Page 2 of Boss Unavowed (Boss 2)

She could see the look in his eyes, the one that said he felt to blame for her lack of sleep. She sighed and reached up to take his face in her hands, grazing her thumb across the barely visible scar below his bottom lip to go with the more prominent one in the middle of his right eyebrow.

“Don’t do that,” she murmured.

“Do what?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in close. The corners of his eyes crinkled in the way she loved so much.

“Blame yourself. I don’t blame you,” she told him, not for the first time.

He simply shook his head and pulled away. He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before turning toward the lounge door. “I’ve got work to do,” he called over his shoulder. “Talk to you later.”

Farren hunched over the counter and rubbed her weary face. Yes, they all had work to do, she thought, but somehow a seed of doubt was planted inside her. She had the unsettling sense that Rogan was drifting apart from her, and if that was the case, God help her, she didn’t know what to do.

THREE

At a quarter to six that evening, Farren creaked the door open that led to Rogan’s office right next door to hers. It had been a long but productive day, which she was thankful for. Staying busy kept her not only awake but also kept her mind preoccupied.

“Hey, I’m about done for the day, are you- oh,” she cut herself off when she realized Rogan wasn’t alone in his office. “Sorry, Edith, I didn’t know you were still here.”

Edith grinned. She was leaned over Rogan’s desk where she had been pointing to something on one of his computer screens. The angle only accentuated the cleavage spilling out of her shirt. “Yes, Rogan and I were just going over some things for our trip to New York next week. Did you need something?”

Farren did everything she could to not react to that virtual slap in the face. She looked to Rogan, hoping he would say something, but he just sat watching with one eyebrow raised as the tension built between the two women.

Ignoring Edith’s question, Farren said to Rogan, “I was just seeing if you were about ready to leave. I need to go pick up Harley from Gramma’s.”

And what the hell did she mean, their trip to New York next week? Farren thought, but kept to herself. Rogan hadn’t mentioned anything about a trip, and that little seed of doubt began to grow inside her.

He shook his head. “I’ve still got a few things I need to wrap up here. I’ll see you later,” he told her.

She wanted to kiss him goodbye, but with Edith there, she felt restricted, even though she would have loved to give Edith a good show and send her a message – he’s mine.

Instead, she nodded and waved with her fingers. “Okay, see you later.”

She closed the door behind her, grabbed her things and set off to Gramma’s apartment, the place she used to call home.

*

When Farren left, Rogan found himself wishing he’d been able to leave with her. He could see the anxious worry and exhaustion in her eyes, and he knew he was mostly to blame for it.

He fucking hated it, and he knew he had to get a grip on the nightmares. It was one thing to have them when he had lived there alone, but ever since he’d moved Farren in before the baby had come, he had her to consider now, too.

It was a novel feeling even wanting to take care of a woman, giving a shit about a future together, but fuck if he didn’t need her like his next breath.

The need to take care of her and his child, to shield them from harm and provide for them, was constantly at the forefront of his mind. The problem was, how did he protect her from himself?

“I thought we agreed that you could handle the New York meeting solo,” he snapped at Edith, his patience with her wearing thin.

She shook her head. “No, I spoke with Donaghue just before I came in here and he’s adamant he wants you there. Between you and me, I think he prefers to deal with a man, but with the money this account would bring in, I don’t mind stroking his ego a little bit and giving him what he wants until we have his business.”

She was still bent over the desk as she spoke, looking over the reports she’d emailed to Rogan before their meeting, which had conveniently gotten pushed back due to an impromptu call with another client she was trying to reel in.

It was convenient for Edith, but not for Rogan. He’d been struggling to maintain his focus even before Farren had walked in, and now it was even worse.

He couldn’t argue with Edith’s logic, though. He’d run into Donaghue before and had tried to push Dallas Evans, his former Marketing Director, among other things, to pursue that lead. Evans hadn’t made it happen. Edith had been here for six months and had pulled in not only Donaghue but several other high profile accounts.

“I’ll look at my schedule and see if I can pull it off. I’m not making any promises.”

*

When Rogan got home, Farren was just putting Harley down in his crib. He watched from the doorway as she gently laid him on his back and watched him with wonder as Harley’s little mouth hung open and lax with slumber. The look of admiration Rogan saw in Farren’s eyes led him to walk up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist, pressing his chest against her back.

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