Page 38 of Broken Boss

Chris grinds his teeth. I see the tendon in his jaw tick with rage. His body is perfectly still, muscles tense.

“Show me.”

The words are directed at me. I take him to the plate glass windows and search the other side of the street again, feeling only slightly safe knowing that Kieran won’t be able to see me through the tint.

“He was…he was there.” I point at the local pharmacy across the street with its neon “open” sign and bench bolted to the concrete.

But Kieran is gone.

Turning, I ignore the fact that there are only inches between us and people watching. “Chris, I swear, he was here. He was watching. It’s like…it’s like he knew I was going to be there.”

He couldn’t; there’s no way.

Kieran was never that smart. Just lucky.

Chris crowds closer, his chin dipping to speak low, just between the two of us. “He must’ve been watching from the day he figured out you worked here. I’m sorry, Autumn. I should’ve done more.”

I shake my head. “No. You heard the guard, nothing can be done unless he—” My throat tightens.

I don’t even want to think about the possibility of Kieran setting foot on the property.

Of Kieran in the foyer and his twisted grin.

Kieran standing in the doorway of my office.

Kieran’s hand wrapping?—

“Come on.” He reaches for my elbow and despite the bulldog mode he’s in, grips it gently, leading me back toward the elevators. We make the trip back to his office with only a few questioning glances.

Once the door is shut behind us, Chris speaks freely.

“You’re staying with me.”

“What?”

It takes longer than it should for the words to sink in. And surprisingly, a part of me doesn’t want to fight him.

But he’s my boss.

And I’m already too close to him. Too tempted, with this strange tether between us.

Chris is moving around the office, gathering his things. His jaw is set. This is insane.

“Chris, I can’t stay with you. That’s completely inappropriate?—”

“It’s not about what’s inappropriate or what isn’t.”

He steps in front of me, moving in close. His scent envelopes me, calming my nerves. Eyes half lidded, I barely have it in me to be annoyed.

I shouldn’t feel safe around him.

“No one has to know.”

The words are a whisper as my eyes are glued to his lips. Swaying forward, a small part of me fights the urge to fall into a kiss.

I just want to drown in him right now. I want him to make me forget…

“I…no. I can’t. I have Orla, and Frank, and?—”

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