My Forbidden Boss

My Forbidden Boss Blue Sky Empire Book One C. E. Ross Charmaine Ross © 2023 by Charmaine Ross All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Published in Australia This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Line edits: Ray Collet, Doing It Write Proof reading: Sue Phillips Cover design: Charmaine Ross Contents Blurb Excerpt 1. Chapter One 2. Chapter Two 3. Chapter Three 4. Chapter Four 5. Chapter Five 6. Chapter Six 7. Chapter Seven 8. Chapter Eight 9. Chapter Nine 10. Chapter Ten 11. Chapter Eleven 12. Chapter Twelve 13. Chapter Thirteen 14. Chapter Fourteen 15. Chapter Fifteen 16. Chapter Sixteen 17. Chapter Seventeen 18. Chapter Eighteen 19. Chapter Nineteen 20. Chapter Twenty 21. Chapter Twenty-One 22. Chapter Twenty-Two 23. Chapter Twenty-Three 24. Chapter Twenty-Four 25. Chapter Twenty-Five 26. Chapter Twenty-Six 27. Chapter Twenty-Seven 28. Chapter Twenty-Eight 29. Chapter Twenty-Nine 30. Chapter Thirty 31. Chapter Thirty-One 32. Chapter Thirty-Two 33. Chapter Thirty-Three 34. Chapter Thirty-Four 35. Chapter Thirty-Five David Chandler. Billionaire. Focused. Forty three. Luck plays no part in the business I grew from the ground up. Nor has luck played a part in my relationships. Women can’t see past my bed or my bank account. I’ve given up expecting them to. That’s until Adeline walks through the door of Blue Sky. Out of her depth, young, gorgeous, tempting Adeline. I want to kiss her, touch her, taste her. Take her innocence. I should let her go. But I can’t. Adeline Rayner. Poor. Overlooked. Twenty-One. I’m blackmailed by my sperm donor — my father. But I’m desperate for help so I have no choice. My Mom and I will be homeless if I fail. Industrial espionage. Corporate spying. Stealing secrets. Call it what you will, the truth is I’m set up to take the fall. I work for David Chandler as his PA. The man who makes me wish for a different life, a different me. The man who would never want an inexperienced virgin. He’s off limits. But I can’t say no. Excerpt David plows his fingers through his hair, stalking the width of his office after she’s been swallowed by the elevator doors. The silence rings in my ear, tainted by the fresh blood of the open wound Samantha tore through the both of us. “I should go,” I whisper. “Please stay, Adeline,” he says. He’s going to tell me off for letting her into his office because I was sitting right there and was too slow. If I’d stopped her, things might have played out differently. “She walked right past me. I couldn’t stop her,” I say. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” he says. “See her.” Sorry that she told him she’s pregnant? That he’s the unwitting father to her baby? Or that she’s walking a fine line between getting David back or ostracizing him forever. But there’s a note in his tone that makes my feet stick to the carpet. I don’t want to stay, or think or care. But I do all of those things. It’s the height of stupidity and yet I lift my eyes to settle on his pain in his. “She’s your private business,” I say. “Yes, but that’s not the reason,” David says, his voice low. Tight. He hesitates, shakes his head, walks the length of his desk, and scrapes his fingers through his hair again. I firm my shoulders. Make myself ready for what he’ll say. Pretend David stirred nothing in me at all. I’m his fake employee, here until I find a way to do my father’s bidding and now he’s going to let me go. I won’t be able to do what Max wants me to and Mom and I will be homeless. “I’m not in love with Samantha; not even attracted to her. I went out with her for company but that’s all. I never promised her anything else. Never pretended to be something I wasn’t. I need you to know that,” David says. “Why?” The word slips from between my numb lips. I have to know why he wanted me to witness that. That’s what I don’t understand. I’m not stupid. I just need to know that I wasn’t going insane. Some words at least to help me understand I’m more than the Moss Creek town gutter rat. Good enough to serve their burgers and clean their houses, but otherwise remain invisible and out of the way because God knows that’s all I’m good for. David turns his stark gaze on me. The weight of it presses on my shoulders, into my chest and into the marrow of my bones. “Tell me it’s not just me,” he whispers. I blink and the breath stalls in my lungs. “What?” His hands clench at his thighs as his stare drills into me. “You know what I mean, Adeline. Tell me what’s between us is not one-sided.” My heart pounds against my sternum, sledgehammer hard. I’m overwhelmed. Completely out of my depth. White noise starts in my head and I wonder if I heard him right or if I’m a victim of my acute imagination. My illicit fantasies. “I…” He takes one prowling step towards me. Then another. His gaze never leaves my face. My hands shake. My skin flushes hot as he towers over me and my feet are locked to the floor. I press my knees against each other because I don’t think my legs will keep me upright if I don’t. He raises his hand to cup my cheek. Slowly, carefully, giving me time to move from his touch. I don’t. I can’t. “Tell me I’m not the only