Page 20 of Bad & Bossy

I sat down in my chair, the cramped space of my office almost suffocating. That had been far more intense than I’d imagined it in my head, even when one of those scenarios I’d come up with had ended with him fucking me over his desk. I shook the thought away.

My attraction to him was still strong, maybe even stronger. That was a problem in and of itself, because my god, I could not handle him. The moods, the hot and cold, those were quite the put off. Though I could understand the topic of family being triggering for him, I probably would have responded much the same to the question had someone asked me that.

Halfway through typing out a summary of the answers to send to my manager, my phone rang. For the smallest of seconds, I wondered if it was him. An apology, maybe. A text. Anything. But instead, Lottie’s name flashed on my screen, and I answered it as I sent off the email to Allison.

“Hey,” I said, a smile spreading across my cheeks. We hadn’t spoken in almost two weeks, and with Drew and work and everything else piling on top of me, time had gotten away.

“Oh my god, I’ve missed you,” Lottie gushed down the phone. “How are you? How’s Drew?”

“I’m okay. Drew’s good. I’ve missed you more.”

“I swear, we need to get Brody and Drew together for a playdate soon. I need Dana time so badly,” she chuckled. “I’m sorry I haven’t called.”

“It’s okay, no worries.” I leaned back in my chair, my eyes turning to the mop slouched against the wall on the other side of the tiny office. I had a sneaking suspicion I shared a space with the custodian. “We definitely need to get together. I miss the horses.”

“Maybe sometime this weekend? If you’re available, I mean. I know your shifts can be a bit weird. Oh! How’s work? I heard he-who-must-not-be-named is back.”

My blood ran cold. “You knew he ran the business?”

“Uh…”

“Lottie.”

“Look, I,” she sighed. I could hear Brody’s giggles in the background. “Please don’t be mad.”

“Seriously?”

“I didn’t know how long he’d be gone. And I thought maybe, when he came back, you guys could, like, talk. Or make up. Or make out. I don’t know.”

“Jesus—”

“I know, I know, it was childish. But I just thought with everything that maybe it was worth it. I didn’t want to meddle and stop you from leaving Harris Ranch just because he owned Pearson Beers. You wanted out and it was a good offer.” The way she rambled made my head spin. “But I’ll hire you back if you want to leave. I don’t want you to feel trapped.”

I sighed and kicked the base of the wall with my boot. I could tell her I was pissed, I could shout at her, but I just didn’t have the energy. But it still hurt a little that she knew what had happened between us and hadn’t said anything to me when I started working here. “It’s okay. I’m not mad. Just a little taken back.”

An incoming email from Allison made me pause.

Meet me in my office in five.

“I’ve got to go,” I said. “And not because I’m annoyed—which I am, a little—but I have to meet with my manager.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. I’ll see you soon.”

————

The short walk to Allison’s office gave me time to think far too hard about the situation with Cole. The more present he was around here would inevitably cause complications. He seemed more in control, much more confident in a way he hadn’t been before. He was always a light in the dark somehow, but now, he was shining even brighter.

I wondered what caused the change, wondered where he’d been.

A buzz in my pocket had me checking my phone with hope again, but this time, it was a text from Vee. A photo of her and Drew in the park, his giggling face lighting up my world for just a moment. The nanny stood behind them, her eyes off in the distance, almost as if she were standing guard. It was nice to see Vee getting along with Drew. Maybe she didn’t think he was the anti-Christ after all.

A thought hit me like a sinking stone as I slowed to a stop outside Allison’s door. If Cole was going to be around more often, he’d find out fairly quickly I had a son. I didn’t exactly keep it a secret—it was plastered all over my time-off requests, my schedule, and my emails.

How the fuck was I supposed to tell him Drew was his?

Chapter 7

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