Page 53 of Grumpy Boss's Secret

“Know what?” he said, his words speed up. “All I know is you quit out of the blue. You were gone with no explanation. You didn’t even clean out your office. What the hell happened? How could you do that to me?”

I stared at him. “What?” I stammered.

Hope, as vast and golden as the sunrise, glow inside my core.

“You…” I stammered. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” he repeated.

“How did you find me?” I said, still feeling like I must be dreaming. He couldn’t possibly be here. Things like that didn’t happen. Then again, the famous author you’d been in love with for years turning out to be your incredibly hot boss didn’t happen either.

“I called your mom,” he said.

“You…you what?”

“I called your mom,” he repeated.

I blinked and asked, “Why?”

He cocked his head to one side, frowning. “Because I wanted to find you. I needed to find you.”

I shook my head, feeling overwhelmed. My brain didn’t know where to begin with any of this.

“How did you find her number?” I asked.

“She’s your emergency contact.”

I blinked. I wanted to laugh.

“But,” I said, “She doesn’t know where I am, either.”

“She’s got you on Family Link,” he said. “She told me your location.”

I put a hand on my forehead. “So…you just called her now? No. What? When did you call her?”

“Last night around 5:00,” he said. “I went to your apartment after work, but you weren't there. I got frantic. I called your mom and asked where you were. She interrogated me for a while and then said I should go after you."

Wow, Mom. Well played. Psychic.

“But…” I said, doing the math. “…did you fly part of the way?” I glanced at the parking lot. No, that was his car - I recognized it. “It’s a twelve-hour drive from Seattle.”

“I drove all night,” he said.

I stared at him. “How did you know where I was?”

“Your mom kept updating me.”

My jaw dropped.

“You were up all night…driving after me…on the phone with my mom?”

“On and off,” he said. He wasn’t smiling, but his eyes flashed a twinkle.

“I think I need to sit down,” I said.

He smiled a little, but I just kept staring at him. Then his smile faded.

“Jozi, why did you leave?” he asked.

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