Blindsided By The Boss

16 - Eloise

My hands snapped into the air, and I stepped back, avoiding Callum's touch, hissing, "Don't fucking touch me!" Then, I turned around, covering my eyes and yelling, "Wrap that fucking towel around you!"

He chuckled. "Why should I? It's nothing you haven't seen before... Ellie—I mean, Eloise."

I felt phlegm filling my mouth and swallowed hard. "I can't believe this. I can't fucking believe this!" I screamed, stomping my foot. "What kind of sick joke are you and my friends playing on me?"

His hands gripped my shoulders, and I shook them off. "I said, don't fucking touch me!"

"Eloise," he desperately pleaded my name. "Please don't be pissed at me. I did nothing wrong. This was all Rory's and Isabelle's doing. And I only figured this out last weekend. I swear."

Suddenly, I started to sweat and became numb, lightheaded, and nauseous. My heart rate picked up, and I started trembling. I think I'm about to have a panic or a heart attack. I wasn't sure which one I was about to have. But something was happening, and now I feel like I'm about to lose it—and lose everything I just ate and drank.

Callum's hands gripped my shoulders, and I shook them off again. "What part of don't touch me do you not understand? You fucking tricked me! For four months, you've been fucking with me! Cal? What the fuck? How could I be so fucking stupid?"

This time, instead of gripping my shoulders, he wrapped his arms around me when I started marching out of the room to leave. "You're not going anywhere, sweetheart. Not until we talk."

"I'm not talking to you, to Isabelle, or anyone else, for that matter. So you all can go to hell," I snapped, trying to get out of Callum's hold. "And I'm especially not going to talk to you when you're naked."

His arms tightened around me. "Eloise, stop. I need you to listen to what I have to say."

"I don't have to do shit," I hissed. "Especially listening to an asshole lie to me."

"I've never lied to you, Eloise. Please. Let me explain myself. I deserve that much."

I think you should just let him talk and allow him to explain his reasoning on certain things. — Lilah. She's right. I should see what he has to say because there's a lot of explaining he needs to do—especially about the night we spent together in Florida.

"Fine... cover yourself up, then."

I raised my phone to message Isabelle when Callum let me go to cover himself.

Me: I'm so fucking mad at you right now. How could you do this to me? Callum? My one-night stand in Florida? What the fuck, Isabelle???

Isabelle: Don't be mad. Just hear him out, please. Everything has been an enormous misunderstanding. I promise!

Whatever.

Callum's arms returned around me, and my eyes closed when his mouth lowered to my neck, and he started kissing it. His lips on my flesh felt amazingly good, but I was in no mood to be pleasured. "Please don't," I breathed.

"Eloise, I honestly had no idea that was you in Florida," he finally said. "Not until the next day when I read my emails."

How could he not know?

How could I not know?

He continued, "... the next morning, I panicked when I read those emails you sent. If I had known you were my assistant, that night would never have happened."

"How did you not know that was me? When you approached me, and I told you I was working to meet a deadline by midnight, and when I mentioned I was there for my grandmother's funeral, how did you not figure it out? Seriously? How did you not put two and two together? Were you that fucking anxious to get laid that you never thought it could be me? Your assistant?"