Romancing my Boss

Chapter 7

I stepped into Max's imposing office, the rich scent of leather and mahogany enveloping me like a thick velvet curtain. My eyes immediately landed on the man himself, seated behind his large desk like an imperious monarch surveying his domain.

When those intense hazel eyes found me hovering in the doorway, something predatory flickered in their depths, raising goosebumps along my arms.

I wavered slightly under the scorching intensity of his stare, trying not to gawk at the sheer virile power radiating from his athletic frame. Light brown hair tousled to perfection, the open collar of his crisp shirt provided a tantalizing glimpse of his sculpted chest and throat.

Objectively speaking, Max Pemberton epitomized masculine beauty. Too bad he was also an arrogant prick who looked at me like a piece of dirt on his italian loafers.

"You wanted to see me...sir?" I asked, silently cursing the slight waver in my voice as memories of the news headlines thanks to my disastrous photoshopped idea to repel Brad replayed in my mind.

Max leveled me with a look that could peel paint off the walls. "Indeed, Ms. Bennett. Have a seat." He gestured to the straight-backed chair opposite him with a flick of his wrist.

Drawing a steadying breath, I crossed the room and lowered myself into the chair, back ramrod straight. My heart stuttered unevenly as his penetrating stare roamed over me.

"I trust you're well aware of the utterly unacceptable situation your ridiculous stunt has created," he began, steepling those long fingers beneath his chiseled chin. "You effectively humiliated me in front of half Manhattan."

I opened my mouth to try and explain again, but he raised his hand, effectively silencing me with that simple commanding gesture. So damn rude.

"Manhattan's business elite are utterly convinced that we," he paused, jaw ticking, "are engaged in an unseemly workplace romance. A cheap fling between employer and employee."

Anger and embarrassment burned hot in my cheeks. "I can explain what happened to the press. If you'd just let me—"

Max's glower intensified into an outright glare. "Need I remind you how this preposterous notion came to be, Ms. Bennett? Your foolish prank has brought my personal and professional integrity into question on a massive scale."

Ouch. That one stung, worse than I cared to admit. I shifted in my seat, feeling about two inches tall under his furious, disapproving glare. How had such a stupid, harmless idea spiraled so quickly into this nightmare?

Mustering what tattered shreds of dignity I had left, I met his stare head-on. "Look, I already apologized profusely. It was a stupid, ill-conceived scheme that spiraled out of control, but I never meant –"

"Meant to make me the laughingstock of the entire city?" Max cut in with biting sarcasm. "Yes, how careless of you."

He exhaled slowly through his nose, icy composure slipping back into place. "Which leads us to a most...delicate situation that requires an equally delicate solution."

I frowned, a lead weight forming in the pit of my stomach. "What do you mean?"

A ghost of a smirk played across Max's lips as he leaned back, fingertips brushing his razor-sharp jawline. "I've given this considerable thought. As distasteful as I find this entire debacle, retribution must be...unconventional."

He paused, seeming to struggle with the words as my heart kicked into overdrive. "You'll be pursuing me."

My jaw dropped. "You're saying I should...what?"

"Pursue me as if you were madly, obsessively in love. Yes." That smirk deepened as his eyes roamed over me with undisguised relish. "An outrageously public campaign of love and devotion, if you will."