Pulling up to Ryder’s house, I’m blown away by its size and beauty. I shouldn’t have expected any less, especially after we turned into his gated neighborhood. His house is small in comparison to some of the others, but it’s perfectly situated at the end of the cul-de-sac.

“Stop fidgeting,” Angela says, shutting off the engine. “It’s not like he’s going to whisk you away to his bedroom and have his way with you. Well, unless you ask nicely.”

“Stop it,” I scold as Ryder’s front door opens and my sexy boss appears, sans shirt, his shorts riding low on his hips. “Fuck me,” I whisper.

“All you have to do is ask,” Angela teases as she opens her door, moving swiftly before I have a chance to smack her.

Following her lead, I begin gathering bags from the trunk. When I turn to follow Angela, I find my path blocked.

“How’s your head?” Ryder asks, taking the bags from my hand.

“What?”

“Your headache?”

“Oh, yeah. Slept it off. I’m good.” I’m fumbling over every word as I stare at Ryder's bare chest.

I’ve seen him without a shirt on before, and yes, I enjoyed the view then, but this is different. We’re not at the office. No one is around except Angela and she seems to have disappeared. This feels dangerous and dirty, and all I want is to reach out and trace the lines of his peck and maybe his abs. Or the top of his waistband.

“Good. Come on in. I’ll show you around.”

“Why?”

Shaking my head, I finally force myself to look up and make eye contact.

“Why what?”

“Why do you need to show me around?”

“Don’t you want to know where the kitchen is? Maybe the bathroom? If you and Angela are going to be setting up here, you should probably know your way around the house don't you think?”

“Oh, yeah. Okay.”

God, I’m an idiot. The first thought that popped into my head was his bedroom and that’s the one place he doesn’t show me on the tour. There are three closed doors down the same hallway as the bathroom and I’m assuming one of those leads to his bedroom. I wonder what it looks like. What color are the walls? His bedding?

I imagine he has a grand bedroom. A king-sized bed situated in the middle.

Ryder and Angela talk about the party, making a guest list and nailing down a timeline. Ryder is going to take Tyler to a late lunch and then golfing as long as the weather cooperates. Hunter will meet up with them for lunch and then make an excuse to skip out on golf, heading here to help us with whatever we need.

The guests will begin arriving at five o’clock, and Ryder will bring Tyler back here for beers around six thirty. He’s going to call me and pretend to talk about business when they’re about ten minutes away so we have time to turn all the lights down. If all goes as planned, we’ll be surprising the shit out of Tyler when he walks through the front door.

As we’re about to leave, Ryder comes running out of his house, waving at Angela to stop. I watch as he makes his way to my window, bending down so we’re eye to eye, and Angela lowers it for him.

“Here. You’ll need this,” he replies, handing me a key.

“What’s this for?”

“So you can get in on Saturday. I’ll text you the alarm code.”

Spanking the hood of the car, Ryder walks up the driveway, toward his front door.. He may not be looking at me but I watch him go and enjoy every moment of it. He put a shirt on while he was showing me around but all that managed to do was cause me to daydream about him taking it off again.

Shit! Did I just say spanked? I meant tapped. He tapped the hood of the car.

My mind is in the gutter and we haven’t even left his neighborhood. I should probably stop seeing him outside of work. I can only imagine the other places my mind will begin to travel if I don’t.

As promised, Angela pours me a rum and coke as soon as we get home. We spend the rest of our evening watching chick flicks and eating pizza and popcorn. Girls’ night used to be like this back in college. Before we could afford to go out. When the biggest decision we had to make was whether we wanted to include anyone else.

It’s exactly what I needed, or at least that’s what I thought.

It gave me too much time to think. Instead of watching the movie, I retreated deep into my thoughts. Those thoughts started out innocent, with images of Ryder, shirtless, running through my mind. They took a quick left turn after a while to the rumors that had been going around.

Rumors that I’m sure are being spread far and wide.

Rumors that I wouldn’t mind making true. Not right now, but someday.

Rumors that make me look like a slut.

Rumors that make it look like I’m trying to sleep my way to the top instead of earning a position.

How do they even come up with these things? Why do people even care? It’s not like we’ve given them anything to talk about. At least, I haven’t. Not that it matters to them. If they need something or someone to talk about, they’ll find a topic of discussion, true or false.

Realizing I wasn’t really paying attention, Angela turned the movie off and forced me to talk. I was finally open and honest with her, confessing how attracted I am to Ryder but also how much I use to despise him most days. He’s shown two completely different sides of himself to me. It depends on the day, his mood, and a variety of other factors to determine which Ryder I’ll be working for each day.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the nasty side of him. His mood has greatly improved over the last week. This morning, as I stand outside his office, I wonder which side of him I’ll see today. His lawyer left ten minutes ago. Their meeting ran thirty minutes longer than expected and if I want to speak to him before his next meeting, I need to find the courage to knock on his door.

“Come in,” he calls from behind the thick, wooden door. I can’t get a read on his mood by the tone of his voice.

Popping only my head in, I smile when Ryder looks up and makes eyes contact. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure. Shut the door behind you,” he says when I leave the door open far enough for anyone walking by to see that nothing is going on between the two of us. Fail.

After the paintball incident last week, I’m trying to be more conscious of things like this. That and I’m nervous being alone with him. Even if he’s fully clothed.

Taking a seat across from him, I clear my throat and begin. “I have a favor to ask. I need an afternoon off. Any day works. Your schedule tomorrow is light if that’s okay with you.”

“Why?”

“I have a personal matter that I need to take care of,” I say, looking past him and out the window. I don’t want to break down in front of him. I need to stay strong, especially while I’m here.

“Personal matter? Can you please elaborate,” he replies, the sounds of his chair squeaking as he leans back.

“I’d rather not if that’s okay.”

“I’d like to know what’s so important that you feel the need to take time off. Especially since you’ve only been here for a few weeks.”

Closing my eyes, I refocus my attention on my boss. He’s leaning back casually, his hands clutched behind his head, causing his baby-blue shirt to stretch as much as it can across his chest. The chest that I couldn’t stop staring at yesterday.

His eyes are smiling at me, but he holds a serious stare. Does this mean he cares? Is he prodding because he wants to know, or is he serious about needing it to be important? What if I had an appointment with my gynecologist? Would that be important enough for him? Not that I would ever tell him that was why I needed a day off.

With all the rumors around here, I opt to tell him the truth. Maybe someone is listening on the other side of the door, maybe not. Either way, I can’t worry about that right now.

“I need to move my things out of my ex’s apartment.”

Nodding, Ryder doesn’t say anything. Instead, he reaches into a drawer and pulls out a business card, handing it to me.

“What’s this?”

“He’s a friend. We do all the advertising for their company. Call, ask for Paul, and tell him you work for me. He owes me a favor. They’ll have you packed up and moved out in less than an hour.”

“Thank you, but I can handle it myself. I’m not taking much.”

“Are you planning on going there alone?”

“That’s why I need the afternoon off.”

“Are you sure?”

“He doesn’t know when I’m coming for my things, and I doubt he would miss work just in case I was coming by.”

Why am I explaining myself to him? He knows I don’t want to talk about this with him. I was clear about that the other night. It’s my personal life. This has no bearing on my ability to work any other day except tomorrow and I’m trying really hard to keep our relationship professional. Especially at the office.

“That’s why I think it’s a good idea for someone to go with you. What about Angela?”

“She has to work as well. It’s really not a big deal. I can get everything in my car. All the furniture is his. The biggest thing I have there is my coffee maker. Ian had everything by the time I moved in, so I didn’t bring much with me. We put all my stuff in storage.”

Ryder pushes out of his chair, causing it to roll back into the wall with a bang. I’m sure someone heard that and the rumor mill is now going wild with what “might” be happening in here between us.

Kneeling in front of me, Ryder tips my chin so that I’m facing him. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go with you to get your things tomorrow at lunch if you promise me that when you do finally get settled in a new place, you’ll let Paul move you.”

“Um…”

Why does he even care? I mean, it’s a nice gesture, but there’s no need for him to have someone move me. I’m not his responsibility. I’m not even his friend. I’m his employee, and this feels like it’s crossing a line. The same line that’s getting thinner and thinner as the days go by.

Not to mention that he’s wearing my favorite aftershave again. The moment I get a whiff of it, goosebumps appear on my skin. Then he touches my chin and my heart starts to pound in my chest.

I haven’t been touched that gently in a long time. Too long. This is exactly what I meant when I told Ian I deserved better. If only this was a real thing and not my boss being nice to me. Because in all honesty, that’s all this really can or should be.

Even after admitting my feelings to Angela last night, I promised myself that I wouldn’t act on them. Not only am I not looking to get involved with anyone right now, but I shouldn’t get involved with him. It’s dangerous territory to say the least.

“Promise me, Emerson. I want to make sure you’re safe. Especially if you are going to be living alone.”

“Sure. Thanks,” I say, letting out a shaky breath.

“Good,” he declares, standing abruptly and returning to his chair. “We’ll head over there after my morning meeting and grab lunch on the way back.”

Nodding, I leave Ryder’s office without another word. There’s nothing else to say. Just like Ian, Ryder is making decisions for me. How did I let that happen? Do I appear helpless? Weak? Or am I overreacting?

They’re different, though. Ian wanted to turn me into someone I’m not. He wanted complete control of my life. All aspects of it. He wanted to mold me into someone I wasn’t, someone that fit his needs better.

Ryder seems to want to help, in any way I’ll let him. It’s nice, but he still didn’t allow me to make the decision on my own. I can’t let that happen again. He may be my boss, but he’s not the boss of me outside these walls.