so she was standing next to her boss.
LJ straightened, took a step away, and nodded. “Enjoy your lunch.”
Kylie could hear the warmth in her voice but it became cold indifference before LJ turned and left her without so much as a see you later . Every time she thought the doctor was thawing, LJ seemed to close down and walk away. Kylie shrugged and pulled the sandwich out of the bag. In a little over four hours, she’d be heading home to get ready for the night out with her friends.
†
LJ closed the door behind her when she entered her office. She needed to create a barrier between herself and Kylie Wilcox. Over the last week, she would often find herself standing in the doorway of the workroom watching Kylie concentrating intently on what she was doing, apparently unaware that someone was watching her. Each day lunch would arrive and her stomach would do a flip at the thought of taking the bag to Kylie. It was becoming harder to keep her distance and not interact more. Often she’d find her mind wandering to the workroom and the woman there and would have to squelch the feelings the image evoked.
“Why did she have to stand next to me?” she asked the empty room. Kylie’s perfume was intoxicating, and whenever LJ smelled it, she became lost in pure desire. Her body’s reactions to the woman were unacceptable, and her efforts to control them weren’t working. She was unnerved by how easy it would have been to sit and talk with Kylie all afternoon about the Wari’ tribe. Instead, she’d made a hasty retreat, but not before seeing the look of confusion on Kylie’s face.
She felt a pang of guilt about inflicting that kind of emotion on Kylie. When she’d realized after working with Kylie for two days that she was attracted to her, LJ’s first inclination was to fire her. But if she let her go, she would need to give Rob a plausible explanation, particularly because she had no actual complaint about Kylie’s work.
“I need to take myself out of the equation,” she reasoned. “The only problem with that is I need to work with her and teach her.” It was a no-win situation. LJ had gone through enough assistants to know what a find Kylie Wilcox was as an employee. She had no choice. Somehow, she would have to control her ever-increasing attraction to the woman.
She looked at the clock. If she resisted going back into the workroom for another four hours, Kylie would be gone.
The afternoon flew by. Before she knew it, LJ heard, as she did every afternoon, her new assistant scurrying down the corridor on her way out of the building.
LJ was restless. “I need to get laid,” she muttered. “That’ll do the trick.”
†
Kylie hurried home so she could get ready to go to the Rusty Nail with her friends. She’d already arranged for her parents to pick up Ryan from school and keep her overnight, and Ryan was excited about spending time with them. Ryan could always count on her grandmother baking chocolate chip cookies and her granddad setting aside time for a playdate. Kylie, meanwhile, could count on her doting parents letting their granddaughter get away with things her mother would never allow.
After putting the finishing touches on her makeup, she looked in the mirror and smiled. She was happy to go out with her friends, especially since she’d always had to find an excuse not to spend time with them when Ted was alive and her new job had renewed her sense of self-worth and given her a purpose outside of what had become her comfort zone. She reveled in this newfound freedom in spite of the enigma of LJ Evans.
Kylie had to admit working for the woman wasn’t a bad thing. She was puzzled to find something about LJ compelling in a way no one had ever interested her before. For all of her adult life she made plans and rarely veered off the course she had set. Now she found herself wanting more than to do her job and go home. She wanted to get to know LJ Evans, and that did not fit in with her
LJ straightened, took a step away, and nodded. “Enjoy your lunch.”
Kylie could hear the warmth in her voice but it became cold indifference before LJ turned and left her without so much as a see you later . Every time she thought the doctor was thawing, LJ seemed to close down and walk away. Kylie shrugged and pulled the sandwich out of the bag. In a little over four hours, she’d be heading home to get ready for the night out with her friends.
†
LJ closed the door behind her when she entered her office. She needed to create a barrier between herself and Kylie Wilcox. Over the last week, she would often find herself standing in the doorway of the workroom watching Kylie concentrating intently on what she was doing, apparently unaware that someone was watching her. Each day lunch would arrive and her stomach would do a flip at the thought of taking the bag to Kylie. It was becoming harder to keep her distance and not interact more. Often she’d find her mind wandering to the workroom and the woman there and would have to squelch the feelings the image evoked.
“Why did she have to stand next to me?” she asked the empty room. Kylie’s perfume was intoxicating, and whenever LJ smelled it, she became lost in pure desire. Her body’s reactions to the woman were unacceptable, and her efforts to control them weren’t working. She was unnerved by how easy it would have been to sit and talk with Kylie all afternoon about the Wari’ tribe. Instead, she’d made a hasty retreat, but not before seeing the look of confusion on Kylie’s face.
She felt a pang of guilt about inflicting that kind of emotion on Kylie. When she’d realized after working with Kylie for two days that she was attracted to her, LJ’s first inclination was to fire her. But if she let her go, she would need to give Rob a plausible explanation, particularly because she had no actual complaint about Kylie’s work.
“I need to take myself out of the equation,” she reasoned. “The only problem with that is I need to work with her and teach her.” It was a no-win situation. LJ had gone through enough assistants to know what a find Kylie Wilcox was as an employee. She had no choice. Somehow, she would have to control her ever-increasing attraction to the woman.
She looked at the clock. If she resisted going back into the workroom for another four hours, Kylie would be gone.
The afternoon flew by. Before she knew it, LJ heard, as she did every afternoon, her new assistant scurrying down the corridor on her way out of the building.
LJ was restless. “I need to get laid,” she muttered. “That’ll do the trick.”
†
Kylie hurried home so she could get ready to go to the Rusty Nail with her friends. She’d already arranged for her parents to pick up Ryan from school and keep her overnight, and Ryan was excited about spending time with them. Ryan could always count on her grandmother baking chocolate chip cookies and her granddad setting aside time for a playdate. Kylie, meanwhile, could count on her doting parents letting their granddaughter get away with things her mother would never allow.
After putting the finishing touches on her makeup, she looked in the mirror and smiled. She was happy to go out with her friends, especially since she’d always had to find an excuse not to spend time with them when Ted was alive and her new job had renewed her sense of self-worth and given her a purpose outside of what had become her comfort zone. She reveled in this newfound freedom in spite of the enigma of LJ Evans.
Kylie had to admit working for the woman wasn’t a bad thing. She was puzzled to find something about LJ compelling in a way no one had ever interested her before. For all of her adult life she made plans and rarely veered off the course she had set. Now she found herself wanting more than to do her job and go home. She wanted to get to know LJ Evans, and that did not fit in with her
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