Page 56 of The Boss I Can't Stand
“Right,” I said.
“Good.” She schlepped across the room with her work bag. “If a bad guy breaks in, he’s getting you first.”
Maybe her words were meant to ease the tension, but nothing short of a grenade going off in the room could have distracted me from the realization that we would be sharingthatbed. Sure, we’d been living together for well over a month now, but we had separate bedrooms, our own bathrooms, and plenty of other rooms to hang out in while staying out of each other’s way.
The kitchen was the only space we truly shared, and with us clocking so many hours at the studio, we weren’t using our kitchen much, anyway. This was a completely different scenario. I tugged at my collar, which felt tight enough to strangle me.
I couldn’t do this. Not if I hoped to maintain any shred of dignity. There was no way I could sleep next to her and risk making a fool of myself.
“I’ll have someone bring up a spare blanket,” I said, coming to my senses.
“For what?” Sierra asked.
“I’ll take the floor.”
She gave an exhausted laugh, rubbing her face with both hands. “I appreciate the chivalry, but if you’re that desperate to get away from me, there’s a couch in the front room.”
“I’m not desperate to get away from you,” I said, trying to gauge if she was really as blasé about this as she was acting. Was that a flush in her cheeks? Or was that just from rubbing her face?
She bit her bottom lip, and I remembered how sweet her lips had tasted against mine that day in my studio. How warm…how soft…I wanted to taste her again. But what didshewant? Did she think about that moment the way I did?
Sierra blinked at me, her face unreadable. “Well, you don’t have to sleep on the couch for my sake. The bed is plenty big enough. No use in us being uncomfortable when we have all that space. I think the two of us will be exhausted enough to pass out as soon as we lie down.”
It was hard to argue with that. “I appreciate you not making a big deal out of the room thing.”
She lifted her shoulder. “Just more of that compromise.”
“Right,” I said, a strange feeling settling in my chest. This was all forEvery Day. For the optics. For the press and publicity and attention we needed to pull off Jillian’s PR campaign.
Nothing more. I couldn’t afford for our fake engagement to be something more. Something real. Because real only led to mess.
“The real question I have is who would have been getting the suite if we hadn’t been sharing?” Sierra said, her tone teasing again. “And consider your answer wisely. Couples have broken up for less.”
I smirked. “You, of course.”
She nodded approvingly. “You’re going to make such a good husband.”
That pressure in my chest throbbed, and I tore my gaze away from her, my eyes landing on the room service menu on the dresser. I snatched it up and handed it to her. “Pick something. You haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
“Neither have you.”
“I already know my order.” I had the same salmon rice bowl every time I stayed here.
“Isn’t it too late for food?” she wondered.
“Not for us,” I said.
Her eyebrow rose to a delicate point, her auburn hair slipping free of her clip, spiraling around her face in soft waves. I wanted to curl those waves around my fingers. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means it’s been a grueling day, tomorrow is going to be just as bad, and you need fuel to power you through it. So tell me what you want, and I will make it happen.”
Just like I’d made the fabric order happen. There was something about Sierra that made me want to spend all my time making her wishes come true. Maybe shewasCinderella, and I was her goddamn fairy godmother.
She yawned as she scanned the menu. “My brain’s too tired to pick. Oh, wait! Mac-n-cheese.”
I grinned at the way her eyes lit up. “Mac-n-cheese it is.” I picked up the room phone and dialed down to the front desk, giving them our orders.
Less than twenty minutes later, a knock sounded at the door.
