Page 22 of Dear Grumpy Boss

My boss sucked my tits and made me come so violently that I still can’t stand straight.Or something equally mortifying.

Like the “Mouse” he calls me, I walk the perimeter of the ballroom and cast a glance toward the kids’ zone I’ve had set up in a conference room. Pizza and donuts have arrived and there’s already a huge line for the balloon animal guy. For a moment, I consider spending the rest of the evening with them. There, no one with beautiful amber eyes will mock me or drive me out of my own skin.

“You’re not thinking of hiding, are you?” says a booming voice behind me.

I turn around to find my brother Adam towering over me, thick brows bunched together. Having not seen him in three months, I throw myself at him like a little girl.

He grunts and hugs me so tight that I feel ridiculous tears piling up my throat. Thirteen years older than me, he’s always been my safe space, especially after our parents died.

Keeping my fascination with Zayn a secret from him has always made me feel like I’m lying to him. Or hiding an important truth about myself.

Now, though, I’ve set things into motion that can never go back. Zayn is mad at me and I’m mad at him and we’ve crossed a line that might make Adam mad too. And what if Zayn and Adam fight because of this?

All the ways that things can go wrong makes me shudder. I’ve always been afraid to rock the boat. Now, I’ve gone and capsized it.

Adam strokes my back as I struggle to keep it all bottled inside. “You’re shaking, Sash.” Then he kisses the crown of my head and laughs. “Already missing Granny and Gramps? I’ll be around for a few weeks this time.”

The hearty affection in his voice cuts through my stupid fears. Having made the decision to quit work, I’d called him in a panic. And now that he flew back from New York just so I’m not alone…I feel awful.

Pushing out of his arms, I kiss his cheek. “I’m sorry. I just…”

“Why are you apologizing to Adam?” says the man who has been MIA over the past two hours.

My face flames instantly and I can’t, for the life of me, make eye-contact with Zayn. I keep my gaze somewhere at his chest. It’s not guilt that weighs on me—we’re two consenting adults. But something else.

Adam squeezes me closer, one arm around my shoulders. “Mouse doesn’t want to be alone over—”

“I think it’s time you stopped calling her that.”

My head jerks up at the confrontational tone Zayn takes. And then it’s stuck on him, because the man is knee-meltinglygorgeous in a black suit. With his hair slicked back, he looks like he walked out of the cover shoot from one of his magazine profiles.

Our gazes hold, his pulling me into his gravity.

Adam, oblivious to our undercurrents, only laughs. “Should I?”

“Yes. That pet name is…asinine. Neither is she incapable of living by herself in that big house. If anything, I’d say she’s more capable than any of us at making big decisions.”

Adam looks like he’s been punched in the throat by his best friend. His laugh slides from his mouth and he gapes at Zayn and then me. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I say, suddenly sweating under my slinky pink sheath dress. “Zayn’s having a tantrum, as usual.”

My boss sidles up to me and thrusts his face into mine, the tips of our noses nearly colliding. “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

“Tell me what?” Adam growls. But his voice sounds far off, as if he’s worlds away.

My breath leaves my body, leaving me shaking. I don’t want Adam to know about us. If the “us” even exists anymore. “Zayn, don’t be—”

“What is he talking about, Sasha?” My brother says again, eying us both with suspicion.

“Nothing,” I say, putting my hands on Zayn’s considerable chest and pushing.

He doesn’t budge. God, the man might as well be a sculpted statue. Only he’s not, with warm skin, tensile muscles, and a thumping heart.

He lowers his head even more and his breath drapes my ear shell. I squeeze my thighs together to hold on to the sweet ache there. “Come dance with me and maybe I’ll shut up.”

I look up and there’s that wicked glint in his eyes again. “You’re up to something,” I say, a hundred shivers claiming me at that look.

He shrugs. “Are you coming or should I tell Adam how you begged me to—”

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