I Married My Ruthless Boss in a Video Game novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: Rooms Are a Term

I got home at six, and Lorne was sitting on the floor with his back against the mattress.

He stood up too fast, and the cracker box fell off the windowsill.

"You came back," he said.

"I live here. I have a duffel bag. I'm not that dramatic."

"You walked out."

"You said a very nice thing on camera."

"I said several. Some were true."

I put the duffel down.

"The four," I said. "You said you'd tell me."

He took a breath.

"There is no list," he said. "I said four on the first morning so the board would stop looking at everyone else. It was a number to give to Margaret. I haven't signed a single dismissal, and I'm not going to."

I stared at him.

"You let me think," I said, "that my friends were going to be fired. For twelve days."

"I let Margaret think it. You were collateral."

"That's a terrible thing to say to a woman you've kissed."

"I know," said Lorne. "I've been practicing it all day, and it still doesn't improve."

I laughed, and the laugh turned into something else halfway out.

"You could have told me."

"Margaret has people in the building. I couldn't risk it."

"Fine," I said. "I forgive you."

"Just like that?"

"No. I'm forgiving you in installments."

He stepped closer.

He had taken off his jacket, and his sleeves were rolled up, and there were two lines in his forearm where the muscle ran.

I looked at them for longer than I should have.

"Roxie," he said. "Term three."

"Rooms."

"Separate rooms."

"There's one room."

"There's a hall."

"There is also a mattress," I said, "that is, on paper, ours."

His mouth did something that wasn't a smile.

"The terms say no touching," he said.

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