Page 95 of Boss Me

“A grand gesture, baby. Marlee has this stack of books.” He gestured above his head.

“No.” I sliced my hand through the air. “No fucking romance novels.”

He shrugged. “Your loss. Some of them are pretty hot. And she’s got some with just guys that”—he cleared his throat—“they’re not so bad.”

“This grand gesture. Sum it up for me.”

“On your left!” A bicycle whizzed past us.

Jackson slowed, and I did, too. “The point is, you have to make yourself vulnerable. Sacrifice some of that”—he waved his hand over me again—“that pride. That self-control. Show him you love him. Because after what you did, words aren’t enough.”

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. “When did you get so fucking smart?”

“After I figured my shit out with Alicia. You’ll get there. It just takes practice.”

“Practice? You mean I have to do multiple grand gestures?” I didn’t know how to do one. How could I do more?

“No, you big nerd.” He tapped the back of my head with his palm. “A relationship is fucking hard work. You’re always doing something you have to apologize for. And you learn to suck it up and apologize.”

If our time on the island was any indicator, he was right. How many times had I apologized to Ben? Still, he’d stayed. Until I’d denied our relationship in public.

And that proved I wasn’t the best thing for him.

I didn’t deserve Ben. The smart thing—the kind thing—to do was stay far away from him.

“No grand gestures,” I huffed. “Let’s work on our strategy to save our company.”

“You mean you’ll take care of Synergy first, right? And then Ben?”

“I mean, fuck right out of my love life. We have work to do.”

33

BEN

“Honey, we’re home.”

I closed the door behind me and set down the wiggling duffel bag I’d used to smuggle Coco back into Mimi’s building. He leaped from the bag, shook himself, and started snuffling along the perimeter of the room.

I sniffed hopefully, but no food smells came from the kitchen. I should’ve picked something up, but with no job and next semester’s tuition due in a few months—and no paycheck, much less a company program to pay for it—I hated the thought of spending money for expensive take-out.

Tossing my backpack on the couch—also known as my bed—I turned toward the kitchen. Mimi stood at the sink, throwing back an allergy pill. Illuminated by the vent hood light, she looked just as drained as I felt.

“Did you work late?” I walked into the kitchen and poured fresh water into Coco’s bowl.

“Yeah. They’re making us pull all sorts of extra reports. I assume for the buyout.”

“You didn’t tell anyone about it, did you?” I’d signed a nondisclosure when I’d hired on at Synergy. We all did. Telling Mimi anything I heard on the sixth floor was verboten, but it had all come pouring out of me last night when I’d walked in with my box. And my dog. And a bottle of Benadryl for my sister.

Coco trotted into the kitchen and loudly lapped up water from his bowl.

“Of course not. I’m being a good little accountant and keeping my nose out of business that doesn’t concern me.” She set the glass in the sink and gave me a flat look. Of course the buyout concerned her. Overhead departments like accounting and marketing were usually the first to be laid off.

“Jackson and C-Cooper are going to fight it. I know they will.” If he didn’t plan to resist the buyout, he wouldn’t have bothered to say I wasn’t his boyfriend. He could’ve taken his payout and walked out of there with his secrets intact. With our relationship intact.

Not that our relationship was more important than Synergy. My friends’ jobs depended on keeping the company intact. I guessed he knew that, too. Even though he’d crushed my heart to dust, I still had to admire him a little.

“You didn’t see him today, did you?” The question exploded out of me before I could stop it.

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