Read Wrong for Me (Bad Boy Romance) Online
Authors: Megan West,Kristen Flowers
Copyright
© 2016 by, Kristen Flowers
All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.
This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or
business establishments, events or locals is coincidental.
By Megan West &
Kristen Flowers
Also by Megan West
and Kristen Flowers
If you want to get free Advanced Reader
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Table of Contents
Bonus
Stories by Megan West & Kristen Flowers
“I
can’t stand that bitch.” I said to myself under my breath.
That
bitch I’m speaking of was Jennifer Ryan, the golden child of the office, and
just then she was buttering up to the head boss, Mr. Paul.
If
I’m being honest, at the time I was probably just jealous. And who wouldn’t be?
She’s
got gorgeous long brown hair that’s always curled to perfection, she’s a little
taller than most women, and she always wears formfitting dresses to accentuate
her flawless body. And right then, she was talking to the one man that could
give me the promotion I had been working toward for two years.
I
watched as Jennifer leaned in a little closer to Mr. Paul, placing her hand
gently on his chest with a flashing smile. She was such a flirt and it made me
sick to my stomach.
There
I was actually trying to do my job and make it to the vice president position
using my work ethic and experience; not using my round ass and flashing my
cleavage to the boss in tight dresses like she was.
She must suck his cock when everyone’s
gone home for the day.
I thought to myself and laughed out loud as I finished
up my copies. Jackie was at the copy machine next to me and gave me a courteous
smile when she heard me laugh under my breath.
For
the most part I kept to myself at my job. I was a hard worker, always went
above and beyond, and never failed to impress Mr. Paul. In all honesty I was
pretty important to the small advertising firm. In fact, Jennifer, myself, and
Mr. Paul were the only people in the office that had their own private office.
Not counting the currently empty vice president office of course.
That
used to belong to Mr. Fountain, a portly man who always had a new joke every
day. I actually liked him, he always treated the employees right. But he ended
up leaving for a better job in St. Louis. I couldn’t blame him. Everyone in the
office was stale, overly professional, and they were always fighting to get
their way to the top. I know because I used to be just like them. And just like
Mr. Fountain, I tossed around the idea of leaving also. But when the vice
president position came available I stayed.
“You
did such a remarkable job on the Carlson account, bravo Jennifer, bravo.” I
practically sneered when I heard Mr. Paul praise Jennifer for her ‘job well
done.’
It
made me sick to my stomach. I had been working at OP Advertising Firm twice as
long as Jennifer, but she came in fresh out of college and ‘worked’ her way up
the corporate ladder to be my number one contender for the vice president
position.
I
put ‘worked’ in quotations because that’s what she would tell everybody. That’s
probably what Mr. Paul would tell everybody as well. But I knew better, I
figured the rumors were true and she just fucked her way to the top.
I
headed back to my office with my copies in hand, trailing behind Jennifer and
Mr. Paul and listening to all the wonderful complements she was getting along
the way.
“Good
job Jennifer.” Jonathan said as she walked past him.
Jonathan
was a coworker of ours that my office friend Samantha pressured me to go on a
date with that Thursday. He was young, clean-cut, and handsome. The only
problem—he’s was also incredibly boring, dry, and barely had any character.
Still, I couldn’t figure out if he
actually
didn’t have a personality or if he was just trying to be the cookie-cutter
professional type and didn’t want to offend anybody.
Chirp
Chirp
.
That’s
the bird chime on my phone for text messages. I rolled my eyes before I even
looked at it, it had to be my mother. I grabbed my phone and looked. Sure
enough, it was one of my mother’s ‘daily motivational messages’. She can be
extremely overbearing sometimes; actually most of the time. I don’t remember
when it started, but she had gotten into the habit of sending me text messages
every day to ‘motivate me towards a better life’. Sometimes I wondered if a
better life would be to
not
have her
barking down my neck all the time.
I
clicked open the message as I walked into my office and closed the door behind
me.
-You have to fight through the bad days in
order to earn the best
days.-
What
the hell did that even mean if every day seemed to be a bad day. I would be
lying if I said I was happy. I had been working my ass off for the O.P.
Advertising Firm and for what? Happiness? If it was for happiness I hadn’t
found it yet. Maybe the vice president position would give me happiness, but
deep down inside I knew it wouldn’t.
So
much of my life up until then had been pleasing my mom. She was a single
mother, and a very successful doctor. She had paved her own way her entire life
and she expected her daughter to do the same. But sometimes I really questioned
if what I wanted was success in the classical sense of the word.
Maybe
instead I wanted to settle for the
less
than the
more
. So many things in life
seem to be like that don’t they? Everything is a give-and-take. If you work
more you have less free time, but maybe you make more money. And without money you
can’t do the fun things you wanted to do in the first place. So I’m just caught
up in some ridiculous rat race with an overbearing mother breathing down my
neck literally every day.
I
don’t even know why I still bothered reading her messages. Probably because
she’s my mom and that was what I was supposed to do.
The
truth was I was miserable. I wasn’t happy and the vice president position
wasn’t going to make me happy either. I couldn’t help but feel that my constant
strive for success was to please my mother and not please me.
I
stared at the background picture of my monitor. It was a picture of the giant
redwood trees in California. I had always wanted to see those but never found
the time to actually get away and travel. That was a huge dream of mine—to
travel outside the city, buy some beat up car, and go on a road trip across the
country and see all the sites. I had lived in New York city my whole life and
rarely got out in the countryside; let alone the Grand Canyon, the big redwood
trees, or Yellowstone.
The
job, the constant clawing to get to the top only to be stopped by Ms. Perfect,
the daily commute, the boring men in the corporate world…it was all beginning
to be too much for me.
I
wanted to be free of it all and go out to be wild and crazy for once. I
followed the rules my whole life, from high school all the way through college
and then into my professional life. I never got to do what I wanted to do. It
was all about making my mother happy and building a future life that I wasn’t
even sure I wanted.
I
wanted to do something crazy. Something unmistakably different than my life in
an office. Maybe I could go skydiving, or bungee jumping. Maybe I would
actually quit my job, buy that beat up old car, and travel the country. Maybe
I’d meet a stranger in a bar, go to his hotel room, and fuck him without even
knowing his name.
I
rolled my eyes at the thought of something so silly. I wasn’t
that
wild and crazy. Although, a part of
me really wanted to be.
There
was a knock at my door. It was Samantha, the closest person I could call a
friend in the office. She was the one that set me up on a date with Jonathan. I
say ‘set me up’ but it was more like constantly nagging me until I gave in only
to shut her up. She was a good person and usually wasn’t annoying. She just
wanted the best for me.
I
waved her in.
“Hey
Kayla, there’s a few files that need to be looked over on the Carlson account
that Jennifer just finished up on.”
I
rolled my eyes.
“Of course.”
I said as I reluctantly held out my hand.
Chirp
Chirp
.
“Damnit,
shit…” It was probably my mother again.
Samantha
looked at me with a shocked face and quickly looked out the door to see if
someone had heard what I said. Samantha was timid, shy, and always worried
about stepping on somebody’s toes. She was a sweet, professional girl that had
no desire to work herself up the corporate food chain. She was content on
staying a secretary. I envied that about her.
“No
one heard, let me see the files. I’ll get them done and have them on your desk
for Jennifer in an hour.”
Samantha
handed me the files and headed back towards the door. Before she closed it she
peeked back in.
“I
hope it’s nothing bad.” She gave a worried face with clenched teeth.
“What?”
“The
message?”
“Oh,
no. It’s just,” I gave a heavy sigh, “my mother.”
Samantha
gave a questioning look and an awkward nod before walking out and closing the
door behind her. I quickly glanced at the message to see what it was this time.
To
my surprise it wasn’t my mother, it was my best friend Vivian.
-Hey chick.
Wanna
go out
tonight?-
Vivian
was a bit of the wild child type. The complete and total opposite of Samantha.
And, for the most part, the total opposite of myself. I had been friends with Vivian
since junior high. She had taken a different path than me. While I suffered my
way through college she was in and out of hairdresser school in no time. She
didn’t make as much as me, but her job allowed her to have a lot of free time.
Vivian had always chosen fun over success. But never so much fun to neglect her
life, she had a great life that didn’t require her to work 24/7.
In
many ways my best friend was everything I wanted to be. Well, let me explain. I
didn’t want to actually
BE
her and I
didn’t necessarily want her job or anything. But she lived a life of fun and
excitement. She wasn’t afraid to go out and meet strangers at a bar and
occasionally have a one-night stand.
Every once in a while she would ask me if I
wanted to go out with her and I would. I would always have a blast, but in the
morning I couldn’t help but feel a little more depressed than I did before. It
was as if going out with her made me realize what I was missing. What if I
didn’t work towards the super professional career? What if I chose my time over
money? What if I did what I wanted and said to hell with everything else.
But
to be honest, at the time, everything seemed a little less clear. I wasn’t
totally sure if I wanted to be the wild child like Vivian. As much as my
professional career brought me unhappiness, it was familiar. And there’s a
certain sense of comfort in familiarity.
-I’m not sure. I’ve got some things I need
to wrap up if I want to get this
promotion.-
I
texted back with a reluctant sigh.
-Oh, come on. Live a little
girl.-
My
teeth sink into my lower lip as I contemplated what I should do. While I was
thinking of what I
should
do I
should’ve been thinking of what I
needed
to do.
The
background on my computer changed to the Grand Canyon. It was my favorite
background picture. My eyes traced over the golden sunset and the miles upon
miles of red rocks and deep valleys. My gaze fell back onto the Carlson files
that Samantha had laid on my desk. My thoughts were interrupted by laughter
just outside my office window.
I
glanced up to see Jennifer in her stunning red dress chatting up a group of
coworkers. They all stared at her like she was some kind of entertainer on
stage. Everywhere she went she was the center of attention.
“I
can’t stand that bitch.” I whispered to myself under my breath. I knew it
wasn’t a good attitude to have, but sometimes it feels good to vent.
I
looked back at the picture on my monitor. It practically called my name.
I knew I needed to stay late at the office to
get work done. What happened next was out of character for me.
-Okay, I’ll go-