From a Humiliating Bet to the Boss He Can't Have novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: First Reach Loses

I showed Nate the photograph at eight on Friday morning, before I took off my coat.

He read the post on my phone standing up, with his jaw set.

Then he read it aloud, in a flat voice.

"New market. Will Jo hook up with the boss before Day 30? Three to one, yes. Place your bets."

He handed the phone back.

"Somebody was on the sidewalk with a long lens," he said. "At eight at night, on a Thursday. That's not a fan."

"It's Cynthia."

"It's someone Cynthia pays." He turned to look out at the street. "She's making money off you and she's spending some of it to make more."

"What do I do?"

"What do you want to do?"

I had thought about it for most of the night.

"I want to stop giving her a story," I said. "I won't sit in the dark and hide, and I won't act like there's nothing to see. I'd like there to be nothing to see."

"All right."

"So I need a rule."

"Go on."

"I don't date my boss. I don't date anyone. Not for a year." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "And I won't be the first to reach for anything. Not Blaine, not a man, not you."

Nate nodded slowly.

"First reach loses," he said.

"That's their name for it."

"It's a good rule. I'll take it." He put his hands in his pockets. "Then I'm in the same pool you are."

"You're what?"

"If Cynthia's market says I'll make a move, I'd like to be the man who didn't." A thin, dry smile crossed his face. "I've never cared about winning a bet before. This one I'd like to win."

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