Chapter One

Amber

There seemed to be a lot of hushed voices and rumors today, more than usual. I was normally in the know on most things, but today felt off. I didn’t worry about it too much. I’d find out eventually. I had my own sources. Well, source really. It was a direct source, straight from the mouth of the head of the company. Our pillow talk usually hovered around the business.

I clicked the save button on the PowerPoint document I had prepared for my boss, William Martin, who also happened to be my lover. Not just my lover. I loved William. We came from very different worlds, but I knew he cared for me. Our romance had to be kept on the down-low. He was afraid his family wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t believe he was a thirty-one-year-old man who still had to ask his mommy and daddy for permission to date a woman.

I heard him before I saw him. My man was on his way into his massive, luxurious corner office. Only the biggest and best for the man who would be inheriting the multi-billion-dollar Martin Incorporated very soon. I quickly smoothed down my skirt, adjusted my blouse to make sure my cleavage was showing, and posed. With one hip propped against my desk and my hand on my hip, I put on my best “fuck me” smile and waited for him to come around the corner.

I wasn’t into him for the money. Of course, the money was a perk, but I had first fallen for him months ago. He was kind, gentle, and fantastic in bed. He was so attentive and always made me feel like his queen. I was ready to tell him how I felt about him.

He smiled when he saw me. “Hello,” he said with a smile. “You look happy.”

“I’m always happy to see you,” I said. “Who wouldn’t be?” I teased.

We had joked around for a while before anything between us had started, so our open flirting was expected. The other women around the office flirted with him as well. William was very charming and could flirt with ease without making it feel creepy. Most of the women I worked with were happily married. William had a way of making anyone he spoke with feel like the most important person on the planet. I was sure that was the secret to his success. Company heads were easily persuaded to sell him their failing companies because he exuded passion and concern for their businesses.

“Do you have those notes I need?” he asked, cool as a cucumber, snapping me out of my daydream.

I smiled even bigger. “I do. I even put together the presentation for you. I can show you.”

He smiled in return, and I was once again amazed by how gorgeous he was. Being tall, dark, and handsome wasn’t enough. He was also ridiculously wealthy. I loved how down-to-earth he was. He didn’t act like an arrogant rich guy. He was sweet and generous. Last month, he had snuck me into a five-star hotel where we’d holed up for days. He had ordered the best champagne and strawberries and spoiled me rotten. It was a lifestyle I wasn’t familiar with, but I could certainly get used to it. I liked being his queen.

“Well, why don’t you go ahead and bring that in so we can go over the talking points?” he said with that familiar sexy smile.

“Of course, Mr. Martin. I’ll be right in,” I said, bending over to grab the flash drive the presentation was saved on.

Bending over wasn’t entirely necessary, but I liked to remind him how sexy I was. He had told me on more than one occasion how much he loved my curvy ass. The skirt I was wearing was tight enough to accentuate each of those curves.

“I’ll be waiting,” he said in a gruff voice and walked into his office.

I casually bumped my tits up, making sure no one was looking before I sashayed into his office. I closed the door behind me. I could do that. I was the man’s assistant and privileged to conversations the rest of the office wasn’t. We often had closed-door discussions that occasionally evolved into a steamy kiss or foreplay.

I walked in and sauntered toward him. He grinned as his eyes moved up and down my body.

“I like that shirt,” he said, his gaze focused on the cleavage I had fluffed up.

I smiled. “Do you? Maybe you’ll like what’s under the shirt even better.”

I walked toward him, hoping to get a quick feel before anyone realized we were locked behind his office door.

The door to his office swung open, stopping me in my tracks. I quickly transformed into the professional assistant I was and pretended to be handing him the flash drive.

“James!” William greeted his friend.

I turned to see the stuck-up ass who was one of William’s closest pals come strolling into the office. James and I didn’t get along. James was a friend of the Martin family, which was the only reason he had a job. He was convinced he was the greatest gift God could ever give women and walked around like he owned the place. I couldn’t stand him. I was sure the feeling was mutual. He had tried many times to get in my pants—or up my skirt more specifically—but I never gave in. I had eyes for William alone.

William’s entire personality changed in a heartbeat. Instead of being flirty, he turned cold. It was normal. He had told me we couldn’t let anyone know what was going on between us until he could explain it to his parents.

“So, how are you going to do it?” James asked William.

I pretended to be busy plugging the driver into William’s computer and loading the presentation, all while intently listening to the two men talking.

William shrugged. “I’m not sure yet.”

I looked up at him and could see he was uncomfortable.

James turned to look at me, grinning like an idiot. “Our boss man here has a big date tonight.”

“Oh?” I said, pretending nonchalance.

“Yep. He has a very important date with Tiffany Warner,” James gushed.

I smiled and nodded. “Exciting.”

“Oh, it is very exciting. William here is about to become a married man.”

Everything slowed. I couldn’t see clearly. My vision blurred, and my stomach felt like a lead ball had just been deposited in it.

“Married?” I squeaked out.

“William is popping the question tonight. What do women like? Should he put the ring in her glass of champagne or pull it out of his pocket and get on one knee?” James asked.

I stared at him, blinking. I couldn’t talk. I had to be in a nightmare. William wasn’t proposing marriage to another woman. That couldn’t be happening. I was going to wake up any second and this would all be one horrible dream.

William looked at me, waiting for me to answer. I stared back at him, thinking of our time together a few short weeks ago. He had been so attentive, so kind. I had thought we had something real. I couldn’t believe he had a woman on the side the entire time.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

James shrugged. “I don’t think she’ll care how you do it. It isn’t like she’s going to say no. This thing has been brewing for years. It’s best to get it over with. You two have been circling each other for too long. Just get it done with already.”

William chuckled. “That’s one way to look at it.” He turned to me. “Do you have that presentation loaded?”

I couldn’t think straight. “Uh, what?”

He gestured toward the computer. “You were going to load the presentation so I could add notes.”

“Oh, yeah. Uh, just a second.” I managed to tug my thoughts together long enough to pull up the file.

James stood behind the desk chair, leaning over my shoulder and making me very uncomfortable. “Well?”

“Well what?” I snapped.

“What do you think about your boss tying the knot?”

“It’s nice. I’m happy for him,” I croaked out.

James chuckled. “The city is losing another of the most eligible and very rich bachelors. I imagine once you make the announcement, there are going to be a lot of unhappy women in Dallas. Maybe they’ll start looking at some of the runners-up, like me,” he said with a wink.

William laughed. “They’ve already looked and tossed you back.”

“Now that their options are limited, I might not look so bad,” he joked.

I couldn’t take their banter about women any longer. I stood up and took a deep breath.

“It’s on the screen. You can edit it as needed,” I said before spinning on my heels and quickly leaving the room.

I walked straight to the restroom, not stopping to smile or chat with anyone. I was barely holding it together. The second I was through the bathroom door, I locked myself in a stall and cried like a baby. I couldn’t believe the man had been stringing me along. How dare he? He was an asshole, just like most of the other men I had dated. I had thought William was different. He certainly pretended to be. I had been blinded by the wealth.

I pulled myself together and turned on the cold water, splashing it over my face. I wasn’t worried about the minimal makeup I had on. The tears had taken care of that already. I had piled my long hair on my head in a carefully crafted messy bun. It had looked stylish and cute when I’d come into work this morning; now it looked like a legit messy bun.

I let my hair down, using my fingers to fluff it. I rarely wore my hair down at work, but my head hurt, and I didn’t want to deal with the strain of my hair being pulled up.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I wasn’t exactly dog meat. Of course, I was no Tiffany Warner. Tiffany looked like a runway model, all tall and thin and graceful. I was much shorter, curvier, and not quite as graceful. Tiffany had short, chic blond hair that was always perfect. My long brown hair was sexy in the bedroom but could be wild at times.

“Pull it together, girl,” I whispered. I couldn’t walk out there looking as if my dog had been hit by a truck. I couldn’t let anyone know I was feeling horrible because the man I had been sleeping with was tossing me to the side and marrying another woman.

But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fake my way through an entire day, and I didn’t want to see William. I couldn’t look at the man without feeling as if the life I was supposed to have had been ripped away from me.

I wiped my face and headed back toward my small cubicle.

“I’m going home for the day,” I told the other women who worked alongside me in various capacities. I was William’s main assistant. The other three women took care of the tasks I generally assigned to them.

“If Mr. Martin asks, tell him I’ll be checking my email throughout the day and will respond there,” I said as calmly as I could.

“Are you okay, Amber?” one of the girls asked.

I gave a wane smile. “I think I ate something that didn’t agree with me. I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“Take care of yourself. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

I grabbed my purse, and with as much gracefulness as I could pull together, I strode down the hall and turned the corner. The exit was so close. I could hold it together another thirty feet. I exited the office and hit the elevator button, silently praying for it to hurry.

Once inside the elevator, I let out a long sigh. Life was a joke.