Page 9 of Back for More

“Come on in.”

She steps inside, her giant belly arriving several seconds before the rest of her does. I’m really happy that she and her husband finally got pregnant, but if she hadn’t quit to be a full-time mom, I wouldn’t have to deal with this crazy situation.

“FYI, she’s on the premises,” Kate announces as she waddles over to take a seat on my sofa.

“Who is?” I ask, keeping my eyes glued to my computer screen. I know exactly who she’s talking about. My dick knows exactly who she’s talking about. We’re both going to hide our anticipation if it kills us.

“Jasper’s daughter.”

“Good. She in HR?”

“Yes. I hear she’s wearing an inappropriately short skirt.”

Of course she is.

“So…is this going to be weird for you?”

“What?”

“Having the boss’s daughter work for you?”

It doesn’t occur to Kate that I’d know Lily. Everyone knows that my dad is Jasper’s groundskeeper, but no one seems to be putting two and two together and coming up with a shared history between Jasper’s daughter and me. Which is good. I plan to keep it that way.

“It won’t be weird as long as she doesn’t suck at the job.”

“What if she totally sucks at the job?”

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t.”

I can feel Kate studying me, but I don’t meet her all-knowing gaze. She’s a decade older than me and we’ve had a brother-sister dynamic ever since she started working for me, but I have never mentioned Lily. She gasps. “You know her, don’t you?”

My fingers briefly pause their assault on the keyboard, betraying me. “Hardly. Haven’t seen or heard from her since she left town.”

Kate sits up and leans in toward me. “But before that?”

I suck in a breath before replying. “Shouldn’t you be in labor or something?”

“I’m not having this baby until you give me a real answer.”

I glance over at her. She’s so damned stubborn, I know that’s not an empty threat. “I lived in the back house on their property, with my dad, for a few years. But Lily and I went to different schools. We didn’t exactly run with the same crowd.”

She slams the palm of her hand down onto the sofa. “Dammit! Finally some juicy office gossip just when I’m leaving!”

“There will be no gossip, and it’s not juicy.”

She manages to hoist herself up and stomp over to my desk. “Please tell me you banged the boss’s daughter!”

“Shhh!” I look over to the door, which is closed—but still. I lower my voice. “I did not bang the boss’s daughter.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Really?” She bobs around until I finally look at her.

I meet that gaze and give her my most serious and assertive voice. “Really.”

“But you kissed her?”