Page 91 of Boss Me

I froze, my hand reaching for the tiny cactus I kept on my desk. Fuck, I’d forgotten her old crush on my boss. And their kiss. Slowly, I turned to face her. “We were.”

“Oh, Ben.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Stay. Work it out.”

“You heard him. He’s not my boyfriend. There’s nothing left to work out.” I whirled around and grabbed for the cactus but missed. Pain shot through my finger, and a drop of blood welled where the spine had stuck me.

A pair of sneakers creaked, and then Jackson’s voice boomed through the silent floor. “Wow, you can cut the tension here with a knife. Coop must be back.”

“Not now, Jackson.” Marlee put a hand on mine. “Put the box away.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Jackson’s gaze fixed on the packing crate. “Ben, you’re not leaving, are you? You can’t. Cooper will lose his mind.”

“Really, Jackson, not now. Go back to your office. I’ll explain it all later.” Marlee’s voice was gentle as a wave at the beach with the power of the ocean behind it.

“But Ben can’t—”

“I can.” I nestled the cactus next to the tissue box and wedged the other side with my emergency stash of granola bars. “And I will.” I’d grab Coco from José in the lobby and then sneak him back into Mimi’s place. I wouldn’t be going to Cooper’s opulent home, the one I’d fantasized about sharing with him and our dog. He had failed the very first test of our relationship. He didn’t love me. He never would.

“Ben.” Like I’d summoned him with the thought, he was there, crowding between Marlee and Jackson. “Stop.”

I reached into the drawer, but it was empty. I slammed it shut. “No.”

“Coop, what the hell is going on?” Jackson puffed up, big and bristly. “You can’t bully Ben like those other assistants. You need him.”

“That’s just the thing, Jackson,” I said. “I already resigned. So I’m leaving.” A fleeting regret about the tuition program, my paycheck, and sleeping on Mimi’s couch for the remainder of my twenties flitted through my brain. But I’d left my heart unprotected again, and now Cooper had shattered it like the glass on his desk. I couldn’t stay.

“I need you, Ben.” Cooper’s voice was low, and his blue eyes were softer than I’d ever seen them. “I love you.”

Jackson’s mouth dropped open.

I stared into Cooper’s eyes. “You’re saying it now? After you denied me?” I’d fucking overreached again. He’d said the words, but his actions said something different. Cooper Fallon could never love me the way I needed to be loved.

“Let me explain.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Jackson said in a harsh whisper. “Cooper, are you…gay?”

“Shut it, Jackson.” Marlee’s whisper was sharp. “Cooper, Ben, take your drama into your office. The whole floor is listening.”

It didn’t matter to me; I was leaving. But for Synergy’s sake, Cooper needed to save face. Without a word, I pivoted and stormed into his office.

Cooper trailed me. Slowly, he shut the door, and then he took a minute to open the blinds over the interior windows.

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning on touching you ever again.” I flopped into the chair I usually sat in, on the other side of his desk, when I gave him his daily download and took his instructions. Then I jumped up. There was nothing normal about this situation. And I was no longer his assistant. He’d said so himself. I crossed to his seating area and eased myself into a wing chair.

When he finished fiddling with the blinds, he turned. Like he carried the weight of the building on his shoulders, he plodded to the seating area and dropped into the loveseat next to my chair.

Running both hands through his sandy waves, those waves I once had the right to touch, he stared up at the ceiling. “I fucked everything up.”

I snorted. “Isn’t that the truth.” Righteous anger straightened my spine, and I glared at him. “How did you not know there was a security camera in your bedroom? You have to destroy that recording.”

“Of course.” He scrubbed his scalp. “I’ve put the company at risk. I’ve broken my promise to Jackson…”

He went on, but I stopped listening when he said Jackson’s name. A red haze clouded my vision. He told everyone I wasn’t his boyfriend. The beautiful thing between us was reduced to a fucking sex tape. After everything we’d said on the island, his tenderness on the jet just this morning, it meant nothing to him. His I love you was meaningless. I was the fool who’d mistaken it for more. Who’d given up my goddamned job for him.

Although he was still talking, I stood. “I don’t need to hear any more.”

“But I told you I love you, Ben. Doesn’t that mean anything?” He stood, towering over me as usual, and all I wanted to do was lean into him.

But I couldn’t. “You keep saying that. I’m not sure you and I have the same understanding of what it means.”

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