Read Online The Boss's Orders: Alpha Male Billionaire Office Romance by Cat Carmine - Free Book Online

sip, which he swishes around in his mouth a little.
    “Yes.”
    “Very good, sir.” The waiter pours us both glasses. William orders for both of us — steak, grilled asparagus, oysters. I’m a little squicked out by the oysters but I don’t say anything about that.
    After the waiter leaves we sip our wine. I don’t know much about wine but I have to hand it to William on this one — it’s absolutely delicious.
    “The French, they really know what they’re doing,” William says, savoring a sip. “Their reds are just spectacular. Their champagnes too, obviously, but personally I think you can’t beat a good red.”
    “Do you know I’ve never had real champagne?” I feel silly admitting it but William just shakes his head.
    “We’ll obviously have to correct that. I think you’ll love it.”
    We take another sip of our drinks. I try to taste as William must, but most of the subtle notes are lost on me. Chocolate? Peppercorns? Oak? Random non-food item supposed to make me sound cultured? I’d obviously be hopeless as a wine taster.
    William puts his glass down. “What about now?” he asks, picking up our earlier conversation where we left off. “Are you close with your parents now?”
    “My mom and I are pretty close, I guess. My dad died a couple of years after I left home.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    I wave it off. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not, but I’ve had a lot of time to process. I think that’s probably why I got myself back on the straight and narrow. My dad died thinking I was a failure, and I didn’t want him to be right.”
    Before I know what’s happening, William has reached across the table and taken my hand in his. It’s a gesture that stuns me, maybe more than anything else that’s happened this week. A shiver goes up my spine as he rubs my thumb with his.
    “I’m sure he didn’t think you were a failure.”
    Tears well up in my eyes and threaten to spill over. Something about his unexpected kindness is like a punch to the gut.
    “Thank you for saying that.” I take a sip of wine, anxious to change the subject. “I told you mine, now you tell me yours. I obviously hit a hot button when I asked you if Godrich and Associates was your father’s company. What are your parents like?”
    He snorts. “Exactly what you’d expect. Cold. Aloof. Impossible to please. Frequently drunk and more frequently fighting.”
    “They’re still married?”
    “Unfortunately.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “They just should have gotten divorced years ago. My mother’s fucked every tennis instructor or bus boy at the country club and my father just … doesn’t care. He throws himself into work and ignores the whole situation. They just fight about money and the house and about who’s the bigger asshole.”
    “I’m sorry. That sounds terrible.”
    He shrugs. “It is what it is. If anything, it’s made me crystal clear about what I absolutely don’t want in my life.”
    “And what’s that?”
    “A loveless marriage. Kids to fuck up.”
    “What about a happy marriage, and kids who don’t get fucked up?”
    He snorts. “Is there such a thing?”
    “I like to think so.”
    “Well, then, Claire, you are very naive.”
    “Maybe.”
    We sip our wine and before we can change the topic, the waiter arrives with our oysters. Oh, here we go.
    William sees me wrinkling my nose.
    “Not a fan?”
    “They’re just so slimy.”
    “That’s what’s so good about them,” he says. Then he grins. “Just like eating pussy.”
    I nearly spit out my wine. “Well, I can’t say that I’ve ever done that.”
    “Then you don’t know what you’re missing,” he says, and winks. I think about our encounter earlier today, and my cheeks go pink.
    William nudges the plate towards me and I reluctantly take one. He slurps his down quickly, never breaking eye contact with me.
    “Just like I remember it. Your turn.”
    I hold the shell up to my lips and touch the slimy little blob tentatively with