Page 26 of My Favorite Boss

He headed back into his office, partially shutting the door again. I sat down, picking up my sandwich, now completely confused. I thought I had just taken one bite, but only a bite or two remained of the first half of the sandwich. I rubbed my head, wondering if I was losing my mind. How was my coffee disappearing and my sandwich being eaten? Was I that tired and forgetful?

I lifted my sandwich, stopping as I looked at it. The bite mark was much larger than the nibbles I took. I glanced at the door, recalling the guilty look on Mr. Bane’s face.

Had he taken a bite of my sandwich?

Why?

I thought of my disappearing coffees, and once again, I looked at his door. He claimed not to like them, yet they kept vanishing.

He wouldn’t.

Would he?

Only one way to find out.

“I’ll be back in fifteen,” Mr. Bane barked as he walked past my desk.

“Okay.”

I waited for ten, then headed to the break room and made my coffee. Back in the office, I set it on the desk and slipped behind his door, peeking through the crack. If I was wrong, I was going to have to explain myself, but it was worth the risk. He strode in, pausing by my desk. I felt my eyes widen as he stopped, lifted my cup, and took a sip. Then another.

I sprang from behind the door, pointing dramatically and yelling. “Gotcha, coffee thief!”

In retrospect, I should have thought my actions through.

He spun around, and mid-swallow, he choked. Sputtered. Sprayed me with hot, foamy coffee. I gasped as it hit my chest, dripping down my skin and soaking the material. For a moment, neither of us moved, and then he sprang forward, discarding the cup on the desk.

“Are you burned?”

“No.”

He grabbed his pocket scarf, frantically trying to mop up the coffee.

That was soaked into my blouse.

On my chest.

He pressed and stroked, mumbling and cursing. Feeling me up without even realizing. I laid my hands over his, stilling his movements.

“Bane,” I murmured. “You have to stop.”

“Alexander, you missed a signature⁠—”

Jessica from HR walked in, freezing in shock, the words drying on her lips. I knew what she saw. Bane, looming over me, his hands on my boobs, and me holding them there.

He knew it too.

“Jesus Christ,” he swore. “No. No. No.”

Jessica shook her head. “I’ll come back.”

“Coffee!” I squealed. “He was stealing my coffee, and it got on my boobs. He wasn’t feeling me up—really.”

She looked more confused. “Stealing your coffee?”

I laughed shrilly. “It was a joke.”

Bane nodded. “A joke. Yes. A joke.”