Page 54 of Married to My Grumpy Minotaur Boss

I finish the interviews and head to the yacht, determined to spoil Justine as much as possible for the next week.

TWENTY THREE

Justine

“So how do we handle this at work?” I sway a little as the yacht is bumped by a wave and I have to grip the back of Ronan’s seat.

“Ah, why don’t you work from home this week? Better yet, take a few days off. Relax. Compensation for all the uh... overtime you’ve done this week.”

I have to sit then. Mostly because of the choppy water on the harbor, but also because my knees suddenly feel a hell of a lot weaker than normal. “Really?”

“I insist.” Ronan folds his arms over his massive chest.

Who am I to argue with that?

I hand him his phone, which Amy just gave to me when I collected mine. Now we’re returning to real life, or pretending to, we get our phones back. I know Ronan will be glad.

I switch mine on to find twelve messages and three missed calls from Courtney. I’m alarmed at first, thinking something must be wrong. Did we have a rental inspection I forgot about?

Then I open the most recent message and promptly flip my screen over after reading only a few words.

Courtney: have you and the hot minotaur daddy...

I glance sideways to find Ronan giving me that sardonic, panty-melting smirk.

Shit.

He totally saw it.

His brow quirks higher the longer I say nothing. With a resolve of steel, I hold my silence.

He’ll get distracted soon when he checks his phone.

He goes an awful long time without doing anything but watching me.

I break. “I might have given you a nickname, but in my defense, it was way before we... got married.” I swallow.

I’ve given too much away.

The look he’s giving me is so different from the cool looks of disapproval I’m used to him fixing me with, and three hundred percent more dangerous.

Everything he does is more dangerous now I know how hard he can make me come.

His long ear flicks, but finally he looks away. Under his breath, he mutters, “Officially, the answer has to be no. You know that, right?”

I nod. I’m still grappling with the fact that he used the word officially. What does that mean?

“I don’t hate that nickname, though.”

I blink at him. That can’t be right.

I sink down lower in my seat so the crew won’t see my cheeks flaming with heat. Did he—?

Did Ronan Kernos just give me permission to call him Daddy? Is that something I want? Also, did he just imply I can tell my friend about what we did? Unofficially, of course.

I’m too excited to concentrate on anything else for the whole trip back across the harbor. I don’t reply to Courtney. I have to decide what to say. I also don’t want to do it where Ronan can read my answer over my shoulder or I’ll combust.

When we arrive at the rental apartment, I remember we’re not actually staying at his home. It’s the apartment he had me rent to stage as his home.

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