Going to a nightclub was at the very top of the list of things Montana Simmons would have never agreed to do and it wasn't just because she was extremely introverted. She was also a socially anxious prude.
Well, she would have never admitted it but she was.
It was safe to say she had spent all her life living under a rock. All twenty-four years. As a teenager, she was never the type to go to parties let alone have a boyfriend. Even as an adult, she only left her house for work.
She used to live with her dad and stepmom but ever since her dad died, it had just been her and her stepmom who had nothing but resentment for her. She treated her like shit but Montana never complained. She didn't have the guts to.
She was the definition of submissive.
Someone who was her polar opposite was her newly found best friend. Samantha worked at the most popular club in the city and she was everything Montana wasn't. Fun and well, not a prude.
Her birthday wish was for Montana to spend the whole night at the club with her just to get her out of her hole. So there they were at the club, sitting at the bar, three shots in and Montana felt like she had just chugged an entire bottle.
She had been sitting in the bar all night and Samantha had stepped away a few times to serve drinks. They were half celebrating Sam's birthday and a half celebrating Montana getting a new job.
Montana used to be working at a pizza place with an extremely overbearing boss but now she had gotten a job at one of the biggest companies in the city. It was a miracle.
It was a few minutes past 11 pm and Samantha had suggested a million times that they get on the dance floor but Montana had insisted on just staying at the bar. They drank and talked and very quickly, Montana got tipsy. She had a very low alcohol tolerance.
Samantha had made her promise to stay till at least an hour after midnight but a few minutes to midnight, Montana was making her way out of the club through the backdoor. She had wanted to stay but when a man in the VIP corner wouldn't stop staring at her, she knew she had to get out of the place as soon as possible.
She had assisted Samantha by serving drinks to the people in the VIP corner of the club and ever since then, a man had been staring at her. He had that menacing look in his eyes that didn't only make Montana uncomfortable but also frightened. She knew she had to leave, there was no debating it. Samantha thought she was being kind of immature for leaving just because someone was staring at her.
It was quiet outside the club, the music had slowly faded. It was a cold, bright night and Montana immediately regretted wearing a sleeveless top. She had taken the backdoor because she thought if she had gone out through the regular exit, the man would have walked up to her. Then just when she was about to round the corner and make her way to the front of the place, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her backward. She roughly collided with his large frame and before she could scream, he slapped a hand over her mouth, holding her head to his chest.
She squirmed for a while, trying to free herself from his tight grip but it soon proved impossible and she began to cry.
"Relax Montana" His deep husky voice echoed in her head.
His voice was oddly calm and soothing. She did exactly as he said. Her breathing steadied and she stopped crying. He had this hypnotic hold on her. Montana had no idea who he was or what he wanted but for some reason, she felt like she wasn't in danger.
He loosened his grip on her and his hand slowly slid down her face, down her side, and then stopped on her thigh.
Montana sucked in a sharp breath as she felt his hand on her exposed skin and her heart began pounding hard against her chest. She looked down as his fingers fiddled with the hem of her leather mini-skirt and suddenly, he slid further up her thigh, his hand disappearing into her skirt. Before she could stop herself, she grabbed his hand, stopping him.
He stayed quiet for a few seconds before speaking up "I'm not going to hurt you" He whispered ever so quietly in her ear and she hesitantly let go of his hand.
He stroked her thigh for a while and his other arm roamed her body, sending shivers throughout. She slightly tilted her head to face the pitch-black sky and closed her eyes, letting out short shaky breaths.
Run away. A voice in the back of her head pestered but she couldn't command her legs to move. Running away might have been the right thing to do but honestly, she didn't want to.
She was letting a man whose face she hadn't even seen touch her. It could have been because she was scared he would do something if she didn't comply or because she trusted him just by the few words he had uttered. If running away was the right thing to do, then maybe she didn't want to be right.
He finally spun her around to face him and her eyes immediately went round in shock. It was the man who had been watching her.
She didn't know who he was or how he knew her name. He gently pushed her against the wall and placed his hands on both her sides. She looked straight into his eyes and he stared back.
Just when he leaned in, she spoke up, placing both her hands on his chest to stop him. "I um..." she tried to protest.
"Sshhh" he immediately cut her short, pushing her hands off his chest and he captured her lips in a kiss.
It came as a shock at first but soon she gave in and he deepened the kiss, opening his mouth and coercing hers open. Montana could have never in her wildest dreams imagined she would be making out with a stranger behind a club at midnight but there she was doing exactly that.
His eyes blazed with passion and desire as he ran his hands over the length of her body, feeling every part of her. Her body responded to every touch and she moaned softly into his mouth. Seeing she liked it, the corners of his lips lifted into a grin. He then moved his lips away from hers and down to her neck, kissing her down to her collarbone and then the exposed parts of her chest. She sucked in a sharp breath and he looked up to face her. She had her eyes tightly shut, facing the pitch-black sky.
He straightened up and gently grabbed her jaw, lowering her head to meet his gaze.
"Come home with me" He didn't sound like he was asking as he stared deep into her eyes.
She blinked twice and her eyes flickered between his. "I..." she began. "I uh..."
****
Waking up stark naked in a stranger's bed on a Sunday morning wasn't the weirdest and most embarrassing thing that happened the next day. It was the fact that she didn't even get to see him. She had woken up alone in the bed, feeling sore all over and all she could think about was how she had given herself to a man she didn't know. She could have never imagined her day would end with a one-night stand.
She lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling in thought for a couple of minutes before she heard a knock at the door. After she responded, a lady stepped into the room. "Hello, good morning, I'm Grace, the house chef, Mr Galloway had to go somewhere really early this morning but he asked me to prepare you breakfast and get you an Uber" She had said. "So what would you like to eat ma'am?"
Montana didn't know how to feel. It turned out the man had an entire staff working at his massive house and they all just stared at her as she left. She felt like a hooker.
She got back to her apartment and after her arguing with her stepmom for sleeping out, she laid in bed all day, regretting not stopping him. She honestly didn't know why she didn't. She felt ashamed and she couldn't look at her face in the mirror.
Monday came quickly and she decided to put everything that happened that night behind her. It was going to be her first day at her new job so she wanted everything to go perfectly. She had found a way to convince herself that having a one-night stand with a stranger was a mistake and that everyone makes mistakes. That was what she wanted to believe.
It was in her past now and she was going to try her best not to think about it. It was the first time they met and she had no idea who he was so the chances of meeting him again were pretty slim and that was great. Montana thought she would lose her mind if she ever saw him again.
And she did.
The first person she met when she showed up at her new job was the CEO's secretary, Kelly. She was the one who had conducted her interview and now, she was briefing her about her new job.
Montana was the secretary's assistant so any task Kelly was too busy to carry out, she would send it down and Montana would work on it.
While they exchanged numbers for easy communication, Montana heard him whisper her name. She instantly froze in place and at first, she thought it was her imagination messing with her. She thought she was crazy until she heard Kelly greeting someone. She snapped her head up and instantly, she met his gaze. He was standing just a few steps away and he had that same look in his eyes from the club.
They held eye contact for a few seconds before he shifted his gaze to give Kelly a slight nod and then walk away.
Kelly explained to her that he was the CEO, Mr. Trey Galloway, and then handed her a folder to work on before scurrying off in his direction.
Montana felt like disappearing into thin air. She had unknowingly hooked up with her boss and she couldn't think of anything worse than that. She thought the whole one-night stand thing was going to stay in her past but she couldn't have been more wrong. He was her boss and now she was going to be seeing him every day. She was stuck with him.
She tried to look like nothing was wrong as she stepped into her new cubicle but she was freaking out on the inside. She had made a lot of mistakes but sleeping with her boss, that was the peak of it all. She spent the first hour of the workday texting Samantha, telling her everything that had happened. She went on and on about how she was never going to listen to her again and that she would have been better off living in her shell forever.
Samantha thought she was overreacting. She said she wouldn't mind sleeping with her boss as long as there were no strings attached and she got treated better at work. As slutty as that may sound, she meant every word.
How they were friends was beyond Montana.
She hated herself for giving in to Trey, she couldn't believe she did. She tried to resist but his voice was so calm and compelling and he just knew what to do with his hands, how could she say no to him?
Even as she worked on the files Kelly had given to her, she couldn't get him out of her head. She had multiple flashbacks and it made it hard to focus but in a couple of hours, she was done. Soon, she found herself clutching the folder and making her way to the elevator. She was heading to the 26th floor to hand the folder to Kelly. She was really scared she would encounter Trey but she had to do it. She planned to hand Kelly the folder and leave quickly but that plan soon proved impossible when Kelly told her Trey wanted her to bring the folder in herself.
Montana knew she couldn't do it. She begged Kelly to give the folder to him but Kelly knew better. Trey hated being disobeyed, the last thing she wanted to do was get him angry.
Montana really did try to give the file to Trey herself but after she knocked on the door and he told her to come in, she froze and then ran out of the place, dropping the folder on Kelly's desk.
She couldn't do it but soon, she found out all she was doing was trying to avoid the inevitable.
Trey got angry, seeing it as she went against his orders and he asked Kelly to find her and bring her back.
Soon, Montana was back in Kelly's office, not so ready to go into Trey's office to give him the folder. Kelly explained to her that she had angered him by running away and that frightened her. She planned to just go into his office, set the folder down on his desk, and hope he doesn't yell at her.
She was scared but at the same time, she felt really stupid for running away earlier.
She sighed exasperatedly as she approached Trey's door. Her heart was threatening to jump out of her chest. She knocked on his door and almost immediately, he told her to come in.
Clutching the folder to her chest, she stepped into his office and immediately met his gaze. He was sitting behind his desk, leaning back into his chair and he stared straight at her, his eyes blazing with anger.
Montana shifted nervously on her feet and it took all of her willpower not to run out of the office. Being in the same room with him made her uncomfortable and she was finding it hard to keep eye contact with him. Looking at him flooded her mind with memories of that night and she hated it.
"I.. um... I.." Her voice cracked and she stopped, deciding not to say anything. She was going to apologize but maybe it was better not to.
She slowly approached his desk and then set down the file. He didn't take his eyes off her for a second. Then just when she was about to turn and leave, he sharply got up from his seat.
Startled, she tried to step backward but he roughly grabbed her by her jaw, holding her in place.
"I want to know why you felt the need to disobey me" He hissed, backing her against the wall.
She let out short shaky breaths and her eyes glistened with tears. "I'm... I'm sorry" she said, almost a whisper. "I didn't mean to, I..."
"Speak up Montana" He growled at her.
"I'm sorry" She cried. "I'll never disobey you again, I'll do anything you want" She begged, shutting her eyes. She was really scared.
He slowly released his grip on her jaw and she opened her eyes. He had placed his hands on the wall on both her sides, trapping her and he stared straight into her eyes. She trembled and struggled to keep eye contact.
"Anything" He repeated in a monotone. His anger slowly faded away and something different blazed in his ey
es. Something Montana couldn't recognize.
She stared straight into his eyes and her breathing slowed down.
"I want you," he said.