The Boss (The Boss 1)

Sometimes, the simplest things can take your breath away.

I pulled my hand back and stood, stretching with a loud groan. “I think I’m going to go take a shower. Do we have anything on the agenda today?”

“Nothing at all. If you want to go out, I wouldn’t be adverse to a jog through the park, maybe one last time before the snow really hits. But if you want to stay in, I’ll serve my sentence on the elliptical.” Neil was pretty careful about exercising, which was awesome, because it meant he didn’t encourage me to slack off on the weekends, either. I’d gone running with him a couple of times, and then we’d come back to the apartment all sweaty and exhausted to tumble straight into shower sex. But this morning, I just wasn’t feeling the urge to hit the crisp winter air.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not. I’m super tired. And my knees are killing me. It’s like some perverted billionaire fucked me on a hard marble floor last night or something.” I stood beside him and leaned my head on his shoulder as he flipped a page on the screen of his iPad.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m sure his knees suffered, too.” He pulled my hand to his lips and gave it a quick smooch. “Go on, get clean.”

So, my bathtub at home is great, but spoiled as I was when it came to getting wet and soapy, I had to admit that Neil’s master bath was pretty impressive. It was accessible only from his drool-worthy closet, making it this private little oasis cut off from the rest of the house. In addition to dark wood cabinetry and relaxing golden light from glass fixtures, there were more of those marvelous floor-level forced air ducts warming the natural stone tile. The toilet was in its own little room, beside the his-and-hers vessel sinks of brown stone. The shelves on one side of the counter were bare, waiting for the day I would be comfortable leaving something there.

I opened a cupboard and pulled out a few fluffy white towels. Another really great thing about Neil was that at his house, I could use as many towels as I wanted, and I didn’t pay for it on laundry day. Staying with him was a bit like staying at a hotel in that respect. I giggled to myself as I reached through the shower door to turn on the taps. The shower was a spacious cube with corners of matching natural stone and three glass sides. There was an amazing square shower head in the ceiling that was like standing in the rain, as well as a gleaming metal detachable head and the standard wall-mounted spray. There was a garden tub in the bathroom, too, but with a shower ripped from my wildest plumbing fantasies, I’d never bothered to try out the alternative.

As I stood under the downpour from the ceiling, washing the shampoo from my hair, my mind spun. We’d said it. We’d admitted that we loved each other. Now that it was in the open, it made things... different.

At dinner, Rudy had said Neil couldn’t do anything halfway. Did that mean we were into serious relationship territory? Was the clock ticking on the “leaving a toothbrush” front?

Worse, would things get boring between us? It seemed like a petty thing to worry about. Neil loved me. Shouldn’t I just be happy with that? But if we were “in love,” didn’t we have to leave all the fun, kinky stuff behind?

In the past, when relationships had gotten stale or we’d argued over something, I’d been okay with cutting the guys loose, because I didn’t want to do the work. Neil was different. Without meaning to, I’d gotten exactly what I’d been afraid of for most of my short adult life: A real, grown-up relationship that was going to require actual investment.

“Sophie?”

I opened my eyes at the sound of Neil’s voice. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and nothing else on.

My heart did a crazy little flip-flop at the sight of him. Glass shower walls didn’t hide much, even if they were a bit steamy, and I felt oddly exposed before him. He pushed open the shower door and shut it behind him with a soft click, deftly avoiding the falling water in the center of the small space.

“I hope you don’t mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” I breathed, pressing my thighs together. The last time we’d been in here, he’d fucked me hard from behind while my tits pressed against the cold glass wall. I was not going to argue with him if that’s what he had in store for me today.

He motioned me away from the center shower and turned off the water. “Come over here, would you?”