Page 25 of Boss with Benefits

"I gotta run. Are you good to get home?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said and waved her off, distracted.

When Priya was gone, I quickly googled the deli, and sure enough, there was a short article inNew York Magazineprofiling the place. At the end, there was a brief mention of Derrick:The owners' son, Derrick Jacques, is the successful and well-known podcaster whose company was recently acquired by NOW Media.

I was on high alert now; every towering man that walked down the sidewalk or into the deli drew my attention. I was sure Derrick wanted nothing to do with me right now, but I hated having unresolved business. It felt ick.

Catching him off guard might be the best bet to get him to listen to an apology. It sounded like a great plan, but after sipping my soda for thirty minutes, there was no sign of him. It was a long shot that he’d be there. He lived in Manhattan, and I had no idea how often he visited the deli or his family.

I skated two blocks to the subway, walked down the steps on my toe stops, and waited on the platform.

The train barreled in, the wind whipping up my flaming red hair, the color du jour. The doors opened and I stood aside, waiting for the passengers to disembark.

A young woman about my age stepped out, her dark hair in a high ponytail, silver hoops in her ears. Behind her was a tall, barrel-chested man. I noticed the tattoo on his arm first, the snake that slithered over his thick forearm and around his biceps and disappeared up his sleeve.

Derrick.

He was laughing at something the woman said, and his eyes skimmed over my head, not spotting me, but he must have felt me gaping because he twisted his head back toward me. Our eyes met and he clamped his mouth shut, cutting off his laugh.

"Come on," he said to the woman, hastily pulling her along the platform, ignoring me.

"Wait." I skated toward them, the train screeching forward, leaving without me.

The woman locked eyes on my skates, recognition lighting up her face. "Are you?—"

"She's not worth our time," Derrick interrupted loudly over the departing train.

I opened my mouth to fire something hurtful back, but the sting from his words silenced me and I couldn't form a comeback.

He took the steps two at a time, not looking back. The young woman smiled apologetically and then hurried up after him.

I glared at his retreating back, grinding my teeth, furious. A simple apology wasn't going to cut it, I realized. His dismissive words were nothing compared to the insult I had flung at him in his office. It wasn’t like me. I didn't typically use someone's pain or difference to attack and shame them.

I had to do something. Not just to save this job, but to make amends for my awful behavior.

I crossed my arms and waited for the next train, a plan formulating.

13

DERRICK

"Why are you so pissed at that girl?" Valeria stacked chairs outside the deli, where we were helping our father close up for the night.

I lifted small metal tables two at a time and hauled them inside. "To use words of your generation, she used my trauma against me."

Since you can't get it up.

My jaw tightened, remembering. All of Rachel's accusations had been correct, but that last one she had thrown at me was a stab in the gut.

Last year, my partner Isaac couldn't keep his behavior professional and had an inappropriate relationship with an intern. It was consensual, but the intern turned out to be a spy from a rival company trying to sabotage our deal with NOW Media.

During that same time, I had gone out with Peyton. Employees could date each other but had to disclose it to HR. What I didn't know at the time was Peyton and Jackson, the company's general counsel, were in a relationship. There were rumors it started as some tutoring thing, but I didn't dive into it because she was so clearly in love with Jackson and so clearly not in love with me, it didn't matter how they got together.

"What trauma?" Valeria asked, locking the doors and rounding the deli counter.

"A secret about me that someone told her," I said.

"Ooh, what secret?" Valeria asked.

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