Page 120 of A Ticking Time Boss

“Carter,” she warns, but there’s laughter in her voice.

“Yes,” I say, “I pulled some strings. But they were minor. The owner of this building is a family friend of Conway’s. I asked if they had any rent-controlled properties.”

“And they just happened to have this one free?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. They were searching for a tenant who would likely stay only for a year or two.”

“And you thought of me?” she says. Her fingers drift up into my hair, nails scraping softly against my scalp. It becomes hard to keep my train of thought.

“Yes,” I say. “Who knows where we’ll be in a year or two?”

“Carter Kingsley,” she murmurs. “Have you been thinking about the future?”

“I’ve been called a visionary in the past, you know. Forward-thinking. Strategic. A brilliant young face in the business industry. A—”

She pulls me across the hardwood floor of her new apartment, toward the couch I’d gotten for her as a moving-in present. It’s a smaller replica of mine, the one she’d complimented often.

We fall down on the soft cushions. I have just enough time to reach out and support myself on an arm before crushing her.

“You think highly of yourself, don’t you?” she teases.

I find the curve of her ear with my lips. “Can I tell you a secret?”

She nods, her legs coming up to grip my hips.

“The most brilliant woman on earth loves me,” I whisper. “So yeah, I think pretty highly of myself. How can I not?”

Audrey laughs and pulls me down for a kiss. It’s sweet, and soft, and I never thought I’d be here. Play this part. Love so openly that it feels like I’m carrying around a wound I never want to heal. She can break me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You have to go soon,” she murmurs a long while later. Her hands are running through my hair, back and forth, the way she likes to do at night.

“Nothing could make me leave this spot,” I say. “Right here is where I want to live and die.”

“On top of me? Your business partners won’t like that.”

“They don’t have to like it.”

“You accepted this invitation a long time ago. All the important people from the paper will be there. Booker, by the way. She even got a babysitter for tonight, just for this event.”

“Yes, but you won’t be there. Come with me,” I tell her. “Be my date. Please.” The desire to be with her in public is overwhelming. Maybe it’s my pride, but I can’t wait for the day she’ll accompany me to these events. They’re boring at best, and yet… I want others to see us together.

I want others to see her with me.

Audrey sighs, her hands tightening in my hair. “I want to. You know I want to.”

“Then do it, kid.”

“You know I’ll say no. We have a deal.”

“One year,” I say against her skin. “Yes. I know.”

One more year of me being her boss. Twelve months, fifty-two weeks, and no dating in public. Going on trips out of state, evenings in our apartments, and being nothing to each other at work.

“You wore the red blouse to work yesterday,” I say.

Her fingers still in my hair. “Yes. You noticed?”

“Of course I did. I had to go down to the newsroom, and I couldn’t look at you twice, because no one is allowed to suspect a thing. But I wanted to.”

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