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I finished up what I was doing and went to the breakroom to wait for them. It was still early, and the room was empty like I’d hoped.
Cassie and Paisley came rushing in not long after.
“Spill it!” Cassie said. “I had to cut it short with the scam caller I was giving a hard time, so this better be good.”
“Mr. Stone and I are officially dating,” I said.
“What. The. Fuck.” Cassie whispered the words like she’d just watched a dead body rise from the grave.
“Holy shit, girl,” Paisley said, smiling big and sticking her hands up for a pair of high fives.
I slapped her hands, smiling. “I think I kind of forced him into it?” I said, smile fading.
“Wait, back up,” Cassie said. “Start from the beginning.”
I spent a few minutes trying to give as much detail as I could. I went over everything from hating him but thinking he was hot as hell to the brief casual sex phase and how that had just ramped up all the dormant feelings I was trying to suppress.
“So you… don’t hate him?” Paisley asked. “I’m confused.”
“Honestly? So am I. Every relationship I’ve been in before felt like a choice. A guy was cute and we got to talking and I decided I wanted to give things a shot. This hasn’t felt like something I’m in control of. And I eventually realized I either needed to give it a shot or I was going to spend the rest of my life obsessively thinking about whether not trying was a mistake.”
“Damn, girl,” Cassie said. “Sounds like love.”
Paisley laughed and whacked Cassie on the arm. “Easy, killer. It’s infatuation. Definitely a spark. Definitely physical connection. But love? If you ask me, love is the word people use when they get tired of dating and want to pretend someone is perfect.”
“Cynical, much?” Cassie asked. “No wonder you are dating your way through every man in Colorado.”
“Bitch,” Paisley said, laughing.
“So you said you forced him to date you? What does that even mean?”
“I think he wanted to keep it casual, but…” I bit my lip. I had signed an NDA about what I was doing with Max, but the whole point had been to protect her from being found out by Adrian, right? Christian hadn’t told me I was free to talk about it at work, but if I was going to be picking Max up after school every day, it was only a matter of time before people figured it out. “Okay, what I’m about to tell you can’t leave this room, got it?”
“There’s more?” Cassie breathed.
“The real reason Christian hired me wasn’t to be his executive assistant. It was to tutor Lance Stone’s daughter since he couldn’t let anyone find out he was taking care of her. But they found out, so the cat’s kind of out of the bag. I wanted to tell you guys, but he made me sign an NDA on my first day and said he’d ruin me if I violated it.”
They both stared for a few silent seconds.
“He has been keeping a kid up there in secret?” Paisley asked.
“Yeah. The board of directors has been looking for an excuse to get rid of him. He couldn’t afford to let them see he was getting distracted–let alone by taking care of his brother who he was supposed to have cut off contact with because of what he did to the company.”
Cassie raised her hands to her temples, fingers pinched. She moved them away from her head and suddenly spread her fingers, making an explosion noise. “Jesus, dude. I mean, I get you not telling us, but fuck. That’s like some CIA level stuff.”
Paisley snorted. “CIA?”
“I don’t know!” Cassie snapped. “But she’s fucking our boss and tutoring his niece because there’s some kind of conspiracy to get him removed from the company? It’s like you’re Jason Bourne. Jannette Bourne?” She tried, shaking her head. “Jessie Bourne!” Cassie did some mock karate moves in my direction, eyebrows drawn together.
I laughed. “Please. I’m nowhere near that cool. And I’m only telling you guys this because I screwed up and got caught with Max by the one guy Christian couldn’t afford to let find out. Now we only have a month before he goes to the board with the truth about Max and me.”
“Damn,” Paisley said. “So what are you guys going to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m hoping Christian has some kind of plan. But that’s why we finally decided to just start dating. And why I’m going to be taking Max after school every day to my apartment. Adrian already knows and plans to tell the board in a month. Why bother hiding it anymore, right?”
“You could poison him,” Cassie suggested. “A little cyanide in his coffee. Boom. Problem solved.”
“Lola isn’t going to poison anyone, Cassie. Jesus.”
