The Boss (The Boss 1)

“Take a nap, darling.” He kissed me again, smiling against my mouth. “You’ll want to be well-rested. I get all my best ideas while I’m working out.”

I giggled and squealed and slid down in the cushiony, comfy heaven that was his bed.

How could I have ever worried that things might get boring between us?

* * * *

Monday morning I was too sick to work. That had happened to me once, maybe twice in my entire life, and I’d always pushed through. I figured I’d be sick anyway, so I might as well get paid for it. This time, though, I couldn’t possibly push through my illness; I’d spent most of the morning hugging the toilet.

“Hey!” Holli stuck her head through the door and frowned. “Are you hung over?”

“No.” I tried to shake my head, but that was so not a good idea when I seemed to be violently motion sick. “I called off work. I may have barfed up some intestine.”

“Gross. Guess what?” She leaned against the doorframe, and waited patiently for me to dry-heave over the bowl before continuing. “I got a really, really big job.”

“That’s great.” It was difficult to sound enthusiastic, but I tried. I pushed my sweaty hair back from my forehead and propped myself up on my elbows on the toilet seat. “What is it?”

“It’s in January...” she began, trying to sound mysterious with her excitement rising the whole time. “It’s in Paris...”

“Oh my god.” I forced myself to my feet and splashed some water from the sink into my vomity mouth before lurching at her. “Oh my god, you’re doing Paris fashion week?”

“That was why I had lunch with my agent on that Sunday a few weeks ago! I knew that day, but I couldn’t tell anybody until this week. It was torture!” Holli accepted my hug very cautiously, as though she wanted a hazmat suit. She ducked under my arm. “Please don’t give me what you have.”

I stepped back. Even though my guts were still roiling, I was overflowing with happiness for my friend.

Okay, no, that wasn’t happiness.

Holli raced out the door as I fell to my knees again.

* * * *

It was a little strange returning to work in the wake of my fight with Neil and the declaration it had led to. Before, going into the office and knowing he was there had been a naughty thrill for me. Now, it was frustrating. Denying our relationship now didn’t seem kinky or fun. It was just kind of depressing.

I came back to work on Tuesday. I was in reception for all of two seconds before Neil walked out of his office and intercepted me.

“Are you feeling better, Ms. Scaife?” he asked, falling in step beside me as I headed across the main floor to my department.

“I am, Mr. Elwood, thanks.” I kept my tone light, and noticed that when we got to the beauty department, he almost put his hand at the small of my back as I went through the door. I turned quickly and looked up with a neutral, professional smile. “Do you need something?”

“No, just...” his eyes moved past me to Jessica, who was editing photos on her laptop at the big central table. She barely noticed him there. “Just making sure you’re all right.”

He’d called the night before, and I’d still been sick as a dog. A little reassurance— from his girlfriend and not his employee— might make him worry less. I went to my desk, pulled my phone out of my purse, and texted him. I’m fine. I’m feeling much better. Must have been a twenty-four hour thing.

“Morning, Jess,” I said as I tapped out the message. I hit send and said, “Sorry I called off yesterday. Was it too much of a pain in the ass around here?”

“No, not bad at all.” She shrugged. “You’ll probably have to play catch up, but at this point in the issue, the fires are mostly put out. I’m sorry you had such a shitty weekend, though.”

“Actually, it wasn’t so bad. I didn’t get sick until the middle of the night, like Monday morning.” I was just glad I hadn’t done it at Neil’s. I’d woken up and promptly puked in my lap. That would have definitely killed the romance between us. “Do anything exciting?”

Jessica shrugged. “I went to a party in the village. Okay band, bordering on mediocre. You?”

“I spent the weekend with my boyfriend.” I got a little thrill out of talking about Neil without anyone knowing I was talking about Neil. There was no way I could ever tell Jessica or India that my boyfriend was Neil Elwood, and not just because it would endanger my job. I’d heard them talk so much shit about him; they would be mortified if they knew I was in love with him.