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Anything on my schedule I can’t blow off tomorrow?
I wait a few minutes for her reply. No, I can move stuff. You ok?
Fine. Won’t be in tomorrow.
I bring up Selene’s number and hit send.
“Hi,” she says when she answers.
Just hearing her voice starts to uncoil the tension in my back. “Hi, gorgeous. Sorry I left the office without saying goodbye.”
“It’s all right,” she says. “I’m still here, actually.”
I glance at the time. It’s nine fifteen. “What are you doing at the office?
“Having dinner with Justin from Sales,” she says.
She delivers the line totally deadpan, and for a second, I wonder if she’s serious. “Excuse me?”
“I’m working, obviously,” she says with a laugh.
Now I’m even more sure my idea is the right thing. She needs a break as much as I do. “Pack it in and come over. Bring something casual to wear tomorrow. You’re taking the day off.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” I say.
“I can’t take tomorrow off,” she says. “I have way too much to do.”
“I’m your boss, and I’m telling you that you’re taking tomorrow off.”
She’s quiet for a moment. I think she’s trying to decide whether or not to argue with me.
“Selene,” I say, my tone serious. “I’ll call building security and make sure they escort you out if you try to get in the building tomorrow. You’re banned from the office for the next twenty-four hours.”
“You won’t call security,” she says.
“No?” I say. “Show up at work tomorrow and test me.”
She sighs. “Okay, if I’m not working tomorrow, what am I doing?”
“I don’t think I’m going to tell you yet.”
“Come on, Ronan,” she says. “If I don’t know what I’m doing, how will I know what clothes to wear?”
“Pretend it’s a weekend,” I say. “Pants, not a skirt or dress. Although I do love the access a dress gives me.”
“Ronan.”
I laugh. “Bring a coat in case it’s cold.”
“Anything else?”
“Just get that hot ass over here,” I say. “There are some things I’d really like to do to you tonight.”
***
We wake up early and grab breakfast on the way out of town. I still haven’t told her what we’re doing. I like keeping her in suspense. She asks questions as we drive down the freeway, trying to get me to let something slip, but I just smile at her. Eventually we settle into a comfortable silence. I put my hand on her thigh, and she lays hers on top of mine. There’s something soothing about the low hum of tires on the road, my hand touching her. Normally I’d be feeling the first pings of adrenaline, knowing where we’re going. But I’m calm, my mind completely clear. I’m excited for what I have planned, but the deep need I typically feel isn’t there.
