Page 22 of His Jewel

She was late. Not that it really mattered, she was banging the boss, but still. She entered the elevator and bit her lip.

Banging the boss ... more like in love with the boss, which was far more dangerous. They hadn’t said the words yet. She didn’t even know if she could. But what she could do was talk to her family, her dad. She’d been avoiding their calls the last few months, not only because she’d been in her love bubble, but because she needed to tell them that she wasn’t going to write that fucking article. It was all so stupid. She had a 10:00 AM call booked in today. She was going to take it on a walk and finally,finally, close this chapter.

The bell dinged, opening to the bustling office. She plonked Cathy’s coffee on her desk with a grin. “Sorry, Cath, just kept it simple today with a latte.”

Cathy looked up at her, her usual bright eyes dull. “Oh, just what I needed. Things are so busy here today, with the Matterson merge.”

The merger was all set to go ahead. She’d been working on filing the last of the paperwork for the past few weeks. Everything had been kept private, with only a select few employees knowing about the potential merger. It would take the company to new heights and she couldn’t have been prouder of Josh.

“Let’s go out soon,” she offered to Cathy. “Maybe have a few drinks stronger than caffeine.”

Cathy tucked her pencil behind her ear. “Now that sounds like something I can get behind.”

“Don’t work too hard.” She offered her a departing grin, and headed for her own desk, moved to be just outside of Josh’s. She was his PA, after all. She didn’t know how many people they were fooling, but they seemed to be flying under the radar so far. She took a sip of her coffee and nearly spat it out. There was a bouquet of red roses sitting on her desk. Hmm, more like crouching, waiting to pounce. It was huge. An assault on the senses. And the best thing she’d ever seen.

So much for flying under the radar. She set her latte and bag down, hands reaching for the card.

Happy four months. The best four months of my life.

Josh.

She bit her lip, her finger tracing over the card.

Then, trying to assemble any modicum of cool, she smoothed down her skirt and knocked on her boss’s door.

“Come in.”

His eyes flew up from his computer, lighting up when they saw it was her.

She shut the door and ran over to him, kissing him tenderly, deeply.

“Thank you,” she whispered against his mouth. “And happy four months to you.” She wiped her lipstick from his lips, tidying him up.

She wriggled from his arms, but he pulled her back.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

She grinned. “Back to work. You have a meeting in five minutes, boss.”

He glanced at his calendar, sighing. “So I do.”

“So you’ll just have to hold that thought until later,” she said, biting her lip in the way she knew drove him crazy.

His eyes darkened. “I don’t think I’ll be able to think of much else.”

“Now why would I want you to be thinking of anything else?” She smiled and left the room.

****

The clock looked languid, slow, that’s how she felt time was passing. When 9:55 AM hit, she headed for the door, her phone clutched in her hand, ready to disappoint her family. She found a park bench mercifully empty and settled in for the scolding of her life. She had to remind herself that she was an adult, for God’s sake. They could scold all they like.

Her phone vibrated, and she clicked the answer button before she could change her frazzled mind.

“What is it, honey? You said you had something important for us. Have you found something?” Her dad’s eager voice bounded through the phone like an excitable puppy.

Honestly, is this all he cares about?

“Hey, Mom, Dad, how are you?” She sighed internally.

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