Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“So…uh…the paperwork,” she breaks the silence, refusing to meet my eyes now.
Oh, absolutely not. I refuse to pretend that Friday didn’t happen. Not when it changed my damn life. “I’ve been thinking about you for days,” I tell her again. “Not getting your number is the biggest regret of my life. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Sean, I…I need this job,” she says quietly, voice shaking. “I’m sorry for running on Friday. Polly, my friend, she needed me and I wasn’t thinking and I…well, I’ve been thinking about you too.”
Hope rises in me fast, and she must see it in the grin that spreads across my face because she shakes her head quickly. “But we can’t be together.”
“What?” I snap immediately.
“You’re supposed to be my boss.” Her eyebrows pull together. “It’s not…I mean, is that even allowed? Isn’t there a rule against fraternizing with employees? I’m sure that sort of stuff isn’t, like, HR approved…”
“Trust me, sweetness, fraternizing doesn’t cover the things I want to do with you.” I lower my voice and lace it with desire. “Besides, office romances aren’t not allowed. There’s HR paperwork and things to sign but that’s all. I’m the boss, Savannah. I make the rules.”
“Oh. But even still…I mean… God, what will everyone else think?” She ducks her head to try to hide her blush. I see it anyway, taking comfort in the fact that I clearly still affect her the way she affects me.
“I don’t care,” I answer without a second thought.
“But I do,” she whispers back, stopping me in my tracks. “You have to know how this would look, Sean. Like I’ve been hired just because I’m…dating…” She stumbles over the word, flushing, unsure of what to call this. “...the boss. There’s boundaries now. This changes things.”
“I want you, sweetness,” I repeat, undeterred by her argument. Fuck everyone else. Fuck the rules and fuck the boundaries. I need this woman in my life, and I know she wants that to. Christ, even now, the air between us is practically crackling with electric attraction. “I don’t care if I’m not supposed to. You weren’t my employee when we met, when you tripped into me and stole my breath, when I kissed you. You can’t tell me that you can’t see how good we could be together.”
“You don’t even really know me.”
“I want to. I want to know everything about you. Give me a chance.” I’m leaning across the desk now, a pencil snapping under my palm, invading her space but managing to keep my hands to myself.
“I can’t,” she says softly. “I’m sorry, Sean. I don’t want to be known as the girl that’s fucking the boss. Everyone will hate me. Please, just let’s go over the paperwork and get started, okay? I promise I’m actually a really good secretary.”
Even if she’s the worst secretary I’ve ever had, there’s no fucking way I’ll let her go. She’s said no, and I’m not so much of an asshole to push that. But I will change her mind.
She’s it for me. I’m sure of it. Everything I’ve been waiting for is wrapped up in one stunning package.
And I’m going to prove it to her.
7
SAVANNAH
I’m hiding in the bathroom. It’s immature of me, I know, but I don’t care. It’s only my third day here, but I can already feel cracks forming in my defenses.
On the first day, Sean ran me through my training. Most of it is stuff I already know and am used to, but with the heat of him at my back, the deep purr of his voice in my ear, and the scent of his cologne scrambling my mind, I could barely spell my own damn name, never mind remember all the technical things.
I try to be a big girl and do the right thing by telling him we should keep things professional. Yet here I am, just two days later, already kicking myself for it.
Yesterday, I sat in on a meeting in the conference room, taking notes and learning to decipher all the business chat that seems like another language. By the end of it all, the talk of investing and reports and predicted outcomes was practically ingrained into my brain.
Sean sat me right next to him, then tugged my chair closer because he wanted to check the notes on my screen even though I only had a blank document open, and I spent the entire rest of the hour trying to remember how to act normal with his thigh pressed against mine under the table.
So, yeah. I’m crumbling and fast. But god, he’s just so…hot, obviously, but also sweet and kind and patient and everything I’ve always imagined the love of my life to be.
“He’s also your fucking boss, Savannah,” I scold myself in the bathroom mirror, scowling at my reflection.
Though, Sean doesn’t seem to think that his position matters at all. He doesn’t understand that it's not simple, at least not for me. How can I possibly hope to find a place here at this company, make friends with coworkers, and settle in if everyone thinks I only got hired because I’m sleeping with the boss? I don’t want to be that girl.