Mr. Hot Boss To Go (A Forbidden Romance)

“Oh, I will. I have no doubt.”

She snickered a little, her blonde curls bouncing.

“Mr. Confident, I like that. So tell me how this whole company came to be. I read an article that you started Crane Technologies while you were still in college. Is that true?”

I shrug while digging into my veal marsala.

“Yeah, I was bored in school and went a little overboard during one of my computer engineering classes. It turns out I had developed a pretty useful utility and soon people were coming to me wanting to buy my program. It was really crazy to come into that kind of money while still in school. How about you?” I asked trying to find out more about Natalie and her past. “Do you like your classes? You’re at the New School in the city, right?”

Of course, I’d already read her entire human resources file, although it was pretty thin. The interviewer liked Natalie and thought she would be a hard worker and would work well with Harvey, the intern we needed to work on a top secret project that we weren’t sharing with anyone. She smiles and then sighs a little while biting into a piece of garlic bread.

“Well, I haven’t founded any companies while in school,” she says.

“Stop, honey. You know what I mean.”

“Okay, okay, I guess I’m just not that accomplished, I guess. Or at least I don’t feel very accomplished. I’m going to be a sophomore at the New School in the fall, and I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I’ve changed my major three times and will likely be in college until I’m forty.”

“That’s old, wow, forty,” I laughed.

Natalie giggles too, but then she grows serious.

“To be honest, how I got this internship is beyond me because I get mediocre grades at best and have no technology background at all. All of my classes are media and arts-oriented, and have nothing to do with computers.”

I shrug.

“I think you just won over the interviewer with your charm,” I say. “Besides, there’s more to Crane Tech than just computers. There’s also marketing, sales, and a bunch of HR stuff, so there are plenty of places you might fit in.”

Natalie giggles and pops another bite of garlic bread in her mouth.

“That’s good because I was beginning to think that I stuck out like a sore thumb, given my lack of a technology background. How about you, Rowan? How did you get into big tech?”

I spoke a little about my interests, but to be honest my mind was whirring. This is the best date I’d been on in years. How bonkers was that? I’d been on dozens of outings, and squired hundreds of women, and none of them compared to this. Normally the ladies were trying to impress me with their wildly expensive clothes or handbags, while talking non-stop abut shopping or the catfights they’d get into with their girlfriends. It bored me so much that my brain sometimes felt like it was slipping out of my ears.

Even worse were the women who would talk nonstop about my money during our dates. They’d ask how much my company was worth, and the square footage of my penthouse. Sometimes they would disguise their questions to be more about business and growth, but I was never fooled. They were trying to suss out my net worth, but I always stayed mum.

By contrast, it was refreshing to have Natalie with me because not once has she mentioned money or social standing. Instead, we’ve been discussing school, current events, and the glorious food served by the restaurant.

“Tell me something,” I say while helping myself to some creamed asparagus. “What do you think about dating someone older?”

Natalie took a sip of her water and paused. My voice was calm and outwardly, I looked utterly at ease, but inside, my heart pounded. After all, her opinion matters. I’ve dated women in their twenties before but they’d all finished college at the very least. Meanwhile, my girl hadn’t even started her sophomore year. But then she smiled sweetly at me.

“How much older are we talking?” she asked in a sly voice.

“Not that much older,” I hedged.

“Forty, forty-one? Forty-two?” she asked raising her eyebrow with her guess.

“Let’s say forty-five, hypothetically of course,” I ground out.

She giggled.

“Of course. Only hypothetically.” However, I winced at the reality of my age compared to hers. It didn’t feel like we were that far apart in mindset, but now that the number was out there, I was more than two decades her senior. Hell, I was already twenty-five when she was born! Fuck, talk about robbing the cradle.

But Natalie took it in a stride and shrugged.

“Age is nothing but a number, right? Besides, my sister married an older man, and Drake is much older than Jenna. I can’t remember how much exactly, but it’s significant because he’s actually our uncle.”