AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Was that his wife?” Finn asked. “She was pretty hot.”
“She is not his wife,” I hissed.
“Ohhhh, down, girl. I struck a nerve.”
We all stood from the table and made our way outside, and I turned to hug him goodbye. “Not at all. She just wasn’t very nice. And she’s not that pretty, is she?”
He laughed and shook his head. “No. I was mistaken. She’s extremely unattractive.”
“Who are we talking about?” Cage poked his head in. “The hottie with your boss? Is that his wife?”
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “He’s not married.”
“I was just telling her howunattractiveshe was,” Finn said, his voice all tease.
“The woman in the red dress?” Cage wasn’t picking up on the social cues. “Big breasts, big ass, pretty face?”
“She had severe resting bitch face,” I grumped.
“Bitches can still be hot,” Cage said, and Finn shot him a look, as my three brothers had always been able to communicate without words. “But that woman was definitely not hot. Definitely not.”
Now it was my turn to laugh as I turned to Cage and hugged him. “Good night, brother.”
“Thanks for going with us to see Santa. Love you, Georgie.”
“Love you, too. It was fun.” I leaned forward and kissed Gracie goodbye as she patted Hugh’s cheeks with her little hands as he held her.
“Love you,” she said as Cage took her from our brother, and I hugged my parents goodbye.
I climbed into the truck with Hugh and Lila, and we headed home. We chatted about my boss on the short drive home, and they asked a ton of questions about him. When we got to the house, they asked if I wanted to watch a movie, but I was exhausted, so I turned them down and made my way to my room to curl up with a good book and forget about this night.
Why was I in a bad mood?
Bossman was allowed to date. Why did I care? He was my boss.
Nothing more.
* * *
The next week had been busier than ever as we were trying to get as much done before the holiday break as possible. Christmas was right around the corner, and I had just finished my holiday shopping this past weekend.
Maddox was running me ragged. We worked long hours, as I never left the office until he did. I’d taken care of ordering all the corporate gifts this year, and he’d also tasked me with shopping for everyone on his personal Christmas list. I was thrilled to see that Heather was not on the list, but maybe he’d shopped for her on his own… And instead of doing what he usually did, which was getting all of his gifts from one place for everyone in his family, I took the time to inquire about each person and their specific interests. It was a lot, but I’d gotten everything done.
And tonight, I had a date.
After seeing him out with that awful woman, he’d motivated me to put myself out there.
Or maybe I just wanted to tell him that I had a date.
I hadn’t asked him about Heather after that night, and we continued on with business as usual this past week. He’d ordered dinner in for us most nights, and I ate in his office while we worked.
But tonight, I needed to leave early, and I’d let him know that a few days ago. I hadn’t said why, just that I would need to leave at a normal hour. He hadn’t asked any questions at the time, so maybe he didn’t care.
My desk phone buzzed just as I shut my computer down.
“Yes?” I said, as I knew it was him. We were the last two people at the office.
“Did you order dinner? I feel like pasta. How about you?”
