Boss I Love To Hate Read online

  My jaw clenched. I reached for Sonia’s hand and brought it to my lips, meeting his eyes in the process.

  Yeah, asshole. I’m watching you. You had your chance, and you blew it.

  I leaned in to pull her in, paying extra-special attention to her, treating her like the queen she was in front of him.

  The waitress dropped the check in the middle of the table, and immediately, I threw my black Amex with the unlimited line on top. The sooner I was out of this hellhole, the less likely I would ram my fist into Jeff’s face.

  “Thank you,” Jean said.

  Jeff grabbed the check underneath my card. “No, I have it.”

  I gritted my teeth. Really? He is going to play this game right here? “Maybe you should save your money since your girlfriend likes to go shopping.” I plucked the check from his hand, and as the waitress passed us, I put it in her hands. “Here you go.”

  Jean’s and Sonia’s eyes ping-ponged between us. The tension between us was noticeably high. Jeff glared at me. Me? I threw him one condescending smile.

  I could take this guy. Outside. One punch, and I’d have him out. I needed to leave or else I’d do something I’d regret, and I knew that wouldn’t work in my favor with winning Sonia over.

  “It’s been a pleasure,” I lied. Then, I reached for Sonia’s jacket slung behind her seat. “Let’s go, Shorts.”

  An awkward smile surfaced. “Okay, let me go to the restroom really quick.”

  Jeff stood. “Actually, I have to go, too.”

  Count backward. That was what I’d tell Mary to calm down during her tantrums.

  I tipped my chin, afraid I would say some asshole comment, and sat back in my seat, stewing as they both walked toward the back of the restaurant. And then I was left with Barbie Jean.

  Chapter 20

  Sonia

  “This was fun,” I deadpanned.

  Jeff let out a tired laugh, one I knew so well. “Was it? ’Cause I thought that was torture.”

  We walked into the narrow hall toward the restrooms.

  “Maybe you should have told your girlfriend not to push it. She texted and left a voice mail. Do you think I wanted to be here?” I returned his honesty with equal sarcasm.

  “She’s an idiot,” he said, letting out a breath.

  I wanted to ask him why he was with her then, but he beat me to the question. He reached for my arm and pulled me to the side to let people pass us. The hallway that led to the restrooms was dark and secluded, and the light flickered overhead.

  “What are you doing with him, Sonia?”

  I reeled back, shocked at his directness. “What kind of question is that? I could ask you the same thing.” I shook my head. “Never mind. It’s none of my business anymore, and it sure as hell is no longer yours.”

  Jeff stepped into me, toe-to-toe. His tone was sharp, pissed almost. “He’s not your type. He seems like an asshole. You hated him when we were together, and now, you’re a couple?” he spat. “How does that make any sense?”

  Deep-seated courage seeped into my veins, and I lifted my chin. “I never saw this side of Brad before because I only knew him at work. Since then, I’ve met his nieces, and he’s met my family. He’s only an asshole to people on the outside.” I gritted my teeth, not realizing I was justifying my relationship to someone who didn’t deserve it. “And he’s not an asshole,” I snapped, my back straightening.

  Even though Brad was an asshole, no one could call him one. Except me because he was my asshole.

  My asshole. The moment the thought pushed through, I blinked.

  When Jeff’s hand fell to my waist, I pushed his hand off.

  “You’re the one who left me, remember? Jean? Funny how she worked with you and then quit close to the time you dumped me.”

  “We weren’t together then.” He ran one aggravated hand through his hair. “I made a mistake, okay? It’s all wrong with her. It was only ever right with you.”

  He erased the space between us, resting one arm over my head, and I flushed myself against the wall, hating his closeness.

  “I’ve missed you. Being with her has only made me realize how much. Every time she laughs, I think about your contagious, never-ending laugh. I messed up, and now, I want to make it right.” There was a softness in his tone and sincerity in his eyes that I recognized from the old Jeff I used to know.

  But this—him being so close—unnerved me.

  I stared up at him, dumfounded.

  Wasn’t this what I’d been waiting for? I’d been dreaming of this day, wishing for Karma, and now that it was here, it felt all wrong. Because why the hell did it have to take him to be with someone else to realize that it had been me all along? I had never doubted us. When I’d been with him, I’d never wanted to be with someone else.

  “I’ve missed you so much.”

  He cupped the side of my face, and I flinched.

  And, for the second time tonight, he shocked me as he bent down and met my lips with his.

  * * *

  Brad

  I’d had to go to the restroom, but any urge besides the urge to get far away from here disappeared.

  I stood there, in the hallway, so very still, and it took all my effort not to storm down the dark hall, punch Jeff in the face, and throw Sonia over my shoulder. I tore away my gaze and about-faced. I felt like I’d been sucker-punched in the gut. If I’d wanted to know my answer, I’d just seen it with my own two eyes.

  I marched back to the table where I’d left Jean. My shoulders slumped, and my mind was reeling. Why him? What the hell could he give her that I couldn’t?

  “That was the fastest restroom break ever,” Jean mused as I approached.

  I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to leave, go to the bar, get a drink, anything but stay here, but I couldn’t exactly leave Sonia here. Is she going to go home with him? Were they going to ask me to drive Jean home?

  The thought enraged me. If it came to that, I’d refuse. Shit, I’d go postal.

  I dropped to the bland red booth and closed my eyes, rubbing at my temple.

  “Is everything okay?” Jean’s high-pitched tone grated on my nerves.

  “Yeah, fine,” I growled. Pretend time was over and done.

  She was up, rubbing my back in the next second. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” I snapped. I raised my head and held a hand up. “Don’t. Touch. Me. All right? I said I’m fine.”

  I was far from fine.

  Whatever I had done, how hard I had tried, was all for nothing. How could I claim a girl who belonged to someone else?

  Shit, because I wanted to claim her, make her mine, follow her like a lovesick puppy, knowing it would be me looking like a pussy. But who cared? I wouldn’t even be able to do that now.

  An overwhelming loss draped over me. The old Brad, before falling for Sonia, would have left her to fend for herself, to find her own ride.

  This pathetic Brad sat there, waiting and wishing this was over. Hopeless. That was the only word that I could think of.

  * * *

  Sonia

  With force, I pushed Jeff off of me and immediately swiped at my lips with my sleeve. “What the hell, Jeff?” I spat out.

  To think his kisses once were how I’d wanted to start and end my day. Now, it felt as though acid had burned my lips.

  When he took a step forward, I ducked under his arm to move away.

  “Sonia, tell me you don’t feel the same.” His face turned incredulous. “Tell me you didn’t feel that kiss.”

  He was on drugs. He had to be.

  I scoffed. When did I give him any indication that it was okay to even do that?

  “I don’t, and I didn’t.” My response was quick, automatic, honest.

  And the truth would set me free. That kiss was like kissing a piece of furniture, no feelings attached. What I had felt was an overwhelming sorrow of what could’ve been.

  “I don’t believe you.” His voice was emotionally choked, h
is eyes feverish. Then, he kissed me again, his body flush against me, his arms gripping me with more force.

  “Get off of me!” I shoved him off and was about to knee him in the balls, but he backed away with his hands up.

  I couldn’t believe it was this easy, but that one kiss had told it all. I was over him. Truly and utterly over him.

  Who is this guy? Where was the Jeff I had known? Or maybe I hadn’t known him at all.

  I flung a finger in the direction of the dining room. “Your girlfriend is out there. I’m not doing this.”

  When I turned to leave, he gripped my hand, and I jerked it back.

  “And, even if she wasn’t out there, I’m still not doing this.” I motioned between both of us.

  “I still love you, Sonia.”

  I inhaled deeply and squared my shoulders. “I’m no longer in love with you, sorry.” But I wasn’t sorry that I didn’t feel the same way anymore. I was sorry that he’d lost a damn good girl because he’d wanted to see if there was someone better out there for him. It was a choice he’d made, a risk he’d taken, but now, it had backfired.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t hear a word as I stormed back to our table. Brad was slouched over his chair, sitting with his elbows on his thighs, head down, staring at the floor.

  When I approached, he looked up. He looked … defeated. I’d analyze that later. Right now, I needed out of here, far from Jeff and Jean and a past I never wanted to revisit.

  “Let’s go. I want to get out of here. Where’s Jean?”

  Because she wasn’t at the table anymore.

  “No idea.”

  “I don’t care. I just want to leave.”

  “Sure.” His voice was soft and resigned when he stood to face me. “You don’t have to do this, you know? Pretend and spare my feelings. I’m a big boy.”

  I reeled back. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  His eyes focused behind me, and he tipped his chin toward the restroom. “I was back there. I saw—”

  “Him kissing me against my will,” I cut him off, pissed off and annoyed. Now wasn’t the time for me to console the wounded soldier. Later maybe, but not now. “And then trying it again.”

  “What?” Brad growled, his demeanor changing like a light switch. “You didn’t let him kiss you?”

  I rapidly blinked, wanting to pull my hair out. Am I on an episode of The Twilight Zone?

  “Um, no. He’s in a relationship, and even if he weren’t, I still wouldn’t let that asshole touch me.” I shook my head. “Let’s just get out of here. I need to leave before I go crazy and tell Jean she can do better than his cheating, lying ass.”

  When Brad moved past me, his focus toward the restrooms, I gripped his wrist. “He’s not worth it. Let’s go.”

  “I’m not letting this go.” Brad’s body was tight as a rope, his eyes promising revenge. “I just need to set him straight.”

  “Brad …” Seriously, what was a black-and-blue Jeff going to help my situation? As far as I was concerned, this was part of my history that was officially closed.

  “I swear, I’ll only have words.”

  I gulped, though the evil part of me wanted Jeff to be put in his place. I had earlier, but I doubted he’d heard me with his focus on attacking my lips. Maybe repetition was the key. So, against my better judgment, I let Brad go. It was like releasing a bull into the ring.

  * * *

  Brad

  I stalked down the hall, straight into the restroom, and right by Jeff’s urinal.

  “What the hell, man?” He pushed his pathetic dick back in his pants and zippered himself up.

  I took a step forward, my hands fisting. Maybe there would be more than words.

  “Do you mind?” he snapped.

  “Yes, I do fucking mind.” My tone was cool but barely controlled. “I mind you kissing my girlfriend.” Because, in every meaning of the word, she belonged to me even though we hadn’t formally talked about it and we hadn’t had sex. Sonia was mine the moment I’d agreed to her deal. “And I just want to make it perfectly clear that you’re not going to touch her ever again.”

  “Whatever.” He walked to the sink and rinsed off his hands. “She has her own mind to make her own decisions.”

  I chuckled. Well, well, well. And, now, this tall guy has grown a spine.

  Grinning somewhat psycho-ish, I pushed him against the wall, and his eyes went wide. “I think she’s made her decision, and it’s not you,” I ground out.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d punched a guy. Those days of drunken brawls had ended in college, but I’d never wanted to bust a perfect face more than I did right now.

  I stepped into him, nose-to-nose, so he’d understand my next words. His body turned rigid.

  “You fucked up.” I shoved him against the wall. “And, for that, I want to thank you because I know what not to do.” I stepped away because he wasn’t worth it, and I didn’t trust myself. I had a girl waiting for me outside this door, ready to go home, and right now, that took precedence.

  When I walked out, I reached for Sonia’s hand and pulled her out of the pizza joint.

  “What happened?”

  I nearly dragged her down the street toward my car, silent the whole way.

  “Brad! I’m talking to you.”

  When we reached the car, I pushed her against the door and kissed her. Hard.

  Shit, I couldn’t help it. Adrenaline pumped through my veins—from the high of her not wanting him anymore to the almost fight. I kissed her as I had the last time—with a passion of promises and the future I would give her. And the only difference was, this time, she kissed me back without restraint, an equal player. Her hands gripped the back of my shirt, and she tilted her head to give me better access. Shit, I took it, all she was willing to give me, because I’d waited for this. Waited for her to kiss me back. Not in pretend kisses or drunken kisses, but in a real kiss. This kiss.

  Her small moans were a direct hit to my cock. She smelled of everything sweet and innocent in the world, and I wanted her in my bed. More than that, I wanted her in my life. The kiss accelerated from zero to one hundred, hot and heavy and hands everywhere, cupping her face, down her arms, gripping her waist. I pushed into her, and she met me head-on, holding the back of my head.

  I kissed her as though I wanted to devour her, have her right here, right now, with no cares in the world.

  People yelled around us to get a room, but I ignored them, flicking my tongue against the seam of her lips. Our tongues tangled, and when her hands went under my shirt, I rocked into her.

  It took all my strength to slow down. If I didn’t, I would have her on the hood of my car, and she deserved better.

  I pulled back and rested my forehead on hers, panting, breathing hard. We both were. I wanted to ask her if I could come over. Judging by her body language, I was ninety-nine percent sure she’d say yes, but I needed to take this slow.

  “Go on a date with me. Tomorrow. A real date, you and me and no one else.” I had to do things differently with Sonia.

  She peered up at me with the sweetest smile on her face and a lustful glow in her eyes. “Okay.”

  “Okay.” The adrenaline from earlier rejuvenated me. Shit, this was better than winning the deal.

  I bent down to kiss her once more.

  * * *

  Brad

  On the drive home, I took the longer way to drop her off. I wanted to savor every minute together, which was so unlike me. I slowed to catch every stoplight, let every pedestrian pass. I drove like a grandfather, days from giving up his license.

  Sonia stared out the window, pinching her bottom lip. I wanted to continue to bite that sexy lip and vowed to do just that tomorrow after our date.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked when we were stopped at a light.

  “Yeah, I saw his dick, and now, I know why you don’t want him back.” I smirked.

  She slapped my shoul
der, laughing. “I’m being serious.”

  “So am I.”

  “Come on, Brad.”

  I reached for her hand and rested it on the middle console when we parked in front of her apartment.

  It was no wonder he was still pining for her. Jean was nothing compared to Sonia. Where Jean’s looks were up-front and in-your-face sultry, Sonia’s appeal was subtle, and the longer you stared, the more beautiful she became. To think, all this time had passed with all my wasted efforts and nights with other women when the right woman was in front of me all along.

  “I just told him he’d messed up, and he now had to deal with the consequences of never getting you back.”

  Because you’re mine now.

  “He’s an idiot.” She squeezed my hand harder and scrunched her eyebrows together. Murder was heavy in her eyes. “To do that. Kiss me. What if Jean had walked in on us?”

  Shit, my hand hurt from the pressure.

  “He doesn’t want her anymore, so he doesn’t care.”

  Maybe he wanted to get caught.

  “It makes me wonder …” Her voice trailed off, and then her tone lowered. “If he could do that to her, he surely could do that to me.” Then, after a beat, her voice found its strength again. “What an asshole! A total living, breathing asshole.”

  “I can’t deny that.” I readjusted our intertwined fingers and brought her hand to my lips. “An asshole with a small dick.”

  That made her laugh. “Did you really say those things to him about me? Because … that was sweet.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” I angled my head closer, laying on the charm, pushing out my lip. “Does that mean I get another kiss for being so sweet?” Shit, it was officially over. I’d officially turned into Mason.

  “Is that how you think relationships go? Tit for tat? You do this, and then I give you that? Because that’s not how it works.”

  I didn’t miss what she was saying. “So, we’re in a relationship now, are we?” I didn’t think I could smile any bigger.