Page 79 of One Bossy Date
“I do. A lot, actually. Even though I haven’t had too much time recently, with the shop, the move, etcetera.”
“Anything you can recommend? What was the last thing you read?”
“A book…about a boss.”
“A hot boss?”
“Eh…yeah.” I absolutely didnotfiddle with my hands while speaking.And my pants are about to catch on fire…
“Wonderful! That sounds right up my alley.” She looked at me with huge eyes. “What’s the exact title?”
Okay, I wasn’t sure if I was ready or bold enough to tell Lilian that the book I last read was titledMy Boss’s Big D. So, I tried to maneuver myself out of the line of absolute embarrassment. “What kind of books do you typically like to read?”
“Romance, my dear. Only romance.” She peered over her shoulder, leaned in, and lowered her voice. “Smutty romance, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh.” Oh, my gosh, I loved her. “In that case, we have alotto chat about.”
“That’s wonderful!”
After lots of laughter and a fun chat about spicy romance novels and “unique” title recommendations, she continued to guide me through the room.
Next, we circled around through the formal dining room. She stopped with her hands on the back of one of the chairs. “You see, the Christmas dinner would have been here. But I just felt that Anderson’s—or rather, your—open-plan living area would havesomuchmorespace.”
“It’s no problem at all.” I smiled, running a finger down the shining polished wood table. “Even though this is a stunning dining room you have here.” It was in the corner of the apartment, so there were breathtaking views of the city on two sides of the table.
“We had a whole different setup in here before. When Anderson was a teenager, Daxton was still a young toddler running around, and we had this very expensive antique sculpture in this corner. It was a gift both my late husband Darryl and I treasured immensely. Daxton was zooming all over the place—literally zooming, making the sound with his mouth. Well, he was doing laps around the table with open arms, and he knocked the sculpture over. It fell, smashed to pieces. I heard everything, of course, but when I walked in, Anderson was standing there, taking the blame.” She shook her head, observing the room with tenderness and remembering the scene. “I assume he thought I was going to give the culprit hell—and trust me, dear, I would have—and he wanted to save his younger brother.”
I smiled and nodded because I agreed, but also because I was utterly at a loss for words. Not to mention, I was preoccupied trying to stop my heart from beating out of my chest. I had no idea I would be getting such a wonderfully deep sense of the young Anders and his family, and now I was as keen as mustard to know more.
She took me to her home office which, by the sound of it, was never really used for business—not anymore, anyway. Instead, it was more of a reading room. In the corner was a shelf filled with her romance books, and Lilian gave me a cheeky grin when I discovered them. Next to the shelf, she had a floor-to-ceiling window, where an armchair was placed at an angle with a light blanket draped over it. There was a table at its side, with a coaster and a lamp. The desk stood without any papers or files, only her laptop resting in the center.
“What about in here?” I asked her. “Did Anders and Dax get up to anything mischievous here?”
Lilian nodded slowly, smiling as the memories came back. “One story comes to mind, yes. It used to be their father’s office, of course. When Anderson was young, before Daxton was born, he would cry because he missed his dad—who worked all the time, you know. So, on some days, Anders would sneak in here and hide away in those cabinets there, just to be with his dad.”
“Aww.” I jutted out my bottom lip—how cute and sad at the same time.
“One day, his dad spotted him and didn’t say anything. He picked up the phone and started pretending to talk to his teacher. He said, ‘Oh, no, Anders has been naughty? What? No dinner? Okay, I guess we can arrange that.’ Poor Anderson came running out of his hiding spot so fast, yelling, ‘No, no, no! I’ve been good! Honestly!’”
We laughed again, and Lilian wiped tears away this time. I couldn’t imagine Anders as a little boy. But picturing his younger self so eager to spend time with his dad brought warmth to my heart. I wanted to hug him and comfort him, to reach out to the boy inside, though that was something we never did. Sex was one thing. Intimate affection was different. We hadn’t ever shared that—and how I wished we did.
“Oh, my word, that is just so cute.” I held a hand to my cheek and surveyed the room, trying to picture the scene.
“We gave him extra lasagna that night, and extra ice cream. Can you believe he shared his? He was always so honest. Daxton, on the other hand, not so much. He was all over the place causing havoc. We nicknamed him “Dax the Devil”—I think some of his friends still call him that.”
“How interesting. They couldn’t be more different, huh?”
“Definitely not. But I think their differences brought them closer together. They have shared a deep bond since childhood, despite their age gap.” She had so much love in her eyes, and her eyes were still glistening with tears. But she shook it off. “Don’t tell Anderson I told you all this. He’ll be upset, I have no doubt. Especially about the teacher story.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Thank you, my dear.”
That covered most of the bottom floor—the rest of the space, she informed me, was the service area, where the laundry and storeroom were, along with a quaint bedroom and living area for her maid.
When we finally arrived in her bedroom, I was absolutely amazed. It was bigger than any other room in the whole apartment. A small step separated the sleeping area from a section with two couches and a platform to stand on while taking measurements—just like a wedding dress shop. Except, this was her day-to-day life. She had clothing tailored all the time, it seemed, so it made sense. Up in the sleeping area was, of course, a massive bed bathed in white. It appeared more comfortable than anything I’d ever touched.
“Here we are.” Lilian walked straight to a pair of doors beyond the little lounge and swung them open to reveal her walk-in closet. No—her dressing room. It was an entire separate room, with open racks of clothing on either side, and jewelry counters down the middle. All her shoes were displayed under the jewelry on racks beneath the counter space.