Page 90 of A Ticking Time Boss

But that’s not what she asks. “Do you miss him?”

“No,” I say immediately.

Her hand smooths over my chest. “Carter…”

“I don’t. Not after what he did. To me, sure, but mostly to my mother. He’s a… villain. A compulsive liar. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s a psychopath or a sociopath, clinically speaking.”

“Would you want to tell him all of this?”

I shake my head. “Don’t tell me I should meet him just to get this off my chest.”

“Let me guess. Your mom already told you the same?”

She’s too intuitive. “Yes,” I admit. “But I’m not going to. He’s out of my life and that’s where he belongs.”

My tone is final, because if there’s one place he certainly doesn’t belong, it’s in bed with Audrey. I wrap my hand around her waist and flip us over. She gasps, but it quickly turns to laughter as I bury my hand against her neck.

“Okay,” she says breathlessly. “I guess that conversation’s over.”

I kiss down her collarbone, her chest, to the soft rounds of her breasts. They’re just the right size for my hands, fitting into my palm like they’re made for each other. “Yes,” I say, and bend to her nipple. It rises rosy and pink beneath my tongue. “Come with me to a dinner this Friday.”

“Where would we—oh. Jesus.” Her voice turns shaky as I add my teeth to her nipple. She’s sensitive here, I’ve learned, and it happens to be one of my favorite spots. “Where would we go?”

I let my fingers take over the teasing. “It’s with my business partners and their girlfriends. Or spouses, really.”

“Business partners? Like… the other members of your venture capitalist firm?”

I grin at her. “Yeah, in Acture Capital. And you’re not allowed to interview anyone on the record.”

She smiles back at me. “Not what I was thinking. But… what would you introduce me as?”

“My girlfriend,” I say.

Her breath catches, and this time it has nothing to do with my hands or lips. “Oh,” she says. “I’d like that.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Good. Because if you really insisted, I could introduce you as the junior reporter from the newspaper we co-own, but I think that could be awkward.”

She laughs, fond exasperation in her eyes. “No, I don’t want to be introduced that way.”

“Good. It’s a mouthful.”

“We won’t tell them, will we? Where I work?”

“Not if you don’t want to,” I say, raising myself up on an elbow. I run a finger around her nipple. “But in full disclosure, not a single one of them would mind. They shouldn’t, at any rate. The others all met their partners at work, too.”

“They did?”

“Yeah. Outrageous, really.”

“You’re all walking HR violations.”

I grin at her. “Yes. But one’s just married, one’s engaged, and the third are renewing their vows soon.”

“I’ll come to the dinner,” Audrey says, her fingers sliding into my hair. “And I’ll tell them all I met my boyfriend at a bar.”

“While on a date with someone else,” I say, clucking my tongue. “This man of yours must be quite special.”

Her eyes glow with happiness. “He definitely is.”

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