Bounded To My Playboy Billionaire Boss

　　Stacey's POV;

　　I stood in front of the tall mahogany door that led to the meeting room, clenching the handle of the silver tray nervously with my palm.

　　"I firmly believe that only men who can maintain a stable relationship are capable of maintaining a good business," I could overhear Mr. Donovan, one of our important business partners-to-be, through the door as I tried to balance the tray of teacups in my hand. "And we all know, you most certainly aren't capable of that, Mr Richard."

　　I opened the door and wobbled into the meeting room. "Good day," I greeted loudly with a smile, but no one seemed to notice my presence, as usual. I've actually gotten used to feeling invisible by now. I began to absentmindedly serve everyone their tea.

　　It has been roughly about a year since I started working at Desmond Pictures, one of the biggest filming production companies in the world. I was offered a job as a secretary shortly after finishing film school, a step closer to my dream of becoming a movie director. I mean, it would have been crazy to turn down an offer like that, right?

　　Maybe not, because the one thing I was soon going to learn was, deciding to work here was going to alter the entire trajectory of my life, starting from this day.

　　"I'm already engaged," I heard Richard say almost in a roar, drawing my attention back to my surrounding. Everywhere went silent.

　　"And the girl I'm engaged to is in this room right now, putting on the same ring as me." Richard added. The tension in the air was palpable, as everyone wondered who Richard was talking about.

　　The only noise was the clacking of the teacups against the table as I continued to serve everyone their tea, seeming to be the only one unaffected by Richard's statement.

　　I mean, the arrogant playboy billionaire was engaged, so what?

　　I silently mourned for the poor woman who had the tragic fate of being his fiancée.

　　"I'm engaged," there was a slight pause, as if he was searching for the words, "to Stacey Smith." he finally revealed, with that familiar smug voice I despised.

　　Wait!! D-did he just say Stacey Smith? Like me? Stacey Smith?

　　I stood still, frozen with shock, trying to piece together the words in my head like a puzzle. I managed to raise my head, looking to the source of my confusion, wanting to confirm what I thought I heard.

　　I realized the attention from everybody in the room was turned to me, their eyes a mixture of surprise and shock. It appeared we were all on the same boat in that department.

　　At first, it seemed like they were focused just on me but as I scanned through the room more intently I discovered their eyes were more focused on my finger.

　　I looked down at my hand, and there it was. On my left hand, a slick silver ring embedded with sapphire gems around it, the same one as Desmond's.

　　What?! How was this possible?

　　Mr. Donovan looked at me, his eyes inquisitive. "Is this true? Are you engaged to Richard?"

　　I opened my mouth and tried to say something but the words stuck in my throat, unable to come out. I just stood there, doe-eyed and confused.

　　Richard took purposeful strides over to me, an air of authority following his movement. "Honey, I have told you severally to stop doing petty tasks like this, your fiancé is the almighty Richard Desmond." His voice was sweet as he picked up my hand and rubbed it lovingly.

　　My mind was spiraling and my brain seemed to be on overload. I couldn't understand what was happening. How could one mundane Tuesday suddenly turn into one embedded in it, the most absurd statement I have ever heard. Me? Engaged to Richard Desmond?

　　Richard Desmond was said to be the hottest billionaire bachelor in Los Angeles. His father owned Desmond Picture, and now he ran the company. He was a man every girl would kill to even have a single conversation with. Well, that was what others would say when they were asked to describe Richard. To me, he was just a spoiled, arrogant, playboy, who thought too much of himself.

　　I had tried my best to avoid ever crossing paths with him apart from when my duties as his secretary demanded it. My disdain for him had started growing ever since my third month at the company when he had yelled at me for trying to get in the same elevator as him.

　　He had demanded I stepped out of the elevator, saying, "You would make the air reek of mendicancy." I even had to search up what 'mendicancy' meant. But now here he was, not even one foot away from mendicant me, calling me his fiancée?

　　"Can't you see the matching rings we have on?" Richard's voice sounded through the hysteria of confusion going through my head. I looked up at my left hand he was now holding up.

　　The ring I was wearing was a gift from my best friend, Aliya, which she had gifted me for my birthday last night. She had gone on and on about it being a limited edition and how only two designs were made. I hadn't paid her any attention because I wasn't a fashion freak like she was. Her parents were rich, so she could afford to buy such luxuries.

　　The ring had refused to come off last night, and I had planned on going to the jeweler after work to get it removed. Who would have thought that decision would come back to bite me.

　　"Hmm…I don't know, but something seems off. Mr. Dovanan said doubtfully, stroking his hand across his full gray beard. "Are you sure you aren't saying this just to avoid my proposal of dating my daughter, Vivian?"

　　Richard burst into a laugh. "What! No. I and Stacey have been seeing each other for quite sometime now," the words rolled out of his tongue with ease and he looked at me like this was actually true.

　　Was this man drunk or what? We'd never even had more than two interactions outside of work.

　　"We realized how in love we were with each other and decided to make it official. In Fact we decided just last week to finally go public with our relationship." he smiled widely. I was dumbfounded at how good this man was at lying, even I began to ask myself if it was true.

　　Did I get engaged and not know about it? Maybe on one of my sleepwalks?

　　Mr. Donovan turned his focus on me again, I could see the doubt still evident in his eyes. This was my opportunity, my chance to clear this whole thing. I cleared my throat and adjusted my stance.

　　Since my mouth had failed me the last time, I decided to use my eyes to tell him that this was all a lie and I would never date Richard Desmond, even if he was to be the last man on earth.

　　I began blinking like I was giving a morse code; a desperate cry for help. Mr Donovan observed my movements and I was sure he understood what I was trying to say. "She seems really flustered, I guess you both must actually be dating then." He reclined back on the black swivel chair he was seated on.

　　I sighed. My blinking had only made things worse for me.

　　"Although, I'm still not fully convinced about this whole engagement thing." Mr. Donovan rose from his seat. "I would like to observe for a while before I sign the deal."

　　He put his hand into the pocket of his well-tailored cashmere suit fabric and brought out a Golden card.

　　"I'm throwing a party, and I would like you to come with your fiancée," he told Richard as he handed him the card. "This would greatly influence my decision in signing the deal, so I advise you don't miss it." He shook Richard's hand and walked out of the meeting room, closely followed by his entourage of assistants.

　　As soon as Mr. Donovan left, Richard announced for everyone to be dismissed. Everyone immediately packed up and left the room, but I couldn't move. I just stood there trying to understand what just happened.

　　He looked up at me, his brows furrowing in irritation. "Why are you still here? I said you all are dismissed." His harsh tone was a stark contrast to feigned sweet demeanor earlier.

　　It was like I hallucinated him just announcing to a room full of people that I was his fiancée, barely five minutes ago. Mental pictures of him holding and caressing my hand flashed through my head and my shock quickly morphed into anger.

　　There was the real Richard Desmond, all entitled and arrogant as ever. How could he just tell an absurd lie like that and not even attempt to give me an explanation?

　　"Sir, I'm not sure if I heard you correctly earlier, but did you just tell everyone that I was your fiancée?" I tried to articulate my words while calming the anger brewing inside me. Maybe, just maybe, it slipped his mind.

　　"Yes, and so?" he replied passively.

　　"Yes, and so?" I thundered. That was the last straw from this arrogant piece of shit.

　　At that moment I didn't care that he was my boss. "Do you understand what this means? My pictures would be plastered on every blog right now, and my name on every site as your fiancée. Did you even think about all this?" I was furious at how drastic of a change this would mean for me.

　　"Calm down, I only did it to sign a deal with Mr. Donovan. He's a very conventional man and believes only men that can maintain a relationship can maintain a business," he continued. "Let's just keep this on until after the party he invited us for."

　　Was being engaged a joke to this man?

　　"Plus you should consider yourself very lucky that you happened to be coincidentally wearing the same ring as me. Do you know how many ladies pray for such a coincidence?" Richard bragged.

　　Consider myself lucky? God! How could someone be this self-absorbed and egocentric?

　　"This is less of a prayer answered and more of an inflicted curse moment for me, Mr Richard. I never asked for this," I blurted and the words just continued rolling out of my mouth. I couldn't stop them. "You know you're so proud and so full of yourself for a man who is so arrogant and literally sleeps with anything wearing a skirt. Even if you were the last man on earth, I would never get engaged to you, so get off your high horse."

　　I put my hand over my mouth, realizing I had just said all this out loud and not internally.

　　Richard stood up with a look in his eyes I couldn't quite describe and began walking towards me, causing me to move backwards. In an instant, I found myself cornered, leaning against the wall.

　　Like a predator set on its prey, Richard closed in on me. He stood just a breath away, with his hand pressed against the wall as his intoxicating musky scent filled my sense of smell. I could see his ocean blue eyes up close, his pink soft lips, the exposed part of his chest through the opened buttons, all reminding me why girls went feral for him.

　　His 6 '2 frame towered over my 5' 2 petite stature, then he brought down his head, leaning into my ear. His lip lightly grazed my lower earlobes as he whispered, "You would act as my fiancée until I close this deal with Mr. Donovan,"

　　I gulped but tried to maintain a stance despite my quavering voice, "And if I refuse?"

　　"If you refuse…" he drew his face away from my ear and brought it to face me. "Well you can't refuse, Stacey Smith."

　　This was the first time I noticed that he actually knew my name and for some reason my heart began to pound heavily against my chest.

　　Suddenly the door to the office swung open. "What?" the person in front of the door yelled.

　　We both turned towards the door, shocked.