Page 69 of My Favorite Boss

“I’ll help you.”

“Okay. Won’t that upset her?”

He laughed. “Joanne is a businesswoman. Very wealthy. She didn’t get there by giving her recipes away. She’ll happily pay, and she’ll understand. You have a product she wants for her resorts, and you need to think of your future.”

“All right. What else should I be thinking about?” I asked.

He sat down beside me on the sofa, running his hand up and down my leg. “You mean about us?”

“Yes, Bane. About us.”

“Alex,” he corrected.

“We’re not⁠—”

He interrupted me. “You’re in my home, having cooked me dinner. I’m beside you, touching you. None of these things has ever happened in this condo. To me, that is pretty damn intimate.”

“You’ve never had another woman here?”

“Aside from my mother getting past the doorman and breezing in a couple of times? No.”

“Oh. How long have you lived here?”

He threw back his head in laughter. “A few years. Lawson designed the building with BAM—they’re a huge deal in the real estate business here. I worked on the landscaping, and I loved the building. I bought this unit before it was even built. Prior to that, I lived in a high-rise very close to the office. I used to walk to work daily. And before you can ask, I never had a woman there either.”

“Why?” I had to ask.

“I’ve never thought of myself as a relationship person. I don’t connect with people easily. I meet a woman, we go out, but there’s never been that spark. After a few dates, either they think I’m an emotionless windbag or I find them boring. If there is nothing but sex, it gets old fast.”

“So why am I here?”

He smiled, setting aside his coffee and pulling me onto his lap so I straddled him. “Because you, Maggie darling, don’t bore me. You make me laugh, which is rare. You challenge me.” His voice became softer. “You see me. You care for me. I’ve never had that—my entire life. You take my good with my bad, and you equal them out. I love that.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. “Are you sure it’s not just your perfect calendar talking?”

He slid his hand up my arm, bunching it into my hair. “How you run my office is such a gift for me. But how you run me is what I like. The sandwiches. The coffee.” He tilted his head. “Your smile. Your soul. The energy you emit. It draws me in. I want to be around you. I can’t wait to see you every day.” He sighed. “It’s a bit disconcerting, to be honest. I’ve never experienced this until you.”

“Oh.”

“I’ve never had a relationship like this. I don’t know how good I’ll be at it. If I’m capable.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Relationships require a lot of emotion. I’m not good with emotions. Caring.”

“I think you’re better at them than you give yourself credit for.”

“There you go, seeing something in me I don’t see myself. I need you for that.” He paused. “This isn’t some torrid boss-assistant affair, Magnolia,” he murmured. “I want to try. With you.”

“I want that too.”

“I like you. I like everything about you.” He paused. “Aside from your horrible taste in condoms.”

I started to laugh, then covered my mouth. “Not funny.”

He shrugged, a playful smile on his face. “Kinda is—now.”

“Can I ask how, um, it—you—are feeling?”