Page 6 of Bringing Home the Biker

His eyebrows shot up. “Rent a boyfriend?”

“Yup.” I nodded quickly, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole. “That’s totally a thing, right? I was going to take a peek in the Yellow Pages before you magically appeared behind me. Or, I could always consult my dating app.” Jesus, that was truly the last thing I wanted to do.

A place that rented out boyfriends sounded a hell of a lot better than any dating app.

“Pretty sure they call that an escort, and the price might be mighty shocking,” Axel said with his tone deadpan.

Yeah, he was probably right. But what other choice did I have? “Well, whatever,” I sighed and threw up my hands. “I’ll figure something out, and I promise it’ll be after I clock out for the day.”

Axel didn’t say anything; he just stared at me with that unreadable look of his.

“I should get back to...” I motioned toward my desk, which was already practically spotless since most things had been cleared out for the holidays. “Things.”God, I really needed to think of another word other than “things.”

“Where does your family live?” he asked, catching me off guard.

“Uh, they’re up in Redmond, Utah,” I said and kept my voice cautious. This definitely wasn’t the direction I expected the conversation to go.

Axel nodded like he was filing the information away. “Are you just going for the day, or...?” He let the question dangle.

“Uh, well,” I hesitated and tried to figure out why he cared. “She’s expecting me on the twenty-fourth, and I plan to make my escape on the twenty-sixth.”Hopefully, sooner, I thought, but I knew my mom wouldn’t let me leave any sooner. “Just a couple of days. I’ll show up, deal with her nagging, and leave. It’s not a big deal.” I shrugged, very aware that this wasn’t exactly work-appropriate small talk. “Definitely not something I need to be discussing with you.”

Axel didn’t seem fazed. “A lot of family there?” he asked.

“Uh, not really,” I said and fidgeted with a pen on my desk. “Just my mom, dad, sister, her husband, their son, and my aunt and uncle.” I paused. “Why do you want to know this?”

He nodded again, his expression calm but focused like he was planning something. “When are you leaving?”

I blinked.What in the world?“The morning of the twenty-fourth. Probably around ten.” I figured that would buy me some extra time to avoid skating or whatever other activities my mom had planned. If I left late enough, I’d get there just in time for dinner, which meant less time for her to grill me.

Axel clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “Good. I’ll pick you up at ten on the twenty-fourth.” He turned on his heel and headed back toward his office like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on me.

“What?” I squeaked and jumped to my feet. “You’llwhat?” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. What on earth was he talking about?

He didn’t even turn around; he just kept walking. “Redmond’s cold, right?” he asked over his shoulder.

I scrambled out from behind my desk and hurried after him, my boots clicking against the tile floor. “Well, yes,” I sputtered, following him into his office, “but I don’t know why you need to know that. And Idefinitelydon’t know why you just said you’re picking me up.”

Axel settled into his chair like this was any other day. He leaned back slightly and looked up at me. “Unless you want to take your car,” he said, his tone calm and measured. “But I think my truck is more reliable than yours. Especially in the snow.”

My head was swimming. I couldn’t wrap my brain around what he was saying, let alone why he was saying it.

“You need to slow your roll, Axel. I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I’m saying,” he replied patiently, “I think we should take my truck since it’ll handle better in the snow.”

I blinked a few times and tried to make sense of this bizarre conversation. “Roll it back even further to where you said you’d pick me up.”

“Ten o’clock on the twenty-fourth,” he repeated as if it were obvious.

“Why?” I enunciated the word like he was missing something crucial. “Why are you picking me up?”

“Because you need someone to go with you to your mom’s for the holidays.”

“And you’re saying thatsomeoneis you?” I clarified and pointed at him like maybe I’d hallucinated this whole thing.

He nodded as if he was completely unbothered.

“You’re my boss.”

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