completely lost to what was going on—just as everyone else.

  Konrad held Jeff’s gaze. This was a duel. “It’s a German drink, you see. But, I didn’t learn to drink in Germany.”

  “Where did you learn?” Jeff’s blatant defiance was getting under Konrad’s skin.

  “Scotland.” A smile pulled at Konrad’s face. “Are you surprised?”

  Jeff winked at Scottie, and it was clear what the challenge was for. “Scotch. Very classy.”

  “I like scotch,” Scottie offered, glancing at Konrad. She seemed uncomfortable.

  “Let’s get a glass, then?” Jeff’s eyebrows raised, his attention on Scottie. “Your first round is on me, boss.”

  “I assume you’re using your corporate card to pay for all the rounds.” The g
roup laughed. “So all rounds on me.” Checkmate. Konrad was the boss, and he would not be shown up by anyone.

  Jeff lifted his hands in defeat. “You got me there.” He touched Scottie’s hand from across the table, all eyes on the action. “Come with me to the bar.”

  Konrad burned with the need to push Jeff’s fingers off hers.

  Scottie stood, hitting Konrad’s arm. “Sure.” Their touch sparked Konrad straight to his chest. Before she wiggled her way from the chair, she leaned toward Konrad. “Which one do you want?”

  Their eyes lingered, danced. He wanted to lean in the few inches they were apart and kiss her. “Surprise me.”

  A small smiled curved her lips for a brief moment, and Konrad thought he might be the victor after all. “Okay.”

  Konrad watched them leave. Something had happened between them in those moments. The same thing that had happened out on his property and when they kissed. No denying it. His feeling was spot on.

  Employee after employee commented on his presence. They were surprised. Glad he joined them. Thought it was cool to have a drink with the boss. Konrad nodded. If only they knew why he was really there. He tried to stay entertained by them, but his attention kept shifting back to the bar. Jeff stood a bit too close to Scottie, and at one point, Jeff leaned over to say something in Scottie’s ear.

  Konrad had to force himself to stay calm, indifferent. His employees couldn’t know what he was thinking about, or more specifically, who.