Page 49 of Teasing Her Grumpy Boss

‘That was only because of Sienna—my best friend. We got into music together. It was a hobby, an excuse to go into her garage—supposedly to practise but more to hang and chat. A way of getting away from my parents.’

‘I guess I was lucky finding what I wanted to do early on. It was always law for me.’ He drummed his fingers on the bar. ‘Have you never had something you’re passionate about? That you eat, breathe and sleep?’

She had something now. Something she really wanted to excel at—could excel at. Two things, in fact. How was it she’d finally found what she was meant to do, and the man she was meant to do it all with, and it be so, so wrong? She could never, ever share it with him. It wasn’t something he was capable of. He was too busy serving a higher purpose.

He took her silence as a negative.

‘What about your violin?’

‘What about it? It was a hobby taken too far. My heart was never in it—you can hear it in my playing.’

‘You love country music, though?’

‘Yeah.’ She chuckled. ‘But that’s just for fun. Ever heard Bach played country-style?’

‘Can’t say I have.’

‘I’ll do it for you later.’

‘There’s only one way you’ll get me listening to you playing country.’

‘How?’

‘Naked. Naked country-music playing.’

‘Naked?’ Her shriek caused customers three tables away to turn to them.

He relented. ‘Oh, okay. You can wear your cowgirl boots.’

She swatted him with the bar towel and played out the mock outrage a little more. She was secretly turned on by the whole idea but annoyed because she knew he read her mind. He lazily took his seat at the end of the bar and toyed with his drink, chatting idly to Corey about who was top of the table in the rugby.

Lucy kept staring at him out of the corner of her eye. She’d never seen him so relaxed. Daniel doing down time was even more attractive than Daniel doing single-minded obsessive. It was only halfway through the evening when he called to her, devilish temptation in his face. ‘Come home. Leave Corey to finish up tonight.’

‘Just because you’re having a night off doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t have to work.’

He was more dangerous tonight than she’d known him to be these entire two weeks. And her heart was doing dangerous pittery-pattery, skittery moves.

‘Don’t worry about it. Corey can handle it.’

‘No, really, Daniel. I have to work. You go on ahead of me.’ She jerked her head to the door.

He looked put out. Because he expected her to put out every time he fancied it? She decided the fact she fancied it too was irrelevant because for her it was way more than lust—more than just a physical relief to bring dreamless nights. She was starting to dream—impossible dreams. He was in the premier division; she was on the reserve bench of the Z-grade. Sarah’s words had left a little welt that was now festering, and the infection was spreading. She could never keep him. She could never keep up with him—she’d only hold him back.

‘You’re spending too much time here. You never did have that night off I ordered.’ So he wasn’t taking no for an answer. ‘Corey—you lock up!’ Corey spun round from where he’d been clearing a table and the tray of glasses he had in his hands slipped—glass shattering everywhere.

Lucy couldn’t stop the giggle as she tried to tell Daniel off. ‘You should never have done that.’

He flashed her a wicked smile. ‘I’ll sign it off. Come on, let’s go have some fun.’

Casual Daniel wanted to play. And that was a Daniel she couldn’t refuse.

THIRTEEN

You rely on reason rather than intuition

Daniel got backfrom court—anda not guilty verdict—to find the dean of the law school had been trying to contact him all morning. He rang him back right away and was offered the job. Even though he’d been expecting it, the rush of satisfaction hit hard.

He pushed away from his desk and stood—went out of the office and told his secretary he was going for a walk.

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