Page 24 of Boss Unyielding (Boss 1)

“Seriously, Paul, if you don’t take your hands off me, you’re going to be pulling your nuts out of your abdomen while you watch me drive out of here,” she warned.

She wasn’t afraid of Paul. She knew he didn’t mean any harm, he was just an idiot. She really couldn’t even fault him for that. She faulted herself for falling for him like she did a year ago, but it wasn’t like she had anything better going for her at that time. She knew now that he had done her a favor by breaking up with her, and she wanted to keep it that way.

“Thank you,” she said when he pulled back and put some space between them. “Look, I appreciate you coming out here and trying to clear the air, and all. It took a lot of guts for you to do that. But really, I’m fine with how things are now, and you should be, too.”

She wasn’t mean enough to tell him he would never measure up to the type of man she’d gotten a taste of since him. She would let him figure that out in his own time if he ever would. She gave him a pity pat on the shoulders, then a pity smile, and got into her car to leave.

Driving home that night, she felt somehow like she was leaving a part of her life behind her. It didn’t feel like a bad thing, but it felt strange. She hadn’t thought of Paul for quite some time now, so that couldn’t be it.

Her thoughts trailed to Mr. Rayner, and she let herself imagine how the night could have ended had Paul not shown up. Of course it wouldn’t have been anything like she fantasized about, but a girl could dream.

For the first time in weeks, she went to bed that night with something to look forward to for the following day. After she took Gramma to a doctor’s appointment in the morning, she would be back in the office, basking in the nearness of Rogan Rayner. Damn, this was not healthy, but damn-it if she cared at the moment.

SIXTEEN

His hand raked across the day-old stubble at his jaw as he sat at the bar of Elaina’s, an upscale lounge owned by its namesake, Elaina Evans. He’d spent too much time over the past ten years in this place, but it compensated for the insomnia he would undoubtedly battle in his Worthington District condo.

Maybe all that bullshit they called research was right, and it was the lights of all the technology surrounding him in his smart home that kept him from sleeping at night. Or maybe it really was bullshit, and it was the demons that took up residence in his head space that kept him from being able to tolerate the dark, unending silence that haunted him at the end of each day.

That was probably the more likely culprit, he guessed, taking another sip of his vodka on the rocks from the cool, clear tumbler he held. He reveled in the smooth burn that trailed down his throat.

“One of those nights, Rogan?” Elaina observed from the other side of the bar.

It wasn’t often he saw her here in her own bar, but he always enjoyed her company on the rare occasions she made an appearance.

He smiled, looking down at his glass, and nodded his affirmation.

“You know me too well,” he said, looking up into the face that looked strikingly similar to the biggest demon of all – her brother, Craigan.

Then again, her second brother, Dallas Evans, could be likened to an actual demon, the biblical kind instead of the metaphorical kind. She bared a small resemblance to him, as well, but nothing close to her likeness to his once closest friend, Craigan.

Elaina nodded in mock disapproval. “When will you ever learn?”

She pulled two tumblers from behind the bar, scooped a few cubes of ice into each, and poured another round without being asked. She slid one across the bar in front of him, and picked up the second one, bringing it to her lips for a sip.

“Probably never. You know I’m a stubborn bastard,” he said,

raising his original glass to down the remainder of the clear, burning liquid, and sliding it across to her before grabbing the fresh one in his hand.

“All too well,” she agreed, letting a grin spread across her pretty but world-weary face.

“You looking for a companion for the night, or just avoiding going home?” she asked, straightening the straw containers and salt and lime trays in front of her as though her distracted actions might put him at ease enough to open up a little.

“Is that a question, or a proposition?” he asked, teasingly.

“Not on your life, brother,” she retorted, giving him a mischievous smile.

She had been like a sister to him, for as long as he could remember, and that connection was only strengthened when Craigan…

He let the thought trail off, unwilling to bring up old ghosts. Not tonight.

He blew out a deep sigh, raking his hands through his hair now. He knew why he was there, and finding a companion for the night was the last thing on his mind. Not that ‘for the night’ would have even been the right term. No one ever made it that far. No one ever stayed the night, and that’s how he liked it.

No one except for her.

His thoughts were drug back to that one night, that singular light in the sea of darkness that consumed his life. The night he had broken through the barriers of their boss-employee relationship and held her, taken her, pushed her delicate body past limitations she had never known existed.

That night had been the first night for as long as he could remember that he fell asleep with a sense of peace he had almost forgotten existed. But when he had woken, she was gone.

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