Page 6 of Camping with the Boss

I walk briskly back into the kitchen, opening my mouth to deliver the bad news. But it snaps shut at the scene before me. Wade Darian is sitting at my kitchen table, his body eclipsing the chair he’s in. My eyes fall to his lap. Taffy is there, purring. She tilts her head back and gazes at him with adoration. He chuckles, scratching under her chin, and my breath catches at his gentleness. “Who’s a good kitty?”

Oh God. I freeze, my body sending conflicting signals. Is it the sweetness on his face? The low rumble of his voice? Or the praise that has my body betraying me?

Dashing around the table to hide my predicament, I grab the back of the chair to steady myself.

His head jerks up and over and the open expression on his face snaps shut. I miss it. Which is weird. What difference does it make? I will never see this man again in my life.

He kisses the top of Taffy’s head and gently scoots my traitorous cat off his lap. When his eyes settle on me, they are no longer gentle. “Well? Where is he?”

I don’t shy away from his hard gaze as I try to calm my breathing. “Gone.”

He’s on his feet in seconds, the vein in his neck pulsing as he leans over the table. “Gone? When will he be back?”

I cling to the chair to keep from retreating and swallow the anxiety clogging my throat. “I’m not sure he’s coming back.”

Chapter Two

Wade

Monday, June 9th, 10:30 a.m.

The headache that started this morning when River didn’t show up to help with the final preparations for the retreat is exploding into a migraine. I can’t get derailed by pain. This is too important. I enlisted River for this because I don’t know who to trust anymore. At my own company. What a disaster.

His boyfriend stares at me like he’s worried I’m going to explode all over his quaint kitchen.

“Excuse me?” I don’t really want him to say those fateful words again, but I’m at a loss on how to respond.

He crosses his arms without moving from his spot. He appears to be hiding behind that chair. Is he afraid of me? He seems too fierce for that. “There’s…” He glances away, and for a moment, I can see the devastation on his face.Fuck. River really is gone. His chin goes up. “He left a note.”

“Let me see it.”

He gives an outraged squawk. “What? No. Do you think I’m lying?”

“No, but—” I stop as the thoughts take shape. Maybe River didn’t leave because of the retreat. Maybe this isn’t about me and my company at all. If River lefthim,that explains the devastation on his face. I still want to hurt River. But now, surprisingly, I have more than one reason.

Why do I even care?

I shut down those thoughts. That’s how I got into this predicament in the first place. Swayed by a pretty face. I need to find River. Or figure out another way to go forward with the retreat.

If I don’t, Meredith will use this as proof I need to step down as CEO and let my brother, Ander, take over. That can’t happen. It’s my fucking company.

“No, but…what?” he asks, and it takes me a moment to remember what we were talking about.

The note. River leaving isn’t this guy’s fault. Unless he drove River away. “I don’t think you’re lying.” I pause. His claws are as sharp as his sweet kitty’s. “Did you have a lover’s quarrel?”

He gapes at me. His fingers are white from where he’s clutching the back of the chair. “Lover’s quarrel? What are you, fifty?” He shakes his head and laughs. “River is my brother.”

As soon as he says the words, my brain catches up, cataloging the similarities between the two men. The same chin. The same green eyes. But River is more filled out. Not as thin or pretty as his brother. I also feel this weird sense of relief. “Then why did he leave?”

“You tell me,Wade.” He advances on me, and it’s harder than it should be to stand my ground. But I do. He gets right in my face, green eyes flashing. “You’re the bosshole.”

“Stop saying that!”

All the fight seems to go out of him as he sags into a chair. “River’s impulsive.” He ignores my snort. “He’ll return. I just don’t know when.”

“Mr. Drake…” I realize then that I don’t know his first name.

He rolls his eyes. “Canyon.”

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