“No. Sort of the opposite,” I say, girding myself for her reaction. “Here’s the thing. It’s not necessarily a good idea for the CEO to date employees, but it is possible. And since we dated before, and met before, and talked before, I think we can pull it off if we disclose it to HR. If we’re on the up-and-up.”
Her gorgeous green eyes widen. “We’d have to tell everyone?”
“Essentially, yes.” I try to read her. I’m dying to know if she’ll seriously consider my offer.
Her voice is heavy as she asks, “All the writers, editors, and designers who work for me would have to know?”
A weight sinks in my gut as reality registers fully.
While this might seem like an easy solution to me, since I’m in charge and I don’t really know any of them yet, it’s an incredibly difficult choice for the woman across from me.
She’s the one who has to absorb the brunt of any blowback.
18BRYN
As I look at Logan across from me, his hands on his mug, his brown eyes locked on mine, I see a man who’s putting himself out there. Who’s laying his feelings on the line.
My heart wants to reciprocate.
But my head doesn’t know how to be me and do this. To be the person I’ve fashioned myself into—a leader, a lady boss, a stand-up citizen at work.
I need to try though. He deserves that much, and so do I. He’s not asking me to do this for the “Mr. Smolder” series to continue. He is asking me to do this because he cares for me.
That makes a huge difference.
But the thing is . . .
“It’s not that I don’t want to do that,” I say, but then backpedal because a double negative isn’t the way to go. “I want that, Logan. I do. Please know I do.”
A tiny smile curves his lips. “Good.” It comes out as a relieved whisper.
I swallow past the stone in my throat. “But it changes a lot for me.”
His eyes are serious, intense, and he nods, getting it. “I know. I completely understand that this is more of a risk for you to take on than it is for me.”
“And there’s Isaac.” I picture the man I discuss baseball with. Only baseball. “Isaac is great, but he and I only ever talk about the Yankees. And I like it that way. I like debating the team’s chances with him. I like that I don’t have to go to him with trouble. I like not discussing my love life with him.” I take another drink, needing a moment to sort through the tangled skein of issues I’d face. “And sure, on the one hand, I run a site where discussing our love lives is par for the course. It’s the very reason for the site. But I prefer doing that when said love life is with someone who’s not involved with signing the checks.”
He’s stoic, but I can see a hint of sadness in his eyes, like I’ve just sucker-punched him. Maybe I have, though it’s the bare truth. I never intended to tango with my boss. Don’t mix business with pleasure. That’s one of my mantras. One of my mother’s too.
But that look on his face tugs on my heart. Makes me want to say yes. His honesty, his forthrightness, they make me want to loop my arms around his neck and smother him with kisses then ask him to take me home.
Trouble is, I don’t know how to balance these warring wishes. “I’ve worked hard to keep my personal life separate from business. I don’t date people I work with. I want to inspire the people I work with. I want to elevate them. Help them be the best. I don’t want to be a source of office gossip, though, and I keep thinking I will be if we’re together. It’s like my mom always said: Don’t give them something to talk about.”
“The opposite of the Bonnie Raitt anthem,” he says wryly.
“Exactly. I try to do the opposite.” I reach for his hand, wanting to take it, but knowing I can’t yet. Because I don’t know if I can do this. Flirting in the office was risky enough, but this—his offer—is the real line. This is the public line.
I place my hands in my lap.
“But I’m not saying no. I’m saying”—I draw a deep breath—“I’d like to think about it this weekend.”
“Of course.”
The speed of his answer, the certainty behind it is one more reason why I’ll be giving it so much thought.
Later that night, as I sink onto the bed next to Bruce, I bury my face in my hands. How can I date my boss when one wrong move could mean losing everything I’ve worked for?
The answer is simple.
I can’t.
But is that the answer I’ll give?
19BRUCE
Day 897 in Prison
What?
Who was disturbing his slumber?
Bruce had been training hard to sleep twenty-two hours a day. He’d surpassed twenty-one the other month and had closed in on twenty-two a few weeks ago.
He was enticingly near to making that mark today.
He barely bothered to open one eye, doing so only because he needed to know the enemy.
Ah, the woman.
