Bossy Fiance Mistake
By: Roxy Reid“I figured you stayed busy,” Ethan says as he takes it.
“I enjoy the work. I’m not saving lives or enriching young minds, but at least I’m making some sort of difference for someone,” I respond with a shrug. It’s what I can offer to the world, and I want to put it to use as soon as possible.
It’s faint, but the corner of Ethan’s mouth curls up a little as he looks over my resume. A confused look then appears on his face. He taps one of the lines on my resume.
“It looks like you left your last position a year ago. Have you been looking for a new job for an entire year with no luck?” He asks me.
I suppose it can look that way, but it’s not the truth. For that year, I went out and traveled from the mountains to the ocean. Heartache can derail anyone, and I’m not an exception to that. Dating is treacherous for a working woman with big dreams and only so much time and energy leftover to give.
“No, I took a year off. I’ve just started looking again,” I reply simply. I don’t want him knowing it took me a whole year to get back to where I need to be.
Ethan gazes at me curiously, like he wants to pry further, but he merely nods and sets my resume down on his desk.
“Well, you’re looking in the right place. You’ve worked on a lot of interesting projects at your other positions which I think will come in handy now,” Ethan tells me. His words almost sound like praise, but I might be hearing things.
“What are you wanting me to help you with?” I ask. I know there’s more he hasn’t told me yet.
“Do you remember Rafael Navaro from college?” Ethan says. His expression seems to dim.
I nearly groan at the sound of Rafael’s name. He’s another cocky business major that I know. He’s a little older than Ethan and me, but he and Ethan still somehow got tangled up in competition from time-to-time. It was a pointless rivalry that I thought would be left behind in college.
“Yes,” I reply cautiously. I hope this isn’t going where I think it is.
“He has his own business that’s in direct competition with mine. There’s this new big client in town, Red Light Media, and I really need them to sign on with my company instead of Rafael’s,” Ethan explains.
I can tell he really wants to beat out Rafael. I do like him more than I like Rafael, so I suppose I’m on the right side of this silly competition. It makes my heart race a little because the stakes are high, and I need to put my all into this project. It’s what I’ve been looking for.
“You want me to help you win them over?” I ask him.
“Basically. I want to create a presentation that’ll prove to them that Voss Consults is the company that will take them to the top,” Ethan replies in a determined fashion as he jumps to his feet. He moves to stand in front of one of the tall windows to peer out at the city with his back to me.
I take a moment to gaze at his muscular figure beneath his dark blue suit. His hair is short, dark, and styled, and his facial hair is just as nicely trimmed and dark. I thought he looked hot in college, but age has done him a favor. It looks like he still works out a lot too.
Ethan suddenly turns around. His eyes catch mine before I can look away.
“Enjoying the view too?” He muses as he strides toward me.
I feel my face burn as I roll my eyes. I refuse to let him tease me for the slip up. I was just looking. Admittedly, he’s really handsome and nice to look at.
“Well, the job sounds interesting,” I say to put us back on track. As good as the job sounds, I do have some concerns about it, which revolve around him being my boss. It sounds like treacherous territory.
“Just interesting? What’s wrong with it?” Ethan questions me as he slightly narrows his eyes.
I watch him walk behind me as I shrug. I almost feel embarrassed to speak my thoughts, but it’s a genuine concern.
“I’m not sure how I feel about having an ex-boyfriend as my boss,” I explain to him. We don’t have a clean slate, and I’m just here to work and make the past version of me proud. Even now, he’s borderline flirting with me, and he hasn’t even hired me yet.
Ethan hums under his breath as he places his hands on my shoulders from behind. He leans close to my ear, his cheek brushes against my hair.
