Page 2 of Let Me Say It Again

“Put your problems on my middle finger.” Man, I loved that ringtone. As my phone continued to ring, though, I shuffled through my purse for it.

I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated that I couldn’t find it, but continued to walk the distance to my car.

Gum.

A pen.

Some condoms.

A couple of tampons.

Lip gloss.

Keys.

Where was the damn phone? Maybe I’d find it once I was in the car and could dump the contents out on the passenger seat because this was just ridiculous.

It kept ringing and ringing and ringing. Geez, whoever was calling, get a clue. Obviously, I was not available and couldn’t get to the phone.

Finally, it stopped ringing. Wow, miracles really did happen.

I got in the car, closed the door, and huffed loudly as I dumped my purse out. Ahh, there was my phone. I lunged to grab it, like it was going to grow legs and walk away if I didn’t pick it up in that moment. It may as well have with the rapid pace I lost shit. Seriously, I could lose something faster than it took for a grown-ass man to come in his pants from expert-level dry humping.

I rolled my eyes when I read who the missed call was from. No one special, trust me. Just my boss. You know, the way I saw it, with as many times as he called me on this thing, he should have been paying my cell phone bill.

Well, technically, I had a work phone. . . I didn’t use it, though. Let’s be real, it took me years to remember my personal cell number, so the likelihood I would remember that new one to dole it out like it was candy was slim to none.

I dialed his number and—predictably—he picked up on the first ring. Before he could say a word, I cut in, “Oh, Doug, I’m so sorry I missed your call.” I stifled a laugh.

Red growled, the sound coming from deep in his throat.

Told you—predictable. Man, I loved getting a rise out of him. Honestly, it was borderline arousing, not going to lie. Plus, it was easy, so it made it even more fun.

“Who the hell is Doug?” he asked in his usual sexy voice. His voice was rough, making almost everything he said come out like a bark or demand. No, rough wasn’t the right word. Husky! Yes, his voice sounded husky. “Never mind, I don’t care. It’s none of my business,” he said, his voice falling flat.

I licked my lips, enjoying goading him in this way. “Good, I’m glad you can see the distinct boundaries. While we may have known each other before this job, you can’t go asking me things like that. You digging into my personal life would be a human resources nightmare for sure.” I paused, placing a finger on my mouth. “Have you ever had this dilemma before? Getting too personal with your employees?”

I bit back a laugh as he grumbled something inaudibly. “I’ll tell you what is my business.”I’m listening.“The fact that it’s eight o’clock, and you’re still not at the office.”

Wait, what?I pulled the phone away from my ear and checked the time.Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!Repeating it three times seemed necessary, although it didn’t change anything, so I wasn’t sure why. You had to be kidding me. “Are you sure your clock is right?” I asked, a hint of worry in my voice that he knew he was correct.

“Yes,” he answered, sounding like he was enjoying this.

I widened my eyes. “Are you grinning?” Oh, how the tables had turned. I couldn’t believe this. I slept in and still woke up before that asshat I’d slept with. Was he unemployed? Whodidn’t set an alarm these days? Quite literally everyone I knew did.

“Of course not.” Why did I highly doubt that? I didn’t need to see his ugly—okay, fine, gorgeous—mug to know that he was reveling in this. Stupid bastard (read: stupid, unfairly hot bastard).

I couldn’t believe I was late to work. I mean, I liked to bust Red’s balls, sure. It was fun (almost too much fun), and we knew each other, so it seemed like no big deal. Maybe it made things less professional, and jobs shouldn’t be categorized as fun, but come on, cut me some slack, okay? I wasn’t doing what I actually wanted to do with him. Which was lick every inch of his skin and then demand that he stick his cock in every hole in my body so his arousal could seep into all of them.

Guess now you knew my naughty secret—I had the hots for my boss.

That sounded like a cliché. Oooh, was I cliché? That would be news to me. I’d never considered myself that before. Well, anywho, while I thought he would make an exceptional lay, I’d never act on it—naturally. Here was why: he was (a) my ex’s brother, (b) my boss, and (c) not really my type. Let me explain that last one. He was a tad too tough guy for me. He narrowed his eyes a lot and seemed like the type who would prefer to be on top in the bedroom. But that was where I thrived.

So, yeah, riling him up every now and again was one thing, but being late?! He hired me to do a job—that wasn’t easy to find, by the way—and I couldn’t afford to get fired. Also, I had a feeling that no one would put up with my cracks the way he did.

Yeah, I had it better than I cared to admit.

I had to make this right. I switched the call to speakerphone and sped away from JD’s apartment building. “It’s fine,” I said, exhaling. “I’m on my way now, okay?”

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