Page 21 of The Boss

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Page 21 of The Boss

I shivered again, but it had little to do with temperature. He might’ve said that kissing me was his way of determining whether or not I’d read too much into tonight, but the way he looked at me made me think there was at least some physical attraction there.

Or maybe he simply got off on making his employees bend to his will.

A noise behind us caught my attention, and I looked back to see a security guard looking away in a hurry. Probably hoping the boss wouldn’t catch him eavesdropping. I just hoped he wouldn’t be sharing any of this with his co-workers. Then again, I’d heard that Nate had been asking questions about people spreading rumors. Yeah, that was a rumor about a rumor, but maybe he really was trying to keep his employees from talking about things that had nothing to do with them.

“My driver just pulled up,” Nate said as he tucked his phone into his jacket pocket, lingering by my side long enough for me to absorb the smell of sandalwood that clung to him even more than it did to the jacket.

“You can have this back,” I said quietly. “I’m warm now.”

“Keep it for now,” he said. “We’re going outside.”

I didn’t point out that the distance from the doors to the car I could see waiting for us was barely more than a yard or two away. Instead, I let him put a hand on my back and lead me to the car where he opened the door for me. When he slid in next to me, he kept space between our bodies, but something still crackled between us.

“I’m not expecting you to touch me.” The words flew out of me before I could check myself.

“What’s that?” He gave me a look that seemed to say that he wasn’t sure if he should be amused or offended.

“There’s no dancing at the party, so other than general niceties, you won’t need to touch me,” I attempted to clarify, but didn’t quite get my meaning out. “What you said before about my expectations. I want you to know that I’m not expecting you to touch me like we’re a couple or something. Or even like we’re on a date.”

Why was my mouth still talking? I just kept making things worse.

He angled himself toward me, as if he wanted to see me better for this conversation. “Are you telling me to keep my hands to myself?”

I flushed. “Not those specific words…but yes, that’s the general sentiment.”

“And if I don’t want to?”

It could have sounded like a threat, but it didn’t. More like he was truly curious about what my answer would be if he decided he wanted tonight to be more hands on than hands off.

This was not how I’d imagined any conversation going tonight.

“I, um, I…shit.” I clapped a hand over my mouth, mortified that I’d cursed in front of my boss.

He laughed, the sound far more sensual than any laugh had a right to be. “Don’t worry, Ashlee. This may be for work, but you’ll find I’m a little more lax about the things I expect of employees at events like this than I would be if we were going to a fundraiser or something of that sort.” He gave me another of those charming smiles of his. “Though I do ask that you keep the cursing to a minimum.” He added a wink.

“Are you going to keep the flirting to a minimum?” I shot back, more than a little shocked by my boldness.

Fortunately, Nate didn’t appear to be bothered by it. If anything, he looked impressed by the fact that I’d spoken up. “I make no promises.”

I should’ve turned the conversation serious, made sure he knew that I wasn’t joking when I said I wanted him to keep his hands to himself, but there was a small part of me that kept arguing that he might not have been the only one who wanted to touch…

I gave myself a mental shake. No more talking. If I couldn’t keep myself from saying stupid stuff, I wouldn’t say anything at all. If he asked a question, I’d answer just to be polite, but nothing more than that. He’d have no reason to complain, but neither of us were here to flirt.

Maybe it was only because we were in a car together with nothing else to do. When we arrived at the event and Nate had to be in CEO mode, he maintain professional distance.

I could’ve believed that if he hadn’t been just as inappropriate in his office after suspending Flora. That reminded me of a question I’d been meaning to ask him, but I wasn’t sure if now was the right time to do it. Rumors had been flying at work yesterday and today that Flora’s suspension had turned into a termination. That Nate had shown up at Flora’s place and fired her because she wouldn’t sleep with him. I didn’t believe the second part, since, if Nate had really wanted to sleep with Flora, he wouldn’t have waited three days to make the demand. I just didn’t know if the rest of it was true, and if so, what had prompted the firing.

There was another set of rumors going around, much quieter than the others. Rumors that said Nate had been questioning people about gossip because of what had happened with Flora and me, and that he was taking a hardline stance on any sort of personal gossip in the office. And that this stance was the real reason for Flora’s termination.

These thoughts kept me preoccupied until we pulled up to the venue at one of New York’s swankier hotels. I put all of that out of my mind as Nate got out of the car and turned around to offer me a hand. I reminded myself that he was simply being polite and accepted. When he tucked my arm around his to escort me into the building, I told myself the same thing.

I didn’t believe it anymore then than I had the first time.

Fourteen

Nate

Once inside,I let go of Ashlee long enough to retrieve my jacket. Some press had been outside, and I had no doubt they’d have a field day with the fact that I’d arrived with a woman wearing what was obviously my jacket, but now that we were inside, she’d be warm enough with her wrap. Besides, she’d had time to warm up in the car. I still couldn’t believe she’d taken the subway in that dress. My blood ran cold at the thought of what could have happened to her…and then ran hot at the thought of the men who’d seen her.


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