Page 24 of Stranded for Christmas with my Boss

My mom sinks into my dad’s arms, letting him hold her close as their car is taken away by the tow truck. Their day started out so normal, and if they had been a little faster or the other car was a little slower, they could’ve been the ones T-boned.

They could’ve been flipped and rolled across both lanes, and I don’t see my two older parents surviving a crash like that. They narrowly evaded death today, and instead of driving them home, I could’ve been driving to the hospital to identify their bodies.

My stomach lurches at the thought, bile rising up my throat as I put my hands behind my head in an attempt to breathe better. Our financial woes are worrisome, but I’m just glad they’re alive.

“Are you guys ready to go home?” I say once I catch my breath.

My parents nod and walk over to me, flanking me on both sides. Having them right beside me makes the tension gripping my bones lighten up a little, but the crushing grasp of anxiety doesn’t fully go away.

In one way or another, we’re going to suffer due to this incident. If the future wasn’t hazy and uncertain before, it certainly is now.

Chapter twelve

Jensen

Confusion strikes me as Alyssa takes off in the opposite direction from me, making me stop in the middle of the hallway.

She didn’t look happy. She looked…I can’t even place it. Concerned? Horrified?

I rub the back of my neck as I watch her essentially attack the down button until the elevator doors finally slide open. She doesn’t even look up at me before the doors shut.

This doesn’t seem good. At all.

“Shit,” I mutter beneath my breath, wondering what has her looking so upset.

I suppose I could’ve been kinder after I fucked her again in my office, instead of telling her to keep working, but I’m still trying to figure out how the hell to act around her. It’s not exactly a straightforward, completely professional relationship, even if it should be.

Maybe I should go after her or call her to make sure everything is okay.

Before I can do either of those things, I hear footsteps quickly approaching me from behind.

“We need to talk.”

I barely get a chance to turn around before Austin pushes me in the direction of my office, making me nearly stumble inside before he shuts the door behind us. “What the hell, man?”

Austin turns to face me, his arms crossing over his chest. He shoots me a glare that immediately tells me that I’m in trouble. It’s the same glare he gave me when I woke up hungover on one of my exam days in college. But more serious.

“Why did you take Alyssa into your office and shut the door? And why did she leave your office looking…flushed?” Austin questions me.

Oh, shit.

“Are you monitoring the hallway or something? I thought you were fixing that profile picture bug. People are going to be pissed if they can’t resize their photos.”

Austin steps closer to me, giving me a warning look. “Don’t play dumb with me, Jensen. What happened in your office when you shut the door?”

I hold his sharp stare for a few seconds, trying to think of any sort of excuse to give him so that he gets off my back. What else can I say other than the truth or for him to mind his business, though? And if I tell him to stay in his own damn lane, he’ll know that something happened in my office between us.

“All right, all right,” I mutter as I take a seat, a heavy sigh breaking from me. “Alyssa and I…we’ve slept together before.”

Shock fills his face as he stands there in tense silence. He blinks at me and shakes his head, beginning to pace the way he usually does when he’s overthinking or overwhelmed. He used to keep me up at night when he was stuck on whatever programming project he was working on, and he would pace and pace until he came up with a solution to try.

“You slept with your assistant? What the hell were you thinking?” Austin finally approaches my desk at lightning speed, his teeth gritting as he hisses out the words low enough that no one outside my office can hear them.

I sigh and lean back in my chair, expecting a barrage of chastising, which I deserve. I’m doing things that I shouldn’t be doing, but he has no idea how hard it is to stop. “I know. Everything you’re about to tell me are things that I’ve already told myself.”

Austin rubs his jaw, pacing once again. “Did you sleep with her earlier? Are you seriously doing this stuff where anyone can catch you?”

“I didn’t sleep with her,” I assure him before lowering my eyes. “We kissed and did stuff, but we didn’t have sex. That was only one time more than a week ago.”

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