I leave my office five minutes before three and stop by the women’s room. I brush my teeth. Because coffee breath isn’t nice to inflict on anyone. I touch up my lip gloss, smacking my lips. Because I don’t want cracked or dry lips at a meeting. I consider my reflection. Maybe a tiny bit of powder on the nose. I don’t want to look shiny before I see the boss.

I turn, considering the side view.

Yes, this red sheath dress looks excellent and professional. “You’ve got this,” I tell my reflection.

The door swings open. Teagan’s blue eyes sweep over my frame. “Ooh la la. Sexy lady boss is in the house.”

I snap my gaze to her, a little indignant. “Who? I don’t see anyone fitting that description.”

“Oh, please. Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Take a look.” She waves a hand breezily at my reflection.

“Are you saying I don’t look professional?”

She rolls her eyes as she saunters into a stall. “I’m saying you look professional and also hot. Like, if I were into girls, I’d have a lady boner for you,” she says as she pees.

I groan. “You did not just say that.”

“Pot. Kettle. You sent me that video of Stanley Tucci making a Negroni and said it gave you a lady boner.”

“He has good arms!”

“Exactly. All of the internet has a lady boner for him.”

“Even the men?” I toss back.

“If any man could elicit a lady boner from a dude, it’d be Stanley Tucci making a cocktail.”

“He is sort of inexplicably hot,” I admit.

She laughs before the toilet flushing briefly masks the sound. “Exactly. But does it need to be understandable to be sexy? I say no.” She pops out, heads to the sink, and turns on the water. “Speaking of unsolved mysteries, are you seeing the boss today?” She wiggles her brows.

“Yes.” I meet her gaze in the mirror. Anticipation zips through me, chased by nerves. Is it obvious? “Why are you asking? Am I wearing a billboard that says I’m meeting the boss man?”

She grins salaciously at my reflection. “The dress was a giveaway.”

My hands fly to smooth the red sheath. “But this is professional. I picked it even before the meeting was arranged. And I’ve worn it to meet with content partners.”

“And I bet you’d like to partner with his content,” she says.

“You’re the worst.”

She turns off the sink and heads to the air dryer. “All I’m saying is you’re a babe, and you look hella hot.”

“Is this an inappropriate dress to meet with the CEO?”

She smiles gently at me, shakes her head, and turns down her bawdy dial. “I didn’t mean to worry you, sweetie. I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“That’s what she said,” I say, teasing her.

She mimes banging a drum. “That’s the spirit. Anyway, you look professional, and you look good.” Her tone turns more serious. “How are you doing? You holding up?”

I wave a hand, trying to dismiss the little I banged my boss bombshell. “It’s all good. No biggie. First date I enjoyed in ages, and he’s my boss. Life gets a little hard sometimes.”

“It sucks, sweetie.”

“Actually, it’s fine.” I draw a deep, fueling breath. “I mean, it’s not like I developed feelings for him in one night. That’d be ridiculous. Besides, we’re keeping it on the level. We’ve been good all week, and we even texted this morning.” I square my shoulders, like I’m proud of the boss and me for having a friendly conversation. “And it was non-sexual textual stuff.”

Her eyes stay locked on me, an intensity in her pretty blues. “Is that what you want, Bryn?”

“What I want is irrelevant. Yes, I’m disappointed that fate played a trick on me. But it’s probably for the best. He could be another Evan. I was pretty taken with Evan at first, and look what happened there.”

Teagan’s face crinkles with disgust. “Another Evan? As in, a manipulative prick who whines about how you don’t give him enough time when you’re grieving the loss of your only parent, so he turns to other women for solace from your grief?”

I plaster on a fake smile. “Yes. That. I find it best to avoid that.”

Teagan’s eyes burn with hate for the man I was once married to. “Your ex was a one-of-a-kind douche.”

“But I liked him when I first met him.”

“Of course you did. That’s how it works.”

“And that’s my point. It’s probably for the best that Mr. Lunch Box and I can’t be a thing.”

She grabs my arm. “Evan was a special kind of shit. Most guys aren’t like that. Most people aren’t like that.”

“Are you encouraging me to bang my boss again?” I whisper, a little shocked. For all her boldness, Teagan can be pretty by the book when it comes to workplace decorum.

“I’m not saying, one way or the other. I think you’re being wise, and since you’re a woman, you have to be wise.”

“Truer words,” I sigh.

I don’t need to draw on Mama Hawthorne’s wisdom to know Teagan’s right. Dating the guy above you in the chain of command is always riskier for the fairer sex. Hell, dating at work at all usually turns out worse for the woman than the man. It’s a simple fact of life. I’d be the one to lose my job if this went south.

“What I’m saying,” Teagan continues, “is simply this—don’t assume everyone is an Evan.”

But it’s safer to assume that, I want to say.

Only, it doesn’t matter what’s safer with Logan, because we can’t be a thing. I look at the time on my phone. “I should go meet with him.”

She squeezes my arm. “You look like a boss. That’s all I meant by the lady-boss comment. You give off serious lady-boss vibes.”

I hum approvingly then wiggle my hips. “That’s what I like to hear. See you in the editorial meeting in thirty minutes?”

She gives me a thumbs-up. “See you then. I have to go gather the latest social media insights for that. And in the meantime, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“That doesn’t limit me much, does it?” I toss back with a wink.

“Exactly.” She follows me out of the women’s room, heading back to her office.