Page 18 of Dirty Boss

I laughed, and the outrage on his face grew. I held up my hands to stop him, and I said, “The cut is just a little…rough around the edges.”

He stared at me for a moment, then glared out the window. “My hair.”

“You have a nice, thick head of hair,” I added, not wanting to betooharsh. “It’s just a little scruffy looking.”

A long sigh slipped through Vaughn’s lips, then he met my gaze again. “All right. The suit, the hair, the wine. What else?”

“Well, it depends on the person, but I got the sense that you launched into business way too soon. I was pouring you guys glasses of water for the first time, and you were already telling him about project pipeline projections, or whatever.” I waved a hand.

“It was a business lunch,” he growled. “I was talking business.”

“The man ordered a three-hundred-dollar bottle of Italian wine. He clearly wanted to be wooed.”

Vaughn rubbed his chin with his finger, his gaze falling to the table. “I misread him,” he said.

“I think so.”

“And you think my clothes would have made a difference?”

I shrugged. “They would’ve stopped you from being dismissed in the first five seconds.”

It was a sad but true fact of the elite world into which he was trying to break. You had to look right, and act right, and talk right. Only then would you be taken seriously. That either meant expensive designer clothing, custom pieces, or unbranded clothing that was tailored to perfection. Once you were in, you were allowed to engage.

“So, my hair,” Vaughn said, lifting his head to look at me. “What would you change?”

Before I knew what I was doing, I reached over and ran my fingers through his strands. By the time I realized I was touching him, all I could do was brazen it out by acting casual and tugging at his hair slightly. He grunted in response, his head tilting toward me.

The noise sent a wash of heat through me, a tingle that started in my chest and moved down between my thighs. I dropped my hand to my side and took a step back. “A little off the sides. And maybe”—I let out a theatrical gasp—“some styling products.”

Vaughn’s eyes were pale and blue and intense, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. My heartbeat thrummed, and I hoped the heat crawling up my cheeks wasn’t accompanied by redness. He couldn’t know how much touching him had affected me.

He leaned back in his chair. “I’ve been cutting my own hair since I was sixteen.”

“Yeah. Don’t do that anymore,” I said.

His smile was wry, and I couldn’t help flashing one of my own in response.

For the first time, my grin was genuine. Our gazes lingered on each other, and then I cleared my throat and turned away to keep doing my job.

Mr. Big Shot,

Your desk chair squeaks when it tilts back. I’ve taken the liberty of oiling the mechanism.

C.W.

Ms. Clean,

Sitting in another’s office chair is bad manners. Shouldn’t you be scrubbing the carpet?

V.A.

I was workingevening shifts on Saturday and Sunday at the restaurant (I only cleaned the offices during the week), so I agreed to meet up with Deena for brunch on Saturday. The extra tips I’d gotten at work this week were a big help; I wouldn’t be able to afford to eat out without Vaughn’s passive aggressive tipping strategy. I begrudgingly thanked him in my head, then opened my closet and turned to the section of clothing that I hadn’t worn in months.

Clothing from my old life.

My fingers lingered on the fine fabrics, the delicate details, the solid stitching. The closures of one shirt caught my eye; I’d never noticed the golden sheen on the pearlescent buttons. I’d worn these clothes without a thought, without worrying about threads snagging or oil splashing. All of it had been replaceable. Not anymore.

But Deena was stylish, and despite myself, I wanted to feel pretty. I wanted her to notice my clothing and compliment me. It was shallow and vain, but I hadn’t had the luxury of dressing nicely in so long that I couldn’t resist the urge. I chose a pair of navy wide-leg trousers and a cream knit silk turtleneck. My hands trembled slightly as I clasped one of the necklaces that I used to wear daily, a thin gold chain with a cluster of diamonds as a pendant.