Page 35 of Bossy Hero

“Tell me about the new job,” I say when the conversation dies down.

She scrunches up her nose adorably. “Meh. I’m not sure if I want to stay there much longer. My manager is an over-the-top, demanding asshat. Pardon my French.” She shakes her head and feigns a whole-body cringe. “It might be worth the headache if I got a discount on my auto insurance as an employee. Not a chance. And no overtime since I’m salaried. I did the math, and last month, I made an average of four dollars an hour once I factored in time worked.”

I take a sip of my beer, my gaze studiously circling the room for trouble. “Yikes. That’s rough. I don’t blame you for wanting to leave.”

“What about you, Alan? Are you content with your career? Or have you grown tired of risking your life every day?”

“My life’s not in dangereveryday.” I shrug, toying with the corner of my beer bottle label. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the future. When I get out. For now, I’m... as you said, content.”

Setting down her wineglass, she inches closer, aligning herself to my side. No fucking objections. I quickly find myself leaning toward her like she’s lassoed me.

“The future, huh?” On the table, her delicate fingertips stray from her glass, ever so slightly creeping toward mine. “Any plans that might interest me?”

She bats her lashes at me, and her pinky grazes mine.

And my fucking breath catches.

From a damn brush of her finger.

I swallow, forcing down the lump, and pointedly stroke the outside of her pinky with mine. Up and down. Gentle and slow.

“Well?” she prompts.

Oh damn. She asked me a question, didn’t she? Apparently, playing finger footsie over the table has rendered me mute.

Should I be honest with her about my plans? And how she’s the center of all of them?

Fuck it.

“I think you’d be very interested in my plans, Maddie. Since most of them feature you.”

She raises that fucking pinky and loops it over mine, locking it in place. “Go on. As a soon-to-be-divorced woman, I’m listening.”

I need to get her out of here immediately so I can kiss her the way she deserves to be kissed. “Take a walk with me, Maddie. Let’s find somewhere more private, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Her body inches from the table, but she keeps our fingers joined. I do her one better, weaving our hands together. Jolts of electricity traverse my palm, skating up my arm.

Heading directly to my heart.

Without releasing my hand, she squares up with me, tilting her chin. Her lips part subtly as her chest raises with a sharp breath. Our eyes click into place like they were designed to see nothing else but each other.

The bustle of the party around us fades into an indistinct fog of nothingness.

Because she’s everything.

Moving on nothing but instinct, I gradually lower my face to hers. She mirrors the movement, rising on her toes.

Our mouths are mere inches away when an abrupt trill severs the connection. Her fucking phone.

Blinking rapidly, she releases my hand and shifts backward. One step. Then another and another.

Everything surrounding us comes back into focus, and my senses return.

Fuck. I almost kissed her in front of all these people.

She fumbles to grab her phone off the table. I drag my palm down my face, attempting to wipe away the disappointment.

When my hand fades away, she’s staring at her phone in nothing short of abject horror. Eyes wide with panic. Jaw agape.

---