Boss on Notice

by Janet Lee Nye

  She released her grip on his shirt. “What does that mean? Business-wise? Is it something with the Crew? Anything I can help with?”

  He shook his head. “No. Not that. Just personal stuff.”

  “Oh. Okay. Again, anything I can help with? I’m a pretty good listener.”

  “No.” Actually, hell no. She was the last person he’d tell. He rubbed a hand across his mouth as he realized how curt he’d sounded.

  “Okay.” She reached out and her fingers closed lightly around his biceps and traced down his arm to his hand. “We haven’t known each other very long, but I think of you as a friend, Josh. You’ve helped me so much. I just want you to know that if there’s anything I can do to help you, I’m here.”

  He closed his fingers around hers and slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close so she wouldn’t see the sudden flood of emotion he’d felt. She had no idea. If he told her the truth, she would go—should go—running far away. “Thank you,” he finally said.

  “I mean it.” Her words vibrated against his chest. The feel of a warm body against his. The scent of her hair. The touch of her hands as they skimmed around his waist to link together, holding him in place. For a moment, all the confusion and regret and pain faded away. Being with her felt like stepping out of a shrieking wind and into a quiet moment of peace.

  “I know,” he whispered in her ear. “Thank you.”

  She leaned back to look up at him. He couldn’t meet her gaze. Instead he focused on her lips. Pink. The lower lip fuller than the top. Pretty. He wondered what it would be like to kiss them.

  “Josh,” she said.

  He kissed her. Whatever she was going to say, he didn’t want to hear. He just wanted this moment of peacefulness to continue. He felt her hands grab at the back of his shirt, but she didn’t move away from the brief touch of their lips. For a moment, he felt her breath against his mouth before her lips met his.

  Desire and need flared to an unexpected degree at her hesitant kiss. Tightening his arms around her, he kissed her again. He touched at the corner of her lips with his tongue and she opened immediately for him. A soft, vibrating groan spread through his chest as their tongues met. Her hands moved up his back and through his hair, fingers gripping at his curls, holding him there. He heard her moan...and then a faint wail.

  The kiss broke as suddenly as it had begun. Ian’s cries grew louder as they stared in stunned disbelief at each other. Mickie raised a trembling hand to her lips.

  “I should...”

  “Yeah, me, too...”

  He stumbled out the back door and hurried the few feet to his side of the duplex. She has a kid, man. What the hell?

  He stood a moment on his patio, hands on hips, looking up at the half moon, pale and washed-out in the sky, trying to concentrate on the sounds of a summer evening. There was a brief whoop of a police siren. Someone down the street was trying to get the lawn mowed before the sun set. Cicadas. Always the cicadas. When the urge to return to Mickie’s kitchen left him, he stepped inside his own kitchen.

  * * *

  IAN HAD AWOKEN happy and chatty. Mickie not so much. She’d spent most of the night staring at the ceiling, in alternating throes of horrified embarrassment and astounded lust. Her body’s reaction to Josh’s kiss and the feel of him against her was something she’d never felt before.

  The early morning rush for caffeine and getting Ian to the day care had taken her mind off it for a while. But now as she walked back to the duplex, she felt dread weighing down each step. What are you going to say? Sorry? It was a mistake? Let’s pretend it never happened? Yeah, that’s a good one. Let’s go with that.

  The duplex came into view and she came to a stop on the sidewalk. No way. There was no way she could go in there. It wasn’t that he’d pulled her into his arms as if he was seeking comfort. It wasn’t that he’d kissed her. It was that she had kissed him. She should have stepped back. She should have done a dozen things. The one thing she shouldn’t have done—grab his hair and pull him back for another kiss. Well, that was exactly what she’d done.

  You’re pathetic.

  A car pulled into the driveway with a kind of slow confidence, newly washed and shining in the sun. When the driver’s-side door opened, DeShawn climbed out. He waved at her, a big smile on his face as he recognized her. “You okay over there?”

  Yes! Perfect! Hey, there was an idea. She’d walk in with DeShawn and surely Josh wouldn’t say anything with another guy there. Right?

  “Yeah,” she called back. “Wait up a second.”

  DeShawn met her at the front door and held it open for her. Even better, she thought as she crossed the threshold and saw all the guys sitting around the living room. Josh blocked the doorway between the living room and kitchen, leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed. Damn it. She felt the heat of a blush forming on her cheeks. Don’t look in his eyes. Don’t look...

  “Good morning,” he said. The words were very carefully neutral. She looked. He turned away the moment her gaze met his. “Okay. Now that everyone is here, let’s start this staff meeting.”

  She slipped past him to the kitchen and he moved into the living room. This was promising. Maybe he wanted to go the pretend-it-didn’t-happen route. That would suit her just fine. She would hide out in here and soon they would all leave.

  “You, too, Mickie,” Josh called from the living room.

  She tried for an inconspicuous spot to lean against the wall. But no. When you were the only woman in a room full of Southern men, that wasn’t going to happen. Josh sat in a chair borrowed from the dining room table. DeShawn was in the armchair. The other three—two new hires and Aaron from the Charleston office—sat on the couch. Every single stinking one of them leaped up to offer her a seat.

  She quickly crossed to the armchair and mumbled a thank-you to DeShawn. At least she wouldn’t be in Josh’s direct line of sight.

  “I don’t think so,” DeShawn said as the three others returned to the couch. “Last hired gets the floor.”

  “Drake,” Josh said to the displaced guy. “Just go get another chair.”

  While they waited, Josh thumbed through a small notebook. A muscle in his cheek jumped and twitched. He was nervous, Mickie realized. It was a bit of a shock. He always seemed so in control. Except last night. She dropped her gaze to her hands.

  Josh cleared his throat as Drake returned with a chair. “Okay. Well, welcome to the first Columbia branch staff meeting. Drake and Travis, you two are the newest members of the Crew. Welcome aboard. You’ve both met DeShawn. This is Aaron. He’s going to be up a few times a week to help out until we get you two trained and hire another guy.”

  He turned the page in his notebook.

  “And Mickie,” DeShawn said.

  Josh looked up at her. His gaze met hers and she was happy the guys would think the blush she felt glowing hot on her face was due to being singled out. Especially when DeShawn began clapping out the oh-so-familiar beat of the song “Mickey.”

  “Hey, Mickie!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Like I’ve not heard that ten billion times before.”

  “Mickie is going to be with us until she starts school in the fall,” Josh said, cutting across the banter. “The plan is to have you guys trained so I can take back over most of the office work until we grow enough to move into a real office and hire a full-time office manager.”

  “When will that be?” Nate asked.

  Mickie relaxed back in the armchair as she watched Josh lead the meeting. As he outlined the plan for growth, both in customer base and employees, she began to realize just what he’d taken on. She had done a Google search. She knew how popular the Cleaning Crew was in Charleston. She knew the reputation it had for excellent service that had nothing to do with the gimmick of sexy guys vacuuming your rugs. And it was
his responsibility to re-create that success here in Columbia. No pressure.

  Much like herself, he was starting over in a new city. Facing a new challenge. Maybe that’s all this was. Just two people sort of in the same boat. Nervous and unsure. He didn’t want to let his boss down. So, they needed to just forget about that whole kiss thing. Concentrate on being friends. Yes. That was it. Friends. She crossed her arms and felt her head nodding in agreement with her own thoughts. Because she couldn’t be stupid anymore. She had to be smart and focused. Ian was depending on her. Her goal was in sight. Four semesters and she would have financial security for herself and Ian. That had to happen. No matter what she had to give up to get it.

  * * *

  JOSH HAD BEEN happy to escape the duplex. He’d made sure DeShawn and Aaron had everything they needed to start orienting the two new guys. Navigating around a strange city was the most challenging aspect of planning out cleaning schedules. Jobs needed to be close together or follow the shortest path. No running from one side of town to the other. After that, he’d spent the morning and early afternoon meeting with prospective new clients.

  And now there was no way to put it off. He had office stuff to do. He was going to have to go back. Face Mickie. Alone. He still had no idea what he was going to say to her. She’d been skittering around like a scared bird this morning.

  He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Why had he kissed her? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. His head bounced off the back of the car seat with each thought. A hug. Yeah, that would have shown her that he was happy for her and the good deed her friends had done. But the kiss. That had been selfish. He’d used her to calm the cacophony in his mind.

  And she kissed you.

  A long sigh slipped from his lips. Yeah. Why’d she done that? He knew his reasons. He didn’t know hers. God. What if she was interested? In a daddy-for-her-baby kind of way? The sigh turned into a groan. He started the engine. Only way to deal with this was head-on. Nip it in the bud. Sorry. Mistake. Never happen again. Simple.

  She was on the phone when he let himself in. Good. Gave him a minute. He hesitated just inside the front door. He could just make a break for his office in the second bedroom. Ignore the entire situation. That sounded like a great plan. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. No. Delaying was going to make it worse. He walked to the kitchen.

  Mickie’s gaze flickered up at him for a millisecond before returning to whatever she was writing on a notepad. A faint pink stained her cheeks, but her voice did not waver as she continued the phone conversation. Another chance to go hide in his office. It took a good bit of willpower to remain in the kitchen until she ended the call and reluctantly looked up at him.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hey.”

  And it just hung there between them. All the words he should be saying. The gulf growing and expanding as each second was audibly clicked off by that coffee-cup-shaped clock the previous tenant had left.

  She squared her shoulders and clutched her hands together on the table top. “Listen, I’m sorry about last night.”

  He felt his jaw drop. Of the dozens of things he’d imagined she might say, an apology had never made the list.

  “No,” he finally said. “No. That was me. I’m just—I just—I don’t know.”

  “I do.”

  Again, he stared at her, flabbergasted. She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and met his gaze squarely. Only the deepening of the pink on her cheeks indicated she wasn’t as calm and cool as she seemed.

  “What?”

  “Last night. Look, Josh. This is what it is. We’re both in a strange, new city. We’re both facing a new, scary challenge. You’re trying to start up a new business. I’m about to start a very difficult college program. I don’t know about you, but I’m terrified. I have so much riding on succeeding and graduating from nursing school.”

  His shoulders relaxed as relief coursed through him at her words. Sure. Okay. This would work. “Yeah, that’s true.”

  She stood and crossed the kitchen to him, arms crossed tightly against her chest. The pink of her blush was gone. “So we had a moment of weakness. It’s okay.”

  “Moment of weakness,” he mumbled back. Because even as his head was nodding, he could smell her. Smell the shampoo or whatever it was that she used. His moment of weakness was coming back pretty strong.

  “Yep. So. We know that. I’d like to think we can be friends, Josh. Help each other out. Support each other while we adjust to our new lives here. We just can’t...”

  Can’t what? Let this atomic-level heat get in the way of being buddies? “Yeah, you’re right. We’ve both got enough going on without, uh, complicating things.”

  “Exactly. Great! I knew you’d understand.”

  “Of course.” He glanced at the clock. “I’m going to be in for the rest of the day if you want to cut out early. Get some errands done or something before you have to get Ian from day care.”

  “Really? That would be nice. I’m trying to get all my study notes organized. Do some refreshing before starting school.”

  “Yeah, go on. See you tomorrow.”

  He stood rooted in place as she collected her things and left out the back door. He could still smell her. Muttering several curses under his breath, he found the bottle of Lysol. A few spritzes of that took care of the problem. He had work to do.

  He was beginning to understand why Sadie would retreat to her office whenever she was under stress. Plowing through paperwork kept the mind from wandering to places it shouldn’t be going. Mostly. The kiss wasn’t what was nagging at him, though. No, it was her neat packaging of the entire mess into the mistake box. He should be relieved. He should be grateful she’d found a way to let them both off the hook and continue to be friends. And he was.

  And you want to do it again.

  He slumped back in the chair. His phone vibrated on the desk and he scooped it up, eager for the distraction. Wyatt’s name on the caller ID completely squelched any thoughts of Mickie.

  “Hey, man, what’s up?”

  “I’m getting ready to email you copies of the police reports,” Wyatt said. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” His lips had gone numb. Actually all of him had gone numb.

  “There’s some information in there you might find helpful, but I gotta tell you, Josh, it’s not a pleasant read. Take your time. Don’t look at them until you are completely sure.”

  “Okay.”

  “You all right?”

  Josh shook his head, trying to break through the sudden murk of feelings. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes. Well. Sort of. Thanks for the heads-up. I think I’ll need some time to work up to reading it.”

  “Good. Sadie said she’s coming up there on Friday to meet the new guys. She can stay the weekend if you want to have her there.”

  That wrenched a small smile out of him. Sadie. She’d saved him all those years ago. She’d seen through all of his sullenness, anger, bitterness and bad choices—just nodded and said, “Me, too.” And with those two words, he’d been able to create an entire new reality for himself. A new life. A new Josh. And reading those police reports was going to rip a hole through to his old life.

  “I’ll let her know.”

  “Sure thing. Josh, call us, either of us, if you need us.”

  He ended the call and clicked through on the laptop to his email inbox. Yep. There it was. Subject line: Police report attached. He let the cursor hover over it for a moment before sliding it up and shutting down the computer. He leaned back in the chair, rubbing his hands across his face. Because Sadie wasn’t the first person who had saved him.

  Oh, sweet Jesus, save us all.

  Those were the words his mother would yell out. It wasn’t a prayer or a
plea for divine intervention. No. It was his signal. When he heard those words, he would slip out of bed or out of the room, wherever he happened to be when the monster came. His job was to get his baby sister and protect her. Leave the trailer or hide. When it was all over, she would call for him to come out. Except the last time.

  It was late. He remembered coming out of a deep sleep to the sounds of crashing furniture. When the warning was sounded, he got out of bed and, hugging the wall, made his way to Kimmie’s room. She was getting big and it was hard for him to lift her out of the crib. Especially when she was sleepy and cranky. He hushed her, but was sure her soft whining wasn’t louder than the screaming coming from the living room.

  But there was something new. A loud cracking noise that silenced everything else. He remembered the primal terror that had filled him. He hadn’t known what it was, but he knew it was very, very bad. He carried Kimmie to the closet and tucked them as tightly into the corner as he could. Shielding her body with his, he reached up and yanked down clothes to cover them. And waited. The eerie silence continued. Had they left? What was that noise?

  Footsteps let him know that, no, they weren’t alone. The monster was still there. Light flooded the room as the monster flipped the switch. He expected the monster to call out for him. Tell him to “get his ass out here right now.” But that never happened. His arms tightened around Kimmie and he pressed his cheek against hers. Please don’t cry. Please don’t cry.

  After what seemed forever, the footsteps moved away, back toward the living room. He relaxed a little. The monster would fall asleep and his mother would tell them to come out. The second loud cracking noise made him jump. The jerking woke Kimmie and she began to whine. He shushed her again, waiting for the signal to come.

  But it never came. He waited. Soon the complete silence inside the trailer was broken by sounds he did know. Police sirens. Knocks on the door. Shouted orders of police officers. Now there were more footsteps in the trailer, accompanied by crackling radios. He didn’t know what to do. Police were the good guys. But his mother hadn’t told him to come out yet. Outside the trailer, he heard the lady who lived next door say, “There are two kids in there.”