Boss I Love to Hate An Office Romance - Mia Kayla Page 0,112

patient.”

I laughed and let my nerves ooze out of me. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was going way too fast. I wasn’t against taking this to the next level, but the truth was, I needed to know I was not another repeat of the past, my past and his.

“Where are we going with this?” I brushed back my wild hair and buttoned up my shirt.

His gaze was as soft as a caress, and I felt it everywhere—my lips, my face, my cheeks.

God, I was falling for him.

“I need to know I’m not just another girl to you.”

He cupped the side of my face. “You’re not. I promise you that. This time, this—everything—feels different.” I heard the sincerity in his voice and read the emotion behind his eyes.

I nodded. It did feel different. More raw, real, unpracticed.

“They’re not just words, right, Brad?” I’d been here before, believing Jeff, believing his false promises. I needed to know that, this time, it wasn’t all lies.

“No. I can’t even adequately put into words what I feel for you.”

“Promise me nothing is going to change. With us, with my job.”

“I promise.” His burning eyes held mine, and then he sealed his promise with a kiss.

And I knew I was going to let him have me, all of me.

“I want to see your apartment.” More so his bed.

Chapter 22

Brad

The heat had lowered, not died down, but lessened when we walked into the elevator. We didn’t have a choice but to cool it because Mrs. Kennedy on the second floor walked in right behind us, followed by her three Pomeranians.

“Harry Potter? I didn’t know that was you.” Mrs. Kennedy was almost eighty, the sweetest woman, with too many dogs. Every stray was too cute to send to the animal shelter. “And Hermione. How cute.” She stuck her hand out to a smiling Sonia. “I’m Maria. I’ve never met one of Brad’s female friends.”

Maria had failed to mention she’d never met one of my male friends either. I never took anyone to my place, friends included. We always met out somewhere.

And my dates? Yeah, I never took any of the girls I dated to my place, worried they would go postal if it didn’t work out. It was bad enough that half of them knew where I worked.

This, with Sonia, was entirely something else, something different. The enormity of it all had me gazing back at the beautiful woman beside me.

“Sonia.” Sonia took Mrs. Kennedy’s hand and then bent down to pet the dogs, her whole face lighting up. “They’re so cute.”

Was it possible to be jealous of animals? Because I was. I wanted to be petted, too.

Mrs. Kennedy flashed me a grin. “She’s a pretty one.”

“The prettiest.”

Mrs. Kennedy went on to introduce her dogs. “Oh, yes. There is Minnie and Mickey and Donald.” She had an obsession with everything Disney, which amused Sonia.

I tried not to growl aloud with impatience. The elevator could not move fast enough.

When it pinged open, Mrs. Kennedy flashed us a smile. “Want to come over for tea? I could set a pot in no time.”

I’d had tea with Maria numerous times. I had known her husband. They’d been married fifty years until he’d died a few years ago, and she’d replaced him with dogs. Any other day, I would, and I’d bring Sonia, too, but not today.

“Maybe another time,” I said before Sonia could agree and answer for the two of us.

My fingers itched to touch Sonia, every part of her, and I was about to do it in front of Maria.

“Okay then.” She smiled sweetly at us and then said to Sonia, “Nice meeting you.”

When the elevator closed, I pulled Sonia in by the waist. I didn’t want to move too fast, scare her off. I was overthinking things, but I didn’t want to ruin what was happening between us.

All I read was want and lust in her eyes, in her body language.

But still … I was functioning on my best behavior and using all my self-control to let her take the lead.

“We should have tea some other time.” Sonia’s arms wrapped around my neck.

“She bakes great cookies.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, next time,” I croaked out. Because I’d be feasting on something other than cookies tonight.

We walked through the door of my condo, and she took everything in—from the grand piano in the far corner to the plush leather couch in front of the hanging plasma TV to the bar to the fish tank that spanned one whole wall, which she was the