Page 59 of The Bossy One

Still, Olivia bit her lip, uncertain. “Declan, if we start something… It could get complicated. Even more complicated than a one-night stand. What if it ends badly? Or gets messy?”

It was already messy. I’d spent the last few hours out of my mind with jealousy. But that wasn’t her problem. It was mine.

I reached up and ran a thumb over her lower lip. Marking my territory until she let me return. “We’ll keep it light and fun. I promise.”

She hesitated.

“You deserve someone spoiling you for a bit,” I said, my voice low and soft. “Let me give you that, Olivia.”

She searched my face. I did my best to look casual and relaxed, and not at all like I was dying to fuck her against this wall.

I heard the sounds of a door opening and footsteps in the hall. Molly would be back out here in seconds.

“Light and fun,” Olivia repeated. “You promise?”

“Absolutely. Exactly what you want.” And then I stole one last kiss, to hold me over until our date.

18

OLIVIA

What did you wear to a date with a man who’d already seen everything in your wardrobe? Declan hadn’t been able to get a babysitter for tonight since his normal babysitter was, well, me, so our big date was functionally just another night at home. That should have helped the date feel more casual and low stakes.

Instead, it reminded me how entangled we already were in each other’s lives.

I blew out an anxious breath and changed outfits yet again. I checked the time. Declan would be done putting Catie down for the night in a few minutes. My whole body was churning with a mix of nerves, dread, excitement, and lust.

I needed to talk to a friend. I grabbed my phone, then hesitated. For some reason it felt weird to go to @DBCoder for advice about this. I’d politely declined his invitation to meet in person, and he’d been nice about it, but I wasn’t sure where that left us.

Instead, I called Molly. “Hi. What do I wear to a date?”

“You’re going on a second date with Brendan?” Molly asked, deeply skeptical.

“No, um. This is a first date,” I said.

“Who else do you know… Ohhhhhhhh,” she said, understanding dawning. “Declan finally noticed you have the hots for him.”

I rubbed my hand over my face. It sounded so undignified when she put it like that.

“Wear the sundress you wore when we went out to lunch,” Molly said. “He couldn’t stop staring at you.”

“Thanks,” I said, turning around to rummage for the sundress in my closet, before the rest of her words hit me. “Wait. He couldn’t take his eyes off me?”

“Like a kid in a candy store,” Molly said. “You were so oblivious.”

“Then why didn’t youtellme?” I asked, exasperated. I pulled the sundress over my head and slipped on my sandals.

“I thought you were pretending not to notice because you were trying to avoid dating your boss,” Molly said. “What happened to that, by the way?”

“He kissed me against a door, and I lost my mind,” I said. I groaned. “Ugh, this is a mistake isn’t it? He says we can keep it light and fun, so it won’t end badly. But is that even possible?”

“If there’s anyone who can do it, Declan can,” Molly said. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a yes.

Molly must have sensed my doubt.

“Look, do youwantto go on this date?” Molly asked.

“Yes. God, yes.” Just remembering the way he’d kissed me last night had my whole body waking up. I’d never been with someone like Declan. And I couldn’t quite believe he was interested in me.

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