Page 41 of Dear Grumpy Boss

I don’t understand this. The raw, rough intimacy we shared last night…I’ve never experienced it with anyone. And I’ve never wanted it with anyone. I want that back. I want all of her desires and dreams for the rest of our lives.

Now, there’s only this tense…awareness arcing between us. Or is that just me?

I sweep my gaze over her, wishing there was no distance between us at all. Wishing I could tell her how I feel. “You look beautiful, Mouse.”

Pink dusts her cheeks and she presses a hand to her middle. “Thank you. I…” She upends the wineglass and finishes it. Then wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “Am I allowed to thank you for the over-the-top generous present?”

“If you accept it gracefully, yes. It’s not just a present. It’s a bonus for all the work you put in over the years. Not just as my assistant, but by making the company a bright place.”

“Oh…that’s a sweet thing to say. But, Zayn—”

“I said no discussion, Mouse.”

“Not even about how you give me this blinding, giant-ass gift to hide the fact that you’re firing me?”

Anger claims me in a scorching fire. “Firing you?” I shoot to my feet, cross the myriad poufs and stools and tables to reach her and glower down at her. “I didn’t fire you. You…saidyou had toleave me.”

She comes to her feet too and puts the wineglass down with a such a thump that it’s a wonder it doesn’t shatter in her hands. “Yes, but in the middle of last night, you said you can’t without me….and I said I’ll stay.”

“I don’t want a fucking pity stay, Mouse,” I bite out bitterly. “Anyway, when I thought about it this morning, I realized that you’re wasted as my assistant. You…you’re one of those people who makes the world a safer, kinder, more wonderful place for others. And you can do that best running a bookstore with your best friend.”

Tears fill her eyes and she sniffles. “You really think all that? You aren’t just saying it to be rid of me?”

I reach her and cup her hip, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t touch her tonight. Not unless she asked me to. With my other hand, I catch one lone tear. “I think all that and more.”

She licks her lower lip, eyes wide and needy behind those glasses. I know her expressions now and I love that I do. “More? Like what?”

“Eager for praise, huh?”

“From you, yes.”

I splay my fingers far and wide, to touch more of her. “You’re like a rainbow in the sky, Mouse. Bright and colorful and joyous. With a pot of gold in secret places.”

She huffs and turns pink. My other hand loses the fight against the alluring invitation of her curves. Now that I have both hands on her, I’m not sure I can ever let go again. Doing it once this morning nearly broke me.

“And why would I want to get rid of you? You’re the one who’s insisting on leaving me.”

Her eyes flicker between mine. “After last night, things could get sticky between us. And you hate that kind of awkwardness in your every day. Or you could be afraid that I’ll become all clingy and demanding and ask for stuff you don’t want to give?”

I skim my knuckles over the silky soft skin of her jaw. “You’re putting your fears into my reaction, Mouse. Not fair.”

“No?”

I shake my head and pull her closer. “Whatever you ask for, I told you, is yours.”

“I forget that when you say something, you mean it.”

“You know me, baby.” The endearment slips out of my lips, but I’m damned if I take it back.

She wraps one arm around my shoulders and hugs me loosely. Her thick curls dance between us as she bends her head and leans it against my chest. “You make me feel beautiful and brave and bold. So here goes.” Her chest rises and falls, and I’m entirely too distracted by the lush globes of her tits. She presses a palm to my chest and meets my eyes. “I want your heart, Zayn. May I please have it?”

Seventeen

Zayn

Every cellin me comes to attention, every muscle bunches with tension. My breath catches in my throat, blocking my words. Or is that my heart—the thing she so boldly demands into her keeping—lurching into my throat, rushing toward her?

“Why?” The word is an unmanly croak but I don’t care.

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