“Not even said weary assistant?”
He patted my ass and grinned. “You’re not weary. You had ten hours of sleep. You’re rested and ready to face another week of working for your intolerable boss.”
Rising on my toes, I slid my palm over his chest to the side of his neck. “You’ve become extremely tolerable lately.” I touched my lips to his. “Likable even.” Another kiss. “I’d even say sweet.”
He scoffed. “You were selling it, then you went too far.”
“Don’t argue with me.”
My ass was treated with another squeeze. “Go shower. You’re late for work.”
I was still smiling while I was washing my hair, but something niggled at the back of my mind. Something Elliot had said. I couldn’t quite grasp what it was, though. I felt like I should have been worried, but I didn’t know what to worry about.
So I decided to let it go.
The rest of the day could crumble to shit from here on out; this would still be one of the best mornings I’d had in years.
Hi!
It took two letters and one stupid exclamation point to spoil the fun.
Although Elliot and I hadn’t arrived at work until ten, by noon, I was sitting with Davida and Raymond at our favorite café, having lunch and hashing over the text Liam had the audacity to send me today.
“That’s really all he had to say?” Raymond punched his palm, which was funny because there was absolutely nothing tough about him. He even winced slightly at the contact. “Fuck that guy.”
Davida pushed my phone back to me. “Absolutely, darling. Do not reply to him.”
“Oh, I wasn’t planning on it.” I rubbed my temple, wishing I could have basked in my blissful night of sleep a little longer. “I’ve only just stopped being angry at him.”
Ray waved a fry at me. “He probably sensed it and decided he needed to remind you of his putrid existence so you didn’t get too comfy.”
“Or he’s bored,” Davida offered.
“Most likely that,” I agreed. “He’s not sensitive enough to have some type of Jedi awareness of the Force.”
Raymond cocked his head. “Are you sweet-talking me with nerd speak? You don’t need it, you know. I’ll babysit my girl for free any time you ask.”
I laughed, a drop of my good mood returning. “I know you will. She told me she missed Daddy Ray. We’ll have to hang out this weekend if you’re free.”
He and Davida exchanged a glance. A loaded one.
“At your place?” he asked, but the way he’d said it, it sounded like he was asking something else entirely.
I should have known this was coming. They’d both asked, more than once, to visit us at my house. At first, I obviously kept them away because I lived in a hellhole. And now…well, I lived in a castle with my boss and wasn’t ready to face their disapproval.
“I was thinking the park,” I hedged.
“I don’t know.” He scratched his chin and hummed. “I think Joey wants me to see her room.”
Davida patted his hand. “Cut the shit, darling. Ray and I want to know what’s going on with you and Elliot.”
I blinked at her, heat rising up my chest. “What do you mean?”
She peered at me down her nose. “You arrived together almost two hours late and he’s been smiling at you so much, I wondered for a moment if he’d been body snatched. You’re fucking, aren’t you?”
I fell back in my chair, slowly shaking my head. “No. Not yet. I’m staying with him temporarily.”
Raymond groaned, and Davida’s shoulders slumped. I’d disappointed them, and it made my bones feel far too big for my skin.
Raymond’s face scrunched in discomfort. “You’re staying…in his house?”
“I am.”
“That’s a terrible idea,” Davida stated. “You know this.”
I nodded. “I know it is.”
I could have explained he’d been helping me. That they didn’t know him the way I did, how sweet and gentle he was with Joey. That he’d let me sleep for ten hours while taking care of my daughter for no other reason than I needed it. The closet full of clothes, shoes and bags. The iced coffees and notes, dinners together, his mouth on mine…
And they would still tell me getting involved with the man who held all the strings was a wretched, awful decision.
“So stop,” Raymond urged. “Pull back. Get out of it before it’s too late.”