Dating the Boss (Blue Harbor #2) - Jaclyn Osborn Page 0,45
She was beautiful even with the gray, but she wasn’t quite ready to embrace the color yet. She had always looked younger than her age anyway.
“I like your hair,” I said. “It looks nice.”
She beamed. “Oh, it’s nothing fancy. Just a touch-up. But thank you.” Always the one to be bashful with compliments. “Food should be ready in about ten minutes.”
“Need any help?” I asked, following her into the kitchen.
“Nope. All I want you to do is sit your butt down and relax.”
I smiled and sat at the table. Regina and Meg came to sit with me, and my sister put a glass of white moscato in front of me.
“I’m sure you could use that after the past few days you’ve had,” she said before taking a drink of hers.
“It actually wasn’t that bad.” I stared at the wine but didn’t really see it. I was too busy remembering how Reed looked sitting by the fire at night, a blanket hanging off his bare shoulders as I leaned against him.
“Uh-oh.”
“What?” I asked, glancing up at her.
Regina smirked and propped her elbow on the table, chin on her hand. “Someone’s lovesick.”
“Excuse me?” I shook my head as my scalp prickled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What happened while you were snowed in?” That infuriating little smirk remained on her lips. “Did you fall for a guest at the bed-and-breakfast? A handsome fella or maybe a pretty little lady? Was it love at first sight?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I sipped the wine, mainly to have a distraction from answering her damn questions.
“That wasn’t an answer. I am so right.”
“Gina, stop antagonizing your brother.” Mom turned from the stove with a steaming pot before straining the noodles in the sink.
Thankfully, my nosy sister let the topic drop. For now.
Once the food was ready, we ate. Meg was a veterinarian and talked about her work while Regina nodded along and gave her a lovesick smile. They had met when Regina brought her dog, Pookie, in for an upset stomach. And why she named her vicious, ankle-biter dog Pookie was beyond me. The evil thing only liked my sister.
The light-hearted feeling from seeing my family faded as soon as I returned home. I had a lovely home by the bay filled with everything I could ever want or need.
Yet, it meant very little when I had no one to share it all with.
As I lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling because I was too wired to sleep, I mentally prepared myself for the following morning when I’d be around Reed and have to pretend like I didn’t know him as intimately as I did, like I didn’t know the sound of his moans or how the center of his brow wrinkled when he was about to come.
I was truly fucked.
Chapter Eleven
Reed
Giving yourself a pep talk in the bathroom mirror was a totally sane and normal thing to do, right? Because that’s exactly what I was doing that Monday morning before I left for work.
The day before, Daniel had fucked me. Kissed me and made me feel like I was flying. And now, we both had to act like it never happened.
Talk about a crash back to reality.
“You can do this,” I told my reflection. “You’ve fucked men loads of times and went on with your life, not giving them a second thought. Daniel isn’t any different.”
Yeah, even my reflection looked at me like I was an idiot.
I ran my fingers through my bangs to mess them up a bit before adjusting my black waist jacket and the red satin top beneath it that had the top two buttons undone to show a peek of my collarbone. With my skintight skinny jeans and jangly bracelets, I looked more like a fashionable club-goer than an administrative assistant, but with our company being in advertising, they allowed for a more colorful dress code. Meaning as long as my ass wasn’t hanging out of my pants, I could basically wear it.
And maybe I wanted Daniel to look at me. Just a little.
On my way to work, I stopped by the café to grab two large coffees and then headed to the office. My stomach fluttered when seeing Daniel’s car in his parking spot.
“I can do this.” I got out of my car and walked toward the entrance, taking deep breaths to calm my racing heart. “You’ve done it a million times. Hand him his coffee, then get to work.”