by C. Morgan
“Yes. Thanks to your generous wages.”
“I’m glad I can help,” I told her. I was stalling. “Trinity, I asked you to dinner because I wanted to talk to you.”
Her face fell. She slowly put down her water glass. “Okay.”
“We work great together,” I started. “You are truly the best, most competent assistant I’ve had the pleasure to work with. My schedule doesn’t feel nearly as daunting with you at the helm. I’m organized and it makes me more efficient.”
She slowly nodded. “I hear a but coming.”
“No but. Our working relationship is good because I think we get along well. We have a friendship, would you agree?”
She was studying me with a confused expression. “I would agree.”
“There’s just one problem,” I said.
Her features tightened like she was bracing for a blow. “A problem? What would that problem be?”
“Personal shit keeps getting in the way.”
“I thought we fixed that,” she said. “Are you saying this isn’t working for you?”
“In a nutshell, no.”
She grabbed her water glass and sipped again. “You could have told me earlier. I didn’t realize it was a problem. I thought the last week was fine. I know there was some tension earlier but I guess I assumed it was better now.”
“The tension is gone, but it’s still there in other ways.”
“You didn’t have to drag me into a public place to say all this,” she hissed. “You’re welcome for getting your schedule done and running all over town today. You could have just fired me earlier and saved me the trouble, you—”
“Trinity, wait. Please. I’m going about this all wrong. I’m sorry. This is unfamiliar ground for me. I don’t want you to quit. I’m not firing you. I want to—well, date you, I guess.”
“You guess?” she asked.
“No, I’m sure about you,” I said quickly. “I’m saying I don’t know what to call it. Dating sounds weird. Going steady feels too old fashioned. Courting is right out. Whatever. I want to take you out and hang out on the weekends. Exclusively. I don’t want to see anyone but you. So whatever you call that, that’s what I want.”
She let out a long slow breath. “We work together. You’re my boss.”
I nodded. “I am, but I think if we just communicate, we can handle dating and working together.”
She didn’t look convinced. “Look what happened last time. We slept together and you didn’t talk to me for days. You couldn’t even look at me. I can’t work like that.”
“The last time was my own shit getting in the way,” I told her. “You practically kicked me out of your bed that next morning, and quite frankly, it stung. I realized you were not happy with what happened and I reacted badly.”
“You sent me home. You didn’t let me work.”
“I wasn’t punishing you. I thought you were pissed at me, and I didn’t want to make it worse.”
She sighed. “I was pissed at myself for giving into my desire for you. I like this job, Ryker. I really do. I don’t want to muddy the waters by sleeping together and screwing it up.”
“It won’t screw it up. We go into this with eyes wide open. We both know what we want.”
She took a deep breath. I could see her considering it. I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle her rejecting my proposal to date me. “Ryker, I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If this doesn’t work for any reason, I don’t lose my job.”
“I would never fire you out of spite,” I told her.
She shook her head. “Relationships end and there are always hurt feelings on both sides. We all say we won’t hold grudges, but we do. It’s human nature.”
“I will not fire you.”
“What if the tension is so bad I have to quit?” she asked.
“You are looking to the end,” I said. “Why do you assume it would end?”
“Because that’s life.”
“Not always. Look at Naya and Ryan.”
She smirked. “They are one of the few couples to make it.”
“What can I say to reassure you? Your job is safe. Why would I do anything to jeopardize you working for me? You really are the best assistant I have ever had. I don’t want you to quit any more than you want to be fired.”
“So how would this work?” she asked. “Assuming I agree to officially date you, which I don’t even know what that means yet.”
“I don’t think it’s too hard to navigate,” I told her. “We don’t need to overthink it.”
“But it isn’t a typical dating relationship. We work together. My best friend and your brother are married. I feel like there are a lot of outside factors. What we do will have a ripple effect.”
I reached across the table and took her hand. “You’re worried about me because of who I was.”
“Yes.”
It was honest and I had to respect that. “That was then. I am here with you now. This is where I want to be.”
“I’m going to be honest with you, I was warned about you,” she said. “Everyone told me you’re this player. I don’t know if I believe you are playing me, but I don’t want to be played with. There is too much at stake.”
“I’m not playing you,” I told her. “Would I talk to my mom about my feelings for you if I wasn’t ready to give this a real shot? I know I’m not perfect. I know I’ve got a bad reputation. I will say you have to take half of that with a grain of salt. I’m not a saint but I’ve never cheated on anyone or lied.”
“I would only accept these terms if you agreed to date only me,” she said firmly.
I was making headway. “I only want to date you. You’re the only woman I have been with since that night at the wedding.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Really? That’s another rule. No lying. Be honest with me. Tell me if you’re going to start dating someone else. Don’t let me find out in another way.”
“I’m not lying,” I said. “You’re starting to offend me a little, here.”
“That weekend after we got back, you were out doing whatever it is you do.”
“Trinity, I was at home all weekend.” Then I remembered the night out. “Wait, I did go out on Friday, but I promise you I went home alone. I will only date you, but I ask the same of you.”
She scoffed. “I’m not exactly in the dating circuit.”
“I overheard you and Alysha. You were out collecting phone numbers as well.”
She actually laughed. “No, she gave him my number. I never called him back. I have not seen anyone since the wedding. Technically, quite a while before the wedding as well.”
That gave me some relief. “All right. Good. We’ve got that out of the way.”
“Wait,” she said. “Work is work. We can date, but we date after hours. At work, we are professional.”
“Okay.”
“That also means when we are on our away trips, we keep it separate,” she said. “No sharing hotel rooms. No sex.”
I frowned at that idea. “Why not?”
“Because we are working. You’re paying me to be there. I don’t want to be your paid escort.”
“It wouldn’t be like that, but okay, I agree.”
She smiled. “All right then. What about you? Do you have any stipulations?”
I shook my head. “None. Wait, one. You have to talk to me. If I do something that pisses you off, professionally or personally, you have to tell me. Don’t let it fester. I can take a lot of shit. If there is something going on, you have got to talk to me. I’m not going to say I know you really well, but I feel like I do know you. You tend to hold stuff in. You put on a smile and keep right on moving. I’m not perfect. I’m going to screw up. Please hold my feet to the flame.”
“I will do that, but I will choose the appropriate time,” she said. “I don’t like to just blurt stuff out. I like to think before I speak.”
“Deal.”
She blew out a breath. “Are we really doing this?”
I grinned. “I think we are.”
“This goes against everything I know I should do.”
“Let go of your preconceptions of me,” I told her. “Let me prove to you who I am and who I can be.”
“I am looking forward to seeing this real you.”
“You’ve seen the real me,” I said. “What you see is what you get.”
She was smiling as we both reviewed our menus. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt after getting everything said. I regretted not saying it earlier. I could have saved myself a lot of frustration and stress. We ate our dinner and I drove her back to her place.
“Can I walk you to your door?” I asked.
She smiled. “Yes, you can.”
I wasn’t going to go in. I was going to do this the right way. I had to go slow.
“This is it,” she said as we stood in front of her door.
“I had a good time tonight,” I told her. “This is just the first of many great dates.”
“You’re very confident.”
“I know what I want,” I said and put a hand on her cheek. “I want you. I’m going to show you how good I can be.”
I leaned down and gave her a soft kiss before stepping back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I didn’t miss the surprised look on her face. She expected me to push for sex. Maybe she wanted sex. I waved as I headed back to my car. I was going to hold off on the sex thing. The wanting and waiting would make it better.
It would prove to her I was in this for more than just sex.
Chapter 31
Trinity
I watched him walk away with my lips tingling. I expected more. I actually wanted more. We had agreed to date. Didn’t sex and dating go hand in hand?
I walked into my apartment and dropped my keys on the table. I was actually bummed he didn’t try. I wasn’t sure I would have told him no, because if I was being honest, I wanted him.
I went into my room to change. I felt kind of floaty. Hearing him say he wanted to date me was crazy. I knew his reputation when I fell into bed with him. I never expected to date him, especially not on an exclusive basis.
I had to tell Naya. This was her doing. If she hadn’t meddled, this would not have happened. I was certain of it.
“Hey, are you in bed?” I asked when Naya answered the phone.
“Nope. I’m in the bath.”
“Alone?”
She giggled. “Yes, alone. We don’t do everything together.”
“Guess what?” I squealed and sounded very much like a thirteen-year-old girl with a secret.
“What? What happened?”
“I just got back from a date with Ryker!”
“Wait, what? A date?”
I couldn’t stop smiling. “Yes,” I said. “He asked me out on a real date. We are officially dating.”
“No way,” she breathed. “Are you being serious right now or is this you getting back at me because I told Ryan?”
“I think it’s because you told Ryan,” I said. “I think it was that and Ryan and his mom. Everything. He wants to date exclusively.”
“And you agreed to it?”
“Yes, with rules,” I explained.
She snorted. “Oh, gee, that sounds like a fun relationship.”
“I want to make sure that I keep my job if things go bad. We are keeping the two very separate. Work is work and the other stuff happens after hours.”
“Good luck with that,” she said with a laugh.
“I will do it. I’ll let you get back to your bath. I wanted to tell you before Ryker told Ryan and he told you.” After I said it aloud, I really felt like we were in middle school.
“I’m happy for you and I promise, if he messes up, I will have Ryan kick his ass.”
“Thank you. Goodnight.”
I went to bed feeling good about life. I was almost afraid of how happy I was. I was essentially giving Ryker total control over my happiness.
He was responsible for my job, which I loved. He was now going to be a huge part of my personal life as well. It was scary to think one person was a key factor to my happiness in all aspects of my life.
The following morning, I dressed for work with a little more care than usual. I was going to be seeing the man I was dating. Although we weren’t dating at work, I still wanted to look good for him.
When I got to work, he was in the back parking lot. I parked my car and climbed out. He was leaning against the hood of his car with his dark sunglasses on. He was wearing the usual khaki pants with the standard polo.
“Oh my god,” I told him as I shook my head.
“What?” he said with that sexy smile.
“You look like a nineties yuppy kid,” I told him. “Like you could be on a poster for a teen movie about the high-school jock who befriends the poor, geeky girl.”
He stepped away from the car and grabbed my hips. “Are you the geeky girl?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“You’re a sexy, geeky girl.”
“I can’t talk to you with those sunglasses on. Are those old-school Ray-Bans?”
He looked offended as he pulled them off. “They’re Gucci.”
I looked into his eyes. “I like to see a man’s eyes when I’m talking to him.”
He leaned forward and kissed me. “What about when you’re kissing him?”
I slapped at his chest. “We said nothing at work.”
“We’re not officially at work. We’re outside in the parking lot. Once we go through those doors, we are at work.”
“Oh, is that the game you’re going to play?” I said with a laugh.
“It is. I need a good-morning kiss.”
I leaned into him, backing him against his car. “You could have had a little goodnight something,” I whispered against his mouth.
He grinned, his lips moving under mine. “I’m trying to date you,” he answered. “I’m not trying to f—”
I leaned back with my brows raised. “Are you going to finish that sentence?”
He laughed and grabbed my hand. “Nope. Because I do want to do that other stuff, but I’m going to date you first. We’re doing this right.”
“You don’t think we might be doing this out of order?”
“We are,” he agreed. “But I like to do things a little different than everyone else.”
We walked to the back entrance. He gave me another quick kiss before dropping my hand and pulling open the door. “All business,” he said.
“All business,” I agreed.
We went to our separate offices and got to work like we normally did. I was buzzing with excitement. I could get used to the idea of sneaking kisses outside. It was fun to be naughty and break the rules. Even if they were my own rules.
It was lunchtime when he popped his head into my office. “Can you get away for thirty minutes?” he asked.
“You’re the boss. Can I?”
He grinned. “Oh yeah. Yes, you can.”
“Where are we going?” I asked as we headed out the back. Instead of getting in his car, he started walking down the sidewalk.
“There’s a taco truck around the corner.”
“Is this a date?” I teased.
“If you want to call it a date, I’m cool with that.”
He ordered tacos and sodas for us. We sat down at one of the covered tables and enjoyed our meal. I wasn’t sure if this was a professional lunch or a dating lunch. I didn’t care. It was nice to just be around him.
On the way back to the office, he took my hand in his. “I’ve decided it was a date,” he said when I questioned him with my eyes.
“Ah, I see. And I suppose there will be a kiss at the end of this date?”
“I was hoping for a little one.”
He was so youthful and almost giddy. It was another side of him. “I think I like when you aren’t trying to be a player or my boss,” I told him.
“Wh
at am I trying to be right now?”
“The guy I’m dating,” I answered with a smile.
He leaned down and kissed me. We were behind the building in the far corner, out of sight of any windows. I kissed him back until I started feeling the need for more than a kiss.
“We should get back in there,” I said breathlessly.
“I’m going to like this dating thing,” he said with a smile.
“Me too.”
I wiped my mouth before applying a fresh coat of lip balm. We walked in and once again parted ways in the hall without another word.
I sat down at my desk and looked around my pretty office. This was all because of him. It was such a sweet gesture. It showed how thoughtful he could really be.
I felt bad for all the other women that had been in his life and never got to see this side of him. I wanted to believe I was the first woman to see this stripped-down version of Dr. Ryker Fallon. He wasn’t putting on airs or trying to be cocky and aloof.
My office door flew open. Alysha came in and closed the door behind her before turning to look at me with what could only be described as crazy eyes. “I knew it!”
“What?” I asked with confusion. “What did you know?”
“You and him!” she said triumphantly. “I knew it! I suspected it but I didn’t want to come right out and ask you because I thought that might be intrusive, but I saw it with my own two eyes.”
“Are you okay? You seem a little excited.”
She laughed. “You seemed a lot excited earlier.”
“Alysha, maybe you should sit down. You’re red. Were you outside? Do you need some water?”
“I saw you kissing him!”
The blood rushed from my face. She didn’t have to explain who the him was. I could deny it. I could pretend I didn’t know what she was talking about. But was that going to solve anything? “I don’t know what to say.”
She smiled and shrugged. “I saw it, so you don’t have to tell me anything—except how long you two have been together.”
I blew out a breath. “Fine, you caught me. How did you see us?”
“I was laying down in my car trying to catch a little power nap. I was up late last night.”
“Oh, damn. I guess we should be more careful.”
“Why are you trying to hide it?”