Page 42 of Tempt Me

“Turns out, he has aMr. and Mrs. Smithkink. He may have tied me to a chair at one point.” Now her entire face was crimson.

“Wow.” I fanned my face. “Happy to have been of service.”

“Any leads on the leak?” she asked.

“None.” I frowned. “But Jamila’s coding camp was PR gold. That’s why I missed happy hour. We went to Austin so she could be there for the first day. I took a million pictures, and after I’ve blurred out the girls’ faces, I’ll post so many that everyone will forget her little slip-up.” Or maybe I’d send them to Hannah so she could post them. I wasn’t sure I could ever go back to Jamilow after my own slip-up.

“Hang on. You went on an overnight trip with Jamila?” Mimi’s brown eyes widened.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like, then?” Mimi asked.

“Well, I started to understand her a little more, like why she runs the camps, and I even met her brothers. Did you know she had brothers?”

Mimi shook her head.

“They’re funny and amazing just like Jamila. We went out for barbecue, and I had this drink, and…and I may have gotten a little drunk and kissed her.” I whispered the last part.

But Mimi didn’t whisper. “You kissed Jamila? Finally!” She pumped her fist. “Was it incredible?”

I flung myself back against the sofa cushions and slapped my hands onto my face to hide my blush. “Incredibly humiliating. She practically booted me out of the car. I spent all of today hiding from her. I even waited in those horrible plastic seats at the airport instead of hanging in the first-class lounge. I don’t think I can go back.”

“Oh, no.” Mimi pulled one of my hands off my face and stroked the back of it. “Office romances are the worst. When things go wrong, there’s no escape. I had to quit my job when my ex and I broke up.”

“Office romanceis overstating things a bit since the attraction is completely one-sided.”

“Completely?” Sam asked. “Are you certain?”

I’d forgotten she was in the room. And that she hadn’t known I had a huge crush on my boss or that I was bisexual—and neither did our mother.

“It’s nothing,” I said. “Just a crush.”

My sister frowned. “Why would you think that?”

“Because…because she’sJamila Jallow,and she’s brilliant and so much more put together than I am.”

“You’re brilliant and put together,” Sam said.

“I’m not as smart as you or Jackson or Jamila. I only pretend to have it all together. I don’t run a startup like you or manage a foundation like Mimi.”

“Hell, I don’t have my shit together,” Mimi said. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I was an accountant before I took the job at the foundation. I spend half the day googling how to run a foundation and the other half doing it.”

“I’ve never run a company before,” Sam said. “I meet with Cooper once a week for coaching.”

“But…but you two are amazing at your jobs!”

“Some days yes, and other days definitely not,” Mimi said.

“I’ve never known you not to go for what you want,” Sam said. “You made up a job at Jamilow and convinced Jamila to let you do it. Why couldn’t you apply that to a relationship with Jamila?”

“Um…because it’s inappropriate? She’s my boss even if I’m not actually a paid employee. Plus, she’s not interested in me.”

“Did she kiss you back?” Mimi asked.

I thought back on it, but everything was tequila-hazed. “I thought so at the time, but maybe not? I’d been drinking.”

“You should talk to her,” Sam said.

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