Page 46 of Bossman

“God, you’re an ass.” I rolled my eyes.

“Is that a yes to twice-weekly meals together?”

“Do you have meals with all of your employees?”

“Does that matter?”

“It does, yes.”

“Well, I have dinner with Sam occasionally.”

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms over my chest. “But not twice weekly.”

“No. Not that often.”

“Well, then I’m not sure it would be appropriate. We should probably stick to no more than what you do with other employees.”

Chase squinted, then gave me a sly grin and held up one finger. He proceeded to whip out his phone and make a call. I listened to half the conversation.

“Sam, can you have dinner with me twice a week?...Does it matter what it’s for?...Okay, then. I want to run things by you for the new rebranding campaign. I like your perspective….” He sighed. “Yes, fine. But we’ll order in on the night we eat at your place. I almost choked on that dry-as-shit chicken you forced me to eat last time.”

I couldn’t make out everything, but I heard Sam’s voice rise and a string of words yelled through the phone. When she took a breath, Chase forced the end of the conversation.

“Whatever you want. ’Night, Sam.” He looked delighted with himself when he hung up. “Yes, I do have twice-weekly dinners with other employees.”

I was in the mood to screw with him some more. “That’s different. Sam is your friend outside of the office. You two have been friends longer than she’s worked for you.”

“And we’ve known each other since you bled all over me in middle school.”

“I think you’re a little insane.”

“I’m starting to agree with you.” He sipped his Jack and Coke.

Chase’s cell phone buzzed, and a photo of a woman flashed on the screen. I saw it, and Chase knew I did.

“You can take it,” I told him. “I don’t mind.”

He hit reject, and then locked eyes with me. “That brings me to my next negotiation point.”

“There’s more? Maybe I should be having something stronger than water after all.”

Chase extended his Jack and Coke to me. I took it and sipped.

“I take it from the exchange you just had with Becker that you’re no longer a couple.”

“We weren’t really ever a couple. But yes, you’re correct. Bryant and I aren’t dating anymore.”

“He looked wounded. Did you tell him you were hot for your cousin/boss when you broke his heart?”

“Is there a point you’re trying to make buried under all the self-adulation?”

“There is. One of the things I had planned to negotiate in our deal was that you would break it off with Bryant.”

He’d taken the Jack and Coke back from me, and I swiped it from his hands again.

Bringing it to my lips, I said, “And he finally gets the name correct.”

Chase, of course, ignored me. “So we have an understanding, then? Until you quit or get fired—or sooner if you break—you won’t be dating other men.”