Brazen Bossman: A Hero Club Novel, стр. 35

Chapter 14

Piper

Ida,

Wow. Just wow. That’s all I can say about how last night went, or even how it’s going as we speak.

I’m lying in his bed right now and I’m speechless, sated, happy, and confused.

Casual sex is something I’ve done before and I actually pride myself on being good at, but nothing about last night felt casual. Not at all.

If anything, I’m more fucked now than I was before, because I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough of this. The connection is intense and addicting.

But he’s my boss, Ida. What the fuck have I done?

P

He comes out of the bathroom as soon as I press send on the email, now dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants. The infamous gray sweatpants that make women go weak in the knees and become hormone-driven maniacs.

“Okay, that’s just not fair,” I tell him, placing my cell phone on the nightstand.

“What isn’t?” He stands at the foot of the bed and crosses his arms over his chest. He’s a beautiful man in a completely traditional sense with his sculpted jaw, angular nose, and dark, intense eyes. At the same time, he’s beautiful in a unique sense with his slightly crooked smile and broad, strong shoulders that remind me of a Dothraki warrior from Game of Thrones.

I sit up and lean back against his soft, padded headboard. “You coming out in those sweats. That’s the male version of lingerie.”

“Sweatpants are lingerie to you?”

“Not just me, sir. All females. Trust me. I’ve done the research.”

His bedroom has a completely different feeling in the bright 9:00 a.m. sunlight. The windows are floor-to-ceiling with thick, blackout curtains that should be drawn, but they aren’t, leaving us exposed to the sun and anyone high enough in other buildings to see in. His walls are a rich gray with navy accents in the furniture. It’s sleek, modern, and very minimal… a polar opposite to my bedroom with my mismatched furniture and white walls.

“I would rather not hear about the research you’ve done when you’re naked in my bed.”

He crawls up onto the bed and makes his way over me. He smells freshly showered and like minty toothpaste.

“I can’t stay here forever you know. I should probably get over to work with my mom,” I moan and his hand traces along my leg.

“Wouldn’t you rather be here than chained to a kitchen all day?” He bends at the waist to nibble on my thigh. “However, I don’t mind the idea of you in chains, consensually, of course.”

My body tingles at the idea of being held in place, chained up for his pleasure.

“In your dreams,” I tease and throw my arms around him, pulling his lips back to mine.

I want to stay in this moment, right here, in his bed. Everything just feels calm and centered when it should be anything but those two things.

But the shrill ringing of my phone ensures that won’t be the case today.

“You should get that,” he says, but he doesn’t stop laying kisses all over my body.

“No. Let it ring. They’ll call back if it’s important,” I moan, arching my back off his mattress.

The ringing comes to an abrupt halt only to pick back up a few seconds later.

“That’s a call back.” He reaches over and pulls my phone from the nightstand and places it in my hand.

I look down at the screen and see “Mom” flashing brightly over the top of a picture of the two of us.

“Shit. It’s my mother. She never calls this early.” He crawls off of my body as I slide my thumb over the screen to answer. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

“Piper. You need to get here now, okay? Can you get here soon?”

She’s crying. I hear it in her voice immediately.

“Mom, what happened? Why are you crying?” I immediately climb from his bed and begin searching for my clothes, and he does the same, tossing me any of mine that he comes across.

“They are taking the restaurant. It’s happening. I thought I could work something out, but…” She doesn’t even finish. She just begins to cry even harder.

My mother never shows this kind of raw emotion in front of us. That alone pushes my feet to move faster.

My heart sinks to my feet and I sit on the edge of his bed with a plop. I knew this day would come. Anyone who can do basic math knew this day would come, but the fantastical side of me somehow believed we could save it.

“Just take a breath and try to stop crying. I’m on the Upper West Side. I’ll try to catch a cab. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Don’t call Oliver and Ben yet.”

“I already have. They are on their way.” She sniffles and takes a heaving breath.

“Jesus.” They always go all caveman and make things worse sometimes. I love them, of course, but they can be a lot, which is the last thing she needs until I can get there and see what is really going on.

“They are part of this too, Piper.”

I cradle the phone between my ear and my shoulder and get dressed as quickly as I can. Nathanial doesn’t know what is going on, but he watches me carefully as he too dresses.

“I know, I just don’t need their chaotic energy right now. I’ll be there soon. Stay put and don’t freak out, okay?”

We say our goodbyes and I toss the phone onto the bed so I can pull on my shoes.

“Is everything all right?” he asks as he buckles his belt.

“I’m going to have to run. I’m sorry for the short notice, but something has come up. This has been incredible, Nathanial. Thank you for…”

He crosses the room in a hurry and cups my face in his hand, halting my actions completely.