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“Okay then, good night.” She turned away again and I groaned.
“I’m attracted to you Joss.” Those words stopped those sexy little heels from moving her further away from me. “But I don’t date co-workers and employees, and that’s why I was disappointed that you were my match.”
She turned, arms folded tight around her chest and a defiant look of disbelief on her face. “I work for the school district, not you.”
“Semantics. I do the evaluations that determine raises and promotions, I can hire or fire you, which makes me your boss. Whether you like it or not.” Because seeing her in that dress, bathed in moonlight, I didn’t feel like her boss. I felt like a man, deeply attracted to a woman. I wanted to run my fingers through her waves to see if they were as silky as they looked, I wanted to kiss that red lipstick from her lush mouth to see if her lips were as sweet as they seemed, as plump as they felt underneath the color.
Something flashed behind those blue eyes, acceptance mixed with disbelief, and I prepared for a fight. But Joss surprised me again when her arms untangled and fell at her sides with a resolute sigh. “Thank you for letting me know. Have a good night, Principal Rutherford.”
I let out a groan at her new fondness for addressing me so formally. “Call me Ben.”
“That would be unprofessional,” she shot back with a sweet smile. “You look nice tonight, it’s too bad you wasted the outfit on me.”
“It wasn’t a waste,” I growled back. “It’s just too damn bad that you work for me.” I was more conflicted than ever, wishing I’d made the effort to get to know Joss better while simultaneously grateful that I hadn’t, because I had a feeling knowing her would make this whole situation pure torture.
“It amounts to the same thing,” she shot back with a wave over her shoulder and a sad smile.
She was right, but I didn’t want that to be the truth and I stared after Joss as if the power of my stare could change things, or maybe it was the way her narrow waist flared out into hips that were all woman.
“Damn.”
When I finally returned to Carriage House, I left the reserved table empty in favor of the bar, where I ordered another gin and tonic. “What happened?”
It wasn’t a complicated story, so I gave Sage the abbreviated version between sips of gin. “Now I think she hates me.” Which would make things awkward at work, the exact fate I’d been trying to avoid.
Sage nodded and leaned against the bar, elbows perched so his forearms hung loosely between his body and the bar. “Is this a school distract rule, or is this a Ben rule?”
“It’s my own damn rule” I admitted. “But I have good reasons for tit.”
“Yeah? Let’s hear’em, then.” Sage was screwing with me, but my rule was in place for a good reason.
“First of all, it’s to prevent things from being awkward at work when we break up, like insubordination or drama. I don’t want to lose my entire career because of a false accusation of harassment or bias, or whatever else a vindictive ex might come up with just to make my life hell.”
“Wow. You’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“I have.” I couldn’t afford to be reckless where my livelihood, my passion was concerned.
“You don’t think much of Joss, do you?”
“It’s not specific to her.”
Sage frowned. “So, you don’t think she would do any of those things to you?”
I shook my head before I even had time to think about it, but Joss wasn’t the type to make a scene or throw a tantrum. Even tonight, she’d accepted my explanation and walked away.
“No, but you can never be too sure. Right?”
“Sure. I mean it all sounds like bullshit excuses to me, but I’m not a high school principal.” Sage shrugged his wide shoulders and pushed away from the bar before shoving his hands deep into his pockets. “But since Joss is looking for company and you’re not interested, maybe I’ll ask her out.”
I glared at the handsome bartender and he laughed. “Very funny.”
“Thanks, I’m not joking though. She’s smoking hot, likes sports and laughs easily. What’s not to like?”
“Exactly,” I groaned and finished my drink before I made my way home. To wallow.
In peace.
Joss
“Seriously Mara, it was beyond humiliating. Beyond!”
Mara and I shared a booth at the back end of The Mayflower, past the pool tables and dart boards, because there was no way I could complain about this to Sophie and Eva. They would likely give me some kind of professional pep talk designed to get me to forget the humiliation that burned through me even now, days later.
“It couldn’t have been that bad.” Mara’s tone was unusually sympathetic which meant she knew it was bad. “Tell me.”
