“You know. I realized tonight that it wasn’t Sam I was afraid to tell, really.”

“No?”

I shook my head. “After the dumb mistakes I’ve made in the past, of course the thought of a relationship with someone at work scares me. But I think what I’ve really been afraid of was feeling strongly enough about someone to be willing to purposely take a risk.” I grinned. “I tend to be risk averse, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

He attempted to conceal his smile. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Thank you again for having the alarm installed. It was really sweet of you.” I kissed him again. Leaning my forehead against his, I whispered, “We’re really doing this, huh? Going to be a couple out in the open with my long-lost, middle school, second-cousin boyfriend who is also the bossman?”

He pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “That’s a mouthful. How about if we just call you my woman?”

“Your woman, huh?”

His gaze roamed over my face. “It’s the truth. We’ve both been fighting it for different reasons. But you’ve been mine since I saw you in that dark restaurant hallway.”

“You mean when you called me a bitch? I don’t think that’s quite how you won me over. It was a little after that, I’d say.”

“Maybe for you. But you were under my skin from the first minute I laid eyes on you. I wanted to know what made you tick.”

I cocked my head. “And have you figured that out? What makes me tick?”

He flipped me on my back and braced himself over me. One hand trailed down my side, causing my skin to prickle.

“I’m still learning. Maybe we should play that little game you had me play once before.”

“What game?”

“Be watched masturbating or watch someone masturbating?”

“Ah…we’re playing Would You Rather?”

Chase answered by rubbing his nose along my neck.

“Are we talking about you I’m watching, or someone else?”

He stiffened and pulled back to look at me.

“Kidding. I was kidding.” I pecked his lips. “Watch you. I think I’d actually enjoy that.”

His face relaxed somewhat. So I continued the game with a real question. Lightly scratching my nails down his back, I said, “Office memo or PDA?”

His response was quick. “PDA.”

“What kind?”

He brushed his lips sweetly against mine. “Like this.”

“Mmm…show me again.”

“This is fast becoming my favorite game.”

“Mine too.”

I could spend all day doing this, but there were more pressing would you rather questions to attend to.

When our kiss broke, I asked, “Give or receive first?”

He grinned, but I didn’t give him a chance to respond. Instead, I lowered my head down his body.

Receive.

Chapter 28

Reese

Chase wasn’t exactly good at following the script.

The next day we traveled to the office together early, as had become our habit lately. Only this time, after picking up our coffee, we rode the elevator together up to Parker Industries. I was acutely aware of his hand on my back as we exited. Even though it felt comfortable and natural to have him touching me, doing it in the office felt strange. And it wasn’t a monumental gesture, by any means. In fact, this morning we’d discussed that we were going to avoid any public displays of affection until after I spoke to Josh. So I was pretty sure Chase wasn’t doing it intentionally.

I owed my boss a certain amount of respect and wanted to let him know what was going on before Chase and I completely came out of the closet, so to speak. The plan was that I would talk to Josh this morning, and then Chase and I would go out to lunch together alone. We could be touchy-friendly, in a way more than a typical boss-employee relationship, but there would be no statement PDA. Or so I thought.

After I’d settled into my office, Travis found me in the break room making my oatmeal for breakfast.

“Morning, sexy,” he flirted.

I opened the microwave, removed my bowl, and stirred the oats. “Hi, Travis.”

“When are you going to let me make you breakfast?”

I extended the bowl in his direction. “You want to stir my Quaker Oats?”

“At my place. The morning after. I make a mean eggs over easy.”

“I think your pickup lines need some work.”

Travis leaned his hip against the counter next to me. “Oh yeah? Tell me what you like. I’ll work on my game.”

“Well, for starters, we don’t like you to assume we want to have sex with you. So opening with a line regarding the morning after is definitely a no-no.”

“So what’s a good opening line?”

“How about something real? Complimenting something you actually like about the person.”

Travis’s eyes dropped to my breasts, and he grinned. “I can do that.”

I rolled my eyes. “No. Not like that. A compliment of a non-sexual nature.”

“That doesn’t leave me with many body parts.” He looked me up and down, then pushed off the counter and stood tall. “Your toes always match your outfit. I like that.”

“Very good. Shows you’re paying attention to details and doesn’t make you sound like a pervert right off the bat.”

“Got it. So I’ll leave off that I really want to suck on them.”

Of course, Chase walked in right at that moment. From the look on his face, I gathered he’d caught at least the last part of Travis’s sentence. “I really want to suck on them.”

“Travis…” Chase warned.

Travis raised his hands in surrender. “I know, I know…no fraternization.”

Chase grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator. “Actually, we’re rewriting that policy.”

“Really? Have I mentioned how much I love working here?” Travis mused.

Chase’s eyes narrowed on Travis as he walked to me, offering a bottle of cold water. I took it, but Chase didn’t let go as he spoke to Travis while looking at me.

“If you love working here so much, perhaps you should spend more time working and less time harassing women who are taken.”