Falling For Her Dad's Boss: An Instalove Possessive Alpha Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 181)
CONTENTS
Falling For Her Dad’s Boss
NEWSLETTER
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Extended Epilogue
NEWSLETTER
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS
BRATVA BEAR SHIFTERS
LAIRDS & LADIES
RUSSIAN UNDERWORLD
IRISH WOLF SHIFTERS
About the Author
FALLING FOR HER DAD’S BOSS
AN OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE
_______________________
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 181
FLORA FERRARI
Copyright © 2020 by Flora Ferrari
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.
FALLING FOR HER DAD’S BOSS
As soon as I see her I want her. I know she’s the one I’ve been waiting for.
Even in that split second that I saw her I could tell, and I was absolutely right.
She’s the one I’ve been waiting for all of these years. I had given up hope of finding the woman meant for me, but now, like an angel from heaven, here she is. Her voice is sweet and full of life, and it stirs something directly within my soul.
Dahlia Harvey
It was supposed to be a routine inspection of my newest acquisition but has turned into so much more.
I will have her. She will be mine. I’m an older man who knows what he wants and I want her, even if I am her father’s boss nothing will stand in my way.
*Falling For Her Dad’s Boss is an insta-everything standalone instalove romance with a HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
NEWSLETTER
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CHAPTER ONE
Nick
“This is the one, sir,” my assistant James says, gesturing towards the building that towers above the street, a glass-fronted modern reception glimpsed between two large marble pillars.
“I know,” I tell him. I didn’t get to where I am today without knowing where I was putting my money, and this company, my latest investment, was already very familiar to me. I came here on the pretense of being a client some weeks before I even entered negotiations with the old owners, not that James knows that. It was on his day off.
“Shall we go in?” James asks, hesitating beside me as I look up from the sidewalk. Several floors up, I know there’s a boardroom lined in dark wood and with views across the other historic buildings in this part of the city. That’s where we’re headed now, for a meeting with one of the senior executives, so that he can tell me everything I need to know about the state of my new company.
“Let’s go in,” I say, sweeping forward and through the doors.
It’s a slight disappointment when the receptionist doesn't immediately recognize who I am, but instead has to ask who I am and who I’m here to see.
“This is Nick Hatheway,” James says, in a tone that states he has no idea how she doesn’t know.
“Okay,” the receptionist says. If she’s heard my name before, she certainly doesn’t show it. There should have been a memo. “And what is it regarding?”
I leave James to take care of it, spending my time looking around the reception area, assessing the chairs and the wallpaper, wondering if I’d like to change any of it.
I don’t have to be too hands-on here. I’ve done that part of my career. I spent the first thirty years of my life building up my portfolio to be an impressively young millionaire; the last ten have been spent on diversifying, adding more and more businesses to the fold, and hiring the right people to run them. That’s how I managed to turn the ‘m’ into a ‘b’ and become a billionaire by forty. But while I have to trust someone to run all of these businesses in my stead, or I’d be stretched too thin, I can still carry out my own personal assessments to tell them what changes need to be made from the very beginning.
“If you’d just like to wait here for a few minutes, I’m sure Mr. Harvey will be down very shortly to…” the receptionist starts.
“No,” I reply sharply, spinning on her. “We’ll go to him. I want to get a look at the place, after all. We’re meeting in the boardroom, I presume?”
“Well – yes,” the receptionist says uncertainly, tucking her black hair behind her ears. She looks like she wants to say that isn’t allowed, but she can’t, because I own this place now. “It’s on the tenth floor. When you step out of the elevator, turn right.”
“I know how to find it,” I assure her, stepping briskly over to the elevator with James scuttling in my wake.
The doors slide closed smoothly, and soft music sounds. I lift my eyes to the ceiling, noting the speakers with surprise. That’s the first thing that has to go. Last time I was here, I took the stairs. I won’t allow any sign of old age and out of touch to linger in my business.
The ride is short, and the doors open on a long, carpeted corridor with doors on either side. At the far end is a more impressive set of double doors, behind which the boardroom sits. As we step out of the elevator, I see someone coming towards us, a young woman, wearing an easy-going white sundress with tanned legs, focused on the cellphone in her hands.
We’re about to pass her when she looks up. That’s when everything seems to stop and slow down around me, she’s beautiful, stunning, like an angel with blonde hair cut to her shoulders and bright blue eyes that are innocent and friendly. The tiniest smattering of freckles are dusted over her button nose, and her lips, curved like a bow, part to reveal straight white teeth as she smiles.
“Hello,” she says, quietly, because she obviously doesn’t know who we are and is just being polite. Her voice is melodic to my ears, soft and light.
She continues past us and steps into the elevator we’ve just vacated. I turn back to look at her just as the doors slide closed, and I catch just one more glimpse of her face, lighting up with surprise at my turning back to her.
“James?” I say.
“Yes, sir?”
“Cancel my meeting.”
“But, sir, we’re already here and Mr. Harvey…”
“Meet him yourself, then,” I tell him, already walking away. I reach a set of doors next to the elevator, which I know lead to the stairs that also run all the way through the building. “I’ve got someone else to talk
to.”
And I hurry down the stairs without a second look over my shoulder, knowing that I’ll need to be fast if I want to get to the ground floor and out to the sidewalk before I lose her completely.
CHAPTER TWO
Dahlia
“Did you manage to catch him?” Daisy, the receptionist, asks me as I come out of the elevator and back out into the reception area.
I shrug my shoulders. “Briefly,” I say. “I thought we were supposed to go to lunch, but he has this meeting.”
“Yes, they just went up,” Daisy says. “They were kind of snooty. The meeting must have been last-minute. I didn’t even have it on the books.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to meet him for dinner,” I sigh. “He said he’d call me when his meeting was over. See you later, Daisy.”
“Bye, Dahlia,” Daisy says, with an air of sympathy. “You know, your Dad’s just busy because he’s so important.”
I nod in acceptance as I head for the doors. She’s right, of course. My Dad’s high up in this company, and that’s why he’s always here, working. Coming to get lunch with him is often one of the only ways I can manage to spend any time with him at all. Not that I’m complaining, my Dad’s worked hard my whole life so that I can do things like go to college and live in a nice neighborhood.
I just wish he had more time to see me. I wanted to talk to him and get his advice, because I’m still deciding what to do with my gap year before going away to school. I walk down the street lost in thought, feeling the warmth of the sun on my bare arms as my sandals clop across the sidewalk. What am I going to do with myself…?
I know what Dad wants me to do, but I’m not sure about that. He wants me to join him and work at the company, but I’m not even sure what it is that they do even though he’s tried to explain it to me a few times. Besides, that’s not really what I dream of.
I’m not even sure what I want to do for the rest of my life. When I try to picture myself in the workplace, I can’t figure out where I am or what I’m doing. I only know that I want to do something meaningful, something that makes a difference. I want to use my gap year for something that feels important to me, but I don’t exactly know what that is.
My family is important to me, that’s for sure. But what else? I feel strongly about a few causes, but not strongly enough to dedicate my life to them. As for work, I’ve never really had a particular inclination towards something. I know I’d like to work in a place where I can interact with others, like maybe an office, although I don’t want to admit that to Dad yet. Maybe something will come to me. I just have to think about it more.
“Miss?”
I turn around and can’t believe my eyes. I didn’t even think whoever it was would be talking to me, but something in his voice made me turn my head. And it’s him.
When I was coming from Dad’s office, I saw him. A man walking through the corridor, two of them actually, but only one caught my eyes. Tall and handsome, an older man in a sharp black suit. It was perfectly tailored to his body, obviously expensive, and it made him look… dangerous. I don’t know how else to put it. Like I could see all the coiled power of a jaguar held in check beneath the surface, ready to explode.
I had looked up and smiled at him, and then I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Even when I walked past him, I had his image burned into my mind’s eye. He was so handsome, with dark hair pushed back from his forehead just so, angular cheekbones, and a face that looks like it might have been carved from stone. Like the statues you see in Roman museums, classically perfect.
I couldn’t help but stare at his broad back as I got into the elevator, and then he looked back at me. I was happy the doors slid closed before the bright red flush hit my face. His attention was almost too much. But now here he is again, standing in front of me on the sidewalk, watching me closely. He must have come after me… did I leave something behind?
“What’s wrong?” I ask, feeling immediately that something must be the matter for him to follow me. I feel that same blush come to my cheeks again and curse it, wishing I could look unaffected and cool.
“I wanted to meet you,” he says, and my eyes widen. Meet me? He hurried after me just for that? “My name is Nick Hatheway.”
He holds out a hand to me, casual and charming. I reach out and take it, thinking that he will shake my hand, but instead he sweeps it up to his lips for a kiss. “Dahlia Harvey,” I gasp out, feeling overwhelmed.
What could this gorgeous older man possibly have to say to me?
CHAPTER THREE
Nick
I look at her, standing in the middle of the sidewalk with her hair stirred gently by the breeze and her cheeks lighting up pink, and I know I was right. Even in that split second that I saw her I could tell, and I was absolutely right.
She’s the one I’ve been waiting for all of these years. I had given up hope of finding the woman I consider worthy of me, but now, like an angel from heaven, here she is. Her voice is sweet and full of life, and it stirs something directly within my soul.
“Dahlia Harvey,” I repeat, trying out her name on my tongue. I like the way it tastes. I release her hand and consider her, this angel of mine. She must be related to the man that I was supposed to meet – Mr. Harvey, I forget his first name. Callum, or… no, Carlisle. So, that’s why she was coming out of the meeting room as we were going in. She’d been there to see him.
I would guess that she would have to be his daughter. She looks to be around eighteen. I haven’t met him, so I can’t guess at the family resemblance, but she isn’t wearing a ring on any of her fingers. She can’t be a young trophy wife. If she was already married, I think I might have broken every law of God and man if that was what it took to have her for myself.
“What are you doing today, Dahlia Harvey?” I ask. She stands there watching me with a curious look on her face. I can’t resist the hungry urge to look her up and down, to pick out the curves of her body underneath that white dress she’s wearing. It moves against her in the breeze. I want to make her mine, right here and now. Only public decorum holds me back.
“I was supposed to meet my Dad for lunch, but I guess he’s busy,” she shrugs. “Is that where you were going? To the meeting, I mean.”
“I was,” I say. I put my hands into the pockets of my trousers, because if I don’t, they’ll spring out and grab hold of her hips. “Not anymore. Does that mean you’re at a loose end?”
She bites her lips, holding back a smile. God, she is breathtaking. I want to breed this woman and make a family with her. How perfect and beautiful our children would be. “I guess so, at least until tonight,” she says. “Why aren’t you going to the meeting anymore?”
“I saw a better opportunity.” I watch her eyes as I talk, see them light up and change in response to my words. She’s flattered. Good. I want her to feel that way. I want her to know exactly how much I want her and if we go to lunch together, I’ll be able to make that happen. “Then, if you’ve nothing to do and neither do I, the solution is obvious. You should come to lunch with me.”
Dahlia looks to the side and down, her hair falling from behind her ears and tickling the sides of her face as it stirs in the light breeze. I feel like I will remember every detail of this moment always, the first conversation I had with the woman who will be mine for the rest of my life. “I don’t know,” she says.
“Why not?” I loosen one of my hands from my pocket and stretch it out towards her, an offer. “I’m paying. Or the company is. You won’t owe me a thing, just the pleasure of your conversation.”
Dahlia laughs lightly and knowingly, a sound that goes right through me and stirs something unnamable. Who is this angel that is able to do this to me? I feel like she has a hold of my heart in her hands. She could destroy me, but I know she won’t. Not this angel. There’s a whisper in my blood that tells me we are right together. That once I take her and make her mine, and breed those beautiful children, we’ll be so strongly bonded we’ll never break apart.<
br />
“I don’t want to work for the company,” she tells me, looking up at me through long lashes. “Sorry.” Then, still biting the side of her lip in a way that makes me want to grab her here and now, she turns on her strappy-sandaled foot, and begins to walk away from me.
Of all the responses I expected, seeing her turn her back on me again was not on the list. I can’t let the woman of my dreams, the angel sent here just for me, to get away. I have to think fast. There must be something I can say or do that will get her to consider having lunch with me.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dahlia
“Wait – what are you talking about?”
I turn back to face him, just about resisting the urge to roll my eyes. He’s persistent, and he’s doing a good job. The only thing I can’t work out is whether he’s below my Dad, or above him. He doesn’t look like the other employees. His black suit is too nice, for one thing, and they aren’t usually this handsome. I think I would have reconsidered the job offer if they were.
“Dad sent you after me, didn’t he?” I laugh. It’s almost painful, I would love to go out for lunch with this man. Lunch, dinner, breakfast, you name it. I wouldn’t mind at all. But if he only wants to recruit me, then it’s not the dream that I see when I look at him. It’s just business. “It’s okay, really. I don’t want to work for the company. I’ve been trying to think of something to do for my gap year, but this isn’t it.”
“Your Dad wants you to work for us?” he asks, tilting his head to the side as he watches me. “Carlisle Harvey, right? Has he offered you an official position?”
“No,” I say, frowning. “Did he not send you?”
“That’s good to hear. I wouldn’t want to think that my new staff is engaging in nepotism,” he says. “Especially not in order to give a job to a young student who just needs to fill their gap year before they go off to college. We work in a serious industry, and that means there are lots of young, hungry people looking for jobs. Any one of them would be better suited to it.”