Chapter 18
Daniel
God, she was beautiful. She looked so different with her hair down and in jeans, and that white hair and eyelashes…
And the fact that she was protective of Becca.
That small woman, fierce and protective of my sister, was just too much.
I was pretty sure she wasn’t joking about hurting Brad, too, which made her impossibly sexier.
Stop it!
I shook my head and went back inside to Jake and Becca. I needed a few more drinks in me before calling it a night.
When I walked home a couple of hours later, I was drunk and still couldn’t get Lydia out of my mind. I wanted to hear her say my name all night, but she never did. I half expected her to say ‘Good night, Mr. Mason’, but she seemed to intentionally avoid it.
I lay in bed and looked at our chat on my phone.
?? You can call me Daniel when we’re not at work
I drank too much and sent it without thinking, instantly regretting it. It had been hours since she had gotten home. What if I woke her up?
Inappropriate boss behavior, dude.
My phone buzzed.
?? Ok
No period at the end of the message. That was new. Maybe it was her way of being informal? Like using my first name.
?? Did I wake you?
?? No
Still no period, but short answers.
Should I keep going?
?? Did you have a good time?
?? Yes
?? I’m glad. Good night, Lydia
?? Good night, Daniel
I looked at my name on the screen. I wanted to hear her say it.
Fuck, this was bad.
She’s still your employee.
Yeah, yeah, she is, which meant I wouldn’t see her for another two days.
I fell asleep with extremely inappropriate thoughts about Lydia invading my dreams.