Chapter Three #3
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a bar during happy hour.
The loud din of voices and laughter rings around me, and I can’t hear my friends talk over the noise.
I turn down offers from guys who want to buy me a drink, not in the mood for small talk with strangers.
I’d rather be catching up with my girls than fending off potential advances.
Besides, my mind is occupied with thoughts of one man only, and I can’t get him out of my head.
From the bar, we go to a nightclub, and though there still isn’t quiet time to talk, I dance with my friends and have a great time. The night goes fast, and before I realize it, it is past eleven. I want to grab a train home, not wait until the last one that will be completely empty.
“Hey,” Amber, my good friend from my days being a nanny in Manhattan, says, having to yell in my ear. “You have that I’m-done-here look.”
I smile. “You know me.”
“Let’s go. I’ll share your cab to Grand Central. I have to pass there on the way to my place anyway.”
“Great!” We say good-bye to the others, and Amber and I head for the exit.
We walk through the doors and into the fresh, cool night air, the silence surrounding us a welcome relief.
“Oh, my God. Peace and quiet!” Amber exclaims.
“Tell me about it. Oh, look, there’s a coffee place on the corner. Let’s get something before we grab a cab.”
We head into the shop and place our orders, sitting down to wait for them to be made. “So what’s up with you? You seem a little off tonight. Not that we could talk over the noise but that’s why we’re here. Problems with the new job?”
I shake my head. “Just the opposite. It’s a dream job. Great kid, nice room, access to the car, pay is good.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
Amber knows me well. She held my hand and saw me through the trial with my last employer, and the wife’s ranting and raving that I ruined her family, even though it was her husband who committed an illegal deed.
Parker Alexander, thinking he was home alone, had a business meeting with an associate during which they discussed the kind of retirement scam that would make Bernie Madoff flinch.
I heard enough to grow concerned, especially given the memory of the swindle that cost one of my foster parents everything.
Instinct made me turn on my phone to record the conversation.
And when whispers about embezzlement in Alexander Investments started to come out, I took the recording to the police.
Unfortunately, due to New York law, the tape couldn’t stand on its own. It merely proved to the DA that my story was true… which is why they subpoenaed me to testify. I literally had to sit in the hot seat, knowing every word I said was helping to put my former boss in prison.
“Mia? Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Amber asks.
I blow out a long breath. “The guy I work for? He’s drop-dead gorgeous and… he kissed me.” And I kissed him back, and I haven’t stopped daydreaming about it since.
“Whoa,” Amber says, shock in her gaze. “Is this a good thing? Or a bad thing?”
“That’s what I’m trying to decide.”
“Mia!” the barista calls out, letting us know our coffee is ready.
“Be right back.” I rise and pick up our cups, sitting back down in my seat across from my friend. “Here you go.” I slide Amber’s cup across the table and take a sip of her latte. “Ooh, it’s hot.”
“Okay, let’s figure this out. Did you like the kiss?” she asks bluntly, as is her way.
My cheeks flush. “Umm, yes. It was the hottest kiss of my life.”
“So it’s the employer issue?” Amber asks knowingly.
I wrap my hand around the cup. “In part.” And that’s what I’ve been struggling so hard with. If I get past the fact that I work for him, there are deeper issues I don’t want to think about.
Amber takes a sip of her mocha-flavored coffee. “This is me you’re talking to. What’s going on?”
I swallow hard. “He’s the whole package. A sexy man, a good-hearted guy who adores his child… and his daughter is great, too.”
Amber leans closer. “This is all good! It’s not like you’re telling me he’s a player who hits on every woman he meets. So—”
“So I can’t afford to fall for him! He admitted he’s done the family thing for the last time.
He was burned. Badly. But from my perspective, he has, he is everything I’ve ever wanted in my life.
” I rub my hands on my jeans, hating having to admit these things out loud.
“So how foolish would I be to sleep with the man I work for? And possibly fall hard, knowing ahead of time that we want drastically opposite things out of life? Then I’d have to get over him while working in his home.
I know that’s not wise,” I say, voicing my greatest fears.
Amber twirls her brown hair around one finger as she listens thoughtfully. “What if you didn’t have to get over him? What if you fell for him, and he fell just as hard for you?” my optimistic friend asks.
No, that isn’t in the cards. “Life hasn’t typically given me the family I wanted,” I murmur. “And he’s already made it clear he isn’t doing the commitment thing again.”
“Then go into it for the sex. If that kiss is anything to go by, you’re in for some spectacular orgasms.”
“Be quiet.” I crumple my napkin into a ball and throw it at my friend, my face on fire from the direction of our conversation.
“Just giving you your options,” Amber says unrepentantly.
“Let’s just say you’ve given me a lot to think about, and leave it at that.”
Amber shrugs. “Go for the orgasms. That’s all I’m saying.”