Page 15 of Saddles & Suits

The penny finally drops.

“Me and Jack? Like… together? No!” Is that what people think? The other employees? The students?Oh my God!“Why would you think that?” Is it because we’re both gay? I always thought Chris was more open-minded than that.

“Don’t make it sound like it’s a terrible thing,” Lisa says. “You guys get along really well. You said it yourself. Whenever we see you together, you’re either talking up a storm or laughing. There’s just something about you that seems… I don’t know. In sync?”

“He’s my employer,” I say firmly, ignoring the tiny part of myself that seems to love the idea of something more with Jack. It’s not like I haven’t thought of Jack that way—he’s hot, after all, in a way that always revs my engines. He’s a great guy, a lot of fun, and he has his own file in my spank bank that gets used occasionally. Well, more than occasionally. But that’sfantasy, for fuck’s sake. Like fantasizing about a movie star—nobody really wants a relationship with someone whose every move is tabloid fodder, but it’s fun to imagine what it could be like.

“So?” Chris shrugs. “It’s not like he’s the CEO and you’re the intern. You’re the most senior employee he has—well, here, anyway. I doubt he could run this place without you. There’s a power imbalance between you, sure, but it’s so small as to be negligible. Unless you think he’d?—”

“No,” I interrupt, because there’s no way Jack would ever do anything to take advantage of an employee. He just isn’t that kind of guy. “Look, I guess I get what you’re saying, but you’re off base. There’s nothing like that between Jack and me. He doesn’t think of me that way.” The second I say it, I know I’ve made a mistake.

Lisa pounces. “Are you sure? I’ve only met him a couple times, but both those times, he looked at you like you were an ice cream he wanted to lick all over.”

Chris and I both stare at her, and she grimaces.

“Sorry. It seemed like a good metaphor at the time. And I kind of want ice cream right now.”

“I don’t think they serve any here,” I say, then shake my head. “And he does not look at me like—that way.”

“He kind of does,” Chris admits. “Although I wouldn’t have phrased it like that. Look,” he leans forward and looks me right in the eye, “we’re not trying to freak you out. If you genuinely have no interest that way in Jack, fine. No problem. But if youareattracted to him… why not have a bat? I mean, you said yourself that the most exciting part of your week is when he comes down. Maybe this whole hermit thing wasn’t really an accident. Maybe you’re just enjoying the time you can spend with him so much that you don’t bother with anything else.”

I stare at him wordlessly, then pick up my glass and drain it.

“I’ll think about it.”

Hours later,lying sleepless in bed, I stare at the ceiling, unable to do anythingbutthink about it.

About Jack.

Good-looking Jack.

Nice Jack.

Funny Jack.

Jack, who cares about his employees and gives generous birthday gifts.

Jack, who loves horses and makes sure to ride every day when he’s at the Vale.

Jack, who got genuinely excited about my plans for Bliss Vale.

On paper, Jack’s perfect for me. The only downside is that he’s my boss. It would be weird to date him. Wrong. The boss thing outweighs all the positives.

Right?

On the flip side, being perfect on paper doesn’t mean anything if there’s no attraction. No spark. No chemistry. So this is all a moot point. It doesn’t matter that Jack’s profile on a dating site would likely be a 99.99 percent match for me. Without a spark, it’s empty.

So I’m fine.

There’s nothing to worry about.

Groaning, I sit up and put my face in my hands. Who am I kidding? If I’d first seen Jack in a bar, or met him through friends, or met him before Warwick died, when he was just my boss’s nephew, I would have flirted. Asked him out. After a few hours in his company, I would have been planning our fifth date. I would have been thinking about how to get around the commute between us. I’d have been looking to the future.

Because Jack’s awesome, and I want him. I just made myself not think of him that way. In the “boss” box, he’s safe. But would it really be that bad to open the box?

Ugh.Open the box? What the hell is wrong with me? I lean back against the headboard, huffing in disbelief.

Okay. I have to be logical about this. Jack’s a great guy, and I’m attracted to him. Maybe Jack isn’t attracted to me, though, which would make this whole thing a nonissue.

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