Brazen Bossman: A Hero Club Novel, стр. 43

Until you actually lose your job, I’d say don’t let it get you all riled up.

Companies change ownership all the time without the staffs being affected in the least.

I think what it comes down to is that you don’t fully trust what is happening between you, so your mind is taking things to the extreme, so you can hide from him and your feelings for him.

A woman doesn’t send emails to an advice column over and over if she isn’t harboring some kind of feeling.

Stop running from it.

Trust me.

Ida

***

Nathanial is in his office when I arrive, with his door shut, and on our interoffice instant messaging system shows him as “busy” so I don’t bother him. Given his mood Saturday evening, who knows what is going on in his world today.

I’m just settling in for the morning and firing up my email when Kate comes by my desk and places a cup of coffee directly in front of me.

“Mmmm. Oh my God, that smells amazing.” I waft the fumes up into my nose.

“I figured that was the way to your heart, considering you are sleeping with our boss and you didn’t think to tell me,” she says with her hands on her hips.

“WHAT?” I bolt up from my chair. “Kate, Jesus Christ,” I whisper-yell.

She whisper-yells right back, “Well, it’s true.”

“Not here.” I take her hand. “Follow me.”

I all but drag her down the hallway to an empty office as far away from everyone as we can possibly get. The office is dingy and depressing, begging for a revamp of some kind. The offices on this side of the building never get used. They are too far away from the main hustle and bustle of our floor, so they are sad and ignored.

As soon as the door closes, she lets loose.

“Before you say anything to me at all about this, I need to just know that you’re okay. Are you okay?” She hops up to sit on the empty desk by the window.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Why?” I lean back against the closed door, tucking my slightly curled hair behind my ear.

“Because I know you and I know your aura. It’s so blue right now that I could mistake it for the ocean. Did something happen?”

I sigh heavily before walking over to plop down in the seat in front of her. “Well, the very short answer is yes, I’m okay. The long, complicated answer is just that, long and complicated.”

“We can stay here undetected for ten minutes. I’ve done the research.”

“I have questions about that, but I have a feeling I don’t want to know those answers.”

She smiles and turns red. “You don’t.”

One day, she’ll fess up to whatever is happening between her and my brother, but for now, I leave it be and divulge the details of the entire past few days. The text, the almost kiss, the romp on his desk, his penthouse, and dinner with my family, plus his admittance that he is putting Lennox on the market.

“There is so much to unpack here, I don’t even know where to start. Holy shit, Piper.”

I drop my face into my hands. “I know. I know. It’s so fucked up.”

“Let’s get the easy stuff out of the way. How is he in bed? You know I have to know these things. We’ve been talking about it for so long. Spill.”

In any other circumstance, with any other man, I’d give her every sordid detail down to the size, color, and shape of their penis, but with Nathanial, I want to keep certain things private for myself.

“Let’s just say, he lived up to every expectation plus a thousand.” I look down at my hands and smile at the memory of his hands on my body.

“Oh my God. I knew it. He just oozes sexual ability, even if he is an asshole. Speaking of which, he clearly isn’t that way all the time, so why is it so bad when he’s here? Because everyone knows he’s one unbearable jerk sometimes.”

I shake my head. That is the understatement of the century.

“I think it has a lot to do with his father. We don’t really talk about his family or about him at all really. He told my mom a little about his business, but nothing personal. I haven’t really pressed because it doesn’t feel like my business.”

“Girl, that man had you in his bed, let you sleep over, then had dinner with your mom and brothers. That’s personal, which makes asking these things your business.”

Moments like this remind me of the many talks we had over ice cream and cheap booze when we were in college. Only now it’s office air and coffee.

“Am I wrong for being upset at him for selling Lennox?”

“Um, not at all. Piper, this is your job, your security. You actually love it here, which is more than most people can say for where they work. Selling this place puts that at risk. I think you’re completely within your rights to be upset, but… I don’t think it’s a personal attack on you or the people here.”

I groan like an upset child. “I hate that I like him. It would be much easier to stomp around and act mad if he weren’t so freaking cute.”

A knock on the door draws our attention. We exchange glances, sure no one saw us come in here.

“I’ll get it,” I tell her, before rising from my seat and smoothing out my high-waisted, pinstriped slacks.

When I pull the door open, I’m met with the intense green eyes of the man who has my body, mind, and heart in a whirlpool, inside of a hurricane, with an earthquake thrown in for good measure, and a side of tornado.

“If you ladies are finished partaking in your morning gossip while on company time, the meeting was called for fifteen minutes ago. Everyone is waiting in the conference room. Except you two, of course.”

He is leaning against the doorframe, filling the doorway completely with