Arrogant Boss

Julian slung an arm around me and tucked me into his side, as if it was the easiest thing in the world, as if we belonged together. Intertwined like that, we headed for the restaurant. “Good,” he said. “Because we are certainly doing that again.”

After lunch, Julian dropped me off two blocks away from my house, a bemused expression on his face. “I can’t get over the feeling that I’m sneaking around with you. But we’re both grown, and it’s the middle of the day.”

“Do you like it?”

His eyes darkened. “Sneaking around?”

“Yeah.””Sometimes, yes. It can be very thrilling. Like how I’ll sneak down into your office tomorrow, just to make sure you-”

I shook my head, smiling. “Julian, not at work, we can’t.”

“It’s not fair.” He reached across, one of his hands smoothing back my hair. “How can you expect me to work two floors above you and not swing by to spend time with you?”

“Because you have work to do. You have to become a proper billionaire, or haven’t you heard? You’re not there yet.”

Julian’s crooked smile appeared again. He was so handsome it hurt, my heart stuttering under his gaze.

“I see. My lady has demands.”

“The lady does, yes. She demands to be left alone at work so she can do her job, for one, which she went to college for and very much enjoys.”

Julian’s eyes glittered. “Such a modern little lady. A true inspiration to us all.” His eyes shifted down to my lips briefly, and I was suddenly intensely aware of how close we were in the non-moving car.

I swallowed. “She also demands to be let out of this car soon.”

“Eager to get rid of me?”

“Please. I’ve been counting the minutes until I could finally leave.”

Julian’s laugh was husky. “There you go again. Has your mouth ever gotten you in trouble?”

“Never.” Yes. It got me in this car with you.

“Did you have a nice time today?”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Yes, I did.” I leaned my head against the soft leather headrest. “I had a fantastic time.”

“I’m glad, Ace.”

Our eyes caught and held. “I’ll see you at work, Julian.”

“You will,” he said. “It’s the large building with my last name on it.”

“Asshole.”

“You love it.”

I smiled at him, my hand on the car-door handle. I should go, and yet… this man was lethal.

His eyes were warm. “Kiss me before you leave.”

I leaned over the center console and touched my lips lightly to his. My hand curved around his cheek, traced his jaw, the kiss soft and proper.

I traced his bottom lip with my tongue and he groaned in response. “Emily…”

“Whoops.”He shook his head, eyes warm. “You’ll be the death of me.”

I shot him a smile and closed the door behind me. The pavement back home was as familiar as the back of my hand, but I still managed to stumble on a crack in the ground. I hadn’t done that since I was eight and bruised my knee.

Damn man with his damn kisses.

Goodbye kisses, too. The ones you give to someone you’re planning on kissing again, and again, and again.

The earth underneath me had shifted a little.

These thoughts and more spun around in my head on Monday morning as I headed in to work. All day I was distracted-his presence was everywhere. I saw the Hunt logo on a folder and thought of him. The company’s website had a large photo of him, surrounded by a group of software developers, and I caught myself staring at it blankly for longer than I was proud of.

Get it together, Emily.

Rachel popped her head into my office around noon.

“Emily? We’re all heading to meeting room C for the meeting on the new branding logos. Are you coming?”

I glanced down at my watch. Shoot. “Yes, of course. I’ll be right there.” Collecting my papers quickly, I arrived at the conference room in a huff-not that there was any need to hurry. Josef and Sasha were pouring everyone coffee and Trent was still setting up the mirroring from his laptop. Still, I hadn’t been this distracted at work for… as long as I could remember.

An hour later and the entire team was frustrated.

“It’s not working,” Josef declared. “I understand what we’re going for here, but something about it just doesn’t resonate.”

“The color is too light,” Sasha pointed out.

I frowned. “I don’t think it’s light enough,” I said. “If we want it to work together with the other Hunt subsidiaries, then we need to streamline them.”

“But if we do that, we run the risk of this launch blending in with the rest.”

Rachel put her hands on her hips. “I think we need to take in a design consultant on this. Someone who can bring a pair of fresh eyes to the project, come up with some new ideas.”

There was an outcry of objections from the various members. I didn’t know if bringing in consultants was a common practice or not at Hunt, but it made sense to me. We’d all been sitting with this for so long that we were practically blind.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. A week ago, I would have waited to check. Now? My heart sped up immediately. I snuck it out and put it alongside my folder.

Julian: I hate to do this after this weekend, but I have to go on an urgent work trip. I’ll be gone most of the week.

Despite myself, my stomach sank with disappointment. I wouldn’t see him today then, or tomorrow, it seemed.

Emily: This is how it’s going to be? You take a girl to the racing course, show her a good time, and then you leave.

Julian: Yes. It’s kind of my MO. There’s nothing better than a one-race-stand.