Boss’s Secret Baby for Christmas

by Black, Natasha L.

  I needed to talk to Risa about it. I had been going back and forth about that. Of course I wanted to hear her opinion on things, but at the same time, I was afraid that she would be overly negative about the fact that I had hopped right into bed with my boss, a man I hardly knew.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to hear her opinion, but I didn’t want her opinions to cloud my judgment. I was trying to figure out what I needed to do, for myself. Only then could I talk to her about it.

  The trouble was, I definitely wanted to talk to her about everything before I went back to work on Monday, yet it was already Sunday and I still didn’t know how I was feeling about the whole situation.

  I sighed and sat on the couch, waiting for Risa to get home from her weekly Sunday brunch with her family. As indecisive as I still felt, I knew that I needed to talk to her. Either way, I trusted Risa. She would never tell a soul.

  So as soon as she came in, I pounced, dragging her over to the couch.

  “I slept with my boss!” I blurted out.

  Risa stared at me as though I had announced that I had, I don’t know, tap-danced naked down the street. “What?” she said blankly. She shook her head. “Wait, you slept with your boss? Like you slept slept with your boss?” She whistled quietly.

  I nodded, trying to remember the words I’d rehearsed in my head. But instead, it all just came spilling out of me in a jumble. “He was in the bar on Friday, and there was this other guy trying to get me to go home with him, and I didn’t want to and Adam jumped in and saved me, and then we went back to his place and had coffee, only it didn’t stop there, and then I guess we had sex and then I had to go to work the next morning.”

  Risa continued to stare at me for a moment. Then, she suddenly got up and disappeared into the kitchen. I waited nervously, knowing she was probably just trying to process it all. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her?

  I laughed when she came back out of the kitchen with a pint of ice cream and two spoons.

  “It’s a little too early to break out the rum,” she said. “Besides, I have a feeling we need to think this through rationally or you’ll do something crazy.”

  “You mean crazier than sleeping with Adam?” I moaned, taking a big bite of the ice cream, making sure I got some of the caramel swirl.

  “I mean,” Risa said slowly, “I’m not sure that was so crazy of you. I’ve seen the guy. Honestly if it was me, I don’t think I would have lasted as long as you did.”

  I sighed. “He really is handsome, isn’t he?”

  “Um, yeah,” Risa said, grinning. “So how was he in the sack?”

  I blushed brilliantly. “Risa!” I said, but I couldn’t help laughing.

  “Come on, how did it happen? Tell me all the details,” she said.

  “Fine,” I sighed with an aggrieved air. I had to admit, though, going back over the details of Friday night was something I had been doing in my head for more than twenty-four hours now, and it was kind of nice to say them out loud to someone else.

  “Like I said, I was getting ready to leave the bar, and this guy wouldn’t leave me alone,” I said. “Adam stepped in and told the guy to get lost, and then I guess I must have seemed a little upset because the next thing I knew, he was taking me back to his place.”

  “What’s his place like?” Risa asked. “I want to be able to visualize this. Messy bachelor pad? Mansion outside the city?”

  “Penthouse apartment, right in downtown,” I told her. “Really nice open-floor place, very modern.” I paused. “Not that I noticed much of that that night.”

  “Yeah, you were too busy getting laid, I guess,” Risa said, snickering. “Well, what happened when you got back to his place? Who started it? Or was it in the car on the way there?”

  I grinned. “It was at his place,” I said. “He gave me coffee, I guess to help me chill out a little. I couldn’t quit staring at him, though. Then somehow I was grabbing him and kissing him.”

  Risa squealed with excitement. “So you made the move? Mindy!”

  “I know,” I said, unable to help but feel proud of myself. “Anyway, we made out in the kitchen for a bit, but I think we both realized where it was going to end, so he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom and…well, we did it.”

  “And it was good?” Risa asked. “I mean, I guess since you’ve only ever been with Trevor, you don’t have much to compare it to.”

  I shook my head. “No, there was no comparison for sure. It was good, Ris. Like, if I’d known it could be that good, I would have been doing it with more people these last few years.”

  Risa laughed. “It’s not always that good,” she cautioned me. “As you know, not everyone is nearly as dreamy as your sex god of a boss.”

  I giggled. “I guess not,” I conceded.

  Risa looked concerned. “Did you talk about it afterward?” she asked.

  “We didn’t really talk about anything,” I admitted, and I was sure she could hear the nervousness in my voice as I said that. This was it, the point where she reminded me what a terrible idea the whole thing had been. “When I woke up on Saturday, he was already out of bed, so I get the feeling he doesn’t want me getting too close to him or anything. It was probably just a one time thing. I thought about asking him, but anyway, I had to get to the coffee shop. I was already running a little bit late.”

  Risa frowned. “Are you feeling okay about that? Like, are you feeling used or anything?”

  I sighed and ran a hand back through my hair. “To be honest, no, not really. Is that weird? That’s weird right?”

  “No,” Risa said. “If you’re okay with it all, it’s not weird.”

  I shrugged. “It’s easier for me not to be in a relationship with him,” I pointed out. “I mean, I’m not really in a position in my life where I really want to be in a relationship. It would only make things more complicated. I don’t know what my life is going to look like after this internship is done.”

  “You’d better not be talking about moving!”

  I chuckled. “No, definitely not,” I said, giving her a hug. “I don’t know, he’s my boss. Even if I wanted to start a relationship right now, I wouldn’t feel right starting one with him. So I guess it’s better that I got to sleep with him once, and that’s it.” I cocked my head to the side. “That is to say, if we ended up doing the deed again some time, I definitely wouldn’t be complaining…”

  Risa burst out laughing. “Atta girl,” she said, nudging my shoulder before taking a bite of the ice cream. “Well, if you don’t want to date him, maybe I will.” Her eyes danced as she teased me.

  I had to admit, even though I knew she was just joking, those words hit me harder than I would have expected. I didn’t like the idea of Adam sleeping with anyone else. It wasn’t like I had any sort of claim on him, though. We had only slept together once, and we hadn’t talked at all about what, if anything, that might mean for the future. For all I knew, he might sleep around with a different girl every night.

  Suddenly, I felt out of my depth. I wished I knew him better so that I would know how to interpret what had happened on Friday night.

  Too late for that now, though, I thought.

  I felt better having talked to Risa, however. Our conversation had helped to crystallize my thoughts. Yes, as good as Friday night had been, there was no way it could be anything more than that. I wasn’t looking for a relationship right now, and in any case, it wouldn’t have been right with Adam being my boss.

  “Hey, there’s new episodes of that reality cooking show we were watching,” Risa said suddenly, as though sensing that I could use a change of conversation and a distraction.

  “Yes,” I said immediately, hunkering down on the couch with another bite of ice cream, preparing for an afternoon of binge-watching terrible reality TV with my roomie.

  There was one final thought left there in the back of my mind which was that all of this was easier said than done. It was one thing to promise myself not to get in over my hea
d when he wasn’t right there in front of me. It would be another thing entirely to try to keep my hands off him come work the next day. What would happen if he called me up to his office? Or if we chanced to catch the same elevator?

  I wasn’t sure I would actually be able to keep away from him. Now that I had slept with him once, it felt like some sort of drug that I just kept craving. It had been difficult enough to stop staring at him in his kitchen the other night. Was I going to be able to keep my hands to myself? Only time would tell.

  10

  Adam

  I glanced at the clock again. It had only been twenty minutes since the last time I had looked, but that twenty minutes felt like it had taken forever. It was nearing the end of the normal workday, and I had a feeling that nearly everyone would have gone home by now, including a certain intern. I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not.

  I hadn’t seen Mindy all day. I hadn’t spoken with her since Saturday morning, when she had rushed out of my apartment. Of course, it wasn’t like she really had any way to get in contact with me outside of work. I had access to her phone number since it was in her file, but the same couldn’t be said for her when it came to getting my phone number. I knew that actually getting her number out of her file would be a huge breach of her privacy and also would cross a certain line I was trying not to cross; one where I compromised my professional ideals.

  Still, I’d been sure that on Monday, she would come up to my office at some point. We needed to chat about what had happened and about what it meant for the future. At the same time, I didn’t want to summon her up there. If she came to me, I wanted her to choose to. I couldn’t help worrying that the way she had rushed out of my place on Saturday morning might be a clear sign of the way she wanted things to be from here on out.

  I didn’t know why it bothered me so much. I wasn’t interested in a relationship. It would be good if we were on the same page about it being nothing more than a one-night stand. It took me a little bit of thinking to realize that part of what bothered me was the fact that if we never talked about it, the chances of a repeat were slim to none.

  And I wanted a repeat. I wanted to do it again. Hell, I couldn’t stop thinking of how much I wanted to do her right there, in my office. I wanted to spread her out over my desk—after hours, of course, when there would be no one around to hear her scream out my name. It would be risky, but that risk would lend the whole thing a certain thrill.

  As the day went on and my hopes of her coming to see me dwindled away to nothing, I realized bitterly that there would be no repeat. For whatever reason, Mindy just wasn’t interested.

  That’s a good thing, I tried to remind myself. It would be best for both of us to forget that Friday night had ever happened.

  I guess there was a part of me that hadn’t expected her to forget about it so easily, though. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had basically handed her the keys to a promotion. I wasn’t just waiting for her to come ask me how we were going to handle this; I was waiting for her to come ask for more money so that she didn’t have to work that second job, or for a full-time position that would start after her internship was up. She’d have me by the balls in more ways than one.

  I thought back to the other intern, Vera. Given the way she had acted during our initial meeting, already pestering me about her future chances with the company, I was sure that if she had been the one I had slept with, I would already have a blackmail notice on my desk.

  But Mindy wasn’t like that, I reminded myself. She knew what she wanted to do with her life, and I had a feeling she would be happy if I offered her a position with Designed by You for the long-term. She hadn’t asked for that, though. She clearly had wanted to prove herself first.

  I admired that. I wasn’t sure that I trusted it, though.

  I hated that I had to think in terms of blackmail. I hated that I was so jaded. My marriage to Kelly, and our subsequent divorce, had left a bad taste in my mouth. It was all part and parcel of the reason why I went home with women but didn’t take them back to my place. Once women found out I had money, they weren’t interested in me. They just wanted to take me for all I had.

  The minutes ticked by, and eventually I had to realize that Mindy wasn’t about to come storming in there to demand a raise or anything else. That wasn’t to say that she wouldn’t do that tomorrow, but for now, at least, I felt as though I had dodged a bullet.

  At the same time, I also felt disappointed. I would have liked to see her again, more than I was willing to admit. I wanted to see her smile, to see her laugh. To see her talk about the things she cared about.

  I stayed late at work even though I knew she must have already left, that there was no more hope of seeing her that day. Unless maybe I went to the bar? Except that no, I couldn’t seek her out there and drag her home again. Even if there was to be a repeat of Friday night, we needed to talk about some things first, and bars weren’t the place to do that.

  I tried to focus on the document in front of me, but I knew I wasn’t being half as productive as I could be. I whipped my head up way too quickly when there was a knock on the door. It was Wendell, rather than Mindy, who stood there, and I had to quash my disappointment before it showed on my face.

  “Hey, boss,” he said. “One of the interns dropped this off for you earlier. She told me not to let you have it until you were leaving, but well, I’m leaving. If that’s all right.”

  “Of course,” I said, wincing internally. Wendell was a good kid, but I could never seem to get it through his head that he didn’t have to work nearly as late as I did. In fact, sometimes I took work home with me just so that he wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving. In any case, I wasn’t thinking about that right now. I was too curious to see what had been dropped off by one of the interns.

  Wendell handed me a plain envelope with my name written on it. I tried not to grimace. So this was how I’d receive my blackmail. I glanced at my assistant’s face. He looked mildly curious, of course, but his face didn’t show me any sign that he knew what was inside the envelope. At least she had the decency to be discreet.

  “Why don’t you head on home?” I said to Wendell. “I’m just about finished up here anyway, and I shouldn’t need anything else tonight.”

  “Sure,” Wendell said, giving one last, brief glance at the envelope before he left.

  I walked back behind my desk and set the envelope down on it, taking a seat. For a moment, I stared at the envelope. Then, I reached into my bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of the good whiskey, pouring myself just a small taste of it to steel my nerves. I took a sip and then took a deep breath.

  The note inside contained only a few words: You don’t tell, I don’t tell.

  There was no signature or any other identifying feature there, but of course I knew who it was from. I read the words again and then let out a short laugh, swallowing back the rest of my whiskey. And here I had been expecting blackmail. I should have known better.

  I might not have known Mindy all that well, but I felt as though I knew a lot about her based on what I had seen of her so far. She wouldn’t stoop to blackmail to get what she wanted. In fact, she would be just as willing to forget all about what had happened.

  That, more than anything, made me want to give her a permanent position with the company. I felt like I could trust her as a worker. Besides, it wasn’t like I was rewarding her just because we’d had sex. I had wanted to give her a long-term position since I’d had that meeting with her before.

  I managed to catch Wendell before he left. “Sorry, one last thing,” I said, and he gave me a wry grin, grabbing a sticky pad and pen. “The intern who gave me the note, Mindy? Tell Harper I want her hired once her internship is done. She’s good.”

  Wendell nodded, and I could tell he was more curious than ever about the contents of that envelope, but he didn’t ask. He scribbled himself a note and stuck it to the monitor on his desk.

  “Oh, and one mor
e thing,” I added. “Can you arrange a meeting for me with her tomorrow morning?”

  I knew that I was playing with fire there, but I also knew it was probably necessary. I wanted her to have a heads-up before Harper officially sent the job offer to her. Not only that, but I wanted to make sure that Mindy knew I hadn’t only done it because we had slept together. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to buy her or anything like that. I didn’t want her to think I was just trying to ensure she would be around so I could sleep with her again.

  I steered my thoughts away from Friday night for the umpteenth time that day. Still, there was a part of me that couldn’t help but wonder if there was a chance at a repeat performance. Once she was no longer an intern, the power imbalance wouldn’t be quite as great. Sure, I would still technically be one of her bosses. But we’d be at least a step closer to peers.

  That was still a little ways down the road, however. First, she had to get through the internship. She wasn’t hired just yet either. Harper and the team that she’d be working for had the final say in who they took onboard with their team, since they would be the ones working closest to the new girl.

  Still, I felt good about this. As Wendell headed out for the night, I smiled at the envelope and slipped it into my briefcase. Whatever happened in terms of a long-term arrangement, I had to admit that I liked Mindy. She had a certain spunk to her that just didn’t come around every day.

  I was still grinning slightly as I headed out of the office. On my way home, I thought about stopping off at the bar. I didn’t really fancy the idea of picking up a stranger that night, though. Not only that, but I now knew that Mindy frequented the same bar. Maybe it was time for me to find a new one.

  Not that I wanted to avoid her. Just, until her future with the company was sorted out, it was probably better that nothing else happen between us. Although it would be nice to build a friendship with her, if nothing else. I could probably trust myself with that, as long as we kept our interactions to the bar.