Page 31 of My Forbidden Boss

“Uh… Is that okay with you?”

I thought that she was holding back a smile but couldn’t quite tell. Tisha nodded warmly, and, with that, I was at least assured that I hadn’t alarmed her too regrettably. “Yes. That will be fine, Hollis. I’m new here. And I’m an adult, not some girl just moving around whenever she wants. I expect to build a life here and leave my old life well behind. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s nothing personal. Right now, I just want to focus on my work. And, yes, I am not only willing but happy for us to get to know one another as coworkers while we work together.”

I felt relieved, but still childish and insecure like I had been forgiven, but still had a big mess I’d made that needed to be cleaned up.

I cleared my throat and awkwardly clapped my hands together. “Um… okay. Good. That’s good. Well… uh… Okay, so we will see you back here on…”

I lost my train of thought, finding Tisha still staring up at me from behind her desk. I tried to continue but didn’t even know where I had left off. “… on…”

She leaned forward, waiting, then opened her mouth to say something. Like an idiot, I started nodding, assuming that she was about to fill in the blank I had clearly left.

She buttoned up and again looked at me really funnily. I was still at a loss.

Finally, she spoke. “Um… Hollis?”

“Hmmm? Yeah?”

“If you’re waiting for me to say when I’ll be back… You still haven’t sent anything from your phone.”

I suddenly felt worn out, like I’d been beaten at something I was really good at by someone completely incompetent. Unfortunately, all of the situation’s incompetence was totally my own.

“Right. Sorry. Uh… There. Sent. And it’s a midday Friday departure, so we’ll see you back here that following Monday.”

Tisha cut in immediately, bringing my eyes up from my phone and back to hers.

“Right, see you back here Monday. That is unless you decide to stalk me some more before I leave. If that is going to be the case, you’ve got to at least give me some time in between conversations to come up with some fresh rejections.”

Her eyes were sparkling, and I bowed my head, pursing my lips together to make my inward pain easy to perceive.

“Yeah… right… I deserve that. Uh… I’m going to go now before I make even more of a fool out of myself.”

She was still smiling, clearly enjoying my suffering as I left her office and closed the door quietly behind me. I sighed, standing in the hallway, and slowly dragged my feet along the floor as I trudged away.

By the time I was back in my office, I was still troubled but in high spirits.

All things considered, I was pretty sure that I hadn’t screwed anything up beyond hope, and, with Tisha’s comments about it ‘not having anything to do with me’ and her ‘just wanting to focus on work,’ my thoughts were already back to playing with our potential possibilities.

One thing was sure. For the rest of that day and for most of the days to follow, I couldn’t get the thought of her looking up at me, hand on my chest, eyes blazing, out of my mind.

Tisha

“Are you sure that you have everything ready to go? Bags? Purse? ID badge?”

I sighed and looked over at Brandon as I finished loosely draping a cardigan over the pile of luggage.

“For the hundredth time, yes. I have all of the necessities: clothes for work, comfy stuff for back in the hotel room, toiletries, plenty of shoes, depending on the weather, my laptop and all the work stuff I could need for the presentation, plus all of my winter gear from Chicago. You don’t really think there will be snow there, do you?”

He shrugged. “It’s the Rockies, honey; anything could happen. It’s the grand Tetons… the big boobies… and, no, you won’t need any climbing equipment or anything. Still, you’ll be close enough in the foothills that, I promise, you would rather be safe than sorry. Sixty bucks to check an extra bag is a whole lot cheaper than shoveling out a couple hundred bucks for a new jacket and pair of boots that you won’t even need once you get back.”

I pursed my lips and bit my lip. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

He continued, never needing my affirmation to believe the wisdom of his own words. “I know that I’m right. It’s a no-brainer doll face. And don’t come back here telling me, ‘Oh, there wasn’t any snow, you were so wrong!’ I’m just saying that it’s better to be prepared. It’ll probably be either cold enough for a jacket and possibly snowy, or it’ll be dry as dust and feel like a desert. Regardless, it’s only for three days, so no matter what, you’ll be fine.”

I nodded, thinking back through my bags' contents to really make sure that there wasn’t anything missing.

Satisfied, or at least incapable of thinking of anything, I slumped down on the couch next to him. I prepared myself for the onslaught of renewed pestering that I knew was moments from pouring forth from Brandon’s mouth.

Hardly a minute passed before my suspicion was confirmed.