Page 39 of The Grumpy Boss Agreement

She pins me with a hard gaze. “I think I know very well what we are and are not, Cole. I was there, remember?”

Oh, I remember all too well. The little sigh that escaped her lips, the one I wanted to coax into a moan… nothing would sound as sweet as Savannah feeling pleasure?—

“Cole?” she prompts, bringing me back to reality.

God, I really am the worst. Just a complete wretched beast.

I clench my teeth. “I can’t believe you aren’t going to do anything about it. It’s libel!”

“Easy, tiger. There’s nothing to do but let the gossip die down. CSAT has been around for a while now. It’ll pick something else to focus on soon.”

I stare at her for a few seconds. My gaze slips down to her lips.

God, get it together, Cole. You can’t just run around kissing your assistant. Your much younger assistant, during the year of your sexile. You are planning to move away in a month, for god’s sake. Are those not plenty of reasons why I have to remain professional when Savannah is around?

I grunt and slide away from her, brushing at my coat like she might be contagious somehow.

“Look, you’re very pretty, all right? There’s no sense in denying that. And I’m obviously very handsome. Maybe that’s why rumors are starting about us working together.”

Savannah crosses her legs and bobs her foot.

Her silent amusement makes me cringe internally. But now that I’ve started explaining all the reasons why I don’t want to get intimate with her, I have to finish.

I don’t want to be accused of leading her on.

“Look, I’m just saying that you’re cute. But you are way too young for me. I’m thirty-one. That’s practically an old man. And I’m your boss, let’s not forget that. I’m in sexile at the moment. And last but not least. I’m moving soon. In a couple of weeks or maybe a month. I’m not really suitable for anybody at the moment.”

Savannah smirks. “Did I do something to indicate to you that I’m interested?”

I swallow. “No, but–.”

She cuts me off. “Maybe we need to have a firmer agreement. We will be professional and polite, so that when you leave there will be no….” She searches for the right word. “Regrets.”

“That was my assumption.” I frown. “I don’t know about being polite, though.”

Do I regret my earlier decision to keep things between us strictly professional? Maybe. Yes. But I understand why it’s necessary. For Savannah as much as for me.

Savannah shifts, and her knee slides out from her oversized jacket a little more. I have the urge to look at her legs, but I keep my eyes on her face.

“I may insist on a slight adjustment to the terms,” she says. Her eyes glint, and she gives me the strangest smile.

Is she flirting with me? Or challenging me to test my boundaries?

“Savannah–.”

A child’s shout rings out across the grassy clearing. “Daddy! Where are you?”

I thank my lucky stars that my kid arrived in time. I don’t know what I was going to say.

“Charlie!” I call out. “I’m right here.”

Savannah and I both stand up. In the next second, Charlie appears, materializing out of the crowd. River is right behind him, looking back and forth between me and Savannah with a smirk. I kneel down to Charlie.

“Hey, kiddo. Did you find anything interesting?”

Charlie is completely wound up.

“A parrot! I pet it! It’s soft.”

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