"I've got it, Emma. I'll have it here for right around noon. Do you like anything on your pizza?" he asked in such a sweet way that I forgot myself and that he was my boss.
"Anything but anchovies or pineapple. Definitely not those."
Then I remembered that no matter what I'd thought about him for the past forty-eight hours, he was still my boss and not one of my girlfriends hanging out with me at my apartment. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Tanchen. That sounded terribly ungrateful of me. You probably love both of those things on your pizza, right?" I asked, cringing at my mistake.
He smiled in a way that was nothing less than downright sexy and shook his head. "I'm a pizza purist, myself. Pineapple has its place, and it isn’t on my pizza. I do like sausage. Are you okay with that?"
Nothing in his answer told me he disliked how opinionated I'd been about my pizza toppings, so I relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. "I love sausage."
"Great. I'll order it and have a pizza with sausage here for our lunch."
He stood to leave my office and before I could stop them, words so inappropriate came tumbling out of my mouth. "It's a date then."
Instantly, I felt my cheeks begin to burn up like they were on fire. Surely, he had to know that I was attracted to him now and had been thinking the most impure thoughts I'd ever thought about a man in my life!
Mr. Tanchen didn't respond to my ridiculous statement, thankfully, so I quickly turned my focus to my work and prayed to God to make the phone ring so something could end this terrible moment I'd created by being too friendly.
As he turned to walk back to his office, I felt like I was going to be sick. It's a date, then. How could I have said that? Oh, God. I was such an ass.
And then as if God had heard my desperate silent plea, his phone began to ring. "Excuse me, Emma. I need to take this."
I looked up toward the ceiling and quietly said, "Thank you, God. Now if you could just help me not make an ass out of myself ever again while I work for this man, I'd really appreciate it."
Mr. Tanchen seemed to avoid me for the next few hours. I didn't blame him. I'd taken a friendly conversation and blown it to smithereens by saying something stupid and immature. I just hoped he didn't decide to fire me because of it.
At noon, I glanced at the clock on my computer and wondered if he'd decided against us having lunch together today. Again, I wouldn't have blamed him.
I leaned over my desk and looked across toward his office, but I didn't see him. Unsure what to do and certainly not wanting to make a fool out of myself again, I made my way to the kitchen to grab a bite of my sandwich I'd brought that morning. The mixture of ham with utter regret didn't make for a good lunch, and I tossed it back into the paper bag after two bites.
Disgusted with myself and my awful lunch, I slowly walked back to my desk. Mr. Tanchen seemed to have disappeared, which I thought was odd since he had told me every time he left the office since the first day. My ridiculous comment had changed everything for the worst, and I had no doubt he was avoiding me.
Lost in my misery, I heard a faint noise from upstairs. Craning my neck to listen to hear if it happened again, I distinctly heard a groan. Had Mr. Tanchen gone upstairs at some point and now something bad happened to him?
I quietly crept up the stairs to make sure he was okay, uncertain if I should even be anywhere near his apartment on the second floor. As I reached the top step, I heard the groaning noise again. Pushing the heavy wood door open, I poked my head into his living room and my eyes grew wide at the sight before me. Mr. Tanchen stood in just a towel that hung low on his hips, and my mouth dropped open in shock and delight that I'd been correct when I guessed he had a great body under those business clothes he always wore.
Lean, he was muscular in all the right places, from his shoulders to his abs to those incredibly sexy muscles near his waist that seemed to point like an arrow directly to his cock. Through the towel, I could see he was rock hard.
And big.
Before I got caught gawking at his beautiful body, I skirted back down the stairs to my desk and hoped the blush of my cheeks wouldn’t give away what I'd seen. He had been so good looking, though. I bit my lower lip and had a feeling I knew exactly what I would be thinking of that night when I was home alone.
I waited, and soon he walked downstairs fully dressed in his usual work clothes of dress pants, dress shirt, and tie. He smiled as he passed my desk on his way to the front door, and as I watched him take the pizza box from the delivery man, I realized I'd been so lost in thought about how he looked that I hadn't even heard the doorbell!
God, I needed to get my head together. Why was I acting like a horny schoolgirl? I'd seen hot men before. I'd dated a few of them too, but never before had any of them had this kind of effect on me.
I took a deep breath and told myself to relax as I walked into the kitchen to find him setting out plates and silverware he'd gotten that first weekend after I started working for him. He heard me walk in and turned around.
With a smile, he said, "Lunch is ready. How many slices can I get you?"
Although I'd normally grab two, I didn't want to look like a pig in front of Mr. Tanchen, so I answered, "Oh, just one. If I'm still hungry after that, I'll grab another."
That was possibly the biggest lie I'd told in a long time. Of course I'd be hungry after one measly slice of pizza. I wasn't a six year old girl with the appetite of a bird. If my friends heard me say what I'd said to him, they would have burst out laughing.
Well, that lie may have been the second biggest lie, but the first was one I told myself. All weekend I'd thought about my boss in a way that had nothing to do with work, and each time I swore I wouldn't do it again.
And then last night as I lay in bed, I did it again, complete with eyes rolling back in my head and an orgasm that made my toes curl. And that was before I saw him half naked in a towel that showed off the outline of a very impressive cock.
Oh, God. At the rate I was going, I'd be blurting out something stupid about how hot he looked before the end of my second week of work.