Page 16 of I Won't Be In On Monday

"What about when women stay? What do your girlfriends think about that?" she asks softly.

"If a woman's lucky enough to stay the night, she usually enjoys using my bathroom." I wink at her. "If you know what I mean."

She rolls her eyes in disgust. "Anyway. Can you get that pen and paper? We've got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in."

"Yes, ma'am," I say. "I think you kind of like bossing me around."

"I mean, it is nice to take charge sometimes," she says. "But trust me, I won't forget that I'm your assistant."

"So, you generally like to be dominant, huh?" I ask her, licking my lips.

"That's not what I said." She blushes. "I said I like to be in charge."

"As far as I'm concerned, that's another word for dominant. Are you the librarian by day and dominatrix by night sort of gal?" I ask her, and she blushes bright red again. For a few moments, I see just how pretty she is, and I want her to take off those glasses and let her hair down again. I want to pull her into my arms and study her, really see what she looks like behind the mask.

"What's going on?" she asks, staring at me and blinking rapidly. "You've got a weird look on your face."

"I was just thinking," I say, taking a step toward her.

"Thinking about what?" she asks abruptly, turning her face to the side. "We need to stop thinking and start acting. You've got a little girl coming in a couple of hours. You need to focus, Mr. Parker." Her voice catches, and I wonder if she knows that I was thinking about pulling her glasses off and studying her face and eyes.

Get it together, I lecture myself. This is not the time to finally notice my dutiful, mousey assistant and the vibrant blueeyes that I’ve suddenly realized have an almost azure glow about them.

Chapter Five

Juniper

I can hear Remington singing as he putters around in his room. The sound is strangely familiar and domestic, and I smile to myself as I get back to work. My face is still hot from him talking about being into butts. He thought I was blushing because I was embarrassed, but all I was thinking about was making sure to do squats every morning and night so that I could grow more of a butt.

I hit myself on the head so I can focus and then stare at the small bedroom I'm meant to be clearing out for his little girl. I pick up a box filled with books and carry it toward his room. "Hey, I have another one," I say as I enter and try not to gawk as he looks back at me. He's taken his shirt off, for some reason, and is standing there in a pair of baggy shorts and no top. "Where should I put these?" I ask, swallowing hard as I look over his incredible physique. He has abs for days, and my body feels weak at his golden tan. Remington Parker just grew even hotter, and I wish that I didn't know what he looked like without a shirt.

"Ah, you can just dump them over there right next to the window." He points to the floor-to-ceiling windows thatoverlook the city. "Next to the other boxes." He steps toward me. "Do you need help?"

"No, I'm okay," I say as I hurry over to put the box down. I do not need to be too close to him, breathing in his scent or even touching his naked skin. I'm trembling just thinking about having skin-to-skin contact. It was such a bad idea coming here.

"I was just changing shirts," he offers by way of explanation as he holds up a T-shirt. "I figure if I'm going to get dusty and dirty, better to do it in an older T-shirt than one I just got for three hundred dollars."

"Makes sense," I say, nodding as I hurry back towards the door. "I'll just keep bringing the boxes through?" I want to ask where he bought a T-shirt for three hundred dollars, but I need to get out of his bedroom. Staring at the rumpled sheets on his bed is doing things to my legs. The last thing I need to do is faint into a heap on the ground and then actually be in his bed.

"Sure. That sounds good," he says. "How's it looking in there?"

"Like a bomb went off." I grin at him, and he chuckles, the sound warming my heart.

"That's one thing I like about you, Juniper. You're always honest."

"Thanks. I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"I don't see why you wouldn't," he says as he pulls his T-shirt down and heads toward the door. "You feeling hungry? Do you want something to eat? I noticed you didn't eat much of the bagel."

"I didn't realize that your toaster setting was so high, and I don't really like burnt bagels," I say by way of explanation. "But it's okay. I'll eat when we're done."

"If you're sure. So, you're going to come with me to the office, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"To pick up Canyon," he says.

My eyes widen, and I shake my head. "I wasn't planning on it. I mean, you're just going to pick her up and go shopping, right?"

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