Page 32 of The Wrong Boss

My heart sank. Was he escorting me out? Had he decided that I wasn’t worth the trouble? He was firing me so quickly? I wouldn’t even have the time to figure out how to tell him about our child, because he’d toss me out onto the street like I was nothing. Less than nothing.

I couldn’t blame him. In a way, I was an existential threat to him too. How could we work together, considering our history?

“Don’t bother?” I repeated, shooting him a sideways look.

The line of his jaw was tense when he replied, “There’s no need to take the subway. There’s a car waiting downstairs.”

“Oh,” I said, shocked. “I see. Thank you, but that’s really not necessary.”

The corner of his lips curled a fraction of an inch. “I disagree,” he said. “Because I’m coming with you.”

TWELVE

COLE

There werea million things more worthy of my time than tagging along to go to some print shop that hadn’t managed to get a couple hundred wedding invitations right the first time around. A million things that would keep the company running, that would help me run the business that had been entrusted to me by my only remaining family member.

A million things that I’d ignore time and time again, because the minute Carrie had walked out of my office, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay away from her.

Her skirt hugged the generous sweep of her hips as she entered the elevator, and I remembered how it had felt to sink my fingers into those curves, to run my thumbs over her hipbones, to spread her wide so I could taste her. For the first time in—God, how long had it been since I’d been this turned on? How long had it been since raw need had consumed me,forced me to turn away from all the things I told myself really mattered?

Long enough that the brush of her sleeve against mine sent my heart racing.

She smelled sweet and delicate, but when I looked at her, her face was pale with splotches of red. Frowning, I studied the glassy look in her eyes and worried that I’d given in too easily about calling an ambulance.

“How are you feeling?” I repeated.

She blinked back to herself, as if her mind had been far away, and met my gaze. “Great.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Carrie.”

Her lips rolled inward, but her eyes flashed. A jolt of…something…went through me. It wasn’t lust, exactly. It was the weight of seven years pressing down on me.

But it wasn’t seven years. It was one night. Not even one night. A handful of hours we’d spent together. How could this woman have such an effect on me now?

And it wasn’tnotlust. In that skirt, with her preppy little blouse and her pinned-back hair. I knew what she looked like mussed and boneless on a bed beside me. I knew how good it would feel to strip off those clothes and get her there again. That knowledge burned through me like embers that just wouldn’t die.

“When’s the wedding?” she asked.

I jerked and tore my gaze away from her. “Next spring.”

“Oh, beautiful. I love a spring wedding.”

I hummed. Guilt churned inside me, because what the hell was I doing, lusting after someone who wasn’t my fiancée? Thatwasn’t the kind of man I was. I didn’t stray. Loyalty was one of the only things that truly mattered to me. That’s why no matter what reputation I had about being hard on employees, I was still able to grow this company to new heights every quarter—because once they proved themselves, I’d walk through fire for them. I was loyal to the people who were loyal to me.

And that included the woman I’d promised to tie myself to for life. I wasn’t a cheater. Never would be.

“You?” I asked, my voice rough.

“Hmm?”

I nodded to Carrie’s hands. “Are you married?”

“Oh.” She laughed. “No.”

“Something funny about that question?”

Tilting her head from side to side, Carrie gave me a rueful smile. “Let’s just say I’ve accepted the fact that I might die alone.”

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