Page 62 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

“Do we need to talk about this?” She gestured between us.

“Hopefully you understand my intentions at this point,” I said. “I want to get to know you better.” I reached out and took her hand. “I’m desperate to get to know you better.”

Jessica graced me with a wide smile, almost like the ones she gave her friends, but a little different. In this case, I was fairly certain that different was good. “I’m open to negotiations.”

I needed to distract myself, so I glared at the baskets. “Halfway?”

“Halfway.” Jessica gave me a knowing smirk that turned my knees to jelly.

“We’d better get started.” The sooner we finished, the better.

***

The rest of the evening went by in a blur of working and getting as close to Jessica as possible. We talked about our favorite activities and what theme we would adopt for a mini golf hole if we had to make one.

Jessica knew how to keep the conversation light, and as promised, we took a break when we reached the halfway point.

We took more than one break.

I couldn’t remember having ever been as attracted to any woman as I was to Jessica. It was so bad—or good—that I almost asked Jessica to take a selfie with me to send to Aunt Mei but decided to wait until after the retreat. While this felt as real as anything ever had in my life, it was still new, and new could be problematic.

We managed to get out of the building by midnight, and even though I was certain I’d never be able to sleep, as soon as my head hit my pillow, I fell into a deep slumber.

I wouldn’t describe my state as I walked into the hotel the next morning with Jessica’s coffee in one hand and a huge duffle bag of golf clubs in the other as amenable, but I was awake enough to get through the day.

I hoped.

As long as Jessica was around.

She’d sent me two messages on my way in.

Jessica:Morning, sunshine, are you ready for this?

I’d sent her a thumbs up.

Then, a few minutes later.

Jessica:I called the committee in early.

That had roused a frown from me, but Jessica knew what shewas doing, and the more hands we had, the easier things would be.

Two committee members rushed past me pushing the hotel’s luggage cart piled high with baskets. Seeing them brought back vivid memories from the night before, and I felt heat rising on my cheeks.

Who knew that the very memory of Jessica could elicit a blush?

“Hey, Peter,” Dan said as he came by with more baskets.

“Morning,” I grunted.

I was still essentially the same person I’d been the week before. The less peopling I had to do this morning the better.

The flow of employees from the office led me to the ballroom, where I found Jessica directing people like the conductor of an orchestra.

“Each team needs these items.” She pointed first at a whiteboard where she’d made a list complete with pictures held up by magnets. “Put a whole set in each square on the floor, which should be labeled by team.”

We’d gone over this part of the plan, but I blinked, trying to keep up.

Jessica spotted me, and her lips twitched into a smile for a brief moment, then settled back into her bossy mode. “We’ve got an hour and a half. Plenty of time.” She waved at the gathered crowd. “Let’s do this.”

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