Boss Me (6 page)

“Seriously, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” she says while taking another bite of her food.

I have yet to eat, my appetite instantly vanishing. In its place is a new hunger I suddenly want to quench, and it has nothing to do with my lunch unless I’m licking my gravy off of her naked body. And that’s just a little weird. My fucking pants are so tight that I’m surprised I haven’t pass out from blood loss to the brain.

I clear my throat again and push my glasses up on my nose. It’s a subconscious thing that I barely realize I’m doing, and my brothers have always liked to tease me about it.

“So, can I ask you something, William?” Carmen asks.

“Sure,” I croak and take a big swig of ice tea.

“I notice you wear glasses sometimes, but not always. Are those readers or something?” Carmen asks casually.

“No, I have terrible eyes,” I say with a smile. “My brothers used to tease me that I was the mailman’s baby because I’m the only one in my family with glasses. Contacts just bother me more often than not, so I usually avoid them. Though, I will wear them more in the winter. There’s nothing worse than your glasses fogging up all the time for work. As much as we’re in and out of the heat and cold, it’s more of a nuisance than anything,” I say.

Carmen shakes her head in acknowledgement, a hint of a smile playing on the corner of her mouth. I’m slightly taken back by the ease of the way I was able to tell Carmen something personal. At this moment, she doesn’t seem to be as completely uncomfortable as she usually does in these situations. Carmen avoids personal. It’s written all over her face, in her body language. But, today she seems a little more receptive to my sharing. And if there’s one thing I’m used to with my big family, it’s sharing.

We finish lunch quickly in comfortable silence and head to the counter to pay. Part of me wants to offer to pay for her lunch, but I quickly squash that idea. This is not a date.

As we’re heading to the front door to leave, Carmen’s cell phone rings again. She quickly grabs it from her pocket and answers with the friendliest greeting I’ve ever heard spill from her lips. Her voice is soft with no edge, no underlying tone, no nothing. Just a friendly, happy greeting.

My gut tightens as an unfamiliar emotion courses through me. Jealousy? Couldn’t be, could it?

I watch helplessly as Carmen smiles at the person on the other end of the phone. I try to keep my distance, try to give her space to take her phone call, but my need for information is apparently bigger than my desire to stay away. I casually stroll just a little closer to where she’s standing next to the ambulance, with her back to me. Just one more step and I can almost hear the words she speaks. Voyeurism much? Avery would be proud.

The final three words she says feel like a knife through the chest - I love you. My head reels from the realization that Carmen is in a relationship. I take a step back just as she turns around to face me. Her smile is still in place, which makes her features light and casual. This is a side of Carmen anyone rarely sees, me included.

“Ready?” I ask, stuffing my bare hands into the front pockets of my uniform pants.

“Yes,” she says, looking down at the ground at my feet.

“Good phone call?” I ask without any control of the words. I can’t help it. I have to know.

Carmen’s words stumble slightly but just enough that I notice. “Yes,” she says with the slightest grin. I stare at her for a few more seconds before I decide to let the moment go. She’s obviously not going to fill in any gaps for me, and my mind is running rampant with visions of Carmen and some no-faced man. My gut drops down to my knees, and my head swims in a dizzying tidal wave of anxiety.

I don’t want to picture Carmen with another man.

Just as she’s about to step up into the awaiting ambulance, her boot slips on a piece of ice. Her leg starts to slip out from under her; her weight shifting and making her unbalanced. She makes a grab for the open passenger door of the ambulance, but the angle is wrong. I reach forward and grab her by the upper arm to keep her from going down. The momentum from my body pulling and Carmen’s body falling causes her to stumble uncontrollably backwards and straight into my chest. Her soft, feminine body slams into my much harder one. My other hand snakes around her lower back, only cementing the connection of our bodies. Her right hand grasps at my shoulder while her left hand reaches around my exposed neck. The touch is electric. Skin on skin. Like a rocket exploding from the belly of a jet. There’s nothing I can do to stop what’s coming but stand back and watch the detonation.

Wide, shocked brown eyes slam into me with so much force I almost stumble myself. Her mouth is open, her warm breath coming out in sweet, minty pants, hitting me square in the face. Her hand tightens around my neck as we both struggle to gain our equilibrium. Control. Anything.

The only thing I can find right now is desire. Fire blazes through my taut body, and I struggle to keep from leaning forward and kissing her. Just one little taste of those wet lips. My body is responding to her in a way it has never reacted before. Never have I felt so alive, so consumed with just the slightest touch.

I want more.

I need more.

I demand more as if my life depends on it.

Carmen breaks the spell we’ve been cast in, by looking towards the opening door of the diner. A couple walks out, giving us a curious look. We’re rooted to the sidewalk, smack dab in front of the diner at the end of a lunch rush, and we’re wrapped in each other’s arms. Fucking heaven and hell all wrapped up and tied together with a pretty little bow.

Carmen’s demeanor changes instantly. I feel her tense up, moments before she pulls back and steps out of my embrace. I let her go, but not by choice. By shear will, I drop my hands and allow her to step back and recover. Shit, I’m in need of my own form of recovery.

The woman across from me sucks in a deep, jagged breath. Her mouth moves, yet no words come out. She’s at a loss and you can tell it has completely knocked her for a loop. Hell, I’m at a loss…of her contact.

Carmen struggles to make eye contact. She adjusts her uniform top with shaky fingers and gingerly steps up into the cab of the rig. I give myself a few minutes in the cold, brisk air to calm my raging hormones before I follow suit and walk around to the driver’s side. A few deep breathes later, and I’m ready to be stuck inside of the confines of the moving vehicle with my boss for the rest of our shift.

I should be embarrassed that I almost kissed my boss on a busy sidewalk in downtown Rivers Edge, but I’m not. I should apologize for my behavior, but I won’t. I should jump out and run as far away from this woman as humanly possible, but I can’t.

And that’s the part that scares the shit out of me.

The next several hours of work are going to be hard - and I’m not talking about what’s going on in my pants. To sit close to her and know that there was that spark. To ignore the attraction that is consuming me. To fight the urge to not reach over and steal just one more little touch.

Several hours of work. One small ambulance. Two people who are practically ignoring each other. Raging, undeniable sexual attraction sucking the oxygen out of the vehicle.

Welcome to my own brand of hell.

*****

I pull in my parent’s driveway with no time to spare. Six o’clock. I carefully make my way up the front steps and instantly hear the sounds of my large family inside. Four months out of the year, Sunday is football day, and I can’t wait to catch the scores and highlights from today’s games.

I throw open the front door and am immediately assaulted by two things: the scent of my mom’s amazing cooking followed very quickly by my five-year-old niece, Bean.

“I was waiting for you, Uncle Will,” she exclaims as she jumps at me. I learned early on with this rambunctious little girl, to always be prepared for the physical assault. Though she means no harm, you never know when she’s coming and you always want to be prepared by keep your assets protected, if you know what I mean.

“There’s my favorite niece,” I say as I kiss the crown of her blond head.

“Ryder is crawling. He got into Daddy’s work books and ate them,” she says with a big toothless grin.

“He did?” I ask, mirroring her excitement. “Did he get in trouble?”

“Nope, but Daddy did cause Mommy told him to pick them up,” she confirms.

“Yep, Daddy’s in trouble,” my sister says as she walks into the entryway to greet me.

“Work books?” I ask curiously as I lean forward and place a kiss on her cheek.

“Fraternal Order of something something magazines,” she says with the wave of her hand.

“Ahh,” I say before setting my niece down to go play. “Bean?” I holler as she reaches the living room where the rest of the male Stevens are congregating.

“Yeah?” she whips around, blond hair flying.

“Who’s your favorite uncle?”

“You,” she replies in a whisper.

“That’s bullshit,” I hear Nate holler from the room she runs into, where three women all holler, “Mouth!” at the same time.

I poke my head into the living room and give a wave to my family. Dad is sitting in his favorite easy chair, watching the final quarter of the Cowboys game, while Nate is sitting in the other chair with his fiancée, Lia, perched on his lap. Erin and Jake are snuggled up on the couch. Or are they snuggled? I can’t tell if they are actually intending to embrace or if it’s because Erin’s protruding belly takes up so much couch space. Her stomach has grown twice the size since last weekend, I swear, and I’ll assume that means that my twin nieces are growing healthy from within. Travis and Grant are playing on the floor with Ryder, and Maddox is sitting on the loveseat playing Barbies with Brooklyn.

I throw everyone a quick hello and follow my sister into the kitchen. Mom is in the same place I always find her; finalizing our traditional Sunday dinner. It doesn’t matter what she fixes, it’s always good. Tonight, I watch helplessly as she pulls a large pan of homemade meatloaf out of the oven. The crystallized ketchup and barbecue sauce on top is bubbling to perfection. Josselyn pulls homemade macaroni and cheese out of the bottom oven, while Avery grabs the bowl of corn casserole and takes it to the dining room table.

The table has grown drastically over the past two years. First with the permanent addition of Maddox to the family, followed quickly by Erin, Josselyn, Lia, and a whole slew of kids. I think that’s why Avery has been on me so much lately about dating. As she so blatantly points out, I’m the last one.

Well, that’s fine. I’m in no hurry.

“Will, call the troops,” Mom says from behind me as she throws a huge bowl of her homemade yeast rolls on the table.

After a quick yell to gather the rest of the family from the living room, we all settle in for dinner. Avery is stationed on my right and after all of the bowls have been passed around, she can’t help but turn her attention toward me.

“So, how was work?” she asks as she inhales forkfuls of home cooked deliciousness.

“Fine, I guess. I had to work with Carmen today,” I mumble before taking a healthy bite of my own food.

I feel her eyes boring into the side of my face like a heat-seeking missile.

“What?” I ask in between bites.

Her blue eyes dance with mischief before she leans closer and says, “You like her.”

I’m completely taken aback by her assumption. Observation. Whatever. Though, I can’t honestly say whether I’m upset about her notion or by the fact that she has somehow figured out that I might possibly have the very slightest inkling of attraction toward my boss.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply and shovel another mouthful in my face.

“Bullshit,” she mumbles and looks around to confirm that no one is listening in on our conversation. “You always call her Cruella. Just now, you called her Carmen. You referred to her by her actual name, not the nickname. And you didn’t get all tense and fidgety like you always do. You like her,” she whispers with that all-knowing, satisfying gleam in her eyes.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Ave,” I counter for the second time. “Just because I didn’t call her Cruella doesn’t mean I’m all hot and bothered for her,” I say.

“You’re all hot and bothered for her?” Avery practically bounces out of her chair with excitement.

“Shut up before someone hears you,” I whisper harshly.

“Sorry,” she says before giving the room a quick look again to confirm that everyone’s attention is elsewhere - specifically towards Jake who is getting an earful from all of the women for teasing Erin about the amount of food on her plate. “So, what are you going to do about this non-existent attraction you supposedly don’t have for your boss?”

“Nothing. Even if I wanted to - which I don’t - I can’t do anything about it because of work. We could both lose our jobs,” I say.

“Work relationships happen all the time, though,” she retorts.

“Not between supervisors and their direct reports. She’s my immediate boss. Therefore, it’s completely forbidden. But that’s a moot point anyway. Even if I could, I wouldn’t do anything about it. She’s brash and condescending. She’s hard as steel and without a personable bone in her body,” I say, but quickly know that it’s not entirely true. Carmen showed at various times today that she does have a softer side. She just keeps it buried deep down inside and doesn’t allow anyone to actually see it.

“Anyway, how’s everything at the bakery?” I ask and allow myself to be submerged into my sister’s life for the next thirty minutes. She never brings up Carmen again, and I don’t dangle any strings of information in front of her face. She’ll latch onto that quicker than Ryder to his pacifier. Avery doesn’t need to know that I will struggle to fall asleep tonight, with images of Carmen’s sweet ass playing on repeat in my mind. She doesn’t need to know that I’ll never be able to smell lavender without looking for her. She doesn’t need to know how much my boss actually consumes my thoughts.

Jake, Maddox, Nate, Travis, and I settle in to clean up the dirty dishes after Mom practically orders the women to the living room to relax. I learned years ago to keep a close eye on Jake and Nate to make sure they actually stick around to carry out their portion of the chore. Leave them unattended for even a second and they’ll disappear so thoroughly and quickly, you’ll still be looking for them an hour later.