He’d dropped her off at home on his way to his late dinner. Since she’d already put in a full eight hours, he’d assumed she was done for the day.
Assumptions rarely worked out the way people thought.
Putting together tonight’s outfit had taken some work. She’d had to borrow Alana’s skirt. As her friend was a bit shorter and curvier than Kelly, creative cinching of the waist had been required. Their height difference had actually turned out to be a good thing, because the hem barely skimmed midthigh. Combined with her tight white blouse and red lace see-through bra—and pigtails, of course, because she knew he liked those too—she looked like a Catholic schoolgirl goneverywrong.
All part of her plan to send her boss off on his trip in a way he wouldn’t forget.
After she’d gotten ready, she’d stopped by the comedy club to hang out with Nicky and Alana for a while. Poor Nicky had ended up as the de facto bouncer when one too many guys tried to touch her ass. But Kelly had loved every minute.
She’d spent a lot of years as the girl no one noticed. Even better? She now knew Spencer would probably go cardiac the minute he saw her.
Or so she hoped.
Luckily she had the last few tweaks to the romance redesign to play around with while she waited for him. She still wasn’t happy with the arrangement of the endcaps and she had new books to shelve. Mindless duties were just what she needed tonight.
She knew he planned on returning to the store to finish his last few remaining tasks and she’d figured he’d be gone a couple hours, tops. But now that it had been almost four since his dinner had begun, she was starting to worry.
Unlike him, she had no problem acknowledging it either.
What kind of business dinner went way past midnight? Was there more going on here than she realized?
“Shocker,” she muttered.
Maybe he’d gone home? He’d been keeping a brutal schedule lately. But he’d mentioned earlier that he still needed to accomplish a few things before his trip. Sleep never ranked before work with Spencer.
She rose and paced to the door. The parking lot was still empty, save for her small sedan. For a moment, she actually considered calling him. As if he was her boyfriend and she had a right to be concerned.
But it wasn’t her place. This was business and she’d better get used to him being gone a lot longer than a few hours. She was damn lucky he’d even been around so much lately. His absences from the store were frequent, but he always came back.
Until the day he doesn’t…
Kelly shook off the thought and made herself get back to work. She wanted to have the section finished tonight. Another going-away present of sorts.
She grinned. Hell, if she kept it up, she might as well buy him a dozen roses and a stuffed bear that saidBe Mine.
She was so involved in what she was doing she barely heard the door open and close a while later. She set down her dustrag and cocked a hip as she listened to the sound of footsteps disappearing down the hall.
He had to have seen her car. He must’ve known she was there yet he hadn’t stopped by to say hello. Or even “go home.”
A quick glance at her watch had her eyes widening. Holy fuck, it was past two. Where had he been all night?
And with whom?
Her heart sped up in time with her breathing. He wasn’t a liar. If he said he had a business dinner, that was what he’d had. Spencer’s word meant something to him. Beyond that, they didn’t have a commitment to each other. She hadn’t spelled anything out as far as what she would and would not tolerate.
Even so, her senses were on high alert. If she’d ever felt less like crawling all over a man, she couldn’t remember it.
She headed back to his office as slowly as her legs allowed. It was hard not to rush but she wasn’t about to look desperate. Right now, being made up like an overeager bimbo was bad enough.
He’d closed his door.Nice.As if that could keep her out. She turned the knob without knocking, unsure of what she’d find.
Spencer sat hunched over his desk—tie unknotted, jacket off, shirt half-unbuttoned and head in his hands. Shocked into silence, she stood in the doorway and worried her lower lip.
“You don’t know when to leave well enough alone, do you?”
The smart-assed question normally would’ve pushed all her buttons. When delivered in a jagged voice she’d never heard from him, her ire had no chance.
Need flared low in her belly. So much for thinking her concerns had killed her desire. Even when she shouldn’t give in, wanting him left no room for anything else.