Page 98 of The Girlfriend Zone

He sighs heavily but nods. “I know.”

As he heads to the kitchen to wash his hands, I straighten up, zipping my jeans. On his return, he checks out the pack of pups, still silently staring at us.

“Weirdos,” he says, but it’s spoken with such affection as he strides over to them, petting each one on their little heads. The image is social gold.

Impulsively, I grab my phone. “Can I take a picture? For the team feed if they want it?”

He turns his gaze to me. “Sure.”

I tell him to sit on the couch, and he obeys. The dogs pile onto his lap, and the shot of him in his suit, covered in pups makes me swoon.

And I know I won’t be the only one. He rises and says, “I definitely should go now.”

“You should,” I say.

But once more he gives the middle finger to the ticking clock, coming right up to me in the living room, stroking my cheek and saying, “I know that broke the rules. I know we shouldn’t do that again, but right now I have something to tell you.”

“Okay,” I say, urging him to keep going. This must be what he wanted to tell me earlier.

“I want you to sleep in my bed when I’m gone,” he says, and he already told me that when he showed me around.

He clearlyreallywants me to.

“I will,” I say.

“I want you to send me a picture of you in my bed. Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

“And I want you to fuck yourself on my bed while I’m not there.”

I tremble from his filthy request. “I will.”

“Did you bring your toys?”

“No. That seemed presumptuous.”

His lips twitch in the hint of a grin. “Call me presumptuous then. Because I left one in the nightstand drawer for you. As a thank you gift.”

This man. This fucking man.

Then he hauls me in for a hot, passionate kiss that ends far too soon. When he breaks it, he says, “We shouldn’t do that again.”

But he doesn’t sound convinced one bit.

I’m not sure I am either.

30

A ROOM OF HER OWN

Leighton

I could get used to this life.

The next morning, I’m standing on the second-floor balcony, sipping a steaming cup of Jasmine Downy Pearls—AKA the world’s greatest tea. The sun’s rising above the bay, and I tell myself yesterday was a mistake I won’t make again.

A delicious, toe-curling mistake. But even so, it can’t be repeated. Especially since he’s now my employer. It’s temporary, but who knows? It’s best if I don’t get more tangled up with a man who’s already so deeply entwined with my family and my job. Now, myjobs.But I also don’t want to take a chance with my future or with his.

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