Page 3 of Kissing the Boss
"They were pretty bad."
"Okay, they were awful. But you tell them well."
He grins fully then, and my heart does a ridiculous skip-rope routine in my chest.
His garage is a tidy building with three bays and an office attached to the side. Unlike the festival chaos we left behind, this has the organized calm of a well-run business. Two mechanics work on cars in the bays, classic rock playing from a radio.
Jonathan backs my car into an empty bay with practiced ease. "Come on. I'll get you set up in the office while I write up the estimate."
The office smells like coffee and WD-40, with a desk scattered with invoices and a coffee maker that's seen better days. I set my purse on the desk and pull out my phone to check the time.
"What are you doing?" Jonathan asks from the doorway.
"Making sure I have enough battery to call about a rental car." I unzip my bag, hunting for my charger. "Is there an outlet I could use?"
He points to the power strip beside the desk. "Help yourself."
I bend to plug in my phone, then straighten to find him staring at me with an odd expression. "Everything okay?"
"You're C. Green," he says slowly.
"Yes? Cassandra Green. I told you that."
His face does something complicated, like surprise shifting to understanding, then settling into careful blankness. "The bookkeeper I hired last week. To start tomorrow."
The words hit like cold water. "You're... you're Cox. As in Cox Auto Repair. As in my new boss."
"Yeah." The single word comes out rough. He takes a step back, physically distancing himself. "I am."
The warm, teasing man from minutes ago vanishes. In his place stands someone rigid and professional, his jaw tight, hands shoved in his pockets. The temperature in the room seems to drop ten degrees.
"I didn't realize," I stammer. "I mean, obviously I knew the name, but I didn't connect..."
"It's fine." But his tone suggests it's anything but fine. "I'll get that estimate written up. You start at eight tomorrow."
He turns to leave, shoulders stiff, and I feel the loss of his warmth like a physical ache. "Jonathan—"
"Mr. Cox is fine. During business hours." He doesn't look back. "There's coffee in the break room if you want some."
The door closes behind him, and I sink into the desk chair, my legs suddenly shaky.
Ten minutes ago, he was flirting with me. Making me laugh. Looking at me like...
Like I wasn't his employee.
Through the window, I watch him talking to one of the mechanics, gesturing at my car. He's all business now, the easy smile gone, replaced by professional distance.
This is why I don't believe in fairy tales anymore. Because just when you think you've found something magical, reality comes crashing down.
My phone buzzes with a welcome message from the Whitetail Falls community board. "Welcome to our enchanted little town!" it reads. "Where everyone belongs."
I stare at the message, then at my new boss through the window, the man whose smile made me forget my own name, who's now determined to pretend those sparks between us never existed.
My fresh start just got a lot more complicated.
But as Jonathan glances through the window and our eyes meet for one electric second before he looks away, I realize the real problem isn't that he's my boss.
It's that despite everything, I still want to know what his stubble feels like against my skin.
