I Won’t Be In On Monday (The Annoying Hot Bosses Club #3)

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

J uniper

My heart is racing in anticipation. I can see the stares of men as they walk by, and I feel like a mannequin on display in a high-end retail store.

"Hey there, sexy." An older blonde man with sky-blue eyes comes up to me. "What are you up to tonight?"

"I am actually waiting on my date. Thank you." I stare at him for a couple of seconds and then give him a small smile. He looks me up and down. I'm slightly regretting wearing the tight skirt and low-cut top now.

"You shouldn't ever be left waiting. If you were my woman, I'd never leave your side," he says, gazing at my boobs.

I offer him a weak smile and look away. I blink rapidly, as my eyes feel dry, but I'm pretty sure it's because I'm wearing my contacts and not my glasses.

I look at my reflection in the window, and once again, I'm blown away by how different I look. My hair is straight and sleek, shiny like a model in a TV commercial for shampoo. My blue eyes are vibrant, my mascara dark. My skin looks flawless, and well, my body looks banging, if I do say so myself. I've never worn tight-fitting clothes before, but I have to admit that they suit me, even if I do feel like my bust is going to pop out of my shirt.

I bite down on my lower lip. Maybe I’m not as excited about the makeover as I thought I was going to be. Skye and Lila were over the moon when they saw me, jumping up and down in glee, telling me that I looked like a trillion dollars. Everyone in the beauty salon clapped when I stood up and twirled around. I knew I looked different, but I didn't feel like me.

I look back at the man who's standing there and see that he has a business card in his hand, and I take it timidly. "Thanks," I say.

"You call me if you ever want to go on a real date," he says and winks at me.

I nod slowly. I want to drop the card on the ground, but I hate to be rude. I stand there for another couple of minutes, waiting, wondering if Marco has stood me up. Maybe he is more upset at the fact that I couldn't make it on Friday than I thought. Maybe somehow he knows that I have a crush on my boss and gave him a blowjob just a couple of days ago. It makes me feel slightly guilty, knowing that I was going on a date with Marco while being interested in someone else, but I feel like I’m not really doing anything bad because it isn't like I actually have anything with Marco or Remington.

"Juniper." I hear a voice behind me, and I twirl around. Marco's standing there with a single rose in his hand. He looks me up and down, and his eyes widen. "Whoa. I thought that might be you, but I didn't think it was." He looks me up and down again, and I can see that he’s admiring what he’s looking at. “What happened to you? Damn girl, you went from a 5 to a 10+.” I stare at him for a couple of seconds, hoping that he's joking, but I don't think he is. He hands me the rose. "This is for you, but shit, if I knew that you were this hot, I would've gotten you a whole bouquet." He chuckles and grabs my hand. "You want to go in and get a drink and some appetizers?"

I nod. "Sure." We walk into the restaurant, and I can see that he keeps glancing at my boobs, which reminds me to never wear this top again.

"Hi, we're here to get some drinks and appetizers."

"Do you have a reservation?" the ma?tre d’ asks.

He looks over at me and shrugs. "Nah, but can we still get a table?"

I stare at him in confusion. "I thought you said you got a reservation."

"Oh, I just said that. I wanted you to think that I was going to take you somewhere special, and then when I didn't have a reservation, I figured we'd go to my place or something. But now that I know that your wifey material, I will step it up."

I stare at him for a couple of seconds. "What are you talking about? I'm confused."

"I mean, when I met you the other night, you looked kind of cute, but nerdy cute, you know. Someone who might be down to fuck, but now that I see that you're actually a 10…" He gives a low whistle. "Well, I feel like you deserve a drink in a place like this."

"But the me you met in the bar didn't?"

"Don't get me wrong, girl. You were cute. That's why I asked you out. But you were not looking banging like this."

I stare at him for a couple of seconds and realize that I don't find any of his words a compliment.

The ma?tre d’ looks at me and then looks at him. "We do have an open table, but you may have to wait about fifteen minutes. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Marco says and pulls me to the side. "So, Juniper, what was up with the outfit the other night? Were you trying to dress down to see if men would find you attractive while looking dumpy?”

“Sorry. You think I’m dumpy?”

“No, I don’t think you’re dumpy at all. You’re looking hot as hell, girl. I’m just saying the other night when I met you at the bar, you were funny and kind of cute, and I was feeling horny. So I was like, you know what? She seems like she would be down to have some fun." He grins. "And now I'm like shit, maybe we can have a bit more than fun."

"A bit more than fun?" I raise a single eyebrow at him. I want to scream. I don't know how he knew, but Remington was right. Marco is a douchebag, an absolute douchebag.

"So, let's just forget that and start over again," he says. "I'm Marco. I'm a waiter, and perhaps soon to be your next lover."

"Yeah, about that. Would you excuse me? I'm just going to go to the restroom," I say, and I don't wait for his response before I hurry away. "Where's the restroom, please?" I ask a cute waitress, and she points me to the other side of the restaurant. I hurry inside into a stall, close it, and sit on the toilet, taking a couple of deep breaths. I know I should feel like a million dollars. I should be happy that men are finally noticing me and using words like beautiful about me, but I'm starting to realize that sometimes the grass isn't always greener. I actually prefer being invisible. I’d rather have conversations with men who value my mind and aren't just trying to get into my pants because they think I’m hot. I realize that I don't mind not being hot. Not the way I thought I did.

My phone beeps, and I pull it out of my handbag, hoping it's not Marco wondering where I am. I'm surprised to see it's from Remington. I read it quickly.

I hope your date is everything you dreamed it would be, it says, and I scowl at the text.

It is , I respond quickly.

He responds right away. Yeah, right.

What does that mean?

You're texting me back right now. He has a smiley face next to his text.

So?

So if you were having a great date, you wouldn't be texting me right now.

I stick my tongue out at the phone and don't respond. He's right, of course, but I don't want him to know that. I stand up and open the stall door and walk outside. There's no way I want to continue the date with Marco. I just want to go home, watch TV, eat ice cream, and possibly cry and dream about Remington and all the ways that he made me orgasm nights before. My phone beeps again. It's Remington.

Hey, I didn't mean to upset you.

You didn't, I respond quickly.

So how's the date going, then?

I bite down on my lower lip. I don't want to tell him that it's shit, but I also don't want to lie.

My phone rings a second later, and I decide to answer it. "Yes. What do you want?"

"So it's really not going well, is it?" he says.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you were texting me and now you answered the phone." He chuckles.

"Marco's a dickhead."

"I told you he was."

"You didn't know he was a dickhead."

"I guessed he was. I have a sixth sense about these things."

"Yeah. Well, I am trying to figure out how I'm going to get out of the restaurant without him seeing."

"You're still on the date?"

"I am still on the date," I say. "And I don't want to be."

"Wow, it's that bad? What happened? He chewed up his steak and spat it on the plate?"

"We haven't even sat down yet. He didn't have a reservation."

"You mean he forgot to make one?"

"No, he wasn't going to make a reservation. He said it was just like a trick to make me think that he was going to take me to a nice dinner, when instead, he was going to ask me to go to his place so we could bang.”

There’s silence on the other side of the phone. “So, he's a bigger douche than I thought he was." Remington sounds pissed. "Are you okay?"

"Not really. I feel really..."

"Where are you?" he interrupts me.

"What do you mean, where am I?"

"Where are you? I'm coming to rescue you."

"I don't need you to rescue me, Remington. I'm fine."

"Juniper Hardman, tell me you are where you are right now. You don't want to be on that date, right?"

"No."

"And you don't just want to tell him to his face, right?"

"I mean, I guess I could, but..."

"Where are you?"

"Fine. I am at Heaven and Earth Fine Dining Restaurant on 34th Street."

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Just go to the front, and I'll be there."

"What if the ma?tre d’ seats us before then?"

"Then sit. Don't worry. You won't be there long."

"Remington, what..."

"Just be patient, my darling. I'll be there soon."

"Fine," I say and hang up. There's a smile on my face. Not because I'm happy that he's coming, but because I just like to hear his voice, and a part of me likes the fact that he liked me before I got the makeover. I mean, he didn't fall in love with me. He didn't want me to be his girlfriend or anything, but he saw me as a woman. He engaged with me as someone that he was attracted to, and that was before my transformation. I stare into the mirror at my reflection and wonder what he's going to think. I wonder if he's going to be shocked by what I look like now. If his eyes are going to pop out of his head. I wonder if I’m going to see something change in him. It makes me nervous. I don’t want him to treat me differently because now I look beautiful. I don’t want him to finally see more in me just because I have on a tight, low-cut top.

I let out a sigh. Maybe it's inevitable, though. Maybe men are only drawn to physical beauty. Maybe Remington's going to be the same. I head out of the bathroom and back to the front. "I thought you fell in," Marco says, and I just offer him a weak smile. "Damn, girl, I can’t wait to get that top off of you. I didn’t know your boobs were so big, but I guess you were hiding them with that baggy shirt you were wearing the other night.”

“I guess so,” I say, blinking at him. "So, you really just asked me out because you thought I would be an easy lay because you thought I wasn't that attractive? Is that how that went?"

"No." He looks nervous for a second as if he realizes he said too much to me. "I was just saying that, you know, I didn't realize that you were a 10. You got to admit, you did not look like this the night we met."

"But you were so nice to me. I thought you liked me."

"I mean, I'm not going to be a dickhead, right? I do want to get my dick wet." He starts laughing and puts his hand up. "High-five."

"That wasn't funny," I say.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, Juniper. I hope you're not offended by the fact that I am very appreciative that you are sexy as hell. Shit, I only bought one box of condoms. Maybe I should have bought two because girl, I could fuck you all night long."

"I don't really think that's appropriate. You don't even know me, and..."

"Mommy." I hear Canyon's voice and turn around to the front of the restaurant. She comes running through the doors and grabs on to me. "Mommy, there you are." I stare down at her and blink.

"Canyon?"

"Hi, Mommy. What are you doing here? Daddy said that we were going to get ice cream."

"What?" I stare at her, and that's when I see Remington walking in, a huge smile on his face. His eyes almost pop out of his head as he stares at me, and I can tell he's shocked by my new appearance. Even though he doesn't say anything, he leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Darling, here you are. I was wondering where you went."

I lick my lips nervously. "Um, what?"

"I just want to apologize for the argument we had the other day." He looks over at Marco. "Don't tell me. You're the young man she agreed to go to dinner with just so she could make me jealous." I bite down on my lip. I cannot believe Remington is pretending he's my husband, and he got Canyon to pretend she's my daughter.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Marco says. "I'm not into any freaky shit."

I cover Canyon's ears and glare at Marco. "I'm going to leave. I think you totally got the wrong impression of what this night was going to be."

"What are you talking about? I was just about to spend twenty bucks on you, dude.”

I stare at him for a couple of seconds and then look up at Remington. Remington grabs my hand. “Come on, darling.”

“Okay,” I say. I look back at Marco, and he's frowning. "Bye. I hope you have a good evening," I lie. He glares at me as we head out of the restaurant. I'm holding Remington's hand on one side and Canyon's hand on the other. "Oh, my gosh. What did you guys do?"

"Daddy said you were on a bad date, and we needed to rescue you like we were Batman and Robin. I said I wanted to be Batman, so he's Robin." She grins up at me. “Was that your date?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, it was.”

“He didn’t seem very nice.”

“He wasn’t very nice.”

“I’m glad we were able to save you, then. Daddy, can we get ice cream?"

"I think we can. Would you like to join us?" He looks at me, and I nod slowly before grabbing my hand away from him. I see his eyes narrow as he looks me up and down. "What did you do to yourself?" he asked in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you don't have on your glasses, and I've never seen you dress like this before. And do you have on makeup?" He stares into my eyes, at my lips, and then down to my boobs where I've got a glittery oil plastered all over my skin. "You really got dolled up for this date, huh?"

"No. I mean, kind of. Skye and Lila gave me a makeover yesterday and..."

"They gave you a makeover just for this date?" He frowns. "It was that important to you?"

"No. It's not like that. It's..." I sigh. "It doesn't matter. I just wanted to look and feel different. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Not at all," he says seriously. "You look gorgeous, but then you always look beautiful. Tonight, you just look a little bit more dolled up, I guess. I’m not used to seeing you like that.”

“I know. Me either.” I look over at Canyon. “So, Canyon, what are you guys doing tonight?"

"Daddy said we can watch a movie. You want to come over and watch a movie? Can she, Daddy?"

He looks at me. "I'd love it if you would come over and watch a movie. I mean, unless you have other plans."

I stare at him for a couple of seconds. "Well, my plans just blew up in my face, so no, I don't, really. What movie are you guys watching?"

"Daddy said I can pick," Canyon said. "But maybe we can pick together." She squeezes my hand. "That would be fun. And maybe you can sleep over, and then tomorrow we can have breakfast and..."

"Oh, I don't think I can sleep over," I say quickly.

Remington starts laughing. "Don't mind me if you want to sleep over. I have plenty of clothes that you can borrow, and I have a big bed," he says innocently. "You can share it with me if you want."

I lick my lips nervously. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm fine."

"If you're sure," he says, winking. "There are certain privileges that come with sleeping over."

"Oh, yeah. Like what?"

"Like pizza parties," Canyon says, jumping up and down. "Can we order a pizza, Daddy?"

"I think we can. Hey, Canyon. What if we just go home, choose a movie, and order a pizza, and then we get ice cream next time?”

“Okay,” Canyon says. “But can we get cinnamon sticks with the pizza?”

“Sure,” he says.

“Yay.” She starts skipping. “’I love you. You love me,’" she starts singing. "‘We're a happy family.’" She skips ahead of us, and I wait for Remington to say something else.

"I'm sorry your date didn't go well," he says in a low voice, and I look over at him in surprise.

"I thought you were going to tell me I told you so or something. What happened to your date?" I ask him pointedly.

"There was no date," he shrugs. "Obviously."

"So then, why did you..."

"Because I was hoping you would tell me that you were going to cancel your date and beg me to cancel my date and then we would hang out."

I stare blankly at Remington in confusion. "You what? Why would I do that?"

"Because I was hoping that you liked me." He shrugs. "I was hoping that you would be as jealous of my date as I was of yours."

I stopped suddenly. "Wait, what? You wanted me to be jealous?" I don't want to admit that I actually was jealous, but I'm totally blown away by his admission.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't." He shrugs. “I just know I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, and well, I may have even had a dream about you. I've even been thinking about your story and how I want to hear more about it, and..." He shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe I just want to spend more time with you."

"But why?" I say. "You don't like spending time with women, other than at restaurants, and..."

"Maybe that's because I hadn't met the right woman yet," he says. "Oh, my gosh. Did I just say that? That sounds so cheesy, doesn't it?"

"Maybe." I grin. "So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I think I would like you to spend the night, Juniper.”

“You what?”

“I am saying that this is more than just a friendship, and you are more than just my assistant. You look absolutely stunning tonight. And once Canyon goes to bed, I would like to dance with you."

"You what? Dance with me like at a club?"

"No, I'd just like to hold you in my arms and move you across the room. Is there anything more romantic than that?"

"You want to be romantic with me? But..."

"I like you, Juniper, like more than just friends, more than just a teasing kiss or a delightful night of oral sex. I want this to be more.” His words sound stilted, and my jaw drops. "You're really making this hard on me."

"Really?" I grin at him. "How hard?"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Maybe," I say with a small wink. "Remember what I said? I can be just as dirty as you."

"So, then, you're going to stay the night?"

"I think so, but only on one condition."

"What condition is that? " he asks.

"That you have a condom." He gasps, his eyes wide.

"What? No, I..."

"Remington. I'm ready."

He gawks at me and licks his lips. "Are you sure?"

"I'm more sure of this than anything I’ve ever been sure of in my life." I lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Tonight's the night. I want it to be with you."

"I'd like that," he says. "And trust me when I say you won't regret it."

"I have a feeling I won't," I say. "But you just need to remind me of two things."

"What's that?" he says.

"You just need to remind me that you like me as more than an assistant, and you're not just doing this to get me into your good graces to be a babysitter for Canyon."

He starts laughing then. "I can promise you both." He grabs my hand and squeezes. “I will be loving you just because you’re you.”