Page 48 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

He smirked. “But did you get to be a teenager? Sneaking out to late night parties, stolen kisses, and general recklessness?”

I’d never been that free, and I had resented my siblings and my responsibilities for years. I’d dreamed of the day I could be free to do what I wanted. “No, but I don’t think I’m that kind of person. Even if I hadn’t had my family responsibilities, I don’t think I’d have run wild or—”

“You choose to listen to heavy metal and fight in your free time, and you don’t think you’d have been a wild teenager?”

My stomach sank and my throat tightened, because the truth was, I didn’t know the answer to his question. I honestly didn’t know what I would have chosen. Did that mean I didn’t know myself, didn’t really know who I was? “It doesn’t matter. That time is long gone, and I’m fine. I’ve grown up just fine.”

He looked me over with a mock lascivious expression. “You certainly did grow up fine. But it’s never too late to revisit your youth.”

“Let me guess,” I said, leaning toward him. The sugar rush from the cookies was hitting me hard. I felt giddy, happy, in the mood to play. “The way to do that involves getting naked with you?”

He slapped a hand to his chest and popped his mouth open wide. “Me? I was a virgin until I was…” He squinted. “Okay, bad example. The point is that we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. You can throw out all the rules, the schedule, and just live like a teenager. Lay in bed and listen to music all day or get drunk and sleep all day. Whatever you want, no boundaries, no expectations, no judgment.”

It shouldn’t have sounded so wonderful and I shouldn’t have trusted him not to judge, but I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my vacation. A chance to explore the kind of freedom I’d always dreamed of but hadn’t been able to find, even after my family stopped needing me.

In that bed with him, I felt so relaxed and buoyant at the same time. I wanted more of that feeling.

“If I agree to this, I want a promise that it ends at the end of the week and you never mention anything that happened here at work or to any of our coworkers.”

He frowned, clearly not liking that plan, but he nodded. “Agreed.”

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