Stripped - A Forbidden Hot Boss Romance

But rather than drive myself crazy wondering, I used every test. The minutes seemed to pass like hours, and then one by one, they all turned positive.

I was pregnant.

I was exactly the type of woman Shane detested. I placed my hand on my stomach and cried. Without a doubt, I wanted the baby growing in my belly. And without a doubt, I knew Shane wouldn’t.

I buried my face in my hands and sobbed.Chapter Ten - ShaneThe evening was at an end. I scrubbed my hands over my face and yawned. It had just passed four in the morning, and the club had finally emptied. I wanted to check on Alyssa, but my partners had called an emergency meeting.

We sat at a high-top table by the bar. Liam shot back some whiskey and glared at me. “Want to tell us what’s going on between you and our star performer?”

I scoffed and crossed my arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on,” he spat. “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. We’ve all heard the rumors. You’re fucking her, and by fucking her, you could fuck up our profits. Alyssa’s the top draw.”

I shrugged. “My personal business is mine, not yours.”

“When your personal business affects our professional business, it has more than enough to do with me—with us. Break it off with her or dissolve our partnership.”

“We’ll buy you out,” Noah offered.

I stood and paced back and forth. “Are you fucking with me?”

“Nope,” Jack said. “You were the one who changed the code of conduct. You were the one who wanted to run the club because you said you were the only one of us who could be trusted to keep his hands off the talent. We don’t need a sexual harassment lawsuit if things don’t work out for you. Walk away from her or walk away from our partnership.”

I squared up to Jack. “You don’t have enough money to buy me out.”

He got in my face. “We can liquidate assets. We don’t want to do it, but we will. We’ve been friends for a long time, Shane. Don’t ruin our friendship or business partnership over a woman.” He paused; his face turned thoughtful. “We could fire her. That would solve a lot.”

I shoved him away. “This club is Alyssa’s life. She knows more about how this place works than any of us ever will. She brings in more money than any other girl.”

“She can be replaced,” Jack spat.

Liam laid a hand on my chest to stop me from going after Jack. “She would find another job easily. The way I see it is that you have three options: break up with Alyssa and keep our partnership alive. Fire her, so there’s no conflict of interests, or we dissolve our partnership, and you two ride off into the sunset.”

I jabbed my finger in his face. “I won’t forget this.”***

I found Alyssa sound asleep on the sofa. I tried not to wake her, but her eyes fluttered open when she heard me move about the living room.

“Hi,” she croaked. Her puffy eyes made her look like she’d been crying for hours, but I put her washed-out appearance down to her being sick.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better.” She sat up. “You look like someone died. Is everything okay?”

“We need to talk.”

“Yeah, we do, but you go first.”

I sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of her. What I was about to say left me sick to my stomach. Doing this when she was so obviously ill was a dick move. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s not a good idea to continue our relationship.” I couldn’t look at her when I spoke. “It’s run its course.”

Saying the words broke my heart. I was a coward for not telling my partners to screw themselves, but if I did, they would fire Alyssa or kick me out of the company I’d spent years building. If I told her the truth, she’d walk away from The Bachelor, but with the hours we both worked, I would never see her, and we would drift apart.

She blinked and stared at me in disbelief for a second before her eyes hardened. “Exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. You beat me to it.” She held out her hand. “Give me my house key and leave.”

“Can we stay friends?”

“You’re my boss,” Alyssa said, her voice cracking. “I’m your employee. From now on, that’s all we’ll be.”

I rummaged around my pocket for the key, then pressed it into her palm and walked out without looking back.

When I closed the door, I would’ve sworn I heard her sob. I stood on the porch, my feet urging me to turn back, to take her in my arms, and tell her I loved her. But I couldn’t. If I did, I would ruin both of our careers.