Page 75 of Wishing for Love
She wouldn’t say anything about Phoenix or his cousins. Nothing about work.
But she wanted to let Taylor know that she was dating her boss.
They’d never said it was a secret and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep it in.
“Hi,” she said when Taylor answered. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No,” Taylor said. “You don’t normally call during the day. Is everything okay?”
“It is,” she said. “I wanted to tell you I’m dating someone.”
“Oh,” Taylor said. “That’s nice. Is it hard to do living there? I know you said you can’t bring anyone over.”
She cleared her throat. “It’s Phoenix.”
There was silence on the other end. “Is that smart?”
“Probably not, but since you married your boss I thought you might be a good person to talk to about this.”
Taylor laughed. “Good point. And I fought it for a while. I was new to the area and needed my job and didn’t want to have anyone in Angie’s life.”
“I’m not new to the area, but I don’t want to mess this up. He doesn’t either. It means too much for Elsie.”
“Tell me how it happened.”
“I’m not so sure myself,” she said. “I was attracted to him from the moment I met him but said no way. I’m not going toblow this and he was off limits. But then the more time we spent together and I got to know him, I just fell for him.”
“Are you falling in love with him?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t know. I think so. I’m not sure how to tell. I love Elsie and I don’t want to do anything to hurt or upset the dynamic either. But then, don’t I get to be happy? Or Phoenix too?”
“You do,” Taylor said. “But you have to keep in mind that Elsie needs to come first. Are you okay with that?”
“I am,” she said. “Maybe because I’m living here anyway and I’m caring for her. She’s been through so much.”
“I’m glad you see that,” Taylor said. “And I’m not one to make another comment about dating the boss because, as you said, I married mine and it worked out fine. You didn’t tell Mom you’re dating Phoenix, did you?”
“God no,” she said. “Please don’t. It’s only been since Christmas.”
“Oh,” Taylor said. “So really new.”
“It hasn’t been long, but the feelings are there. It’s hard not to be when we live under the same roof.”
“You make a good point,” Taylor said. “Just be careful.”
“I will. Thanks for not lecturing.”
“I wouldn’t,” Taylor said. “Been there and done that. You’re an adult. You’ve made a lot of decisions in your life as we all have. And we have to live with them too.”
“That’s right. I’d rather keep it from Mom as long as I can. I need to see where it goes. He hasn’t told anyone either and it’s not like we’ll tell Elsie.”
“Things you’ll have to work out at some point. I understand it now, but always keeping something a secret from everyone could cheapen it.”
She sniffled a little. “I know. I thought that too.”
“Do you think he only wants to be with you for sex?” Taylor asked. “You’re getting upset and you don’t normally do that.”
“I don’t think so. I mean, it might have crossed my mind after we had sex and I had one of those ‘oh shit what did I do’ moments. But then he started to think I only wanted to have sex with him. He had doubts too. We talked it out. I was the one that made the first few moves.”