Daddy's Dirty Boss

“I’m going out with Holly tonight,” I said to them both, reiterating that I was still the baby girl who needed approval to head out for a few hours in the evening.

“The forecast says a bit of rain is on the way,” Mum said. “Make sure you wrap up warm.”

“So much for summer,” I said, and took the final scoop of my carrots. I placed my cutlery down neatly.

Mum and Dad were almost done too. I waited until they were finished up, then reached over for their plates to stack them.

“Thanks again so much for getting me the amazing job,” I said to Dad. “I’m so excited to have it.”

I loved the proud twinkle in his eyes when he answered. It made my heart soar.

“You’re very welcome, sweetheart,” he said. “I know you’ll do us very proud. Just make sure you do your best for Miles.”

I grinned my best grin before rising to my feet and taking the plates to the kitchen. I pulled my phone from my pocket as I set the dishwasher going, and sure enough there were a string of question mark messages waiting from Holly.

Meet you in twenty at the pavilion, I texted back and got a thumbs-up emoticon in response.

I rushed upstairs and shrugged out of my work clothes, throwing on some jeans and a floaty tunic top. I stuck my head into the living room before I left, waving at Mum and Dad.

“See you later.”

They nodded.

“Not too late,” Mum said. “You have work tomorrow these days.”

I couldn’t hold back the smirk.

Work tomorrow with Mr Lindon. My boss.

My actual boss these days.

“I won’t be too late,” I said, and meant it. I needed to be bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for my office duties.

The walk to the cricket pavilion was an easy one. One I’d walked a million times to meet up with Holly Parker. She was my bestie, and a great one, and the one person on this planet I was absolutely itching to gush over the daily details with.

She was already there when I arrived, her knees hugged to her chest as she puffed away on one of her Marlboro cigarettes.

“So?” she pushed as I joined her. “Tell me all about it. Was he every bit the boss you’ve been rubbing one off to for years?”

I couldn’t stop the giggle. “An even better boss than that,” I said, and leaned in close, my head on her shoulder. “He was a dream. An absolute dream.”

I knew she was rolling her eyes without even seeing them. Her tut said it all. But she was happy for me. Truly happy for me. I felt it as her head rested back against mine.

She squealed in all the right places as I told her about everything from his handshake across the desk first thing to how he’d rescued me from the filing room. She caught her breath as I told her about him claiming me as his own little office girl before we left for the day, Erica Tate be damned.

“You’re actually going to be working directly for him?” she pushed. “For real, you and him?”

I twisted to face her, my nod pretty frantic. “Looks that way, yeah. That’s what he said.”

“Shit,” she said, and lit up another cigarette. “What are you gonna do? Be the sexy little minx he’s always dreamed of and make your move?”

Even the thought of making a move on Mr Lindon was enough to make my belly flip. The nerves would be insane long before I got to that stage. Really insane.

Holly read my mind.

“Seriously, you really can make a move,” she said. “You saw him fucking an office girl in your garden, barely a month older than you are now. One that looked pretty much exactly like you do, and you know it. If that doesn’t give you a thumbs-up for trying it on with him, I don’t know what ever would.”

“But she was gone a month later,” I said. “She didn’t last with him.”

This time I saw Holly’s eye roll. “Jeez, Faith. You’re seriously still clinging onto this whole marriage and babies bullshit?” She paused but I had no response to that. “If you seriously do manage to get Mr Lindon to take your V card, that’s a huge winner. That’s what you should be going for. A summer of fucking the hot boss alongside your summer job.”

“Yeah, but it’s more than that…” I started but she shook her head.

“Then it’s university,” she said. “University and a whole world of other shit to explore. Not just your dad’s hot boss and a lifetime of doing auction shit in the same town you went to school in.”

Even the thought of going to university and giving up on a life with Mr Lindon hurt pretty bad. I looked away at the trees at the bottom of the cricket pitch.