From a Humiliating Bet to the Boss He Can't Have novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: Dinner's on You

"I did," Nate said.

He didn't step back and he didn't apologize.

"Say it properly," I said. "Say what the rule says."

"First reach loses."

"And what did you say in the elevator, when I told you what a lean would cost?"

The corner of his mouth moved. "You said dinner was on me."

"You told me you were reading my badge."

"I was reading nothing," he said. "I've been reading nothing for two weeks, Jo."

"Then you owe me dinner."

"Name the place."

"The deal was after the pool closes. I'm not waiting for that." I heard my own voice go lower. "I'm collecting the rest first."

He went very still.

"I want to be sure what you're collecting."

"You hired me for my numbers," I said. "That's what I've thought since the first Monday. Tell me I'm wrong."

"I have an auditor for numbers."

"Nate."

"I have three people who can reconcile a ledger. I had nobody who sent me four pages about my own mistake and thanked me for the opportunity." His hand was at his side, open. "I wanted you at that desk before I knew what a spreadsheet of yours looked like. I want you now, and I will go on wanting you if you walk out and take the job to a competitor."

"That was a good speech."

"It wasn't a speech."

"No," I said. "It wasn't."

I walked past him to the glass wall and pressed the small white panel by the door the way I'd seen him do it.

The whole wall went milky, and the street disappeared.

When I turned around he was already coming across the carpet.

He kissed me against the edge of his desk with one hand spread at the back of my head, and this time I didn't push.

I had both hands under his sweater, flat on his ribs, and his skin was hot.

He made a sound against my mouth that I felt in my knees.

"I'm going to have you on this desk," he said, "and I'm not stopping."

"If I say anything, I want it to be your name."

"That works."

He undid my blazer and slid it off my shoulders.

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