A One Night Stand With the Billionaire (Taming The Bad Boy Billionaire 5)

“What?” she answered defensively. “We did.”

“Just because it’s true, that doesn’t mean you must announce it...especially like that!”

“Fine. Intercourse then. Is that better?”

Tom let out an unexpected laugh and removed his glasses, which made him look years younger, especially as he casually leaned back in his chair and grinned. “Give it a rest, man. Della was bound to find out sooner or later. Everyone else already knows.”

It was news to me, but I also didn’t understand. Caleb was an incredibly good-looking man, but I didn’t really see Madison as being the type to mix work and play. I especially didn’t think she’d ever have anything to do with any person who was brave and/or stupid enough to call her out on her shit.

“Let me guess,” I said, then bit my lip. “It was a whirlwind romance, and Caleb proposed in the end, but Madison mailed the ring back in little pieces.”

It was a risky joke, considering I didn’t know them all that well, but Caleb actually laughed. “So you assume she ended things?”

Madison shook her head, not exhibiting an ounce of shame. “Mutual decision.”

“Seriously?” I asked in surprise, as I’d fallen into and out of enough relationships to know breakups were rarely mutual. “That actually happens?”

Caleb glanced across the desk, wearing a fond grin. “I had to get out before I got in too deep.” A comical shudder ran through his shoulders as he gave his ex a rueful smile. “As it stands, I’m still living with PTSD.”

“And I had to break things off before Caleb drank his way through my entire wine collection,” Madison added conversationally. “The guy’s a lush.”

Caleb barked with laughter. “I was just trying to keep up with you!”

The four of us then dissolved into group laughter as the stressful morning slowly lifted from our shoulders. It was no surprise that the corporate world lived by the motto, “Work hard. Play hard,” because it wasn’t easy doing the things we did at the pace we had to do them. The second we were off the clock, we didn’t simply unwind; rather, we had to let loose like the steam release on the top of a pressure cooker.

“Well, on that note, I think I have a little something that oughtta speed the afternoon a bit.” Madison then reached into her desk and pulled out a flask. There was an inscription on the front, something etched in a beautiful looping script, but she’d plastered a Hello Kitty sticker over most of it.

Caleb’s eyes lingered on the childish decal for a moment before he glanced up at her with a reluctant grin on his face. “Nice,” he said before he snatched it out of her hands to take a swig. “How very...sensitive.”

“What?” She grabbed it away from him and took an even bigger swig herself. “It’s still a great flask, Caleb. You can’t expect me not to use it...”

When the flask was passed to me, I tilted it back and swallowed some of the contents without even asking it was. My head was still spinning from the encounter in Robert’s office the previous day, and after walking on pins and needles for the last twenty-four hours, I needed something to steady my nerves. The whiskey burned as it trickled down my throat, but it was a good kind of burn, one that invited much more to come. I took one more sip, then handed it off to Tom.

“So, Della...” Caleb’s eyes twinkled as he leaned back in his chair, fixing his sights squarely on me. “Are you single?”

“And you say I’m insensitive?” Madison laughed as she grabbed the whiskey for another gulp. “At least I’m not trying to score a date in front of you.”

“Who says he wants to date her?” Tom interjected in a rare moment of levity. “From what I’ve heard, dating’s not really Caleb’s style.”

“Don’t listen to a word they say, love.” Caleb scooted his chair closer to mine, trying to charm me with a smile. “It would be romance all the way, a love story for the ages. Why, our good Shakespeare would have to come out of his grave just to write about—”

Before he could finish his Romeo-and-Juliet fantasy, I interrupted him with a burst of laughter and grabbed the flask again. I truly enjoyed toying around with someone who meant well, someone cheerful and good-natured, a man who actually made some sense. No more elusive, “No names,” followed by a shitty case of amnesia at the worst possible time, I thought as Caleb grinned at me.

“Romance, huh?” I gave him a seductive smile, then took more liquid courage down my throat. “Who says I’m looking for that?”

“Oh! Really, now?”

The men leaned back and let out a cheer.

Madison, meanwhile, just shook her head. “This is why they keep us down on the sixtieth floor, quarantined away from all the acceptable people.”

I laughed again before passing the flask along. “To answer your question, yes, I’m single. I was kind of seeing someone back in New York, but we broke it off when I moved here.”

“Oh yeah?” Madison’s forehead wrinkled in an innocent frown as she leaned forward to grab the alcohol. “What about since then? Any London prospects?”

My smile froze on my face as I jerked my head an inch to the side.

“Give her a break, Madison,” Tom said with a chuckle, then took another shot. “The girl’s only been here a few days. Let her finish unpacking her boxes first.”