Lie to Me: A Contemporary Billionaire BWWM Romance Read Online Free Page A
Author: Mia Caldwell
orders followed.
“Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Zoe watched him walk away, noting his perfectly shaped rear end that was hugged by tight jeans, and she wondered briefly if someone might not have slipped something into her drink, because none of this made sense to her.
* * *
R eflecting back on the events of the night before, Zoe had to admit that it had not gone exactly as she would have hoped when Nick had first come up to her. By the time he had introduced himself he had already, in the confines of Zoe’s mind, swept the glasses aside and taken her roughly across the table while the whole bar stood and watched in quiet awe.
She would have settled for him buying her a drink and discussing work, the weather and where they might send their three children. The fact that his coming over to her was entirely work-related had been a disappointment.
On the other hand, it was still an interesting disappointment. What could he want?
There was a degree of eager anticipation and nervousness bubbling in Zoe as, the following morning, she made her way up to the CEO offices at the top of the RothCo building. Possibilities bubbled excitedly through her brain: was she getting promoted? A raise? A transfer to a different boss? Any of those would be brilliant (and in all honesty the third of those options was probably the most desirable).
Today , Zoe told herself, was going to be a good day .
But, on the other hand, that did pre-suppose that she was being called up to the CEO’s office for something good.
What if it was something bad?
All of a sudden, the bounce went out of Zoe’s steps and the ebullience out of her demeanor as a fleet of butterflies set up home in her stomach. Did CEO’s personally discipline personal assistants? It seemed unlikely. But no more unlikely than CEO’s personally handing out raises and promotions or assigning transfers. Of course, Zoe did work for one of the most important people in the company and since she was temporarily indisposed it was possible that someone else would handle her staff. But a CEO?
The thought now occurred to Zoe that if a CEO was handling disciplinary action then the transgression would have to have been very serious indeed. Her mind rifled hastily back through her recent misdemeanors in search of something that might qualify. Generally speaking, Zoe was a model employee, she was far too petrified and meek to do anything wrong. She had never stolen so much as a paper clip from the supply cabinet, while she knew fellow workers whose home offices looked like a branch of a stationary store.
She was never late, she never left early, she never took too long for lunch. She was not sure how to go about embezzling company funds but would have been too honest (and too nervous) to do so even had she known. She was not selling company secrets to corporate spies or involving herself in shady insider trading deals. She was, as far as she could fathom, the paragon of good behavior.
Of course, she did occasionally say less than flattering things about Vanessa.
Zoe’s stomach went cold and her pace slowed still further. What if something she had said about Vanessa had made its way back to the woman herself? Although Zoe did not think that she had said anything too terrible (certainly not compared to what she had heard other people saying), Vanessa was not the sort to see the funny side of even the most minor comment. She was more the type to take vindictive revenge upon any who had wronged her.
By the time she reached the top floor, Zoe had convinced herself that a stray comment she had made about how many vodka cranberrys Vanessa Reese had consumed in the bar of their hotel the week before, was responsible for, not just her being fired, but her being black-balled from every large company in America.
And possibly an FBI investigation as well.
There were two doors leading off the central foyer onto which the elevator opened. Outside of one was a hive of activity – various
“Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Zoe watched him walk away, noting his perfectly shaped rear end that was hugged by tight jeans, and she wondered briefly if someone might not have slipped something into her drink, because none of this made sense to her.
* * *
R eflecting back on the events of the night before, Zoe had to admit that it had not gone exactly as she would have hoped when Nick had first come up to her. By the time he had introduced himself he had already, in the confines of Zoe’s mind, swept the glasses aside and taken her roughly across the table while the whole bar stood and watched in quiet awe.
She would have settled for him buying her a drink and discussing work, the weather and where they might send their three children. The fact that his coming over to her was entirely work-related had been a disappointment.
On the other hand, it was still an interesting disappointment. What could he want?
There was a degree of eager anticipation and nervousness bubbling in Zoe as, the following morning, she made her way up to the CEO offices at the top of the RothCo building. Possibilities bubbled excitedly through her brain: was she getting promoted? A raise? A transfer to a different boss? Any of those would be brilliant (and in all honesty the third of those options was probably the most desirable).
Today , Zoe told herself, was going to be a good day .
But, on the other hand, that did pre-suppose that she was being called up to the CEO’s office for something good.
What if it was something bad?
All of a sudden, the bounce went out of Zoe’s steps and the ebullience out of her demeanor as a fleet of butterflies set up home in her stomach. Did CEO’s personally discipline personal assistants? It seemed unlikely. But no more unlikely than CEO’s personally handing out raises and promotions or assigning transfers. Of course, Zoe did work for one of the most important people in the company and since she was temporarily indisposed it was possible that someone else would handle her staff. But a CEO?
The thought now occurred to Zoe that if a CEO was handling disciplinary action then the transgression would have to have been very serious indeed. Her mind rifled hastily back through her recent misdemeanors in search of something that might qualify. Generally speaking, Zoe was a model employee, she was far too petrified and meek to do anything wrong. She had never stolen so much as a paper clip from the supply cabinet, while she knew fellow workers whose home offices looked like a branch of a stationary store.
She was never late, she never left early, she never took too long for lunch. She was not sure how to go about embezzling company funds but would have been too honest (and too nervous) to do so even had she known. She was not selling company secrets to corporate spies or involving herself in shady insider trading deals. She was, as far as she could fathom, the paragon of good behavior.
Of course, she did occasionally say less than flattering things about Vanessa.
Zoe’s stomach went cold and her pace slowed still further. What if something she had said about Vanessa had made its way back to the woman herself? Although Zoe did not think that she had said anything too terrible (certainly not compared to what she had heard other people saying), Vanessa was not the sort to see the funny side of even the most minor comment. She was more the type to take vindictive revenge upon any who had wronged her.
By the time she reached the top floor, Zoe had convinced herself that a stray comment she had made about how many vodka cranberrys Vanessa Reese had consumed in the bar of their hotel the week before, was responsible for, not just her being fired, but her being black-balled from every large company in America.
And possibly an FBI investigation as well.
There were two doors leading off the central foyer onto which the elevator opened. Outside of one was a hive of activity – various
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