Page 21 of Doctor Bossy

Of course, that could have been because I spent the last night tossing and turning.

It was for a combination of reasons. There was overthinking from the stress and anxiety of starting a new job. And there was also residual anger from seeing James again.

But of course, the major reason was Griffin.

My mind kept replaying the previous day and the moment when I almost stumbled into the ditch, and Griffin caught me against his body. I remembered the look in his eyes, the woodsy scent of his cologne, and the uncomfortable wetness between my thighs that remained throughout the lunch. Imagining what could have happened in a fantasy realm kept me awake.

And it was the thing that may ultimately ruin my chance on his team before it even started.

“The first few weeks are going to be probation weeks,” he’d warned me after I yelped in the excitement in the restaurant. “ You will be paid, but everything you do will be under strict supervision from the project lead. If, for any reason, we find that your work is not up to par, you will be let go immediately. Do you understand?”

I nodded, too happy to even be disappointed about the fact that he didn’t seem excited to be offering me the job. But no matter. I knew he had only a little faith in my abilities, and I didn’t know why he said yes—perhaps because he still felt responsible about the James thing.

But it didn’t matter if he only offered me the job out of pity because I was determined to prove him wrong, to prove that I could do this.

But here I was, late for my first day.

As I approached the long red bus, it bobbed as the engine started, and it prepared to pull out of the driveway.Oh no. I willed my limbs to go faster, feeling the burn all throughout my legs and arms as I booked it. Another bus wouldn’t be coming for another thirty minutes. If I missed this one, I would most definitely be late.

“Wait!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping against hope that the driver would take pity on me. “Please!”

The bus bounced to a stop, and I sent a brief thanks to the heavens before I scrambled up the stairs.

“Thank you so much,” I gasped to the elderly driver, who nodded at me in return. I continued down the middle of the bus, feeling eyes on me as I walked. The bus was full, and I would likely have to stand the entire fifteen-minute ride, but that was fine.

At least I made it onto the bus in the first place.

I likely had another sprint waiting for me when I got there because I still needed to complete the eight-minute walk from the station to the research center in four minutes, so I tried to rest as much as I could while standing up on a shaking bus. This was where the determination set in, I told myself. Sure, I may be exhausted with a bad knee, but I would make the run because there was no way in hell I was letting Griffin down, not this early in the game.

To have Griffin’s cool green eyes look at me in disdain…

I would simply want to fade away.

But jeez, why couldn’t I stop thinking about him? It was partially his fault that I was late. And even when I’d finally drifted off to sleep, I spent a good part of last night dreaming about him, and not in an entirely innocent way either.

Yes, a full-on wet dream about my ex-fiancé’s father. And the most embarrassing thing about it was that he hadn’t even been doing anything to me in the dream. He was just staring down at me, his eyes so shrewd and calm as he told me to stay put and not touch myself, not ease the burning sensation in my core. Because I was definitely wet at that point, and for some reason, the thought of him ordering me around left me on the edge of painful arousal.

If he had touched me in the dream, I would have probably exploded on the spot.

Instead, I had woken up frustrated sometime around 2 a.m. and needed to immediately hop in the shower.

Then I went back to sleep.

That was probably what led to my tardiness today.

The bus pulled to a stop, and with a thrown-out thanks to the driver, I dashed out of the vehicle and ran straight for the center—a wide brick building in the distance. I glanced at my watch as I ran. 7:56 a.m. My estimations were right; I had exactly four minutes. I ran faster, my lungs burning. The side of my abdomen also twinged with pain, a likely stitch, but I didn’t stop, not until I was near the doors.

When I got close, I halted in my steps, catching my breath now that I had some time. Luckily, it was a cool morning, and I hadn’t sweated much. I didn’t want to get there and have them know what a rush I had been in, so I wiped any sweat on my brow, took deep breaths, and then brisk-walked the rest of the way. I waved at security and headed straight for Griffin’s office.

Willa wasn’t at her desk, so I went to knock on his door. Griffin had told me to meet him at his office in the morning, so he was probably expecting me.

At the deeply toned, “Come in,” I opened the door and walked in to find Griffin frowning at his computer screen.

“You’re late,” he said without looking up the minute I walked in.

“Only by a minute,” I said. “And that was because security held me back.”

He looked up and pinned me with one of those intensely stern looks that had my heart pounding in my chest. “It’s important to be on time, always. No excuses.”

---