Page 32 of Boss Me

The thought of hooking up at all was laughable. I wasn’t sure I remembered how.

But Ben and his Mr. Fallons tempted me to think about it. Why was that Mr. in his mouth so fucking sexy? It had to stop or I’d do something I’d regret, like caress his hand. “Look, we’re not in the office. You might as well call me Cooper.”

Slowly, a smile spread across his face and lit up those whiskey-brown eyes. “Okay. Cooper.”

My chest twinged. Maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea to have him call me by my first name. My name—in any form—on his lips lit up nerve endings I thought had died long ago.

“Come on.” My voice was gruffer than I’d intended. “Let’s eat.”

I took him to the less formal of the resort’s two restaurants, the one where families tended to go. Where my ridiculous shirt would be acceptable. Taking him to the formal restaurant would’ve felt dangerously like a date. And Ben and I were not on a date.

Which was clear from the moment we sat next to a family of five.

Ben eyed the pair of toddlers, crayons clutched in their fists, and the baby napping in her carrier. “Is this okay?” he muttered.

“It’s fine.” I picked up the menu. No danger of getting caught up in Ben’s whiskey eyes while the children babbled away at the next table.

I didn’t bother trying to order a bourbon or even a beer, but I wished I had when an earsplitting squall erupted from the next table. The baby had woken up. The mother tried to soothe her while the toddlers, no longer entertained by their crayons, whined at their father. The noise partnered with the throbbing in my head, and I rubbed at my temple.

“Can you get our waiter’s attention? I need a drink.”

“No, but give me a minute.” Ben pushed back from the table, and seconds later, silence dropped like a blanket.

I looked up to see the toddlers holding Ben’s hands as he led them away from the table to the fountain in the middle of the restaurant. He dug in his shorts pocket and produced something that lit up the kids’ eyes. Then he knelt down beside them and let them pluck the items off his palm. Coins. The girl closed her eyes for a few seconds then extended her fist over the pool under the fountain. Then she opened her hand, and the coin dropped in. The boy repeated her actions. Ben smiled, delighted.

The restaurant’s lights glinted off the dark waves of his hair, contrasting with the kids’ fluffy blond curls. They plucked more coins off his palm and tossed them into the fountain, giggling. I’d never seen such an expression of pleasure on Ben’s face. At the office, he was all serious respect. With those kids, he was free.

For a second, I imagined Ben with a pair of kids of his own. Pushing a stroller at The Presidio back in San Francisco. Or on the beach, holding their hands as they danced in and out of the waves as I’d seen so many families do. That, over there with the kids, was what Ben was supposed to be doing. Not stuck in an office managing calendars and meetings for me while I hid my longing behind my crusty, cranky exterior.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Ben needed to go home. If—when—I cut ties with Synergy, I’d ensure he ended up somewhere safe and secure. Which was as far away as possible from me.

13

BEN

When we stepped outside the resort, the rhythmic song of the surf called to me. “Can we walk back along the beach?”

Cooper frowned. “You don’t have to walk me back.”

I saw the way his gaze cut to the bar. “But I want to.”

He bent to untie his running shoes. “You have a room at the resort, right?”

“Yeah.” I set down my paper bag of leftover steak to toe off my Chucks and pull off my socks. Stepping into the sand, I wiggled my toes.

It was a lot different from the last time I’d been to a beach, when my friends and I had driven down to Half Moon Bay. Warm sand stretched as far as I could see, and the surf murmured like a lullaby. I glanced at Cooper and the muscled calves I’d never seen before tonight. Just the right amount of hair. Smooth, golden skin underneath. I wanted to lick right up that calf, behind his knee, and—shit! I had to stop staring at my boss’s legs.

“Ready?” I didn’t wait for his answer. I trudged across the sand, past the line of lounge chairs and umbrellas, all the way to where the sand was packed and damp under my feet. I stared out over the dark water. The moon hadn’t risen enough to shine on it yet, but stars sparkled above, more than I’d ever seen at one time.

“It’s peaceful, isn’t it?” Cooper stood beside me, and I felt him breathe in the salty air.

I did the same and sighed out a breath full of the strain of the past two weeks. “Yeah.” The breeze fluttered my hair away from my sticky skin. I lifted a hand to smooth down my curls, and it snagged in the untamed mess. The steamy Caribbean air had utterly defeated my product. Good thing the night was dark.

Cooper turned and walked toward his bungalow. I hurried to catch up so I wouldn’t be tempted to watch the way his ass moved in those shorts, the strain of his hamstrings as he powered through the sand.

But I couldn’t resist sneaking a glance at his face. I tried to tell myself it was to check his color—he was detoxing pretty hard—and not to ogle the sharpness of his cheekbones.

Something moved in the shadows behind him.

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