and I chug it down like water. Reed is watching me closely.
“Is that why you keep putting your life in danger all the time?” he asks.
“My lifestyle is definitely not something I want to discuss!” I growl at him, and he holds his hands up in surrender.
“Besides, there’s something way more dangerous that I’m playing with right now,” I reply, and Reed looks surprised.
“Do I want to know what you’re talking about?”
I smile and shake my head.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” I say.
“Try me.”
I am not the kind of man who usually discusses his personal life—his sex life—with people. I like my privacy. Besides, I haven’t been in a relationship long enough to warrant discussing it with someone else. I have barely had to give it much thought myself, prior to this.
But I’ve seen Reed and Ella together. I have seen what a strong and happy relationship should look like. Not a lot of my friends have that. So if there is anybody I should be discussing Kim with, it has to be my brother.
“I have a new admin assistant at the office, and she is very hot. Very, very hot, but it’s more than that. A part of me just wants to bang her, but there’s another part of me that wants something else. I don’t know what it is,” I reply.
Reed is watching me closely, and finally, a smile starts spreading on his face. He looks like he knows exactly what I’m talking about.
I leave the bar an hour later, feeling a little lighter on the shoulders because I shared my troubles with Reed. Not that he had much input. He doesn’t know what I should do. He gets why the situation is so complicated, and his advice is to just see if I can ride out this phase. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I will move on. There are so many fish in the ocean.
But there is something he told me tonight that is going to stick with me.
Reed looked me straight in the eye while we sat beside each other on those tall bar stools.
“I could be wrong, Kirk, but it sounds to me like you may have feelings for this girl. And if you do, then you’re not going to forget about her quickly.”
I laughed at that because I can’t imagine having feelings for someone. Especially not someone I don’t know or trust.
But now, as I’m walking towards my car, I can’t help but think about it. What if Reed is right? What if that is the problem? The reason why I haven’t been able to get Kim out of my mind since I first saw her.
I get in my car and sit in silence for a few moments. I know I should drive straight back to my penthouse. Sleep it off. Tomorrow is a brand-new day, and everything seems less drastic in the light.
But I don’t drive back. I am driving in the direction of Kim’s apartment building. At some point in the last few weeks since I’ve had her CV in my hands, I have memorized her address. It’s probably because of all the time I’ve spent staring at it.
I know where she lives. I know which floor and which door. Fifteen minutes later, I’m standing right in front of it, knocking.
I know it’s late. Somewhere, in the back of my head, I am also aware of how inappropriate this is. I am still her boss. She still works for me.
Then the door slowly swings open, and she is standing here, staring up at me like she’s seen a ghost.
I have never seen her this casually dressed before, and what I see sets my body on fire.
An oversized old t-shirt and very short cotton shorts that show off her long, slender legs. She has her hair set loose wildly around her shoulders.
“Mr. Silvers…” she says my name softly, still in shock.
I don’t blame her. Even I don’t know what I’m doing here. It’s not like I have a plan.
“I just wanted to say that I wish I didn’t stop that night. I wish nothing stopped us,” I reply.
13
Kim
I’m pretty sure I’m dreaming. I have to be dreaming. Is Kirk Silvers, my boss, really standing in front of me, telling me he wishes we had been together that night?
My lips are parted. I’m staring at him with widened eyes. I’m about to tell him just how crazy this sounds, but he leans towards me and places a hand on the back of