Page 49 of Falling For Her Boss

Joshua wavers. “I don’t know…look, I admit, I’ve gone overboard. I’ve been far too protective. And yes, Logan, you’re a decent guy these days. But it’s the fear of you relapsing into your old ways that scares me.”

“I won’t let that happen. Isabella may have changed recently, but she’s not the only one.” My arm tightens around Isabella’s shoulders. “I’ve changed too. She’s made me into a better man. And I’m all hers, if she wants me. I’m not going anywhere.”

Isabella glances my way and smiles. Perhaps it’s not exactly the declaration she was looking for, I still haven’t told her I love her back, but we have plenty of time for that. Now doesn’t seem like the right moment, with her brother standing right in front of us. He still looks distressed, but he doesn’t look as angry anymore. He sighs and shakes his head to himself.

“This is going to take me some time to get over,” he says, closing his eyes. “I kind of saw it coming, but nothing prepared me for it. I’m just going to need a while to get used to it.”

Isabella snuggles in closer to me. “That’s okay. I don’t care how long it takes as long as it happens. Your opinion is important to me, Joshua…but it’s never going to be the decider for me. At least not where my love life is concerned. That’s for me to decide.”

Joshua nods, still not looking at either of us. He opens his eyes and stares at his feet uncomfortably. “Alright,” he says. “I hope you know what you’re doing. I’m going to go now…I’ll see you both around, I suppose.”

“You don’t want a glass of wine?” Isabella says, but everyone can tell she doesn’t mean it. Right now, the best thing for Joshua is some distance from the two of us. He shakes his head, already heading for the door.

“Not tonight. I’ll see you soon.”

With that, he leaves. Isabella seems to deflate as the door closes, like she’s been holding her breath this whole time. I know I have. She turns to me, looking horrified.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to have that conversation so soon…”

“It went as well as it could have gone,” I say, kissing the top of Isabella’s head. “It’s all going to be okay, I promise.”

CHAPTER 28

Isabella

Tonight has been exhausting to say the least. I need to finish my wine just to calm my nerves so I grab it off the table and drain half the glass. Logan chuckles at me.

“Steady there. You’re going to make yourself ill.”

The wine is bitter in my throat. I gasp for air as I swallow the final gulp, my heart racing. “I can’t believe this night. Joshua is just issue after issue these days…why can’t he just leave me to my own devices?”

“He cares about you, Isabella. He just wants what’s best for you.”

“It doesn’t really feel that way,” I mumble. “I mean, how does he know what’s best for me? If he had his way, I’d be a celibate nun for the rest of my life. Why is the idea of me being with his best friend too horrific to handle? He should be jumping for joy.”

Logan creeps up behind me, massaging my shoulders. “You need to relax,” he murmurs. “You were pretty relaxed before he came barging in…let’s get you back to that level…”

I move away from him. “Not now, Logan. I’m not in the mood, please.”

Logan sighs, picking up his own glass of wine. “Sorry. I just wanted this night to be perfect for you. I guess your brother kind of threw a wrench in the works.”

“I get where he’s coming from. I just think he needs to chill out. As long as I’m happy, what does it matter?”

“Exactly.”

I sit down on the couch, closing my eyes. “But he’s right about some things. I mean…you’re my boss. Where are we supposed to go from here?”

“No one has to know what’s going on between us…it doesn’t have to be an issue at work.”

“But it will be. I mean, look at the issues we’ve already faced. We were walked in on once.”

“Well, I mean, we don’t have to do things at the office…”

“And we’re supposed to lie to everyone we know, pretending there’s nothing between us? I don’t know about you, but I can’t hide my feelings.” I glance at Logan. I’m being much more careful now about what I say. After my accidental declaration of love, I’m not exactly feeling confident in myself. What if he’s not as interested as I am? Because I’m pretty certain what I said wasn’t just a slip of the tongue. I’m besotted with the guy. I really don’t think I’m capable of keeping that under wraps, especially if I keep blurting out how I feel in times of high emotion. But considering he hasn’t said it back at all, I need to get better at keeping my cards close to my chest. If I don’t, I’m seriously going to embarrass myself.

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