Free A Billionaire Punishes (A Billionaire Invites - Remington - Part 2) by Nic Saint

1

    The next few weeks went by like a dream. For the first time in my life I actually hopped out of bed every morning, excited to go to work. Of course, I’d never had a job before where I got to work side by side with both my boyfriend and my best friend, so that was pretty unique. Tamara had joined Hearts & Flowers, and now I got to chat with her whenever work allowed. And when Remington wasn’t away on business, I got to kiss my boss man super hunky billionaire boyfriend every chance I got! And I made sure we had plenty of opportunities.
    Gradually, Remington left more and more of the day-to-day side of the business to me. By now I was an old hand at online flower retailing, and he had a lot on his plate running part of the family business now that his dad was starting to openly dream of retirement.
    So my days were spent running the flower business and my nights belonged to Remington, whenever he was in town—or in the country.
    I was still dreaming of setting up my own business selling cupcakes online, but Hearts & Flowers took up so much of my time and energy, I’d put that little project of mine on the back burner, though Tamara kept urging me to pick it up again and make a go of it. After all, she reasoned, Hearts & Flowers wasn’t mine. I was just a hired gun. But the cupcake thing? That would be totally me. And if things worked out, she could even join me and we’d be working side by side as a team.
    For now, that was just a pipe dream. It did set me pondering my role as Remington’s second in command, both in his business and his personal life. Officially I was still his secretary, though I was doing a lot more than that. As far as our personal relationship went, I had no idea where we actually stood. Though I occasionally shared his bed, he hadn’t formalized things—hadn’t ever called me his girlfriend or introduced me to his friends or family. So what did that make me? His lover? His mistress?
    More and more, I started wondering how long this dream would last. After all, I was merely a working girl and he was some billionaire hunk who liked to dabble in flowers, probably just to pass the time or to see if he could, and bed his secretary, like so many billionaire business owners have done since the dawn of time—or at least since the noble profession of the secretary has come into existence.
    So was I just living the cliché? Would Remington replace me with the newest model as soon as he got bored with the old one?
    I know I shouldn’t have worried about all of that, and most days I managed to shove these pesky thoughts aside. Other days they persisted in needling me and souring my mood.
    Especially on days like today, when I hadn’t seen or heard from Remington for almost an entire week, and was starting to think he’d forgotten about me completely. And then suddenly he blew into my office and cracked a smile that lit up my soul.
    “Honey, I’m home,” he quipped.
    “Rem!” I cried, and flew into his arms. He grinned as I showered his lovely face with kisses, then he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
    “Is that the effect I have on you these days?” I pouted.
    “Sorry, babe. Jet lag. I just got back from Indonesia. Some trouble at one of the plants.”
    “Your dad is working you way too hard,” I said.
    “Yeah, tell me about it.” He yawned cavernously once again, then buried his face in my neck.
    “Want to know what your flower girl’s been up to?” I said.
    In spite of his apparent malaise, he gave me a grin. “Sure.”
    “We’ve added another twenty percent to our customer base this month,” I said happily. “Business is booming.”
    “You’re a natural,” he said, and I could see from the way his mouth curved up, that he was proud.
    “Customers are happy, suppliers are happy, staff is happy,” I ticked off on my fingers.
    “And you?” he said, cupping my chin in his hand. “Are you happy?”
    “Yeah, sure,” I said, going for evasive.
    “Something the matter?”
    I