Monday morning.

It’s raining. Pouring, actually.

It’s cold.

I want nothing more than stay snuggled in bed, warm under the covers.

When the alarm goes off, I want to murder it.

I’ve never been a fan of Mondays.

I mean, that goes without saying.

Anyone who says they love Mondays is a big, fat liar.

But this Monday marks the start of my second week at work. It also marks the day that Ty starts school. So whether I like Mondays or not, I’m getting out of bed, ready to face the day.

Ty is going to be a bit of a handful today. He’s always been a mama’s boy and it’s no wonder that he’s been extra attached to me lately. Luckily I cleared it with Will last week to come in an hour later to work so I could take him in on his first day. Originally my mother was going to do it, but Ty’s been extra clingy and emotional and I know he needs me there.

I can’t help but feel that it had something to do with our Science World visit the other day. Ty’s always been shy, especially around adults, but I really saw him open up with Will. Not that I’m too surprised—Will has this way about him that puts anyone at ease—but it was a shock to see nonetheless.

It’s obvious that Ty is missing a father figure and needs one badly. I was hoping that my own father would be more involved, but I don’t blame him either way. He is busy, I see that firsthand, especially now that I’m working at the company. I know all he has to deal with, plus there’s the fact that Ty and my father don’t have a relationship yet. They will though, I have no doubt. My father is a difficult man sometimes but I know he cares a lot about Ty.

But after the outing with Will, I think it made Ty realize how much he needs a man around. Hell. It made me realize how nice that would be. But after everything I’ve gone through, I know I’m not ready, and it’s something I need to push out of my head. I like Will as a person and as my boss, and yes, he’s hot as hell. Yet I know it’s asking for trouble for me to get attached to him in any way whatsoever. The outing on Saturday was just him being nice and I appreciate it more than anything.

I get dressed, not surprised that my clothes don’t look as good as they did after a wash. That’s what I get for buying a $20 skirt. Still, I slip on a black blazer, a white dress shirt, and that grey skirt again, and pull my hair back into the bun. I add what makeup I have and decide I look good enough. Besides, the first week is already over. The pressure is off. Things should get easier.

But easy or not, it’s Ty that breaks my heart. The poor boy is practically crying as he gets in the back of my mom’s SUV as we take him to the school, which is a ten-minute drive away, the very same elementary school that I went to as a kid.

My mother and I try and tell him stories about the things I remembered while going there, but the school looks totally different now, larger and more immaculate. Thankfully our meeting with the principle goes well—he’s jovial and kind and not at all like the principle I used to have, who always looked like he’d been drinking—and he personally escorts Ty to his classroom. I wave goodbye to him and promise to see him later after Grandma picks him up.

“We really oughta get you a car, eh?” she says to me as she drives downtown. I insisted on taking a bus but my mother rarely takes no for an answer.

“I’ll buy my own when I can afford it,” I tell her.

“Jackie. Please,” she says and the tone of her voice makes me look at her. Her brow is furrowed, creating lines that even Botox can’t tame. “Sweetie, you have to let us take care of you. You did a great job when you were up north, but now you’re here and we’re your parents. We want to spoil you. We want to spoil Ty. So let us.”

“You’ve done enough by getting me this job,” I tell her. “I know Will doesn’t really need an assistant.”

“Yes, he does,” she says. “He’s just as stubborn as you are. He had a process down in LA, he had it all worked out with Sasha. But those days are over. Now he’s up here and dealing with new things in a new city in a new office. You’re a great help to him, even if he doesn’t know it yet.” She looks me over. “Just a small car, a little cheap hatchback. We’ll get a lease and you can take it over when you’re able to.”

“We’ll see,” I tell her.

“And how about a new wardrobe, hairstyle, makeup?”

“Mom.”

“You know you look so beautiful regardless, but I just think it will give you more confidence.”

I cross my arms and look out the window as rain pelts down. “I have confidence.”

“You’re going to have to find a man someday.”

“Oh my god, can we not talk about this?”

“Fine. But—”

“No buts. No buts at all.”

We’re silent for the rest of the drive, though I surprise us both when she drops me off by leaning in and giving her a hug. I know she’s trying, I just have to stop being stubborn at some point.

When I get inside the office I find someone else, I think a temp, at reception.

“Where’s Tiffany?” I ask her.

“Oh, they’re all in a meeting. In the boardroom.”

Well, shit. I had no idea that being late would mean I’d miss out, if I was even supposed to be in the meeting to begin with.

I look in the office. It’s half-empty. The blinds in the boardroom are drawn and I can make out a row of people sitting in there.

“They do this every other Monday morning,” the temp says to me.

“Do you know if I’m supposed to go in?”

She shrugs.

Great. I head over to my desk and put my bag away, hovering around it, unsure of what to do. No one is in their office, which means most people are at that meeting. Which means I have no idea if I should go over there and knock on the door and interrupt it or just stay put. If I’m not supposed to go into the meeting and I do, that would be super embarrassing.

I decide to stay put. Start organizing things around my desk. Check my emails. See one from Will sent this morning. Like, two minutes ago.

It says: Are you at your desk yet?

I smile to myself and look over at the boardroom, the door still closed.

I type back: Just got in now. I didn’t know there was a meeting. Should I go in there?

I press send and then wait, watching the room. A few minutes pass and I get a reply.

Oh hell no. Stay where you are. Save yourself. These meetings are a waste of time. The only thing I’ve learned is that Bob Cantu smells like blue cheese and dinosaurs just aren’t sexy enough.

I laugh quietly and send: Sounds like fun. Want me to come rescue you?

I honestly don’t know if that’s pushing it a bit. I mean, he probably doesn’t want to be rescued, nor need to be.

But he sends back: Yes! Three minutes. Come knock on the door with some sort of emergency. Make something up and you need to talk to me privately.

Grinning, I type: Okay.

I get up, look around, and then slowly work my way past the picnic tables to the boardroom, standing outside the door for a bit until I think it’s been three minutes.

I knock and then open the door, poking my head in.

Tiffany, Alyssa, Patty, my father, Casey the communications guy, Bob Cantu who smells like cheese, a few other people, and Will all sit around a large table, staring at me with interest.

Will is already slipping his phone away, trying to hide his grin.

“Jackie,” my father says. “Nice of you to drop in. Come sit and we’ll get you up to speed.”

Nice try.

“I, uh, need to talk to Will alone. Will, there’s some sort of . . .emergency.”

Good one, Jackie.

“What kind of emergency?” my father asks.

“Uh, with his travel plans? I booked him a flight and I think I did something wrong because he’s on the no fly list as a terrorist.” Everyone gasps, looking shocked. I went too far. I smile. “They said it will be resolved once they speak to him.”

Will gets up, embarrassed. “Well, I better go deal with this.”

He gives me a loaded look as he goes past me and I shut the door.

He waits until we’re both in his office to say, “That was the best you could come up with? You accidentally have me as a known terrorist?”

I shrug, palms out. “I don’t know. Everyone was staring at me. I panicked. I didn’t know what kind of emergency you should have.”

He sits down at his desk and rolls up the pristine white sleeves of his dress shirt, showcasing his tanned forearms. “You could have just said I had an important call.”

“But then I probably would have been roped into that meeting.”

“Every man for themselves around here, kid.”

“You’re right, Mr. McAlister.”

“Even after this weekend, that’s what I am to you,” he says playfully.

“Even after that, you’re still calling me the kid,” I point out.

Then I notice on the corner of his desk he has a charcoal pencil sticking out of a shut pad of sketching paper. “Are you drawing again?” I ask him, though I honestly don’t know that he ever stopped. He’d just mentioned his animation goals and I figured it was something that was put to the side when he took on the company.

He glances at the pad of paper, folding his hands in front of him. “Maybe.”

I bite my lip for a moment. “Can I see it?”

He cocks his head, studying me. “What are you going to do for me?”

“What?” I blink at him, wide-eyed.

A small smile appears on his lips. “If I show you this, you have to show me something of yours.”

Holy hell. Did this conversation take a turn for something sexual?

This is so, so wrong.

And yet I want it to keep going. See how wrong we can make it.

“You mean like flash you some leg?”

Will bursts out laughing and I immediately feel flush with embarrassment. “No,” he says, hand over his mouth. “Well, I mean, if you’re offering. But no, Ted wouldn’t let me hear the end of that. I just meant you have to give me something of yours. Like, what do you like to do? What are your hidden talents?”

I wish my cheeks would stop burning. I try and cover it up by putting one hand on my hip and taking a sassy stance. “What if showing off my leg is my talent?”

He blinks at me in surprise and now I think I’ve taken it too far again.

“Are you talking about doing the can can in front of me? Because I completely agree that it’s a fair trade.”

I almost bite the bullet. I almost go for it. Of course I can’t do the can can in this skirt, and I can’t do it in general (my legs aren’t all that bendy, another reason to take up yoga).

I sigh, trying to think of something.

To be honest, I feel like I lost those passionate parts of myself a long time ago. There was always horses, of course, until I grew out of them. Then later, when I was a teen, I was really obsessed with classic films and then that lead me into screenwriting. I never officially studied it, but when I was pregnant I read every book I could and wrote a few scripts of my own. They never went anywhere of course, I didn’t share them with a soul. But it was therapy. In a way it was how I dealt with being pregnant at eighteen, by a guy I never could manage to keep. I threw myself into it, and even thought about applying for school for it.

But we know the rest . . .

Dreams were put on hold. Tucked away. My world became about Ty. And then it became about surviving.

“Look,” Will says softly, bringing my attention back to him. “I was just joking. I’ll show you if you want.”

I stare at him a moment, studying the sharp cleft in his jaw, the slant of his dark brows, his eyes as they take me in, warm and steady and never wavering, and in that moment I am lost. I don’t know if I want to be found.

But I’m being dramatic. Over romantic. Foolish.

He’s a man with a pretty face, and in the end, he’s just my boss.

My boss that everyone thinks is on the terror watch list now.

I nod. “Maybe some other time,” I tell him. “Maybe when I have something to trade. You know, I used to dabble in screenwriting, back when I was pregnant with Ty but I wouldn’t even know where to begin now.” He watches me for a moment and I can tell he has a million more questions. But then concedes, leaning back in his chair.

“By the way,” I add, “am I normally supposed to be in those meetings?”

He shrugs. “Probably. We have a buddy system set up after all.”

I give him a withering glance before I walk out the door. “Let me know if you have work for me this week. Real work.”

Then I sit down at my desk and prepare for the week.

I can feel his eyes on me the whole time.