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Megan looks up, peering at me with bleary eyes. Then she realizes that it’s me and rubs her eyes.
“Sorry, sir. I was trying to get these emails sorted,” she sounds as tired as she looks.
I don’t care about the work, just that she’s okay. “Are you nearly finished?”
“Just a couple more,” she nods weakly.
“Then you can leave as soon as you’re done with them,” I pose it as a suggestion, but I mean it as more of a command. She won’t stop if I don’t make her, and she needs to rest.
Megan stares at me as if I’ve grown another head. “But I’m not done. I’ve still got lots to do.”
“Seriously? Megan, you’re clearly exhausted, and you look like you’re going to keel over.” I approach her desk. “You need to go home and have a break.”
“I wish that was the case,” Megan grunts, gesturing at the wedding binder. “I’ve got to take that with me and work on it. Anna is expecting everything to be ready at a moment’s notice.”
I can see the look she gives the binder, and I’m relieved that she doesn’t turn that icy look on me. I hate seeing her like this.
I put a hand on her shoulder, only to feel her flinch. But I don’t pull away. “Leave the binder here.”
“What?” She looks up at me. “Why?”
“You’re not going to work on it tonight,” I reply. “I’ll take it home with me.”
But Megan is shaking her head. “I can’t do that…”
“Yes, you can. Anna and Eric are taking advantage of you, and you’re suffering. It’s the weekend, so you don’t need to think about it until Monday,” I finish, firmly laying down the boundary. If Megan won’t look out for herself, then I will.
Her mouth opens and closes as she looks for some kind of rebuttal. “But…”
“Look, you need a break,” I cut her off. “I’m seeing Anna tomorrow, anyway, so I’ll just bring it with me.”
Anna has been begging me to go to dinner with Eric’s parents and Caitlin. I’m not looking forward to it, but Eric’s parents have asked me to be there, so I couldn’t really refuse. I met Eric’s mother when she was hosting a charity sporting event last year, and she is probably one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met. I have to wonder what she thinks about her son’s antics.
Megan looks like she wants to protest. Then she sighs and looks away.
“I should have refused this in the beginning,” she mumbles. “But I wasn’t thinking clearly. I thought it would be the best way to control how they contact me, and it’s not working.”
“Not thinking clearly?” I ask, getting caught on that part of her statement.
This time Megan meets my gaze. “You know why…”
I don’t know why I’m asking. Of course I know why; how can I forget the kiss we shared that night? And how we spent the rest of the weekend keeping away from each other because we didn’t know how to address it.
That had not been a relaxing weekend.
Turning Megan’s chair around, I take her hands and draw her to her feet. “Look, what we did that night…”
“Was a mistake,” Megan says quickly. “I know.”
“What makes you think I was going to say that?” Her hands are soft and warm in mine, and it makes my heart beat faster to have her this close.
“Well…” Megan flounders. “Because you’re my boss. Even you know what we did was inappropriate.”
She’s looking everywhere but at me. Gently, I grasp her chin and urge her to meet my gaze. Megan tries not to look at me despite that.
“We can ignore what happened forever,” my voice is low. “Avoiding it is going to make things more awkward. It’ll build until we can’t ignore it anymore. It’s already put a strain on our relationship here.”
Megan chews on her lower lip, and I find my gaze pulled to her mouth. I still remember how sweet and soft those lips are, and I want to taste them again. Arousal stirs in my belly and shifts lower. I grit my teeth and try to push the feeling away. We’re in my office and this isn't the time.
