Page 82 of Dating the Boss
“Half-price drinks,” she answered. “My boyfriend’s boyfriend is also bartending tonight, so we wanted to stop by and see him.”
“Wait.” My head spun. “Your boyfriend’sboyfriend?”
“We’re poly,” she answered, glancing between me and Daniel. “Guess we’re both learning something new about each other tonight.”
Fear prickled my insides. Would she tell anyone about us?
“Hey, babe,” a redheaded guy said, appearing at her side. He kissed her cheek. “Gage wants to talk to you. He has a new drink he wants you to try. His own creation.”
“Lord help me,” Jennifer said, then regarded me with cautious eyes. “Um. It was nice seeing you both. Have a good night.”
My knees nearly gave out when she walked away. The euphoric feeling from me and Daniel saying we loved each other had been replaced by anxiety and dread in the blink of an eye.
“Let’s go home,” Daniel said in a hard voice before leaving the dance floor.
I followed behind him with tear-filled eyes, my vision so blurry I could barely see in front of me. We said goodbye to Regina and Meg, who were now playing pool with the two guys, before he steered me outside. We didn’t say a word as we got inside the car and left the parking lot.
The fantasy had finally come crumbling down.
***
“Will you say something?” I asked later that night.
After leaving the bar, we had gone back to his place, and he’d gotten out of the car and walked inside without saying anything to me. Then he’d walked into his study and shut the door. I had gone to bed, and an hour passed before he finally joined me.
“What do you want me to say?” Daniel lay on his back, hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.
“You can start with what’s on your mind,” I said, turning to him. “How did we go from ‘I love you’ to this? You haven’t even looked at me since we left the bar.”
“I’m worried, okay?” Daniel shifted his gaze to me. “Jennifer is a sweet girl, but I don’t expect her to keep her mouth closed about this.”
That metal pipe lodged back down in the center of my chest. “So, what does this mean? Do you wanna break up? Deny her allegations?”
“No.” Daniel moved quicker than I expected. He hovered over me, one hand beside my head and the other gripping the side of my neck. “I’ve been thinking it over ever since it happened. And I’ve decided to go to HR tomorrow morning.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m going to tell them about us,” he answered. “It was bound to happen eventually, Reed. We can’t hide it anymore. It’ll be better coming directly from me than from her. I should’ve done it weeks ago.”
“What if they say we can’t be together?” My heart fucking broke at the thought.
“Then I’ll resign.”
“You can’t do that,” I said, panicked. “You can’t put everything on the line for me.”
“What do you suppose I should do, then? Huh?” he asked with a growl. “Do you expect me to walk away from you? Because that isn’t happening.”
“I’m not worth it, Daniel,” I said, my voice cracking. Finally, the truth was coming out. The real reason I was so upset about him possibly ruining his whole career. Love was supposed to conquer all, but I didn’t feel deserving of it. I never had. “You can find someone better. Someone you can be with openly without sacrificing your career over. I’m not worth you losing your job over. I’m nothing.”
“Don’t ever say that again.” He held my neck tighter, his thumb pressing against my pulse point. “You areeverythingto me.”
And then he kissed me.
My lips trembled against his, and tears fell from my eyes. I pulled at his sweatpants, and he tugged down my pj bottoms. I didn’t know how else to say what I was feeling, and by his desperate kisses and eager hands all over me, I suspected he felt the same.
Some things were better said with no words at all.
The sex was slow and gentle that night. His body rocked into mine as our mouths melded together. I couldn’t get him close enough. I felt like my heart was chipping into pieces, but each of his kisses put it back together. Piece by piece. He kissed away my tears and buried his face in my hair.
