Page 63 of Dating the Boss
I headed to the conference room five minutes early and set everything up. The meeting went as I assumed it would—much to my relief—and it ended around eight. As I was walking back to my office, Reed came around the corner carrying a cup of coffee in each hand and a takeout bag from the café under his arm.
“Sorry!” he said, then beamed when he saw it was me. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Is that for me?” I asked, nodding to the coffee that hadnonfat, add vanillawritten on the side of the cup.
“Maybe. But it’ll cost ya.”
I glanced around the office. Jennifer walked out of the breakroom and back to her office while members from the design team went to their cubicles. No one was in hearing range, but we could never be too careful.
“I’m sure we could come to an arrangement that pleases us both,” I said, grabbing the cup when he offered it to me.
“Blowjobs for coffee. Deal or no deal.”
My ears tingled as heat spread through my veins. He grinned and started toward his desk. I walked beside him, doing my best to keep distance between us. He’d worn a shirt that showed his collarbone, and his skin glimmered a little.
“Why are you sparkling?” I asked once we were in front of my office.
“It’s time for me to come clean.” Reed released an exaggerated sigh. “I’m a member of the Cullen clan. We sparkle, you know.”
“The who clan?” I asked. “Is that some kind of cult?”
Reed belted out a laugh, putting a hand to his stomach. “Oh my god. I can’t breathe.”
“I don’t see what’s so funny.” However, I loved seeing him that way, laughing with ease with his eyes mirroring that same laughter.
“And you never will,” Reed said with a serious expression before bursting back out into giggles. “I’m wearing a new body spray, and I didn’t know it had actual fucking glitter in it until it was too late.”
“Is that why you smell like berries?”
“It’s a winterberry fragrance,” he answered, then leaned closer before whispering, “Just wait until you see me naked later. I look like a goddamn disco ball.”
Shaking my head, I opened the door and went inside my office. For the rest of the day, Reed and I exchanged soft smiles from a distance and stole a kiss or two when he came in to give me a report or ask me a question.
We can do this, I thought to myself.No one has to know.
But as I left my office at the end of the day and saw Reed talking to Jennifer outside the breakroom, laughing at something she said, I knew we couldn’t hide this thing between us for forever. He deserved better than a secret romance.
He deserved someone who’d treat him like a prince from those fairy tales he loved so much.
***
Over a week had passed since Reed and I’d started dating. It was going better than I ever imagined.
Sunday morning, I woke early to go for a run around the block, then brewed a pot of coffee and put together a grocery list. My house was littered with Reed’s things: two different pairs of shoes by the door, a jacket slung over the couch, a flat iron on the bathroom counter, along with his hair creams and facial cleansers.
He had taken over my house just like he was starting to take over my heart.
Some of his clothes even hung up in my closet. He had spent the whole weekend with me and a few days with me the previous week. Ever since the day we’d decided to take the risk of being together, we’d been kind of inseparable. Outside of work anyway.
At a quarter to nine, I went in the bedroom to wake him. He was sprawled all over my bed, his arms and legs stretched out in a spread-eagle position. I sat beside him and placed a hand on his chest.
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”
He crinkled his nose and shifted a little before stilling again and lightly snoring.
“Reed?” I gently shook him.
“Hmm?” His eyes were still closed.
