I want to text Riley and tell her everything, but I’m afraid he’ll walk out and see me on my phone.
The rest of the day, Adrian doesn’t so much as glance in my direction. He acts as if it never happened. If anything, he’s even more distant and more demanding, if that’s even possible.
I, on the other hand, can barely function. I make ten typos in a single email to Beck, and when I pass the break room, I actually bump into the wall with my shoulder. I spend the afternoon second-guessing everything—my work, my boundaries, my ability to operate as a functional adult.
But under it all, there’s some sick part of me that enjoyed his praise. Ilikedhaving his full attention and the way he actually made me feel like I had done something right.
“Ready to see ournewhome?” Riley says, nudging me as we step into the elevator.
“Absolutely.” I still haven’t told her about the tense moment I had with Adrian in the office. But now that I’m hours removed from it, I’m not sure I want to re-live it.
I’m not totally convinced I’m not making something out of nothing.
“Here!” Riley beams, as the elevator door glides open on the fifteenth floor. “The property manager left it unlocked for us.”
My brows skyrocket as I take it all in. The hallway is all white and silver, the floors shimmery and buffed. And as soon as we step inside, I see the endless wall of windows, the sparkly kitchen, and a bathroom with a shower big enough to throw a party in.
And to top it all off, it has that new construction smell I’veneverhad the pleasure to live in.
Riley runs from room to room, flinging open every door. “I call this bedroom!” she shouts, then pokes her head out. “Yours has the better closet, though.” She heads for the kitchen, opens a cabinet, and gasps. “Soft-close hinges! I will never again lose a finger while drunk.”
“It’s totally gorgeous,” I chew my lip, unable to swallow the worry filling my chest. “Once the lease is up, doesn’t the price go up?”
“Nope! Not as long as it’s the same tenant renewing!” Riley shouts from somewhere.
I walk through the space in a daze, touching everything from the marble counters to the stainless sink and the balcony railing. I imagine myself here—making dinner, doing laundry, reading on the couch with sunlight streaming in.
“It’s so nice it feels fake,” I say.
Riley grins, planting her hands on my shoulders. “Embrace it. We’re moving up in the world.”
As soon as the words leave her lips, the agent from the leasing office drops by with the final forms. He splays it all out nicely on the island, and as I hover over the line I’m supposed to sign, I hesitate.
I don’t want to wrap Riley up into something she can’t afford without me if I lose my job.
Riley notices my panic moment, arches an eyebrow, and says nothing. But after we finish the officialwalkthrough, she steers me to the nearest wine bar a block away, plants me in a booth, and orders two glasses of Chardonnay.
Before I’m even one sip in, she cracks.
“What’s up, babe?” she says, swirling her wine. “You look like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. Spill it.”
I debate for a minute. The temptation to keep it bottled is strong, but I know it’ll just come out later. May as well tell her now.
“There’s something I didn’t tell you about work,” I start, then launch into the Adrian Frank Experience. I describe the glass office, the way he tore apart my report and then stood so close I could count every eyelash. I get to the part about the weird, maybe almost-kiss and the way he said my name, and then stopped, and acted like none of it happened.
Riley listens with her head cocked. “Whoa,” she says when I finish. “That’s… holy crap.”
“I’m probably imagining it,” I say quickly, digging my fingers into my palm under the table. “I mean, who almost kisses their assistant in the middle of a Tuesday morning? It’s not a thing, right? And I don’t even know if that’s what he was doing.”
Riley’s mouth twists. “Oh, well, itisa thing.”
I blink. “What are you talking about?”
She shrugs. “A lot of CEOs bang their secretaries.”
My stomach clenches. “Okay, but we didn’t— It wasn’t?—”
She raises a hand. “You already slept with one of them. And so, I’m just saying, be careful. Getting involved with your boss is complicated enough, but two of them? That just sounds like a terrible idea.”
