Page 118 of Holiday Hire

I close the space between us and palm her cheek. "I never thought of you like that."

"No?"

"No. Not once."

Tension builds between us.

I swipe my thumb over her lips and add, "I like you—a lot. But I don't know what to make of us. I'm not used to...well, any of this. I just don't want to hurt my sons if... I don't even know if you're still with that dickhead."

Her lips curve, but she stays silent.

My pulse races faster. I push, "Are you with him?"

She slowly shrugs. "I don't know what's going on between us."

My heart sinks. I blurt out, "I don't go for women taken by other men."

Phoebe clears her throat. "What about Cheyenne? Sounds like you have a lot going on with her."

I admit, "It's a friends-with-benefits situation. That's it."

Phoebe cringes. "People really do that?"

I shrug. "I have a lot of responsibilities with the boys and the ranch, but I still have needs. What can I say?"

She pauses, then offers, "Fair enough."

"This is complicated all around, and I don't know what to make of it."

"Well, it doesn't help that I broke the golden rule."

Confused, I ask, "Be nice to others?"

She shakes her head. "No. Don't sleep with your boss."

"I'm not exactly innocent. It goes both ways," I declare.

We're quiet for a long moment.

She puts her hand over my palm that's on her cheek and closes her eyes. Then she opens them and says, "Maybe it's best if we're just friends. We both have things going on we need to deal with, so it's probably best if we don't cross the friend line again."

My stomach churns, but I can't argue with her. I slowly flip my hand over hers and kiss the back of it. "Okay."

She smiles.

"So you don't hate me?" I question.

She sighs. "No."

"Good. It was a pretty crappy day knowing I hurt you," I admit.

"I'll agree I've had better days than today."

I glance around the room. "This really was nice of you to do."

"Thanks. I had a good team to help me," she states.

"Should we go to dinner?" I ask.

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