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“Nothing,” I said, looking at the clock. “I’m late for work, so I have to go now. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, I love you,” she said. “Make sure you free up a slot for this week.”
“Love you too,” I said, shaking my head as I hung up the phone.
You could be the boss in every single aspect of your life, but no matter how old or successful you were, whenever your mom asked you to do something, you couldn’t say no.
Not wanting to waste any more time thinking about my love life and my mother’s advice about it, I walked back to my bedroom to get changed for the day. There was one consistent thing in my life that I was willing to commit to. And that was work.
It was the only thing that had never let me down.
Chapter 4
Kathy
The sexy stranger that I met in the bar last night was my boss. The longer that fact settled inside me, the more I wanted the ground to open up and just swallow me whole.
“Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked, eyeing me suspiciously. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
That was an understatement. If she only knew what was going on in my mind…
“I know we scared you with how difficult he is to please,” Jeff said, amused by my reaction. “But at least he’s not bad to look at.”
“Um… I, uh—” I stammered, feeling lost for words.
What were the odds of something like this even happening?I mentally kicked myself for having the worst luck possible. I could feel the blood draining from my face. I hid out of view behind one of the doors, hoping he wouldn’t see me as he walked in. The last thing I wanted right now was to have to speak to him. Not before I’d gotten my tumbling thoughts and emotions in check.
Jeff and Caitlyn chuckled at my theatrics. They must’ve thought I’d lost my mind.
“Hey,” Caitlyn came up behind me. “I feel bad now. Maybe we shouldn’t have told you all those things. He’s really not that bad. I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
“No, it’s not that,” I said quickly. “I just think I should get to work instead of standing around.”
I began to plot all the possible ways I could get away with not having to face Dylan right now. He had stopped talking to Marsha and was not looking in my direction.
This was my chance. I took the moment to make a beeline for the office bathroom where I’d have a chance to clear my head. But just when I thought I’d dodged the bullet, I heard Marsha call out my name.
“Kathy, can you come here for a second?” she asked. “I want to introduce you to Dylan.”
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. My heart hammered in my chest, threatening to rip clean out of me.
“Sure thing,” I quickly opened the washroom door and plastered on a smile, even though I was freaking out on the inside, and slowly walked over to where the two of them were standing. My eyes were trained on the floor.
“Dylan, this is Kathy, our new hire,” Marsha said. “She started just today.”
I couldn’t avoid it any longer. I mustered up all the courage I could manage and finally looked up at him.
He smiled at me, seemingly unfazed. The corners of his eyes crinkled and he cut the most dashing figure I’d seen. Well, since last night, that is. Jeff was right about one thing—he wasn’t bad to look at. Not bad at all.
“It’s great to meet you, Kathy,” Dylan said in a strictly professional tone.
I had expected him to have a totally different reaction. Or at the very least, I expected to see some kind of recognition in those dreamy eyes. But there was none.
I nodded at him, tongue-tied. What was I even supposed to say?
Sorry, I snuck out of your place without saying anything. But I had a great time last night. Excited to work together, Boss!
He seemed to notice how my cheeks had turned bright red. Still, even then he was the picture of calm and collected.
