Page 48 of One Bossy Date
“I guess so.” I shrugged. “Having an actual place to stay, and not having to find myself a cheap apartment somewhere would certainly help me out financially.”
“And sexually.”
“Jim? You wanted to be serious.”
“I am. If you’re going to move in with your boss, you might as well get what everyone is assuming you’re getting. Even your family thinks you have this bomb sex life with him already, riding his cock twenty-four-seven. If memory serves, according to them, he’s already knocked you up.”
I shook my head with a chuckle, not taking his scandalous opinions seriously.
“Isn’t that sad?” Jim asked. “Usually, we hide our sexual escapades from family, but you’re literally pretending to have one that doesn’t exist.Yet.”
Before I could argue or even defend myself, our customer arrived with her kitty. “Oh, Twinky’s here!” I threw myself at the distraction, taking Twinky into my arms and chatting cheerfully with her owner, Mrs. Stanger.
* * *
Throughout the day, things got slightly busier, with two new customers arriving to make appointments. But my mind constantly weighed the decision. To move, or not to move? By the end of the business day, I’d made my decision.
“Fuck it. I’m doing it. If not for everyone else who believes in the fake relationship, then just for my own freakin’ living comfort, and for the freakin’ business’s growth.”
“Yaas, girl,” Jim called out from the adjoining room. He’d agreed immediately that we could use the room I slept in for dry grooming, and that it would help business.
I called Anders. “Hey, it’s me, Zoe.”
“Hello, Zoe.” His voice came through the line deep and calm. My nerves had returned, and I struggled to find the right words, even though he wasn’t even standing in front of me.
“I, um, I think I will move in after all.”
“That’s great news.” His usual taciturn demeanor didn’t surprise me anymore. I could tell he was happy with my decision through the lighter tone of his voice. “I’ll arrange a U-Haul to pick up your things. Just send me your address, and I can have them there first thing in the morning.”
“Ah, that’s fine. I won’t bring too much. My apartment was already furnished when I rented it.” I rubbed my forehead and turned in a circle. I hated lying to him.
“All right, then. Can my driver at least fetch you?”
“Sure, thank you. I’ll be at the store to open for Jim in the morning.”
I felt weary, not being able to tell Anders the truth because I was too ashamed. The list of lies I had to uphold was growing longer, and it made me queasy. My previous apartment was not, in fact, furnished, but rather, I’d sold off a lot of my furniture to pay the deposit on the store. Everything I had went into this place, and it was literally all I had left to my name. Also, Jim had his own keys to the store. I didn’t need to be here, save for the fact that I’d be waking up here tomorrow morning. I couldn’t go so far as to pack up and stand in front of someone else’s apartment, could I? No. That would be taking it too far.
“Wonderful,” Anders said.
“Should we, maybe, set an expiration date to this setup? This whole ‘me moving in’ thing is only until the Christmas dinner, right? And I’ll move out on the twenty-third? I just want to know how long we’re going to keep this going, or how long I’ll be living there.”
It seemed like a more complicated question than it actually was. I was asking for practical reasons, but the answer would likely reflect exactly how long he wanted me around.
“I suggest until we officially break up,” he said.
“You’re right. Let’s see how things go.”
“As long as I’m living there, you’ll be welcome as long as you like.”
“Okay, great.” That wasn’t a bad answer. At least I knew he was easy about my being there. “If I get sick and tired of you, I can just arrange to move back to my place,” I joked, and his low voice growled satisfyingly. I wanted to keep that option open, even though I didn’t have a place of my own. For some reason, I needed him to think I did, that I wasn’t dependent on him.
“Yes, you have an out, at all times.”
“And there are no other obligations, right? No expectations of sharing a bed or sex, or kissing, right?” Even though I would have died for just one more of his kisses, I needed to set boundaries. I wasn’t going to give it up just because he was offering me his home.
He seemed to understand that because I could hear the smile in his voice when he answered, “Wouldn’t even cross my mind.”
“Great.” I was glad. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”