Chapter One - Why me?
Alyssa
I am in my office, trying to make sure I get all my work done so my boss doesn’t have a reason to make me stay late. My office is adjoining to my boss Mr Sutton. He likes to make sure I am close for when he needs me. The door must be left open unless he is on a call or has a woman visitor in his office. Thank God the walls seem to be soundproof because I know what he does in there with all these women. He is a bit of a control freak.
The door between us suddenly opens. I sigh and embrace myself for what he wants. He is extremely demanding. He is also an arrogant, ride, heartless jackass too. I only stay because I enjoy my job and the money is great.
“Alyssa, come into my office.” He demands, no emotion in his voice.
I nod, “Yes, Sir.
He disappears back into his. I sigh, stand and head through. I stop in front of his desk and wait for him to speak. I know better than not to open my mouth before he does. He rests back on his chair and looks me over with his gorgeous brown eyes. Yes, he is an asshole, but he is so damn handsome too. Tall, muscular with beautiful deep brown eyes and black hair. His jawline is sculpted perfectly, and he has a charming smile, but we don’t see much of that. I hate admitting he is so damn good looking. I have eyes, though. He is one of those men that, when you walk past, you can’t help but take a second glance at him. He draws you in and makes you forget how to breathe for a second. I don’t have a crush on him; that would be too cliché, but I can’t deny he looks like a Greek God.
The way he is staring at me is making me uneasy. I don’t understand why he is looking at me in such a way. He has never paid such close attention to me in the year I have been working here.
I am nervous. My head drops, my eyes on the floor. I couldn’t stand the intense eye contact any longer.
“Eyes up and on me.” He commands.
A small squeak falls from my lips, and I quickly lift my head to look back at him.
“What are you doing this weekend?” he asks.
Great, he is going to make me work this weekend. I don’t have any plans and hate working the weekend, but I will get double time if I do work it. He is maybe a jackass, but he does make sure his staff are paid well.
“Nothing, Sir. Do you need something from me?”
He stands and comes around to lean against the front of his desk.
“Yes. I need you to be my date.”
“Y-y-your what?” I stammer out.
He has to be joking, right?
“My date. I have a family wedding to attend this weekend. I am tired of people asking me when I am going to settle down and whatnot. So, you will come as my date and pretend to be my girlfriend for the weekend.” He says, confidently strolling towards me.
“No. You have plenty of women. Ask one of them.” I exclaim.
He steps closer to me, only inches between our bodies. I can feel the warmth of his breath fan on my face.
“Not of them are suitable. No one will believe that they are my girlfriend. You, on the other hand, are more reserved and would be someone my family would approve of.” He replies.
I shake my head, “I am not being your date, Mr Sutton. I don’t like lying to people.”
I am trying to be firm, but the way he looks down on me since I am a few inches shorter than his six-foot-something stance makes it hard for me. I swallow hard.
“Yes, you will be.” He states firmly.
“You can’t make me be your date! You do not get to tell me what to do outside of work.” I snap.
He chuckles darkly, “Who knew you had a feisty side, Miss Corbet? But you will be coming with me this weekend, or you don’t come in on Monday.”
He can’t be serious right now.
I place my hand on my hip and glare at him, “You can’t do that. You can’t threaten to fire me because I am not doing as you ask.”
He smirked, closing the distance between our bodies. I gasp because he has never been so close to me. He smells as good as he looks. I can’t handle this.
“Yes, I can. I just did. The choice is yours. You have until the end of the day to make your choice, Miss Corbet.” He says and goes to sit back at his desk, concentrating on his work.
I stand there in shock, not knowing what to say.
“You are dismissed, Miss Corbet. Keep the door open.”
He doesn’t even look up at me. I groan in frustration and storm back to my office. I hear him laugh from behind me. I want nothing more than to slam the door behind me, but it will only make things worse for me. He can’t do this! He can’t threaten my job, can he? I groan and sit down on my chair.
I don’t understand why he needs me to go with him. I have seen the women who come in and out of his office. They are beautiful. I am sure any one of them can play girlfriend for the day. I am nothing compared to them. I am a plain Jane, nothing special. I am not his toy to do as he pleases with.
I sigh and concentrate on work. I don’t need this day to last any longer. I can’t afford not to be working. I am saving to buy a place rather than rent finally. I also want to travel, and this job is the perfect one to help me earn enough to do those things. But is me having to give in to his demands really worth all of this?
I don’t know what to do. I only have two hours to decide because it is when my workday ends. It is Wednesday, so he isn’t giving me much notice. Why wait until the last minute? I wonder if perhaps his original date pulled out at the last minute, and I was the closest one to him to replace her. Either way, I do not like it!
I am used to him being rude and bossy, demanding me to do things when it comes to work, but this is completely different. It is a lot, even for one night. What if people I work with find out? The last thing I want or need is for people to believe I am screwing the boss. I will become known as the office slut, a title I do not wish to have. No one wants that title. How dare he put me in such a position? There are other women who work here with me who would happily play pretend with him and jump into bed with him if they had the chance. He is a popular man, but he doesn’t ever seem to mix business with pleasure, which is a good way to go.
I lie my head on my desk and groan to myself. I swear, if it weren’t for bad luck, I would have no luck.