Page 53 of Boss Me

Coco pretended he hadn’t heard me and stared back toward Cooper’s place. I shouldn’t have expected him to understand.

I scanned the dark path and saw nothing. When I listened, all I heard was the sound of the surf. Even the frogs had quieted. I pulled out my phone and flicked on the flashlight app. Nothing but the path and the bushes that lined it.

“See, Coco, nothing to be scared—oh.”

There was a text alert. I flicked off the flashlight and opened the text.

Mimi: How’s it going?

Fucking terrible, especially after I kissed him. But I couldn’t say that. She’d flip out. Remind me of all the reasons I shouldn’t have followed him out to the pool, ogled him in his underwear, and then actually joined him in the pool. Much less kissed him. She didn’t have to point out that I’d lost my heart again. To my boss. I winced.

I hadn’t come to the island to kiss Cooper; I’d come to convince him to return to Synergy so people like Mimi could keep their jobs. And I’d failed. My stomach tightened.

Me: Not so good. On my way home.

But Mimi had known me all my life.

Mimi: YOU FUCKING FELL FOR YOUR BOSS, DIDN’T YOU?

Me: It was an accident. But it’s over now.

Mimi: WHAT’S over?

Me: Everything

I could almost sense the I-told-you-so in her typing bubbles. But in the end, she was the big sister I’d always relied on.

Mimi: I’m sorry, sweetie. I’ll stock up on chips and chocolate, and you can watch as many superhero movies as you want when you get home.

Not even superhero movies could help this. I’d made a superhero of Cooper Fallon, but he’d shown he was exactly like all the other ordinary men I’d given my heart to, who’d tossed it right back at me.

I’d forgotten everything when I’d leaned so close I could smell the mint and his cedar cologne, see the bristles on his chin glowing silver in the moonlight. His blue eyes hadn’t been icy. They were the color of the shallow water at the edge of the sand where minnows darted. The water that was warm against my skin, that sucked me out toward the depths.

I never should’ve followed him out to the pool. I should’ve known he’d go frosty on me. Clearly, I wasn’t worth breaking HR rules for. I’d known it since that first day I’d walked into Synergy and shaken his hand. That flare of blue that had flickered in his eyes before he shut me out. When he finally came back to Synergy, we’d go back to normal and pretend I didn’t know he tasted like mint and the syrupy remains of my crush.

When I got home, Mimi would cuddle me close, handing me salt, sugar, tissues. For someone who never let herself do anything as ridiculous as fall in love, she had an uncanny sense for what would cure my broken heart. I couldn’t wait to see her.

Me: See you soon

Before I even swiped away the text app, Coco erupted in barking a second before something heavy crashed into me.

My ankle twisted, wobbled, and gave out, and I collapsed, my cheek digging into the shell path with my attacker weighing on my back. He—it was definitely a man, not an extra-large iguana or a peccary—pinned me with his arms.

I’d managed to fall on top of my bag. Was my laptop okay? Was I going to lose a semester’s worth of coursework? My heart jackrabbited. What if he wanted to steal it? I’d never pass my class then, and if I didn’t pass, Synergy didn’t pay. Fuck. I tried to shield the bag from the big guy.

When he spoke, the scent of rum hugged my cheek like a wet washcloth. “Go home,” he growled.

What the hell?

I could hardly speak, unable to get a full breath with the huge guy on top of me. “I was. Going home.” I tried to point with my chin toward the other wing of the resort, past the busy restaurant that was still too far away to hear me shout and too loud to hear Coco’s frantic barks.

“No.” He felt down my arm to my wrist and grabbed it, twisting it behind my back. Pain jabbed through my shoulder and my wrist. “Go back. To California. Or else.”

How the ever-loving hell did he know I lived in California? My heartbeat sped to a hummingbird tempo. What else did he know about me? Did he know Mimi was alone at her place now? Did he know Cooper was back in his bungalow with some very expensive tech and a watch that cost more than a car? Suddenly, my laptop seemed like a fair exchange for this guy to get off me and trundle back to whatever bar he’d come from.

He twisted my arm again, and I gasped at the stab of pain.

But so did he. And then he howled, and the weight on my back rolled to the side, one last lance of pain stabbing my shoulder before he released his grip.

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