Page 44 of Help Wanted

“The worst thing would be if she said no, and was then so uncomfortable she had to quit and I never saw her again.” He shook his head. “And then her replacement turned out to be Pennywise the Clown.”

Sidney let out a sigh and crossed her arms over her enormous stomach. One thing about his sister, underneath all the ridicule and teasing she did actually take the time to think a problem through and offer valuable insight.

“It’s a risk, Zane. The question is: Is she worth it? You used to watch Courtney from the sidelines and never did anything about it. Are you content to just watch from the sidelines with Kenley?”

“No.” Just the idea of seeing some other guy pick her up to go off on a date made his skin crawl. “But I have no right. I’m her boss.”

“Do you think you’re the first people in the history of the world to have a workplace romance?” She sniffed and shook her head. “It happens all the time.”

“What if I’m reading her wrong and she freaks out that her boss is hitting on her?”

“Do you think she’s into you?”

Zane remembered back to the kiss. She had definitely kissed him back. She had been clinging to him. “And what happens when the workplace romance ends?”

“Who says it has to end?”

He gave her a skeptical look and held out his hands.

“Just because all your other relationships ended doesn’t mean this one will. You’re both adults. Talk to her. Make sure you agree to keep things separate.”

“That sounds great, but I’m already struggling to keep things separate.”

“Then you’re going to have to do something.”

He did need to do something. Get his act together and be her boss. She was seeing someone else. Time to move on and let it go.

* * *

Vanessa wasn’t giving up on getting details about her weekend plans with Zane.

“I told you, it’s business,” she clarified.

“But you’ve waited so long. He’s kissed you, and bought you jewelry. You should just jump him as soon as you get him alone. Let the last time count as your first date so you can get to the good stuff this time. You want to get to the good stuff with him, don’t you?”

“Like I said, I’m taking it slow.”

“You’ve been taking it slow for forever. Come on. This is your chance to live a little.”

“I don’t want to mess it up. He’s my boss. This job is too important to me to throw it all away because my boss is…” She couldn’t think of the right word. Yes, sexy came to mind, but he was other things too. He was kind and sweet. She touched the necklace he’d bought her and remembered the most important thing he was—an employer who valued her. She’d never had that before, and she wasn’t going to risk losing that.

“Fine. But you’d better tell me everything when it finally happens.”

“I’ll spill every detail. I promise,” she said, knowing it wasn’t going to happen. She’d crossed her fingers before she said it. She may be an adult, but it still counted.

When she finally got off the phone, she decided she was going to put an end to all her anxieties. She was going to ask Zane out for dinner so they could talk about the kiss she had yet to forget. They’d been flirting and having fun, maybe he would tell her he felt the same way. Maybe she could have both things: the perfect job with a pleasant boss during the day, and a man who rocked her world at night.

But Zane wasn’t there and when he finally showed up, he seemed to be in a bad mood the rest of the afternoon. She didn’t say anything or ask him over for dinner. The flirty, happy Zane was gone, replaced by the miserable Zane who had hired her.

* * *

The next morning she looked at herself in the mirror and gave her reflection a determined nod.

“We’re going to handle this today. We can’t go on like this. It’s too tense. It will all work out.” She wasn’t so sure about that last part.

She left an extra button open on her blouse and put on lipstick. Surely taking these extra measures would be a game changer for her love life.

Zane wasn’t in the office when she got in. She checked her email to find one from him saying he would be out most of the day.