Page 24 of Property of my Boss

This isn’t real. If anything, that interaction with her brother proved it. This cute little daddy thing she’s doing, her hand tucked into mine, the orders she’s taking so sweetly… every ounce of that will melt away come midnight.

Hell, even if we convoluted ourselves into thinking tonight could be more, I know how women are. They say they want something, they get it, and they change their minds.

Suddenly, and without warning, the same woman who wanted a man to tell her what to do, where to be, how to act, is the woman who needs independence and freedom. I don’t shift back and forth very easily. I like control. I need it.

“It’s so pretty tonight,” she says, landing her head against my shoulder as we lean against the stone wall that lines the forest, crumbs from our donuts on our T-shirts. “I’m having a lot of fun.”

I nod, brushing my thumb against the back of her hand as I hold her close to my chest. “What days do you work this week?”

“Every day,” she sighs. “I might have lied to you about giving them my two-week notice. I work this float shift in the memory care center and the emergency room.” She pauses. “Hospitals can be very rewarding, but the hours are always terrible.”

I draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Do you like staying so busy there?”

She shrugs as the band plays another song, this one with a twangy beat I recognize but can’t figure out from where. “I don’t know. I mean, I love helping people and knowing I’m making a difference, but there’s a part of me that misses stuff like this too. I don’t remember the last time I found time for a festival or anything fun, really.”

I nod slowly and pull her in tighter, breathing in the scent of cinnamon that’s somehow in her hair. “If you ever want a slower pace, I could use someone with your experience at the campground. I realized that today. Having you there was pretty important. Of course, I’d pay you more to compensate for your expertise.”

She flashes her gaze up to mine. “I’d really love that, but I don’t know what they’d do at the hospital without me. They’re short staffed as it is.”

“And I admire that about you. Just know the offer is on the table.”

She nods and snuggles into me tighter, like she’s always belonged right here in my arms.

Fuck. This is bad.

“You know that feeling,” she says, staring out at the crowd of folks dancing, “the one where you meet someone and feel like you’ve known them forever? Like somehow your heart knew there’s in another life?”

“Have you had that feeling a lot?”

She shakes her head. “Nope. I’ve seen it in movies and read about it in books, but I never really thought it was real until I met you. Now, here, it’s like everything makes sense. It’s like you see me in a way no one else ever has. It’s weird.”

“Weird, good?”

She grins. “I think so. It’s complicated, but when I called you daddy, everything sort of disappeared. It was playful at first, but it gave me a comfort I haven’t felt in a long time. Like life just felt… better.”

My cock pulses at my zipper.

How fucking sick am I?

I remind myself again this isn’t real. This is just tonight. She’ll change her mind. She’ll realize what a mistake this whole thing has been, and she’ll wish she could take it all back.

“You’ve got to stop calling me that, princess.”

“I thought you liked it?”

“I do. I told you… I like it too much. You keep talking like that and we’ll both get hauled in for public indecency.”

“Or,” she tilts her head back with a teasing tone, “we could go back to your place,” she shrugs, “and see where the night takes us.”

There is nothing more I want in this world than to sink into her tight, little core until she’s mine. Nothing.

“You’re going to be the death of me, princess. Come on. Let’s get you back home before I do something stupid and your brother sends the dogs out looking for me.”

She laughs under her breath. “You’re not really afraid of my brother, are you?”

“No, but I have a feeling I know what he wants for you, and it’s not a guy like me.”

She glances up, her lips soft and supple, her eyes sweet with innocence. “If you tell me you had nothing to do with Wren’s disappearance, I’ll believe you.”