Possessive Boss

“I like to think I am. And you might think so too, based on how you’re looking at me.”

His smirks a little, head cocked. “And how’s that?”

“You’re looking at me like you don’t want to stop.”

“You might be right about that.” He sighs slightly. “But I do have to ask you a few more boring questions. For HR, mainly.”

“Okay. Ask away. I’ll try to make my answers interesting.”

That makes him smile again. “Let’s get started.”

We go down a checklist of general questions about the field, the job requirements, my outlook on work, that sort of stuff. Really general questions that any job interview would go through.

When we’re finished, he tosses down the paper he’d been reading from. I made him laugh a couple times during the questioning, which I consider a definite win.

“Not bad,” he says. “Not bad at all. So look, Val. I like you. I think you’d be a good fit here. But there’s one small thing I’m not sure about.”

“What’s that?”

He looks at me then with this intense stare that makes my heart start to race. He’s so handsome, it’s almost uncomfortable.

“I’m going to flirt with you,” he says softly. “I don’t think I can help it, if I’m honest. If that’s going to make you uncomfortable, tell me now, and we can move on from this. Otherwise, I’m going to tease you, and I think you might enjoy it.”

“That’s a very inappropriate thing to say during a job interview.”

He smirks and shrugs. “I know. But what can I do? I need to have a good working relationship, so I have to speak my mind.”

“Can I speak mine, then?”

“Go right ahead.”

“I think it would be wrong for my boss to think he could flirt with me whenever he wanted. It would suggest some… bad things.”

He arches an eyebrow at me. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Like you assume things about me. That I’d… do things for you.”

“And you wouldn’t?”

I hesitate. “I didn’t say that. But the assumption is the problem.”

“I see. But?”

I smile a little. “But, I won’t be working directly under you, will I? And you’re only going to be at this office temporarily?”

“Both of those things are true,” he says.

“Then I don’t mind if you don’t.”

“Good.” He stands suddenly. “I’ll be seeing you again soon, Val Cotter.”

“I hope so.”

I stand and we shake hands again across the table. He looks into my eyes and for a second, I actually want him to look at my body. I feel flushed, my cheeks pink with excitement. I’ve never felt like this before with anyone in my life, but this man has me practically sweating after a single job interview.

“Now, go ahead and turn around,” he says.

I can’t help but smile and blush and do exactly as he commands. I walk out the door and I know he’s staring at my ass.

I want him to.

The receptionist looks up as I leave. “Have a nice day,” she says.

I smile at her and nod. I walk through the room and ignore the stares I get from all the men, not caring what they think.

I did it. I got through it. And I think… I think he actually liked me.

I hurry outside. Philadelphia is busy at this time of day. The sidewalk is full of people rushing to get to lunch before they have to make it back to their office. I’m going to be one of them soon enough.

When I’m the new employee of FLFM.

I take out my phone and dial a number. A man picks up on the second ring, his voice baritone and rolling. “Hello, Valerie. Good news?”

“Very good,” I say. “I think I’m going to get it.”

He laughs, clearly delighted. “Really?”

“Really. The interview went great.”

“That’s incredible. Do you know how many others we’ve sent?”

“No, sir,” I say.

“Six others. Six others have applied over the years and none of them have made it. You’re the first that’s come out of an interview and felt good about the future.”

“Well, I hope I’m not wrong,” I say.

“I hope so, too. I’ll save the congratulations for later.”

“I’ll update you as soon as I hear.”

“Good. Please do. And don’t worry about coming into the office until you hear. From now on, you don’t work with us.”

“Right. Makes sense. I’ll be in touch.”

“Looking forward to it, Ms. Cotter.”

I hang up the phone and smile.

The first agent that’s made it through. Good for me, I guess.

All it took was to be incredibly physically attracted to him. I think that probably helped.

Then again, he’s gorgeous. At least one of those six other agents had to have been into Jacob.

I know I shouldn’t feel like this. It’s dangerous to feel excited about working with Jacob Lofthouse. He’s not the one we’re after, but still, it’s dangerous. He’s mixed up in things that I barely even understand, and I know going into this that it’s going to be terribly dangerous.