He’s still laughing when he steps out into the hallway. Walking downstairs, I feel my heart beat faster at the thought of seeing Andrea again. It’s only when I reach the Troll’s Lair and have to take a deep breath to calm myself that I admit this must be amusing to watch from an outside perspective. I’m fucking whipped, and by the look of things, I’ll stay that way for a while.
Alright, deep breath and step the fuck in, you pathetic buffoon…
My excitement falls flat the moment I pass the door and see she isn’t sitting at her desk. The quick scan of the room that follows tells me she isn’t anywhere else here, and Mason is also missing.
They might be somewhere else on the floor with the sub-dev department, but I can’t seek her out without looking suspicious, so I walk up to my desk.
Brian is the first to notice me, and he shouts, “The boss is back!”
Steven, Oliver, and Joseph look up from their work and welcome me back. “How was Seoul?” Steven asks. “Andy told us your visit to the Injin Village was awesome.”
“They were remarkable hosts. I expect us to show the same professionalism when it’s our turn to have them here.”
“We’re always professional,” Brian responds with a grave nod.
“We might actually put you, specifically, in a cupboard whenever that happens.”
“Good idea,” Steven concurs.
They get into a playful argument about it, but my attention drifts to the two people who just got in. Andrea and Mason enter the room laughing, but they sober up the instant they see me at my desk. “Hi, bossman!” Mason says first. “Good to have you back with us.”
All I can answer with is a nod because my brain cells are too busy processing the indecent little number Andrea chose to wear today. She has on a reddish turtleneck that clings to her slender upper half like second skin, and below that, a short, high-waisted corduroy skirt. With the mid-calf boots she has on, she looks like she just stepped out of an old Star Trek episode, and I’m unsure why it works so well on me.
She must know it does, though, because when she passes by me on her way to her desk, she side-eyes me with a smirk. “Good morning, boss,” she says, perfectly conscious of what she’s doing.
At least I’m not defenseless since I came wearing a suit for a meeting with Kev and an investor this afternoon, and I know how much she loves seeing me in one. As she sits down at her desk, she offers me another languorous glance, and fuck, I have to sit too before my excitement becomes clear to everyone.
It’s abnormally warm today, so I wonder if she’s wearing pantyhose under her pretty skirt. Shit, I’m sure it rises when she sits down, baring the back of her thighs all the way to the edge of her ass. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be a chair this much in my life, but this woman is amazing at giving me unexpected firsts.
Yielding to my desire to talk to her, I pick up my phone and type a text.
Me
As your boss, I feel compelled to let you know this skirt doesn’t respect the company’s dress code, Miss Walker.
I shouldn’t stare at her until she picks up her phone to read it, but everyone’s busy working, so I’m sure no one will notice. She looks up at me after she’s read my text, and I shake my head, sermonizing.
A crooked smile lingers on her lush mouth as she types her answer.
Andrea Walker
I’ll have you know, sir, that the hem of my skirt reaches lower than the tip of my fingers, as the policy demands.
Me
Small arms must be a loophole. I’ll ask HR to correct this oversight and draft new rules.
Andrea Walker
My everything is proportionally small, so it doesn’t count.
Me
No, not everything.
She seeks my eyes again, raising a questioning eyebrow, so I explain myself by sending a single emoji—the peach one. I hear her snort and the slap of her hand when she hurriedly brings it to her lips.
Andrea Walker
