Page 12 of Boss with Benefits

A short while later, I walked home, the summer night air warm against my skin. There was a hop in my step. I’d forgotten what it was like to work in a vibrant place like Dreamary with people who were eager and enthusiastic and nice.

Hotties by Pilates was fine, but everyone was in such a hurry to get back to their busy lives after class, I never got to know any of the clients. Ginna and I had opposite schedules since we didn’t need two manager-types at the studio at once, and the Pilates teachers were friendly, but they did their class and then left again.

Derrick might be pissed at me, but he’d get over it. Right? It wasn’t like we were friends, I reminded myself. He was my boss. I didn’t need him to like me. I needed him to respect me, which I thought he did, despite my misstep earlier.

Or he’d fire me the moment I walked in tomorrow.

I had no idea I’d hit so close to home when I was teasing him. I’d apologize except that would make it way worse because I wasn’t supposed to know.

Whatever. I’d go in with my head held high and continue to prove to him that he couldn’t live without me because Dreamary was fast becoming the job I never knew I wanted.

That left a smile on my face, and for the first time in over a week, I didn’t look over my shoulder, paranoid I was being followed.

7

DERRICK

Islipped my AirPods out of my ears and glanced out the interior window and into the hallway. I was working in podcast studio one and Rachel was on the other side of the glass, palming her boob.

This woman was going to be the death of me. I threw a pen at the window. It clanged against the glass, and Rachel looked up startled, then pushed the door to the studio open and poked her head in.

“What’s up, Boss?” she asked.

Her hair was woven into a thick braid dyed in rainbow colors and cascading over her right shoulder. I’d avoided her since she called me out on my problem. She was only giving me a hard time, like she loved to do, but I was annoyed at how I’d reacted. I’m sure it made her realize there was some truth there. She didn’t know what, but she knew something.

“Stop touching yourself at the office,” I grumbled. Rachel plopped down in the roller chair next to me.

“It wasn’t sexual,” Rachel scoffed, crossing her arms. “I was checking for lumps. Breast cancer runs in my family, so I have to be diligent.”

“Do you have to be diligent here?” I shook my head and scooted my chair a few inches away from her. This girl was too much.

“I forgot to cop a feel in the shower this morning like I normally do, so I had to check the girls here.” Rachel shrugged, but I swore her chin wobbled. “It’s no biggie. They’re just boobs.”

“Damn it, Rachel. Don’t say that stuff.” Unwillingly, my mind flashed to her hands on her naked breasts, rubbing them. I dug my fingers into the leather seat, cursing the rush of lust that filled my groin.

Lexi was right. I needed to get laid and bad. I couldn’t be fantasizing about my employees.

“It was for medical purposes,” she huffed.

I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply. “I can’t talk to you.”

A mischievous glint marked her gaze. “Wanna help?”

I stood up and slammed my leather-bound notebook shut. “I know you like to be shocking,” I said, standing above her. “But this is my company, Rachel. I don’t care if you touch yourself. Just don’t do it at the office.”

“Why are you so uptight?” Rachel stood and bumped her shoe-clad toes against mine, close.

I took two steps backward. “This company was almost taken down by my partner’s misguided sexual encounters last year, and now that we’re part of NOW, we have to be extra careful. And the shit you pulled the other day, joking about my sex life, isn’t going to fly here. I like to run a casual work environment, but there are certain lines you don’t cross.”

Rachel lifted her right hand to her forehead and saluted.

“Sir, yes, sir. I promise I will no longer touch my breasts between the walls of Dreamary or discuss your sex life.”

I rolled my eyes as we stepped into the hallway, giving up. “Why do I even try?”

Rachel slapped my back. “Lighten up, Boss. Do you have a butt plug stuck up your ass?”

I glanced around but no one was within hearing distance.

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