Propositioning The Boss

PROPOSITIONING THE BOSS IONA ROSE CONTENTS Author’s Note 1. Ella 2. Ella 3. Ella 4. Blake 5. Blake 6. Ella 7. Ella 8. Ella 9. Ella 10. Ella 11. Ella 12. Ella 13. Blake 14. Ella 15. Ella 16. Ella 17. Ella 18. Ella 19. Ella 20. Blake 21. Blake 22. Blake 23. Ella 24. Ella 25. Ella 26. Ella 27. Ella 28. Ella 29. Ella 30. Blake 31. Ella 32. Ella 33. Ella 34. Ella 35. Ella 36. Ella Epilogue Coming Soon… sample chapters About the Author Also by Iona Rose AUTHOR’S NOTE Hey there! Thank you for choosing my book. I sure hope that you love it. I'd hate to part ways once you're done though. So how about we stay in touch? My newsletter is a great way to discover more about me and my books. Where you'll find frequent exclusive giveaways, sneak previews of new releases and be first to see new cover reveals. And as a HUGE thank you for joining, you'll receive a FREE book on me! With love, Iona Get Your FREE Book Here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/v9yit8b3f7 Publisher: Some Books Propositioning The Boss Surprise Proposal Copyright © 2023 Iona Rose The right of Iona Rose to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the copyright, designs and patent act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. All characters in this publication are fictitious, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Publisher: Some Books ISBN: 978-1-913990-58-9 1 ELLA “Mom,” I interrupt, cutting off her rambling commentary about some historical documentary she’s been watching. “We’ve been on this call for almost fifteen minutes and you keep talking about a documentary that you know very well I have no interest in, and worse you keep bursting into that nervous little laugh you make whenever you have something you want to say, but you don’t know how the other person will take it. So come on. Out with it.” “I don’t know what you mean, Ella,” Mom says and laughs uneasily again. “What little laugh?” “Umm, that one,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “Ok, ok, you got me,” Mom mutters. “I just don’t want to upset you, that’s all.” So, I was right. Something is wrong. I knew it. My mom isn’t the sort of person who calls just to chit chat. She calls when she has something to say and she just gets on with it. Unless it’s something she doesn’t want to say. I can feel the dread in my stomach sitting there like a hard ball. What is so bad that she can’t tell me straight away? “Is it grandma?” I ask in a small frightened voice. “Oh God, no,” Mom denies quickly and with such genuine horror that I relax a little bit. “Your grandma is healthier and probably more fit than the two of us put together.” “True,” I agree, smiling weakly. I feel a lot better now that I know grandma is ok. “Just tell me what it is, Mom. There isn’t too much worse than something bad happening to grandma.” “You’re right, darling. It’s actually not bad at all,” Mom says in a fake happy voice. “Here goes.” There is a pause and then… “Your sister is getting married,” she blurts out. “What? Hayley is getting married?” I ask, quite shocked. Hayley, my older sister, has made it absolutely and crystal clear she doesn’t believe in marriage. In fact, she looks down her nose at people who need, as she puts it, “:a silly piece of paper from the Government to keep them together”. She must have met someone damn special to have changed her mind. “Fat chance of that,” Mom says, making a snorting sound of disbelief. “No, Cassie is the one getting married.” She clears her throat. “To Jeremy Barnet.” I have to admit I didn’t see that one coming. Whoa! I feel like I need to sit down, but instead, I lean forward, resting my elbows on the breakfast bar and look down at the delicate gray grains on the white marble top. It’s like falling through the gray net. Suddenly, I’m drawn back in time to the months before I moved away from my hometown, before I hurriedly transferred to the San Francisco office. I see it all like a film reel of scenes, memories I don’t want to recall ever again, but are waiting there in the background waiting for another chance to torment me. I’m back at that office event. It was the last place I wanted to be, but the boss had insisted we all make an effort. So, there I was, bored out of my mind, clutching a glass of warm white wine, and longing for my cozy couch, my fluffy slippers and old pajamas. “Champagne?” a male voice asks from above me. I looked up to say, ‘no thank you’, but the words kind of stuck in my throat. An extraordinarily handsome man wearing very tight black short shorts that left damn little to the imagination, a black bow tie, and… er nothing else, was standing next to me. Okay! He was also holding a tray of champagne flutes so I lifted a glass from his tray and he flashed me a big grin. His teeth were perfect, straight and super-white, and they really stood out against his tanned skin. I smiled back, he winked, then he turned away and disappeared into the crowd. Kudos to whoever was in charge of hiring the wait staff, I thought amused, as I sipped the ice-cold bubbles. When the event was finally over and I was on