smile dusted his lips. “I have everything I need in
you.”
“Sometimes you forget, though. At least, when I started you did. You tried to call me in for a
faceless screw, remember?”
His eyes lit on fire. I could read the desire in his look. “I don’t look for mindless fulfillment now.
I look for you.”
The fear eased, but didn’t totally disappear. “I don’t know. If I didn’t work here I’d never see you.
There must be some way this can work.”
“I’ll see you every evening and you can visit me here. You can even come in and work at my
table.” He pointed to the round table in his office. “Or you can use the conference rooms. Or my
couch. You shut everything out when you work and I find your presence comforting—I think that
would be a great arrangement.”
I bit my lip in indecision. This was all happening so fast.
In a last-ditch effort, leaning on my stubbornness, I said, “You can’t force me to choose, Hunter.”
“I can fire you. And I will. What you do after that would be your choice, but it also doesn’t take a genius to know how relieved you’ll be to work on your code without my duties nagging at you.”
I frowned harder. “You sure think you know everything.”
He grinned and pushed forward. “I do. Think it over.”
I walked out of his office shaking my head. I hadn’t stood a chance.
“Did you get reamed out or what?” Brenda asked as I sat at my desk.
“No. He offered to help me out by firing me.”
“You two have a messed-up relationship, have I mentioned that?”
I snorted. “You didn’t have to.”
AT THE END OF THE DAY I LEFT THE OFFICE WITH A STRANGE SINKING FEELING. I DIDN’T REALLY WANT TO QUIT
working for Hunter. It was how I’d met him. It was how he’d more or less browbeaten me into loving
him. Everything had started for us with my first yes in the park. I was reluctant to let that go.
Truth be told, I was also a little worried. I lived with him, and I was having this baby, but we
hadn’t talked about forever. The crazy-woman part of me didn’t want to give him more space for fear
he’d realize I wasn’t nearly as great as he thought. I was a plain Jane next to him. Not forcing my
presence on him every day might break whatever spell he was under. After that, kicking me out and
arranging custody rules would be a cinch.
I needed to take my mind off this.
I took out my phone as I waited for the car service. It was seven o’clock. Hunter said he had
another couple of hours to do before he’d meet me at home. While I should go home and work on the
game, which was still number one, I wanted to chat with a friend. I wanted to take my mind off the big decision I had weighing on me.
I called Kimberly.
“Hi!” she said on the second ring. “You have ESP. I was just going to call you. How are you?”
I smiled at the peppiness in her voice. “Good. Want to meet for a coffee?”
“Definitely. I’m in the financial district. Where are you?”
“Same. I’m just leaving work.”
“Dumb question, right?” She laughed. “Okay, I’ll make my way toward you.”
The black car pulled up next to the curb. As the man got out, I took a couple steps toward him.
“Sorry—false alarm. I won’t need the car for a couple hours.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He didn’t even look put out. For some reason, that made me feel guiltier about
wasting his time.
Ten minutes later I caught sight of the shining red hair bouncing with each of Kimberly’s steps.
Her smile was bright and her hug warm when she reached me. “Hi!”
“Hey. Where to?”
“Jen and Rick are at a little café a few blocks from here. Want to go meet them? They’re back
together and fighting all the time.” She rolled her eyes.
I hesitated. Jen and Rick would probably be drinking, as it was happy hour. Since I’d never
refrained from drinking in their presence, they would immediately realize that something was up. I
couldn’t very well tell Kimberly no,
you.”
“Sometimes you forget, though. At least, when I started you did. You tried to call me in for a
faceless screw, remember?”
His eyes lit on fire. I could read the desire in his look. “I don’t look for mindless fulfillment now.
I look for you.”
The fear eased, but didn’t totally disappear. “I don’t know. If I didn’t work here I’d never see you.
There must be some way this can work.”
“I’ll see you every evening and you can visit me here. You can even come in and work at my
table.” He pointed to the round table in his office. “Or you can use the conference rooms. Or my
couch. You shut everything out when you work and I find your presence comforting—I think that
would be a great arrangement.”
I bit my lip in indecision. This was all happening so fast.
In a last-ditch effort, leaning on my stubbornness, I said, “You can’t force me to choose, Hunter.”
“I can fire you. And I will. What you do after that would be your choice, but it also doesn’t take a genius to know how relieved you’ll be to work on your code without my duties nagging at you.”
I frowned harder. “You sure think you know everything.”
He grinned and pushed forward. “I do. Think it over.”
I walked out of his office shaking my head. I hadn’t stood a chance.
“Did you get reamed out or what?” Brenda asked as I sat at my desk.
“No. He offered to help me out by firing me.”
“You two have a messed-up relationship, have I mentioned that?”
I snorted. “You didn’t have to.”
AT THE END OF THE DAY I LEFT THE OFFICE WITH A STRANGE SINKING FEELING. I DIDN’T REALLY WANT TO QUIT
working for Hunter. It was how I’d met him. It was how he’d more or less browbeaten me into loving
him. Everything had started for us with my first yes in the park. I was reluctant to let that go.
Truth be told, I was also a little worried. I lived with him, and I was having this baby, but we
hadn’t talked about forever. The crazy-woman part of me didn’t want to give him more space for fear
he’d realize I wasn’t nearly as great as he thought. I was a plain Jane next to him. Not forcing my
presence on him every day might break whatever spell he was under. After that, kicking me out and
arranging custody rules would be a cinch.
I needed to take my mind off this.
I took out my phone as I waited for the car service. It was seven o’clock. Hunter said he had
another couple of hours to do before he’d meet me at home. While I should go home and work on the
game, which was still number one, I wanted to chat with a friend. I wanted to take my mind off the big decision I had weighing on me.
I called Kimberly.
“Hi!” she said on the second ring. “You have ESP. I was just going to call you. How are you?”
I smiled at the peppiness in her voice. “Good. Want to meet for a coffee?”
“Definitely. I’m in the financial district. Where are you?”
“Same. I’m just leaving work.”
“Dumb question, right?” She laughed. “Okay, I’ll make my way toward you.”
The black car pulled up next to the curb. As the man got out, I took a couple steps toward him.
“Sorry—false alarm. I won’t need the car for a couple hours.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He didn’t even look put out. For some reason, that made me feel guiltier about
wasting his time.
Ten minutes later I caught sight of the shining red hair bouncing with each of Kimberly’s steps.
Her smile was bright and her hug warm when she reached me. “Hi!”
“Hey. Where to?”
“Jen and Rick are at a little café a few blocks from here. Want to go meet them? They’re back
together and fighting all the time.” She rolled her eyes.
I hesitated. Jen and Rick would probably be drinking, as it was happy hour. Since I’d never
refrained from drinking in their presence, they would immediately realize that something was up. I
couldn’t very well tell Kimberly no,
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