“Yes,please.”
Sebastian opened the bedroom door and Bruno zoomed in, tail wagging, tongue out. He launched himself on the bed, turned in a circle, and lay right where Sebastian hadbeen.
Loyal as they came. I patted hishaunches.
“Et tu, Brutè?” Sebastian shook his head and picked up his dress shirt from the ground. “That right there is why you have aside.”
My alarm rang, and I leaned over to the nightstand to turn it off. “You could’ve waited for me to shower, youknow.”
Pulling his arms through his sleeves, he came around to sit on my side of the bed. “Believe me, I struggled over whether to wake you. But I knew if I did, we’d never get to the office intime.”
I twirled a piece of my hair around my finger. “We could be late foronce.”
“You didn’t let me finish. I meant I wouldn’t even get to the office in timeto place a lunch order.” He squeezed above my knee. “My mornings areinsane.”
“Howcome?”
“This is when I check the news outlets, brush up on industry trends, and review our social media to make sure everyone’s doing their jobs.You?”
“I sleep as late as possible and do that stuff atnight.”
He chuckled. “Sorry to break it to you, but not tonight, my little flying squirrel. I still have hours’ worth ofPoised-approved positions to try on you.” He slipped his hand up my leg, lowering his voice as he leaned in. “I figured instead of getting cozy now, we’d sneak out of the office early and come back here fortakeout.”
“Is that a euphemism for somethingelse?”
He kissed me once. “As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies between thesheets.”
I bit my bottom lip, partly from the warmth of his hand through the thin sheet, and partly because the real world was encroaching. Sebastian had assured me we were never enemies, but I still had information that would hurt him. If we were no longer at odds, then weren’t we on the same side? I touched his hairline, and he closed his eyes as I ran my fingers through his damphair.
“Will it be weird at the office?” Iasked.
He pecked me again, then sat back. “No weirder than Justin makes things on an averageday.”
“I’m serious,” I warned. “You better talk to him. This has to stay asecret.”
“It’s not as if we have to keep it long.” He buttoned his shirt. “Shouldn’t be aproblem.”
I could’ve stayed in bed with him all day, even if it meant jeopardizing my job. That was a first for me. If I wanted his success as much as my own, I had to be honest with him about what was coming. But Sebastian had been wary of me just for showing up, and being offered his job would only validate his concerns. Would he blame me? I didn’t think I’d ever felt this way this quickly about anyone. There was no question he’d be angry, but would he see this as a betrayal and end things before they’d evenbegun?
He patted Bruno’s hip and stood to do up his pants. “I’m going to try to get in early so you and I can take off right at five. See youthere?”
The prospect of Sebastian finding out from someone else at work, even Vance, was enough to put things in perspective. Since I hadn’t had a chance to officially turn down the position yet, I couldn’t risk Sebastian thinking I was going to accept it. He had to hear the truth from me. Now that he and I had potential to be more, the meeting no longer felt confidential, just secretive. “Sebastian,” Istarted.
The corner of his mouth quirked. “Proceed at your own risk. If I don’t leave in the next few seconds, I can’t promise I won’t climb back into bed withyou.”
I shifted against the headboard, pulling the sheet more tightly under my arms. “Actually, there’s, ah, something you shouldknow.”
“Yeah?” he asked, tucking his chin to fix the back of hiscollar.
Sebastian and I were past the bullshit—no use in drawing this out. “When Vance called me into his office the other day, it wasn’t just to touch base. He wanted to talk to me about a permanentposition.”
He lowered his hands and studied my face. “Whichposition?”
My palms were suddenly sweating. “Yours.”
He went still as a statue, not even blinking. “Mine?”
“I didn’t know if I should tell you,but—”
