Lesbian Boss (Sapphic Sweethearts #5)

1.

Hillary

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M supposed to do with this.”

I stare at the hiring paperwork in front of me. It’s got “HR” written all over it, so why is it on my desk? I’m not the human resources person. To be fair, sometimes I’m not really sure what person I am.

I’m the person who wants to fall in love.

I’m the person who keeps holding herself back.

“Sorry. Eleanor is out today. Can you sign all of this?” Rebecca, the actual human resources manager, offers me a meek smile. I look at the paper once more before meeting Rebecca’s gaze.

“No,” I say. “I literally can’t.”

“Why not?” Her face doesn’t fall. If anything, she smiles a bit brighter. This is one of her strategies, I know. She keeps up appearances at all costs. This is why she’s paid so well. This is why she’s so good at her damn job.

“Because I’m not the human resources director,” I say. “Eleanor is, so this will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“But-“

“No.” I shake my head. “I’m not messing with any of that. It can wait.”

Rebecca frowns. Her short brown hair is cropped close to her head. It’s the longest I’ve ever seen it. Her fiery green eyes seem to get brighter as her eyes narrow.

Suddenly, the mood changes.

“You’re going to do this for me, Hillary.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“Yes,” she says, “you are.”

And then, just like that, I realize who I am. I realize I’ve been promoted. I realize I have an assistant now. I realize that just because Rebecca is used to being in HR doesn’t mean that she gets to take control of everything.

“Rebecca, the conversation is over. Go back to your office.” I shove the papers back toward her, and I turn. My heels make click-clack sounds on the floor as I bustle down the hall to my office. Things are really turning around for me now, but I have to remember who I am.

And I have to remember what I’m about.

It’s not my job to manage Rebecca. I just have to keep telling myself that. She lets out an angry squeak as I head into my office and close the door, but I pretend like I don’t hear. Instead, I sit down, slide behind my desk, and stare at the bouquet of flowers on top. There’s a card here, too.

Congrats! We’re so happy for you. Love, Tori and Jessica

I smile at the card. Tori and Jessica are on their honeymoon because they decided to randomly elope. When they get back, they’re going to have a big wedding ceremony, presumably, but I’m not buying it. We have some other friends and colleagues who are also due to get married. One thing I’ve learned about lesbians is that they don’t seem to have any trouble getting married fast. The joke about U-Hauls? It’s totally true, at least around here.

There’s a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I say without glancing up.

Then the door opens and in walks a tall, curvy redhead wearing combat boots, a short black dress, and the most nervous expression I’ve ever seen on another human.

Melt.

Me.

Internally, I panic.

Externally, I stay calm and collected.

Cool.

I stay cool.

“Emily,” I say. “Nice to meet you.”

“I, um, hi,” she says.

Does she recognize me from my dating profile?

Does she know that I’m the one who blew her off last night because I realized she was my new assistant?

I’m pissed, really. There’s a part of me that wishes I’d just gone for it and met up with her last night. Now we’ve got all of this weird, sexual chemistry between us that I’d rather not have.

What I want is to find someone who loves me for me. I don’t need complicated. I need simple.

Emily is not simple.

At least, things wouldn’t be simple between the two of us because I crave her too much.

“Have a seat,” I say. I gesture to the chairs in front of my desk, and she nods. Emily closes my office door behind her, turns back toward me, and heads for the seat. As she sits, I notice the way her dress slides up her thigh just a little. She’s got freckles on her legs, her arms, her chest.

I like them.

What would it be like to hold her in bed and count every freckle?

What would it feel like to be able to kiss every damn inch of her body.

No, I can’t.

I can’t even let myself go there because if I do, I won’t stop.

“I didn’t get to meet you during the hiring process,” she says. She crosses her arms. Then she drops them. Emily places her hands on her knees, then my desk, then her knees once more.

Okay, so she’s nervous.

“I know, and that’s unusual. Most of the time, when we hire here at Northington Tech, we allow the supervisors to choose their own employees,” I say. “Unfortunately, the merger has been a bit chaotic.”

“It was unplanned, too, right?”

“Something like that.” One of the things I’ve found is that when love is involved, everyone suddenly gets totally unpredictable. That’s why the merger was something of a surprise to so many people. Who could have predicted two people were going to fall in love and throw our worlds into chaos?

Not me.

Well, maybe me.

I’m happy for them, of course. We all are. Still, I don’t love how chaotic work feels now. The tension creeps over me at moments I don’t want it to. I wish I had a way to relax.

Fuck, I wish it was with her.

“Either way,” she smiles. “I’m glad to be here.”

Resist.

I have to resist.

“Tell me about yourself,” I say calmly. I’m relieved that she hasn’t said anything about the app. She either doesn’t recognize me, or she’s going to play things cool, like I am, so we can stay normal. Professional. We’re both adults, after all. I’m 31, and there’s no way she’s much younger than me. She carries herself with far too much confidence to be any younger than, say, 25. I can’t remember how old the app said she was. Maybe 27. Maybe 28. I already unmatched with her, so I can’t check.

“Myself? What do you want to know?” Emily laughs softly, and she looks back up at me. I think about how much fun I had talking to her yesterday, how I loved hearing about her dog, and how much the two of us have in common. Guilt wraps around me as I realize that no matter what comes next, our relationship is going to be choppy.

I should have just told her why I wasn’t going to text her back, why I wasn’t going to meet up.

Instead, I unmatched like a loser.

I was stupid.

Lame.

“Well, for starters, why do you want to work here?”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “Is this an interview? I actually thought I already had the role.” She looks nervous, suddenly, more nervous than she looked before.

“I’m sorry. I’m tired. I haven’t had my caffeine yet,” I admit. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. Shit. I kind of feel like I’m doing this all wrong,” I say.

Again, she laughs.

Again, I wish we were drinking a bottle of wine instead of staring at a stack of papers in front of me.

“It’s totally fine,” she says. “I just wanted to be sure. You know, I already told all of my friends about this job. I’d feel pretty silly if I suddenly had to backtrack.”

“Backtrack?”

“You know, and tell them it was a big misunderstanding.”

“Right,” I nod. “Anyway, tell me about your work history. Not an interview. Just so I know where I might need to fill in any blanks today.”

“Well, I worked as a receptionist for my college dorm for four years,” she says. “That really got me interested in administrative work. After I graduated, I worked with Key and Jacobsen as their administrative assistant.”

“Key and Jacobsen...the law firm?”

“Yes,” she nods. “I worked there until about two months ago. Then I decided I was ready for something else.”

Alarm bells are going off in my head. That’s a great gig. Huge. Key and Jacobsen are known for paying twice the average salary in our area. It’s a very competitive place to be. Everyone wants to work there.

So why the hell did Emily leave?

“You just decided to make a change?”

She nods, but her bravado falters just a little.

This is my chance.

This is the moment where I decide whether to be a boss bitch or a soft bitch.

Do I want to establish that my employees can lie to me?

Or am I going to be tough?

Historically, I’ve been weaker than I wanted to be. There have been plenty of moments where Jessica has walked all over me, but I’ve made myself a promise not to do that again. Right now, I want to make sure I’m setting myself up for success in all the best ways.

That starts with honesty.

It starts with actually being tough and not just pretending to be.

“Try again,” I say.

“Excuse me?”

“Nobody just takes a break from Key and Jacobsen,” I say. “They offer unlimited PTO, insane salaries to entry-level workers, and they have a gym, a coffee shop, and a restaurant free on-site. Try again.”

She stares at me.

“Emily, if this is going to work, I want full honesty, full transparency. I’m not going to promise that I’m the best boss, but I’ll be damn fair. I’ll be good. I know this company inside and out, and I know what it takes to keep things running smoothly. I also know that if you want to do well here, you’re going to want me on your side. So, let’s try again. Why did you leave your last position?”

Emily takes a deep breath.

“I started dating my boss,” she finally says. “And she dumped me.”