Page 35 of I Won't Be In On Monday

"Wow, never? Not even in high school or college?"

"No," he says. "I mean, I dated, obviously. I've just never felt the itch to settle down."

I lower my voice and lean forward to ask my next question. "What about kids? Did you ever want them?" He stares back at me for a couple of seconds, looks over his shoulder to make sure that Canyon is still sitting there, and then looks back at me.

"I guess I always thought maybe one day I would have kids." He shrugs. "I didn't think I would end up having a kid and not know about her. I mean, I didn't think that I would have a kid because of a one-night stand."

"That makes sense. I guess most men don't expect that. But it still happens."

"Are you judging me?" he asks, with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean? Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know. I mean it seems pretty irresponsible to be a grown man finding out he has a kid."

"I wouldn't phrase it like that exactly."

"You can be honest with me. Do you think I'm a jerk?"

"Why would I think you're a jerk? It's not like you knew about her."

"Yeah, but the mere fact that I'm in this position may make you think poorly of me."

I shrug and grab my burger. "It's not for me to judge you."

"You're being nice, Juniper. You don't have to be. You can be honest with me. It's not like I'm going to fire you if you tell me I'm a jerk."

"I don't know that. Will you put it in writing?" I say teasingly.

"So you do think I'm a jerk, then?"

"No," I say quickly. "Why would you say that?"

"Because you don't want to answer the question, and I can only think that the reason you don't want to answer the question is because your feelings about me and the situation are negative."

"I wouldn't say they're negative," I say. "I mean, you do date a lot, but that's your business. From what I can tell, it's not like any of these women think they're in an exclusive relationship with you. And it's none of my business if you wear protection or not."

"I always wear protection," he says quickly. His eyes bore into mine. "Canyon is a beautiful girl, and I love her as my daughter, but something obviously failed," he says, blinking at me. "I don't make those mistakes. I've never made those mistakes, not even when I was first having sex." He pauses. "Have you ever had any situations where you made a mistake like that?"

I can feel my face going warm. I know what he's asking. I know he wants to know if I've ever had a pregnancy scare. I shake my head quickly.

"Well, good for you. Are you on birth control, or…?" I look down and flush. I cannot believe he's asking me this. Why is he asking me this?

"Sorry, I overstepped," he says quickly. "I shouldn't have asked you that."

"It's okay," I say, my voice squeaking like a mouse. I want to slap myself at how I sound.

"No, I never want to make you uncomfortable, Juniper. I know that we've never really interacted outside of the office, and for that, I'm sorry. You're my assistant, a great one, and I wish I had taken more of an interest in you personally before this. Idon't want you to feel like I'm just using you to help me with Canyon."

"I mean, if you hadn't found out about Canyon, would we really be here?" I ask honestly. It's his turn to flush and look slightly ashamed.

"Maybe not," he says honestly. And I'm grateful for that because if he had lied, I would have respected him a little bit less.

"It's okay. I mean, I'm sure that you were out of your mind when you found out. But it'll be okay. I mean, it's not like you're a single dad."

"I feel like a single dad,” he says. “I mean, her mom's not here."

"Yes, but just because her mom's not here in person, you still have her to turn to for advice. They speak every day, right?"

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