One Night (4 page)

We stood rooted in place for a long time, panting and waiting for our hearts to stop racing. I let my hands graze the hair on the back of William’s neck and
I brushed it gently with the tips of my fingers. He sighed against my neck. “You were right, Livy,” he said after a few minutes had passed.

“
Hm? Right about what?” At that moment it was a miracle I even remembered my name, let alone what I might be right about.

“This was definitely designed for sex,” he said.

I laughed loudly and hugged him close. “There’s one thing you should know about me, William. I’m always right.”

“I have no doubt about that,” he said, right before his lips found mine.

The shower-sex took longer than I had expected. I was barely going to have enough time to grab my luggage from my room and make it to the airport in time for my flight. William tried more than once to convince me to stay longer.

“You can catch a different flight,” he said for the third time as I stooped to put on my heels. I was going to have to do the walk of shame in my bridesmaid’s ensemble but I didn’t care.

“I can’t. I have to be back in time for my friend’s birthday dinner tonight.” Thomas and I had been best friends since we were fourteen and he would never forgive me if I missed his thirtieth birthday dinner. “I really do have to go.”

William didn’t seem to hear me. He was busy nuzzling my neck and trying to unzip my dress. “What’s that?”

“William. I’m serious.” I pushed him away. It was hard to stick to my convictions with him looking at me so sweetly. “One-night stand, remember? This ends here.”

William winced. “It doesn’t have to. We both live in Chicago.”

“It does have to.” I couldn’t explain it to William, but I had made a deal with myself that I was starting fresh with my life when I got home. I had a new job starting tomorrow, and I was determined to leave my past behind me, where it belonged. Including William.

“I like you, Livy.  And I think you like me, too.” William’s eyes dropped from my face. “We didn’t plan for that, but I’m not going to ignore it just because it wasn’t part of the plan.”

“You have to, William. Because it’s what I want.” I let myself step closer so that I could kiss him on the cheek. “I had a great night. And morning. But now it’s over. Let’s go back to our lives, and let this just be a great memory. Nothing more.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.” William placed a soft hand against my cheek. “I don’t want to do that.”

“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t look at him as I said it. I really was sorry. If circumstances had been different, maybe I would have said yes. But I didn’t. “I have to go.”

I di
dn’t look back after I stepped into the elevator. I didn’t want to see William’s face because if I did, I know I would’ve changed my mind. It may have only been one night, but it had been an amazing night. I waited until I heard the elevator door click closed and then I sagged against the wall. William Connor had gotten to me, and he was going to be hard to forget.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Don’t forget, we have a company meeting in ten minutes,” my new colleague, Tara Potter, said as she was about to leave my office.

“I’ll be there.”

It was Friday, and I had made it through my first week at my new job with Gravity, Inc. Gravity was a crisis management firm,
and I had accepted a job in their legal department. In five days, I had already helped put out three different fires for our clients.

Tara tossed a wave
as she walked away and my phone vibrated on my desk. I didn’t have to look at it to know it would be another text from William. He had gotten my number from Lana, and had been calling and texting me every day since the wedding. I checked the message he had sent.

“Eventually you will relent and respond to me. My charms can’t be resisted forever.
You’ll see.”

I shook my head and closed the message without responding. I didn’t want to lead him on, and I had no intention of seeking a relationship with anyone at this point in my life. I wanted to focus on my career. I liked my new job,
and I wanted to enjoy it for awhile before adding drama to my life.

Once a month, Gravity’s CEO held a company meeting in the large cafeteria. All 107 employees would gather and listen to a presentation about the company’s status. Or so I had been told. This being my first week, it was also my first company meeting. I hadn’t met the CEO or any of the other executives yet. I was supposed to meet with them a couple days ago, but the CEO’s flight had been delayed so the meeting got pushed.

The cafeteria was nearly full when I arrived but Tara had saved me a seat two rows from the front. “Are you nervous?” she asked.

“Nervous? Why would I be nervous?”

“Our CEO likes to introduce the new people. Don’t worry, it’s no big deal.”

Easy for Tara to say.
I was about to be pointed out in front of 100 strangers. Good thing I had at least dressed up today, and even curled my hair.

Everyone around us had been talking amongst themselves but they all stopped abruptly. Apparently some unseen signal had told them the meeting was about to start.

“Have you met him yet?” Tara asked quietly.

“Who?
The CEO? Not yet.”

Tara smiled. “You are in for a treat. Connor is awesome.
Smart, funny and totally hot.”

“Wait, Connor?” A lump began to build in my throat.

“Yeah. William Connor. The CEO. You knew that, right?” Tara looked at me in surprise. “Everyone knows him.”

My heart began to race and my hands were shaking. This couldn’t be possible. But when I turned back to the front of the room, there he was. William Connor, the star of my weekend
sexcapade, was standing at the front of the room wearing a dashing gray suit and smiling enigmatically at his employees.

“Welcome, everyone. It’s good to see you.” His eyes roamed the room and I sank lower in my chair, trying to hide behind the tall guy in front of me.

“We have a lot to talk about today, including some amazing new clients we just signed, but let’s start with our traditional hazing.” He clicked the remote in his hand and a presentation appeared on the white wall behind him. “Let’s pick on our new employees for a bit.”

Everyone laughed, including William. I felt my face flush and tried to decide if I had time to run from the room. Unfortunately, it was so crowded I wouldn’t be able to leave even if I thought I could get away with it.

“We have three new people since our last meeting.” William clicked again and the slide changed to a picture of someone I recognized from my new hire meetings. “James Lewis. Where are you, James?”

James raised his hand a few seats away from me.
“Right here.”

“Close to the front.
Excellent.” William waved to somebody standing off to the side. “James, I hear you know how to play the accordion.”

“I do.” James laughed nervously.

“Excellent.” William waved for him to stand up. “It just so happens, we have an accordion right here. Come join me on the stage and play us something.”

Everyone laughed as someone brought an accordion to William. He handed it to James, whose face was bright red, and stepped back. James adjusted the strap and began to play. The next several minutes blurred together for me. A girl named Stephanie proved that she was fluent in four languages while I continued to die a little inside.

When my picture popped up on the screen, I groaned audibly.

William’s tone of voice
was unreadable as he announced me. “Olivia Harris?”

I didn’t move. Tara raised an arm and pointed at me. “She’s right here.”

“Ah, yes. There she is.” William’s voice dropped an octave. I slowly lifted myself in my seat until I could see his face. Our eyes locked and I wondered if Tara could hear my heart thumping in my chest.

“Olivia. Someone told me that you have an interesting taste in music,” William said. I recognized the playful smile on his face but I had no idea where he was going with this. “Is that true?”

“Maybe?” I replied, very quietly. Only the people closest to me could hear, but they all laughed.

“Someone mentioned that you perform a great rendition of Led Zeppelin’s
All My Love
.” William was still smiling but I could tell from the flash of his eyes that he was remembering our time in the sex shower. “I also have it on good authority that you like Willy.” He paused long enough for me to remember what I had said at the wedding, and understand his double meaning. My face turned bright red and I silently cursed him. “Willie Nelson, I mean.”

“Yes, that’s true,” I said quickly, hoping to move things along as quickly as possible.

“I thought I might have you come up and sing a few lines,” he continued, smiling broader at the panicked look on my face. “But unfortunately, we have a lot more to discuss and we don’t have a lot of time left.”

William clicked his remote and my picture was replaced by the company logo. “Anyway, welcome to our new employees. I hope you enjoy your time here, whether it
be two years or twenty.”

I didn’t hear anything else William said for the duration of the meeting. I’m sure he covered some important ground, but I was too busy fuming inside.

I sat up quickly as William reached the end of his presentation. “Don’t forget, tonight we are having a happy hour at Clark’s Pub downstairs. Come ready to drink.”

William hadn’t even finished talking when I stood up. I hurried toward the exit, which unfortunately meant I had to walk
right past William. I kept my eyes away from him, but he still spotted my escape and called out to me.

“Livy. I mean, Olivia. Hold up, please.”

I was busted. We both knew it. I couldn’t exactly ignore my company’s CEO the first week on the job. Especially when he was speaking to me so publicly.

“Yes?” I turned around slowly and bit my lip to keep from saying something I would regret.

“I haven’t had a chance to meet with you yet,” William said, choosing his words carefully since the entire company could overhear us. “I have some things I would like to discuss. Do you have time now?”

I wanted to say no. I wished more than anything that I had a meeting to rush off to, but I didn’t. My calendar was wide open the rest of the day, and the pe
ople in my department knew it, so I relented. “Sure.”

As I followed William to his office, my anger grew. He clearly had known I was his employee well before that meeting. The question was, exactly how long had he known?

He held open his office door and I marched inside with my head held high. I wasn’t going to let him see how much this bothered me. But I was going to call him out on his bullshit. I waited until he closed the door before speaking.

“How could you?” I spat.

William’s head snapped. “What?” It was clearly not what he had been expecting me to say.

“You knew I was your employee, and you slept with me anyway. And then you made fun of me in front of the entire company. You’re a pig.” I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from punching something.
Or William.

“Jesus, Olivia, no.
That’s not what happened.” He made to reach for me, but when he saw the fury in my eyes, he thought better of it. “I didn’t know. Not then.”

“Then when? When did you find out?” I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I began to soften just a little.

“This morning. I swear.” William held out his hands helplessly. “I knew I had a new employee named Olivia Harris, but I had no idea it was you until my assistant sent me the presentation with your picture in it.”

“I find that highly unlikely. You knew my name long before today.”

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 fo
und 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.