Page 19 of The Boss's Hideaway Baby

“Good.” But she doesn’t move away from me just yet.

I glance down at her lips, so close to mine, and feel an overwhelming urge to kiss her. Our eyes lock, and I can see the vulnerability in the brown depths of hers, the fear still lingering there. But before our lips can meet, I pull back, remembering the gravity of our situation.

“Okay,” I mumble, feeling a flush creeping up my cheeks as I try to cover. “We should get ourselves together.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, looking equally flustered. Suddenly she gasps.

“What? What is it?” I throw a protective arm across her, thinking that the men are back.

But she sounds excited. “I forgot to stop recording when all of this started.” She pulls out her phone, the screen displaying an ongoing voice note.

“Why were you recording?”

“I was sending my sister a voice note. I was…” She looks down. “In the coat closet. That’s where I heard the men talking. They were out in the hallway.”

“Why were you in the coat closet?”

As soon as I ask, I know the answer. She was hiding because she was embarrassed.

“You didn’t have to hide,” I say. “No one cares.”

She shrugs, her eyes still downcast.

I want to comfort her, to tell her to forget about impressing anyone at that stuffy gala.

But there are more pressing matters happening right now, and I can’t afford to be distracted.

“Play it back,” I suggest, hoping it might provide some clue about our pursuers. “Maybe we missed something important.”

“Okay, give me a sec.” She fumbles with her phone, attempting to skip past the earlier part of their conversation. However, she isn’t entirely successful, and I catch her telling her sister that she’s on a “date” with her boss.

I bite my bottom lip, trying not to grin. It’s kind of cute that she didn’t mention that the date is fake.

Is it possible Maria has a thing for me?

I wish I could enjoy the brief respite from our serious predicament, but my thoughts return to the danger at hand, and my amusement fades.

It’s hard to hear the men’s voices on the recording, but what I do hear confirms everything Maria has told me. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything else. We still don’t know who the men are.

“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath. “This doesn’t give us much to go on.”

“No, but we’ll figure this out,” Maria says with determination, her earlier vulnerability replaced by a fierce resolve. “We won’t let them win.”

“Absolutely not,” I agree, feeling a surge of gratitude for her unwavering support. In spite of everything going on, Maria always manages to bring out the best in me. And I can’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, there’s something more between us than mere professional loyalty.

“What now?” she asks.

I gaze into her eyes. Good question. What now? I enjoy being around her, but I have to ensure things don’t go any further.

With a shock, I realize that wasn’t what she was asking about at all. Of course not. Why would she be asking about our relationship when we just ran for our lives from two goons?

“I should go to the police,” I say, my voice steady despite the pounding of my heart.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I don’t want you involved in this any more than you already are.”

She frowns, clearly concerned. “But what about you? You’re not going to be safe either.”

---