Page 6 of Big Built Boss

I freeze, my breath catching as his eyes drop to my lips. For a second, I think he’s going to step back, but instead, he leans in and presses his lips to mine.

The kiss is soft, chaste, and over far too quickly, but it leaves my heart racing.

“Get home safe,” he says, his voice steady despite the tension in the air.

“You—you too,” I stammer, still reeling.

Before he can say anything else, I grab my purse and practically flee the office. My face burns as I mutter a quick goodbye to Josh on my way out.

When I get to my car, I sit there for a full ten minutes, trying to process what just happened. My mind is a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, and I know I should be worried about what this means for my job, my future.

But all I can think about is the way Alex’s lips felt against mine.

This is going to be a problem.

Chapter Three

Alex

I definitely crossed a line with Olivia. I’m her boss. What I did could be considered an abuse of power. Still, I didn’t do it because I was getting off on being her superior. I did it because there’s clearly something between us. It was so tangible that I’m surprised it wasn’t visible.

Josh could tell that something happened between the two of us before she left last night. When I left the office, he asked if Olivia was okay. Of course, I told him that she was okay, but he didn’t believe it. The only kindness he extended to me was not pressing any further. I know him well enough to know that he wanted to, though.

For the entire rest of the day, I’m thinking about what I did. I wonder if I should apologize. Olivia didn’t seem to be all that opposed, but she also didn’t say anything positive about it. For all I know, she’s just a flirty person who was enjoying banter with me. I might have completely overstepped yesterday.

I get to work early this morning to open the gym with Josh. We get everything going silently until I can’t take it anymore. Ican feel his eyes on me, the question of what happened between Olivia and I on the tip of his tongue.

“I want to get your opinion on something,” I begin as the two of us are reorganizing the free weights that our closing employee didn’t put back properly at the end of the day—I can’t say that I blame them, everyone’s overworked and exhausted.

“Is it about Olivia?” Josh asks, confirming my suspicions.

“How’d you guess?” I counter, refusing to show any kind of weakness. He’ll pick it apart if he can sense it.

“Aside from how she was bright red with a goofy smile on her face when she left yesterday?” he says as he picks up the fifty-pound weight with ease. “You were dodgy when I asked what was up with her yesterday.”

“That was a rhetorical question.” I put the weight in my hand down a little harder than I know is necessary.

He chuckles and straightens out, taking a step back to ensure everything’s in order as he says, “So what is it that you want an opinion on?”

I take a moment to consider how to word this. Coming off as a creep is the last thing I want to do, but I didn’t really think this through before starting the conversation. Finally, I settle on saying, “The two of us have been flirting.”

“Just flirting?” he quips as he raises an eyebrow, seeing right through me.

“Maybe I kissed her,” I say after a tense moment of silence.

“Alex, come on, dude,” Josh groans, his show of dramatics grating on my nerves. “She’s been here a few days; you’re going to scare her away.”

“It’s not like I forced myself on her,” I counter, frowning at him. “I think I caught her by surprise, though.”

“What do you mean by that?” he says. His hands settle on his hips, and even though he’s about ten years younger than me, he exudes a fatherly aura.

“Well, I planted one on her right before she left,” I explain, deciding to be upfront with him. I’m not one to be intimidated by others, but it’s probably best that I let him know what’s going on and with that look on his face I can’t find it in myself to beat around the bush.

“So that’s why she looked the way she did when she left,” he murmurs thoughtfully.

“I guess,” I say with a shrug.

“Did she say anything before she walked out of the office?”

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