Page 3

Alex

I definitely crossed a line with Olivia. I’m her boss. What I did could be considered an abuse of power. Still, I didn’t do it because I was getting off on being her superior. I did it because there’s clearly something between us. It was so tangible that I’m surprised it wasn’t visible.

Josh could tell that something happened between the two of us before she left last night. When I left the office, he asked if Olivia was okay. Of course, I told him that she was okay, but he didn’t believe it. The only kindness he extended to me was not pressing any further. I know him well enough to know that he wanted to, though.

For the entire rest of the day, I’m thinking about what I did. I wonder if I should apologize. Olivia didn’t seem to be all that opposed, but she also didn’t say anything positive about it. For all I know, she’s just a flirty person who was enjoying banter with me. I might have completely overstepped yesterday.

I get to work early this morning to open the gym with Josh. We get everything going silently until I can’t take it anymore. I can feel his eyes on me, the question of what happened between Olivia and I on the tip of his tongue.

“I want to get your opinion on something,” I begin as the two of us are reorganizing the free weights that our closing employee didn’t put back properly at the end of the day—I can’t say that I blame them, everyone’s overworked and exhausted.

“Is it about Olivia?” Josh asks, confirming my suspicions.

“How’d you guess?” I counter, refusing to show any kind of weakness. He’ll pick it apart if he can sense it.

“Aside from how she was bright red with a goofy smile on her face when she left yesterday?” he says as he picks up the fifty-pound weight with ease. “You were dodgy when I asked what was up with her yesterday.”

“That was a rhetorical question.” I put the weight in my hand down a little harder than I know is necessary.

He chuckles and straightens out, taking a step back to ensure everything’s in order as he says, “So what is it that you want an opinion on?”

I take a moment to consider how to word this. Coming off as a creep is the last thing I want to do, but I didn’t really think this through before starting the conversation. Finally, I settle on saying, “The two of us have been flirting.”

“Just flirting?” he quips as he raises an eyebrow, seeing right through me.

“Maybe I kissed her,” I say after a tense moment of silence.

“Alex, come on, dude,” Josh groans, his show of dramatics grating on my nerves. “She’s been here a few days; you’re going to scare her away.”

“It’s not like I forced myself on her,” I counter, frowning at him. “I think I caught her by surprise, though.”

“What do you mean by that?” he says. His hands settle on his hips, and even though he’s about ten years younger than me, he exudes a fatherly aura.

“Well, I planted one on her right before she left,” I explain, deciding to be upfront with him. I’m not one to be intimidated by others, but it’s probably best that I let him know what’s going on and with that look on his face I can’t find it in myself to beat around the bush.

“So that’s why she looked the way she did when she left,” he murmurs thoughtfully.

“I guess,” I say with a shrug.

“Did she say anything before she walked out of the office?”

“Nothing much,” I admit, remembering the shell-shocked look on her face. “Just that she hoped I got home safe.”

“Hm,” Josh hums, staring at the ceiling as he puts together his thoughts. “I’m not sure you should have done that.”

“Yeah, I realize that,” I murmur, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

“I’m not really sure what you want me to say here,” he says, glancing at me after a few seconds. “It’s not like I don’t want you to find someone, but I can’t really condone you going after one of our employees.”

“I know that,” I counter as I pinch the bridge of my nose. I’ve noticed that lately almost every conversation I have with Josh gives me a low-grade headache. “But it’s not like I want her because she works for us. It really feels like there’s a connection between the two of us.”

“I guess I get that,” he murmurs, walking to our front desk. “It’s just not a good idea to carry on a relationship like that with someone you’re paying. You could run into that quid pro quo thing.”

“I’d never do anything like that and you know it,” I bark as he boots up the computer.

“Yeah, but does Olivia?” he challenges. “You met her two days ago. She doesn’t know anything about you aside from the fact that you’re her boss and you’re interested in her. You have to be careful.”

“I will be careful,” I reply, feeling offended at the implication that I have ill intentions. “It’s not like I just want to sleep with her. She’s witty and kind. Plus, I’ve seen her resume. She’s smart as hell, too.”

“Man, I get it,” he says with a sigh. “I’m not going to tell you not to pursue her if that’s what you really want, but if it’s a relationship that you’re going after, maybe you should give it some time. She’s going to think that you’re just after her for something physical.”

“I’m not,” I say, and before I can say anything else, the front door opens and Olivia walks through.

She looks absolutely gorgeous, if a little tired. Her brown hair hangs around her shoulders, falling into her face as she looks into her purse for something. I can feel Josh watching me for my reaction to her, so I school my expression as best I can.

“Good morning, guys,” Olivia says brightly, holding a tube of chapstick in her hands. “What’re we talking about?”

“Just complaining about the closers last night,” Josh answers easily, saving me from having to come up with an answer on the spot.

“They’re just tired, though,” I add, not wanting her to think we’re the kind of bosses that shit-talk our employees. “We’ve had a huge uptick in business lately and it’s been an adjustment.”

“I saw that when I was going through the accounts yesterday,” Olivia says as she applies the balm to her lips. It takes all of my self-control to keep from staring. “What happened? It seems pretty random.”

“You ever heard of Marlon Henderson?” Josh asks. When she nods, he continues. “He came through town a little bit ago. The locals heard about it and our memberships shot way up pretty much overnight.”

She hums as she caps the tube, saying, “That makes sense. But he was just here for one day. Right?”

“Right,” I say with a shrug. “It isn’t every day something exciting like that happens in town. This isn’t a big city like LA.”

At that, Olivia giggles, and I feel a sense of pride wash over me at the sound. When she recovers from the little fit, she says, “I suppose that makes sense.”

“We’ll be fine now that you’re here, though,” I continue, unable to stop myself from praising her. Maybe I’m laying it on a little thick, but I can’t quite bring myself to care. “Starting next week, we’ll be able to get everyone else back to normal hours thanks to you.”

She beams, and I can almost feel the way Josh rolls his eyes beside me. I don’t care, though. It seems like she’s not upset about the kiss last night. In fact, despite the fact that both Josh and I were talking, Olivia’s eyes stayed focused on me.

“I’m going to get to the office,” she says, her gaze lingering on me for a long moment before she walks away.

As soon as the door closes behind her, Josh scoffs and says, “I guess I see what you mean.”

“What?”

“There’s something between you two,” he says with a shrug. “Like I said before, I don’t condone it, but I’m not going to do anything to stop you. Just don’t creep her out.”

“I won’t,” I say, tapping the desk before heading to the front to turn on our open sign.

The two of us don’t talk for the rest of the morning, and Olivia stays in the office for the entirety of her shift. I spend nearly all of my day trying to come up with ways to get closer to her without coming off as a creepy manager. There’s no way I’m going to throw away the connection that I feel with her. I need her to be mine, and there’s no way I’m going to let myself get in my own way.