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Hannah meets my gaze, an unreadable expression on her face that has me rethinking my words and how they will have sounded to her. Does she think kissing me was doing me a favor? Like is that even possible? And that now I don’t want her around.

Oh my god, why am I thinking this? What the fuck is wrong with me?

I smile, trying to reassure her that things are cool between us even if I have no idea if that’s true. “Thank you,” I say again. “Today was great. Go home and get some rest and I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“Okay,” she says, offering me a small smile. “Have a good night.”

Jack and I watch as she grabs the rest of her things and makes her way outside. As soon as she’s gone, Jack turns to me, a huge grin on his face because yeah, of course he knows what he almost walked in on, because he’s a sneaky fucker like that.

I should’ve known he’d figure things out, given how he was with Tom and Penny and then Dylan and Tessa. The dude prides himself on sticking his smart-ass Aussie nose in everything around here.

I mean don’t get me wrong, he’s a great boss and I really enjoy working for him, but I also saw the shit Dylan and Tom copped and I do not need to join that club.

“Okay, well, I’m gonna grab a quick dinner and then it’s back to work,” I say, before he has a chance to start.

“Okaaaay,” he says, drawing the word out as he watches me, his arms crossed over his chest and a huge smile on his face. “And you don’t want to—”

“Nope, not at all,” I say, cutting him off as I hold a hand up in a wave and walk out of the kitchen, leaving Jack to lock up.

I walk quickly back to Apple Jacks, making a beeline for my office and slamming the door behind me as I sink into my chair. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I see the last text Hannah sent me this morning, letting me know she’d be in to help in a couple of hours.

“Jesus christ, Leo,” I mutter to myself. “What the hell was that?”

I scrub a hand down my face, exhaling hard as I try to figure out what I’m supposed to do next. Do I pretend like the kiss never happened or do I say something to her? But if I say something, what? Do I want it to happen again, or do I tell her it can’t?

“Ugh, fuck!” I shout to myself, wondering how it is that a woman I’ve known for all of five minutes can affect me like this.

Sighing, I grab the bottle of honey flavored liquor that Tom dropped off yesterday and pour myself a glass, wishing it was something stronger, but knowing I need another drink right now.

I throw the liquid back in one gulp, pausing only briefly to appreciate how good it tastes before I type out a text.

Me: Hey so…sorry about before, that was…idk, unprofessional? It won’t happen again.

I hit send before I have a chance to overthink it, my eyes glued to the screen as I wait for a response. I watch as my message goes to read, my heart pounding in my chest as the bubbles, to signify she’s typing, immediately pop up.

Hannah: Shame, because I wasn’t complaining.

“Holy fuck,” I breathe out, not expecting that response from her at all. All of a sudden my heart is pounding in my chest for an entirely different reason, as my fingers fly over the tiny keyboard, typing out a response.

Me: Good to know I certainly wasn’t either. Still, it was kind of unprofessional of me and I should tell you that I don’t normally behave like that.

Hannah: How exactly did you behave??

Me: Like a guy unable to control himself, that’s how!

Hannah: Lol…for the record, I don’t think you were the only one.

My eyes close at her words as my brain flashes back to the kiss and the way she deepened it, taking things a step further. God knows what might have happened had Jack not walked in.

Me: Yeah ok, certainly didn’t seem like you were complaining.

Hannah: Ummm, see above, I wasn’t ;)

Me: Shit, so now what?

I have no idea what happens next. When I first texted her, my intention had been to apologize for practically jumping her and to reassure her it wouldn’t happen again, hoping also that I wasn’t about to get handed a HR complaint for sexual harassment.

Now though, everything has changed.

Hannah: Idk…I mean we do still need to work together and you are my boss.

Me: I am and I do have two kitchens to run.

Hannah: Which absolutely need to be kept professional

Me: Absolutely

Hannah: Sooooo, guess we just see each other at work and go with it…?

Go with it? What the fuck does go with it mean? We do it again? Or we don’t? We hook up, not caring who knows or we act professionally at work and seriously unprofessional when we’re not at work? Fuck, I have no idea.

Before I have a chance to respond, a knock sounds at my door. “Boss, we’ve got an issue with the chicken,” comes Tony’s voice through the door.

“Shit,” I mutter before calling out, “Okay, be right there.” I throw my phone on the desk, knowing I can’t continue this weird text flirting because I also have a job to do.

Before I walk out though, I grab my phone and type out one last response, my body tingling with everything that’s happened today.

Me: …I guess we do…