Big Pickle: A Secret Boss Romantic Comedy - JJ Knight Page 0,41

breast puckers painfully in the sudden cold, so I lift my shirt back to cover it.

Jason steps away, and it’s as if my whole body has turned to ice.

“I guess we should probably get out of the freezer,” he says.

I have to swallow hard to reply. “Probably.”

He leads us out of JP, and I’m careful not to brush any more of the crates.

“I think we should think this through,” he says carefully, his eyes looking anywhere but at me.

“Are you going to leave?” I grasp the edge of the mixing table, trying to keep my voice level, but inside, the glow is slowly fading out.

He shakes his head. “I’d like to stay until we catch the crook.”

I nod. “I’ll try to get exact numbers on how much cash has gone missing.”

He nods. “If you want, we can ask Audra. She’s great at crunching data.”

My head snaps up. “You know Jace Pickle’s assistant?”

He hesitates, and my suspicion rises again.

“I’m pretty tight with the Pickles.” He grimaces. “I should go.”

After the back door opens and shuts, and the kitchen has gone quiet, I sit in my desk chair and pick up the heart glasses. I feel bereft, as if I’d found something wonderful only to have it snatched away.

It’s wrong. I am his boss.

Sort of.

He knows this. Is that why he held back?

But Jason can walk away at any time. His closeness to the Pickles means I can’t do anything to him.

Surely, we could give this a try.

As I revisit that moment in the freezer, I know I’ve never felt as intensely as I do for him.

So, for once, I’m going to do absolutely the wrong thing.

It might not last.

It might be a one-off dalliance for him.

But I’m going to do it.

I’m going to make Jason Packwood mine.

19

Jace

I am so incredibly fucked.

On Monday morning, I know I’m supposed to go in at seven, like I have every morning since I started baking bread with Nova.

It’s a time I look forward to. Rolling dough. Telling stupid pickle jokes. And laughing with her before the rest of the crew comes in.

But it’s six forty-five, and I should be walking out the door of my apartment.

I can’t do it.

I just can’t. She doesn’t know I’m Jace Pickle. That I had my brother talk to her pretending to be me. That Audra is my assistant. That every time she writes me it goes to the number on my iPad and not my real phone.

It’s all a lie.

Would she have gone into the freezer and melted the frost on the cheesecake box if she had known who I was?

I don’t know.

I don’t know how to handle this.

I’m in the middle of this terrible angry rant with myself when I realize, I’ve left the condo.

I’m in my car.

I’m driving.

I’ve been so in my head that my body has decided screw this, bozo, let’s get to work.

I park the car and try to figure out what to do. Go in? Call and quit? What do I say to her after yesterday?

I can still feel her body in my hands. I can taste the sweet nub of her nipple in my mouth.

So, here’s the real problem.

I want her again. I want her badly. But I can’t.

It’s unethical.

It’s a lie.

Maybe I can come clean. I can tell her I’m Jace Pickle. I’m the asshole. I’m the one who wasn’t there for the crew, for the deli, for her.

I start walking toward my deli with a new sense of determination.

That’s what I’ll do.

I’ll tell her and face the music.

If she throws me out, she throws me out.

But if she doesn’t…

Maybe we have a shot.

I won’t wait for us to start baking the bread. I won’t do anything other than walk straight in there and tell Nova Strong I’m Jace. That I have two names. That both of us are me.

And that I think she’s incredible and smart, and I don’t think this deli would be any good without her. And I want to take her on a proper date.

And as soon as she’s willing, consenting, and dying for me as much as I’m dying for her, I’ll strip her naked, throw her on my bed, and ravish her until we collapse from exhaustion.

And then do it again.

I don’t realize how fast I’m moving until I’m already at the back door of the kitchen.

I take a deep breath. I’m Jace fucking Pickle, part of the Pickle Deli Dynasty. I can do this.

We’re good together. I can show her that. I will do whatever