Page 17 of Dirty Boss

This was something else I’d discovered over the course of the past fourteen months. There were countless things that I didn’tknow. Obvious, normal things. Things that were second nature to most people—things that made me feel like a bumbling fool who was too dumb to make it through a day unaided.

I had no fucking clue what a lint trap was, nor did I know how it related to my clothes.

But I’d be damned if I ever let him see it. I pivoted to asking him if he wanted the chicken, and he handed me the menu with a nod. I scurried away, my chest hot, my cheeks burning.

Ducking into the staff room, I pulled out my phone and Googled “lint trap.”

Within a fraction of a second, I learned that apparently you were supposed to be cleaning this thing out with every single load of laundry. Major fire hazard. Freaking wonderful.

At least I hadn’t burned my building down.

Sighing, I leaned my phone against my thigh and lightly bashed my head against the wall.

“Hey, Alba!” Daisy, one of the other waitresses, said as she walked in, smelling of the outdoors with patches of bright red on her cheeks.

I faced her and held up my phone. “Do you know what a lint trap is?”

She unzipped her jacket and hung her purse up in one of the empty lockers. “Like, in a dryer?”

“Yeah. Never mind.” I put my phone away and shoved my embarrassment deep down, then squared my shoulders and went back out into the fray.

Vaughn’s food was ready, so I grabbed it from the expo and brought it to his table. That stiff smile was in place on my face, and I said my usual, “Did you need anything else?” before turning away.

“Alba,” he said, and the sound of my name on his tongue froze me in my tracks.

I turned, still feeling the burn of my embarrassment, and smiled at him. “Yes?”

“Other than my suit and the wine, what else did I do wrong?”

“Sorry?”

“The other day. My business meeting. What else did I screw up?”

I shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”

“Don’t give me that,” he snapped, and the command in his voice made all my nerve endings sizzle.

I reared back. “Excuse me?”

“You knew about the suit. My assistant agreed, by the way.”

“Well, duh.” What was he getting at?

“So, tell me. I have another meeting coming up, and I don’t want to get dismissed before I even open my mouth to make my pitch.”

I rocked back on my heels. “Are you being serious right now? You really want my advice?” The girl who didn’t even know that lint traps existed or that they needed to be cleaned? He was askingmewhat I thought?

That hadn’t happened in…way longer than fourteen months.

“Alba,” he cajoled. “Come on. Be brutal. I know you want to be.”

I huffed a laugh despite myself, then shifted my weight and bit my lip. “Well…”

“You won’t hurt my feelings.”

“Your hair,” I said.

Vaughn’s brows slammed down. “What’s wrong with my hair?” he demanded.