After Rosie made a break for her apartment, I stayed parked outside. Partly because I wanted to make sure she got inside okay and partly because I could barely believe what went down.

If I couldn’t still smell the scent of her, fresh and sweet and heady all at once, permeating the inside of my car, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. Barely a day of knowing her and I had pawed at her like some fucking animal with no self-control. It would be a goddamn wonder if she showed up for work again the next day.

As angry as I was with myself, there was no denying that a part of me enjoyed the hell out of it. Her silky smooth skin trembling beneath my fingers, her lips quivering and hungry for the taking. She felt the electricity between us just as much as I had. A few more minutes alone together and we probably would have ended up frantically fucking in the front seat of my car like a pair of stupid high schoolers, nothing on our brains but the thought of getting off.

I loved the thought of her begging for my touch, desperate to feel me all over her, but Rosie wasn’t some random club fuck. She was my employee, and one I hoped to work with for a while.

Even still, I wanted her; I wanted inside her, on top of her, behind her. I wanted to have her in every way physically possible, but I also wanted her in a different way too. A way that was almost completely foreign to me. I felt a hunger for her, deep and hot sitting in the middle of my chest, scorching my insides.

I wanted more than to feel her wrapped around me.

I wanted to know her and see her.

I wanted to paint her in swirling rings of colors, bright and bold and colorful, beautiful beyond compare.

The thoughts terrified me. A few hours together and I already felt more passionately about her than almost every long-term relationship I had ever had. It was a ridiculous notion. I definitely didn’t believe in love at first sight, but this was something. The tugging in my chest I felt while watching her walk away needed to be explored.

* * *

The next morning I got to the warehouse a little earlier than normal, more determined than I had been in a long damn time. I headed over to the little office where Rosie was stationed the day before, noticing just about every surface was covered in papers. The slight neat freak in me was more than tempted to straighten up, but I could see there was a purpose to the organized mess. I liked that even after only one day she made herself at home here, comfortable enough to completely uproot my old ways, organizing and creating something new and better. I could only imagine what she would do to my life. What she already had done.

Hopefully, I wasn’t about to blow all that shit out of the water. I rooted around in the files until I found her employee paperwork, scanning over it as I took in her basic employee information. I knew it was a major invasion of her privacy, and while, as her boss, I technically had access and the express permission to check into her, I didn’t want to break whatever fragile confidence she still held in me. Especially after the events of the night before. But I needed to make sure. I needed to know she wasn’t some fucking reporter or here to spy on me for some overzealous client, because I planned to make her mine. As soon and as thoroughly as fucking possible.

I started off with a simple internet search, but her online presence seemed to be miniscule at best. Unlike most 21-year-olds, I couldn’t find any social media accounts, only a profile on a job connection site and a sparsely-used Pinterest page, whatever the hell that was.

While it was definitely weird that she didn’t seem to be very active online, her lack of social media accounts didn’t raise any red flags so I flipped back over to her resume. The same one I hadn’t given a shit about once she stepped her gorgeous ass in my studio for the first time.

Rosie’s resume was shockingly short. I saw some random California high school listed, followed by three years at NYU and a short six-month internship at a New York law firm. That was a little more concerning, though still not necessarily suspicious, but I couldn’t help but wonder about what could have made an obviously smart, level-headed girl like her quit college before she graduated.

This girl was turning out to be quite the enigma. One I found myself dying to solve.

Suddenly, her sweet voice sounded out across the warehouse, “Mr. Quinn, are you here?”

“Yeah, I’m in the office.” I rushed to stand up, stuffing the papers back into her file.

“What are you doing in here?”

“I’m just admiring your work, Rosie,” I said sarcastically.

“Well, this office was a total mess so I have my work cut out for me.” She moved to set her little black purse down on the large desk. “So if you’ll just let me-”

Rosie was obviously trying to dismiss me. I could tell she felt ashamed about the night before. Her creamy cheeks were flushed a ruby red and her adamant refusal to meet my eyes clued me in. I hated that I was the one who made her feel that way, embarrassed and unsure of where she stood with me.

Even still, I couldn’t help but be surprised and a little impressed she even showed up. I held out hope that she wouldn’t give up on me or her new job just yet, but I definitely hadn’t felt confident she’d return. I was a bit floored by her resilience.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing, Mr. Quinn.”

“So why won’t you look at me?”

She scowled at the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Her stubbornness only made me want to challenge her more. “Don’t bullshit me, Rosie.” I stepped closer. “You’re obviously embarrassed about last night.”

She finally met my eyes, her face still on fire but angrier now. “Oh, don’t be a jackass-” She stopped abruptly, as if ashamed of her words.

“Look, Dex.” She shook her head. “Mr. Quinn, you are my boss. What happened last night was-”.

“Hot?”

“It was unprofessional.”

“I don’t agree with that, Rosie.” I brought my hand up to rest on her face, feeling the deliciously warm skin on the apple of her cheek. “I may have gotten ahead of myself a bit but what happened last night was fucking amazing. And it would have been even better if you hadn’t run off.”

“No-”

I cut her off. “I didn’t even get to kiss you and I was still on fire, and I know you were too.” I desperately didn’t want to embarrass her further, but I needed her to admit what happened between us was important.

“Mr. Quinn, please-” she pleaded, her voice slightly rougher than before.

“You can admit it, Rosie.” I leaned down. “You can admit that you felt something between us.”

She pulled away abruptly before I could get the chance to kiss her. Those brown eyes wild. “No!”

“No?”

“Yes!” She took a deep breath. “I mean no! You’re my boss, Dex.” Rosie put some space between us with a step back. “We shouldn’t be discussing this.”

“Why, are you going to sue me for sexual harassment?”

“Can you be serious?”

“I am being serious, Rosie,” I said, my tone much more lighthearted than I meant it to be.

Rosie sighed, dropping down in the chair, holding her head in her hands. For a second I was afraid I had pushed her too far.

“It doesn’t matter what you want, Dex.” She looked up at me again. I could see the seriousness in her bright eyes. “It doesn’t matter what I want.”

“Of course it does-”

She cut me off, her voice as hard as steel. “I don’t want you, Dex. If you keep trying to pursue me, I’ll walk out that door and leave you to deal with your horribly disorganized life by yourself.”

I nodded. “Alright, okay. I’ll drop it for now, but just because you’re doing such a great job helping me get my shit together.”