Page 17 of I Won't Be In On Monday

"Yeah, but I've never met her before, and I feel just a little bit awkward."

"Don't you don't think it would be more awkward for your assistant to be there?"

"I'd like to think we're friends as well as boss and employee." He smiles a warm smile that makes me flush, and I raise a single eyebrow at him as he chuckles. "You don't consider me your friend, Juniper?"

"I mean, not really. I'm not trying to be rude, but we've never hung out outside of the office. We've never really had a personal conversation. You didn't know if I had a boyfriend. You don't even know what plans I was canceling today to help you." I shrug. "So, no, I don't really consider us friends."

"That's a pretty clear no, then," he says, making a face. "Do you think I've overstepped our employee-boss relationship by having you here today?"

"Overstepped? Not any more than you normally do when you're asking me to send bouquets of flowers to your many women or setting up reservations for dates. I don't think that any of this is a part of my job description, but I'm happy to help. I can imagine it must be really overwhelming to find out you have a child and that she's coming to stay with you." I look up into his dark, intense eyes. "I do want to offer my support and help."

"Thanks. That means a lot to me." He rubs his palms against his stomach, right above the top of his shorts and I resist the urge to look down. I do not want to check for a bulge or any telltale signs of his package. I do not want to know. At all. "I guess I really don't know that much about you, and I apologizefor not spending the time getting to know you better. What do you do for fun?"

"Are we really going to talk about that now, or are we going to clear out this room?" I step back and look down for a few seconds. Not long enough to detect anything. Thank God. The last thing I need to see is that Mr. Parker is packing. I may be a virgin, but I'm not ice cold.

"Can we not do both?" he asks as he looks at all the boxes. "Does this look worse than it did before we started?"

"Probably," I say with a nod. "But usually, that's how it goes. Do you really think we'll be done within the next couple of hours?"

"I don't know. Hopefully." He lets out another sigh and bends down and starts grabbing old vinyl records and stuffing them in another box. "We'll do what we can. So, Juniper, tell me, what do you do for fun?"

"Wait, you really want to know?"

"I asked, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I thought maybe you were just being polite because you realized that you kind of overstepped by having me come in to work on a Saturday."

"I did overstep, but what if I say you're going to get a bonus?"

"I'd say I hope it's a big bonus."

He grins. "How big?" My face goes red again as a little voice in my head whispers,"That’s what she wants to know.”

I stare at him for a couple of seconds, and there’s a naughty glint in his eyes. I don’t know if he made his comment as a double entendre on purpose, but I will not rise to the occasion.Stop it, Juniper,I think to myself. I need to stop thinking about his package.

"That's up to you," I say, bending down and picking up some more books and stuffing them into another box. "I really like to write," I say quickly before he can ask me what I like to do again.Or even worse, I make some stupid comment about him being in his sexy shorts by mistake.

"Really? Like legal briefs or..."

"No." I burst out laughing. "Who likes to write legal briefs for fun?"

"Not me," he admits. "So, you write articles or..."

"No, I write short stories and books."

"Cool, cool. Would I have read any of your work?"

"I mean, I'm not published or anything," I say quickly. "I just do it for fun. You know?"

"Oh, nice. What do you write?"

"Most likely nothing you read."

"You don't know that."

"What do you like to read?" I ask him.

"I love sci-fi, some fantasy. I was really intoGame of Thronesback in the day. I'm still waiting on the last book. It's annoying."

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