Page 12 of Marked By my Boss
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he adds quickly. “It’s just… you’ve got your whole life ahead of you, and I’m already halfway through mine.”
I don’t respond right away. I’m watching him. The way his shoulders tense, and the way his eyes avoid mine. It’s like he’s not just thinking about the age gap. He’s thinking about what it means.
“I don’t feel like a kid,” I say softly, rubbing my hand over my stomach. “I feel like a whole damn adult, like I’ve had three lifetimes already.”
He exhales a slow, conflicted breath. “That’s fucked up, everything you’ve been through. Why’d you stay so long with that guy?”
I draw in a breath and exhale slowly, my eyes wide. “He could be this really nice guy at times. Like, really attentive, caring, affectionate… everything I needed, but it never lasted. I’d have a feeling, and I’d talk about it. Talking about my feelings would set him off, and he became a man I didn’t know. Screaming, hollering, shifting blame, the whole nine.” I shrug. “Then the next day, back to greatness like nothing happened. The whole thing threw me off guard, and I had so much empathy for him that I let a lot of it go.” I stare down at my fingertips as I fiddle with the edge of the soft knotted blanket I don’t remember covering myself with. “I know how stupid that sounds.”
“You’re not stupid. You’re strong. You wanted to believe the person you loved was good. That’s human.” His eyes hold on mine as his voice resonates somewhere deep in my chest. “I’m just glad you’re here.”
Why does it feel so good when he talks? Why do I want to imagine myself here, with pictures of us on that fireplace mantel? Even better, us tangled up in his bed after a long night of hard, rough sex.
God, I really need to stop letting all this fantasy stuff take over. It’s clearly gone to an unhealthy level.
A heavy knock hits the front door, and Beau leans forward in his chair. “Shit, that’s my buddy. He’s dropping off a bike part he’d worked on for me. You mind if I run down to the barn with him quickly?”
I shake my head. “No, not at all. I’m desperate for a shower, anyway.”
He nods, stands from the chair, and slides out into the early morning light, and for once, I’m thankful he’s left the roombecause I have an ache I need to take care of or I’m not sure I’ll make it through the day.
Chapter Six
Beau
“What do you mean you heard her moaning?” Knox laughs as he grabs a beer from the fridge in the barn. I think about mentioning the fact that it’s barely eight AM, but I know who I’m talking to.
“She was having this dream on the couch. I woke her up. I had to.” I leave out the part about how hard my cock was.
“Wait, maybe we go back to how she got to your house to begin with?”
I shake my head. “Catch up, man.”
“Sorry.” He shrugs as he pulls back a sip of beer. “You’re the one with the story. I’m just here with a rebuilt engine part for you on my way to work, like an honest citizen who’s not inviting employees back for sleepovers.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha.”
“You know I’m fuckin’ with you.”
“How’s the mail-order application going, honest citizen?”
He laughs. “Submitted it yesterday, so we’ll see. Have a feelin’ it’s gonna be a shit show, though. They’ve already called twice to ask why I left my type blank.”
“You have a type?”
He grins, eyes still on the bike like it might chime in. “I do, but I think writing how I’m lookin’ for a low maintenancebrunette that doesn’t mind cooking, cleaning, and my obsession with vintage trucks won’t find me much.”
“You’re a mess, dude.”
“Says the guy with his young employee moaning on his couch.”
“You going to make me regret telling you?”
He laughs and takes another swig of beer. “Yeah, probably.”
Knox wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, still grinning like he’s got front-row seats to my moral unraveling. “So, what’s the plan, Romeo? You gonna pretend it didn’t happen or lean into the whole forbidden-fruit fantasy?”
I glare at him, but it’s half-hearted. “There’s no plan. She needed a place to crash. That’s it.”
