Chapter 38
Juniper
I can hear Remington singing as he putters around in his room.
The sound is strangely familiar and domestic, and I smile to myself as I get back to work.
My face is still hot from him talking about being into butts.
He thought I was blushing because I was embarrassed, but all I was thinking about was making sure to do squats every morning and night so that I could grow more of a butt.
I hit myself on the head so I can focus and then stare at the small bedroom I'm meant to be clearing out for his little girl.
I pick up a box filled with books and carry it toward his room.
"Hey, I have another one," I say as I enter and try not to gawk as he looks back at me.
He's taken his shirt off, for some reason, and is standing there in a pair of baggy shorts and no top.
"Where should I put these?" I ask, swallowing hard as I look over his incredible physique.
He has abs for days, and my body feels weak at his golden tan.
Remington Parker just grew even hotter, and I wish that I didn't know what he looked like without a shirt.
"Ah, you can just dump them over there right next to the window." He points to the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the city. "Next to the other boxes." He steps toward me. "Do you need help?"
"No, I'm okay," I say as I hurry over to put the box down. I do not need to be too close to him, breathing in his scent or even touching his naked skin. I'm trembling just thinking about having skin-to-skin contact. It was such a bad idea coming here.
"I was just changing shirts," he offers by way of explanation as he holds up a T-shirt. "I figure if I'm going to get dusty and dirty, better to do it in an older T-shirt than one I just got for three hundred dollars."
"Makes sense," I say, nodding as I hurry back towards the door.
"I'll just keep bringing the boxes through?
" I want to ask where he bought a T-shirt for three hundred dollars, but I need to get out of his bedroom.
Staring at the rumpled sheets on his bed is doing things to my legs.
The last thing I need to do is faint into a heap on the ground and then actually be in his bed.
"Sure. That sounds good," he says. "How's it looking in there?"
"Like a bomb went off." I grin at him, and he chuckles, the sound warming my heart.
"That's one thing I like about you, Juniper. You're always honest."
"Thanks. I'm going to take that as a compliment."
"I don't see why you wouldn't," he says as he pulls his T-shirt down and heads toward the door. "You feeling hungry? Do you want something to eat? I noticed you didn't eat much of the bagel."
"I didn't realize that your toaster setting was so high, and I don't really like burnt bagels," I say by way of explanation. "But it's okay. I'll eat when we're done."
"If you're sure. So, you're going to come with me to the office, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"To pick up Canyon," he says.
My eyes widen, and I shake my head. "I wasn't planning on it. I mean, you're just going to pick her up and go shopping, right?"
"Yeah, but I've never met her before, and I feel just a little bit awkward."
"Don't you don't think it would be more awkward for your assistant to be there?"
"I'd like to think we're friends as well as boss and employee." He smiles a warm smile that makes me flush, and I raise a single eyebrow at him as he chuckles. "You don't consider me your friend, Juniper?"
"I mean, not really. I'm not trying to be rude, but we've never hung out outside of the office.
We've never really had a personal conversation.
You didn't know if I had a boyfriend. You don't even know what plans I was canceling today to help you.
" I shrug. "So, no, I don't really consider us friends. "
"That's a pretty clear no, then," he says, making a face. "Do you think I've overstepped our employee-boss relationship by having you here today?"
"Overstepped? Not any more than you normally do when you're asking me to send bouquets of flowers to your many women or setting up reservations for dates.
I don't think that any of this is a part of my job description, but I'm happy to help.
I can imagine it must be really overwhelming to find out you have a child and that she's coming to stay with you.
" I look up into his dark, intense eyes.
"I do want to offer my support and help. "
"Thanks. That means a lot to me." He rubs his palms against his shorts and I resist the urge to look down.
I do not want to check for a bulge or any telltale signs of his package.
I do not want to know. At all. "I guess I really don't know that much about you, and I apologize for not spending the time getting to know you better. What do you do for fun?"
"Are we really going to talk about that now, or are we going to clear out this room?" I step back and look down for a few seconds. Not long enough to detect anything. Thank God. The last thing I need to see is that Mr. Parker is packing. I may be a virgin, but I'm not ice cold.
"Can we not do both?" he asks as he looks at all the boxes. "Does this look worse than it did before we started?"
"Probably," I say with a nod. "But usually, that's how it goes. Do you really think we'll be done within the next couple of hours?"
"I don't know. Hopefully." He lets out another sigh and bends down and starts grabbing old vinyl records and stuffing them in another box. "We'll do what we can. So, Juniper, tell me, what do you do for fun?"
"Wait, you really want to know?"
"I asked, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but I thought maybe you were just being polite because you realized that you kind of overstepped by having me come in to work on a Saturday."
"I did overstep, but what if I say you're going to get a bonus?"
"I'd say I hope it's a big bonus."
He grins. "How big?" My face goes red again as a little voice in my head whispers, "That’s what she wants to know.”
I stare at him for a couple of seconds, and there’s a naughty glint in his eyes. I don’t know if he made his comment as a double entendre on purpose, but I will not rise to the occasion. Stop it, Juniper, I think to myself. I need to stop thinking about his package.
"That's up to you," I say, bending down and picking up some more books and stuffing them into another box. "I really like to write," I say quickly before he can ask me what I like to do again. Or even worse, I make some stupid comment about him being in his shorts by mistake.
"Really? Like legal briefs or..."
"No." I burst out laughing. "Who likes to write legal briefs for fun?"
"Not me," he admits. "So, you write articles or..."
"No, I write short stories and books."
"Cool, cool. Would I have read any of your work?"
"I mean, I'm not published or anything," I say quickly. "I just do it for fun. You know?"
"Oh, nice. What do you write?"
"Most likely nothing you read."
"You don't know that."
"What do you like to read?" I ask him.
"I love sci-fi, some fantasy. I was really into Game of Thrones back in the day. I'm still waiting on the last book. It's annoying."
I look up and see that he's staring at me. There's an amused look in his eyes. "So, Miss Juniper, what do you write?"
"Currently, I'm writing a romantasy book."
"Oh, romance. That's cool," he says, grinning like a fool as he stares at me with a knowing expression. "Like, that sexy romance stuff or..."
"No, not romance. Romantasy."
He frowns. "Romantasy? What does that mean? Romance geared towards men or something?"
"No." I laugh. "Romance and fantasy mixed together."
"So, what, a dragon falling in love with a human or something?"
"Not really. Perhaps there's a book like that, but that's not what my book's about."
"I see. Are there dragons, though?"
"There may be a dragon or two." I grin. "And some elves."
"Elves. Wow."
"And a secret closet."
"A secret closet? Tell me more." He stands up and runs his fingers through his hair, then bends down and picks up a box with hundreds of vinyl records. "Hold on. I'll be right back." I watch as he leaves the room with the box, and I listen to his footsteps as they go down the hallway.
I'm actually enjoying his company. I'm surprised at the fact that he's inquiring about me. I expected him to do his own thing and leave me to take care of the room by myself. I didn’t expect that we would actually engage in conversation with each other.
"Okay, I'm back," he says, looking back into the room and groaning again. "This looks like a bomb shelter after World War II."
"I mean, I think those shelters probably looked better than this."
"Ouch," he says, laughing. "So tell me more about this book full of dragons and elves and secret closets."
"Well," I pause. "I am still writing it, so I don't know exactly where the story's going."
"What do you know so far?"
"Well, so far, there's a regular girl. She's human."
"Cool, cool."
"And she moves to this new house in the countryside after her parents die. She's living with her grandma."
"Oh, that's sad."
"Yeah, so she's missing her parents, and one day, her grandma says, 'Why don't you go up into the attic and find some old photo albums?' So she goes up to the attic and while looking for those photo albums, she finds this really old armoire that's really beautiful."
"Sounds cool."
"So, she opens it and steps inside, and she's transported to another world."
He stares at me. "Go on. Sounds really interesting so far."
"Are you just saying that?" I look at him questioningly. Am I boring him, or is he really enjoying hearing about my book?
"Not at all." He shakes his head. "So what happens next?"
"Well, she enters this other world, and it's like nothing she's ever seen before. She's immediately nervous and scared, and she's actually hiding in a closet in the new world."
"What is going on in this new world?" His voice is husky. "Is it like Narnia?"
"Not at all. She's hidden in a closet in an old castle, and she sees a dragon killing a knight."
"A knight. Ooh, like Merlin?"