“You were on a date with a coworker?” There’s an edge to Sacha’s voice, probably because I’m already breaking some office fraternization rule I didn’t know about, he shakes his head. “Don’t answer that, it’s none of my business.”
I take the piebald Magnifico and the tiny black Scaramouch from his hands and put them with their siblings. Beelzebub is clinging desperately to his shoulder, leaving little pulls in the fabric of his nice shirt.
He extracts the kitten from his person gently, scratching under her chin with one large finger. The little daredevil purrs for him. Rhapsody weaves between his legs. He stoops to run his fingers along her back and return her kitten.
Margot watches all of this with her lower lip tucked between her teeth. “This is the guy who said you smell bad?”
“Margot, please!”
Sacha winces. “You don’t smell bad, Ms. Thorn. Sorry if that was implied. Bigfoots just have an…intense olfactory ability.”
“You gave Cheddar Bay Biscuit a ride home?”
“I saw Ms. Thorn on the street while I was headed to dinner,” Sacha says. He’s still petting the foster cat, who’s rolled over to show him her belly.
“Right. Of course you did.”
“I got caught in the rain,” I say. “It was very nice of him.”
“Clearly.” Margot eyes the large jacket that engulfs me.
I start to shrug the coat off, regretting that I have to give it back. It’s warm and it smells like him. “Sorry, if it’s covered in cat hair now.”
“It’s not a problem.” He holds out the new phone.
“What’s that?” Margot points her wooden spoon at the box. “Did you finally get a new phone? Did he buy you a new phone?”
“It’s for work.” It’s a small lie and when I glance at Sacha hoping he will confirm, I catch his eyes skirting across my unsupported tits again, the way he did in the car. I roll my shoulders back, trying to present the girls in their most flattering position. It should be irritating for your boss to ogle you, but right now I only feel slightly complimented.
“Well, I hope you stay and help her set it up, because, after the last one, I am not spending hours trying to teach this Luddite how to transfer her information. Do Bigfoots eat chili?”
He blinks at her.
“I’m making vegetarian chili for dinner. I thought I’d be home alone for the evening, but there’s more than enough for everyone. I assume you didn’t eat either, Bay, since you are home early.”
“You assume correctly,” I mutter.
“I couldn’t possibly impose,” Sacha says.
“Not an imposition. I offered it up!” Margot waves her spoon through the air.
“Margot makes good chili. You should stay,” I find myself saying, “If you want,” I hurriedly add, realizing a billionaire doesn’t need to slum it in his assistant’s grimy apartment. I turntoward the hallway to my bedroom. “I’m just going to change out of these wet clothes.”
I escape down the hall to my bedroom, where I stare at my wardrobe for a long time, trying to decide what to wear. Nothing too revealing. Nothing too cute. Something comfortable, but nottoocomfortable. My favorite leggings are so threadbare you can see my ass through them, but I don’t think that’s what I want to expose him to tonight. I need to remove all sexual tension from this situation; it will ruin everything if I try to fuck him. I pull an old pair of Christmas pajamas from the bottom of my drawer. The safest bet. Baggy red flannel, with reindeer leaping across them, definitely does not say ‘Please try to sleep with me, big sexy boss man’.
Fully dressed, I return to the living room to find Sacha sitting on the carpeted floor, his back leaning against the cat-hair-covered futon, half a dozen kittens clamoring across his lap, and one large hand idly stroking Rhapsody, who is already completely in love with him.
Good taste, that cat.
“What’s her name?” He grins up at me, his whole face melting into something alarmingly attractive. He looks, actually—happy.
I may have been too hasty when I chose my outfit.
“Rhapsody,” I say. “She’s a foster, just staying here until she finds the right place to live forever.” I crouch beside him, and his nostrils flare as I point to the kittens. “Galileo, Figaro, Magnifico, Scaramouch, Fandango, and you already met Beelzebub. You like cats?”
“It’s uh…a Bigfoot thing. Animals tend to love us. I usually love them back.” There’s a quiet contentment on his face.
“You have any pets?”
