Boss Me (Private Listing #3)

“I’ve always loved coming to events like this.” Elizabeth leans closer to me. We’re still at the table even though the speaker is finished.

I resist the urge to pull away. It’s one night. I can get through this even if her being here makes my flesh crawl. It was a snap decision that I’ve been regretting since.

Instead, I can’t stop myself from watching the door Coop and Madison disappeared through.

We all know she might be in danger tonight. Anyone can access this benefit. Her stalker—even her roommate—could be here, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Elizabeth’s fingers land on my jacket sleeve, forcing my attention back to her. I sigh. Not the woman I want to focus on, but I have to.

“You remember that one night? My sorority had a formal. We snuck out of the party. Kind of like your assistant just did with Cooper.” Elizabeth’s tone is nonchalant, but everything she says is calculated.

There’s nothing subtle about her, even if she’s trying to be. She’s made it clear she wants to pick up where we left off, but even if Madison didn’t exist, that would never happen.

I turn to meet her eyes. She smiles like the memory takes her back to a better time, but it’s not real. Nothing about Elizabeth is real. It never was.

“You fucked me up against a wall. Made me beg you for my release.”

I glance over at the others, but they’re all deep in their own conversations. Thankfully. “What’s your point?”

“We were good together once upon a time.” She shrugs and releases a delicate laugh. Her calculating gaze lingers on the same doorway I’m working on ignoring for now. “I imagine this is new for Cooper and that’s why he’s so attentive to her. It probably won’t last long though. What happens when Cooper dumps your assistant?”

I narrow my gaze at her. “What’s your point, Elizabeth?”

“How is that girl going to deal with being dumped by Cooper Graham?” She smiles and smooths her napkin on her lap. “You might lose a perfectly adequate assistant by letting her fuck one of her bosses. You probably should work out a fraternization policy to avoid things like that.”

“I appreciate your concern.” It’s nearly impossible to focus on Elizabeth’s ridiculous maneuvering while worrying about the stalker and other threats looming here. I turn to look at the hidden door again. They shouldn’t be gone this long. What if they’ve run into trouble? We almost let Madison down that first night.

“But girls like your assistant are a dime a dozen.” Elizabeth sounds smug. “What is she? Twenty-five? Twenty-four?”

“What’s your obsession with our assistant?” Tension winds inside me. I don’t want to discuss Madison with Elizabeth. Fuck, I don’t even want to be here with Elizabeth, but if it helps safeguard Madison’s reputation, it’s worth it. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

“He can’t be serious about her. She’s definitely not his type and she doesn’t have the pedigree needed to be the wife of Cooper Graham. She looks like she’s barely out of college.”

Why is she so focused on Madison and Coop? What does she have to gain from this line of questioning? What is she digging for? Because if she’s looking to return to where we were, she’s never going to find a way to do that.

I may have been naive about her when I was in college, but I’m familiar with her and her type of woman now. She wants something she can weaponize. The real question is, to use against who? Whatever it is, I need to be careful with what I show her.

“She is.” I glance at Elizabeth. I’m not sure where all this speculation is coming from. “Madison was top of her class and graduated with a master’s in four years while having multiple internships that provided her with a variety of experience. Just because she doesn’t have a legacy behind her doesn’t mean she’s not invaluable. And Coop saw that in her.”

Elizabeth laughs lightly. “It figures Coop would want the twenty-two-year-old. When he’s fifty, he’ll still want twenty-year-olds.”

“So what if he does?”

She makes a little noise of disbelief.

I’m beginning to think we need to send someone after them. To make sure nothing has happened. For a moment, Elizabeth sips her drink and remains quiet.

Elizabeth clears her throat. “They make quite the striking pair.”

Fuck, why did I bring her to this?

“Yes, they do.” You’d have to be blind to not see how beautiful they are together.

“I bet they’d be gorgeous to watch.”

Everything stills around me. My gaze returns to Elizabeth’s as she takes a sip of her drink, looking at me like she’s caught on to something. The reality is she knows nothing and can’t prove anything. We barely dove into my kinks when we were a couple.

That’s pushing too far though and it’s time to shut her down.