Page 3 of Never Bed the Boss
I don’t have time to think through the implications before his lips crash against mine again. I’m seeing sparks, a mosaic of colorful fireworks arcing in all directions behind my eyelids. My head’s spinning so fast that not a single thought can gain purchase in my consciousness.
No more overdue rent. No more student loans. No more thoughts of the crushing burden of debt. All I cling to is the feelof Asher’s soft lips against mine as he steals what little breath I have left in my lungs.
I’ve never stolenanything before, but tonight’s a string of firsts: A one-night stand, multiple full-body orgasms, sex with a stranger.
I’ve been staring at the watch on the nightstand for the last twenty minutes. My insides are twisted tighter than the silk bed sheets around my legs. I know I shouldn’t do this. It’s so wrong. And so not me. But tonight I don’t recognize myself.
I disentangle my legs from the sheets, gently removing Asher’s arm from around me. My heart stops for a brief moment as he groans, ramping back up moments later. I swallow hard but the lump in my throat won’t budge. I hold my breath until he finally rolls over with a sigh and falls into the same soft rhythm of breathing he’s had for the last twenty minutes.
I perch on the edge of the bed, staring at the gold, glistening watch as the seconds tick by like hours. I’m light-headed and dizzy. Shaking and sick. Weak.
Why am I still considering this?
I reach for my phone and check the time again. It’s nearly four in the morning and I have seven more missed calls from my landlord and countless texts. I try to read the texts, but I’m so spaced out that they look more like Egyptian hieroglyphs than strings of English sentences.
But even in my state, I recognize one word: Eviction.
It’s not like I didn’t see this coming.
No payment equals no place to live. I get it. But I don’t have the money. After getting fired from my last job because I was late too many times, trekking across town from my second job, money has never been so tight.
The watch is heavy and cold in my palm as I slide off the bed and tiptoe toward the door.
“I’m sorry.” I can’t say his name. I don’t deserve to have his name grace my lips. My whisper fades in the air in front of me along with my resolve, warm tears rolling down my cheek as I turn around and leave the bedroom knowing that there’s no coming back from this.
2
ASHER
That little thief.
I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I laid eyes on Iris. But what she did to me is criminal. Downright unforgivable. She thinks she’s going to get away with it. A clean break. Sorry, angel, but you’re not slipping away with my heart so easily.
She’s the first woman I’ve bared my soul to. The first I’ve felt so consumed with. Possessed. There is no one else but her. There will never be anyone else but her.
There’s no road I won’t follow. No stone left unturned. I’m using every tool in my arsenal to find her and it’s only a matter of time before I have what’s mine. The only clues she left were the folded sheets of paper I found in the suite. It’s the cipher to unlock the enigma of Iris—making clear why she left with my heart and watch in her hand.
The watch. At first, I found it amusing. Sure, it might be expensive, but I have drawers filled with them. It’s hardly missed. But once I read the note, it crushed me to realize why she stole it in the first place.
As I swivel away from the floor-to-ceiling windows of my corner office, I reach into the breast pocket of my suit to retrieve the papers, unfolding one in particular. I don’t need to see the text. I’ve read it so many times I have it memorized. But I need to see every line of her loopy cursive. Every blotch of ink and stain from food and coffee. Pieces of her unspooled before me. It’s well-worn. A variety of ink colors have been used for the entries. She’s returned to it many times. Clearly, she’s not the only one in possession of something important.
Things I’ll do when I’m not poor.
Pay my rent.
Pay my student loans.
Get rid of my hand-me-downs.
Move out of here.
The list goes on like that, but it seems like she had second thoughts. She crossed out the entirety of the list with an X and started new ones with various titles, but the one I honed in on was:
Things I’ll do before I’m 35.
Visit all the world’s wonders
Have an authentic cannoli
