Free Blurring the Lines (Men of the Zodiac) by Marisa Cleveland Page B

for the briefest moment he had the wild instinct to tuck a piece behind her ear, to use that action to cup the back of her neck and feel if the dark strands were as soft as they were shiny. “And now you’re not?”
The vigilant bartender took her empty and handed her a full one. She said thanks and looked at Blake over the rim as she took her first sip. “Oh, I’m still transitioning, but at least I have a job, a goal, and my hair is longer.”
    Her hair, loose and flowing, tempted him as much as her bare legs. He could play this a dozen different ways. They both needed to relax. She’d banked almost as many hours as him since she started, and not once had she protested. They worked so well together. In fact, he couldn’t recall ever having such a compatible secretary. But rather than risk saying what he really wanted to say, he said, “You do have a job. And long hair.”
    Her grimace betrayed her confusion. “Was that almost a compliment?”
    “I—” He paused. She looked so young and fresh and eager. It was too easy to forget that he never dated employees. “Do you like working at Whitman-Madison?”
    She cocked her head to the side and as if reading his imaginings from moments before, tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m adjusting to office life. How’s Brutus?”
    “I returned him to the vet. They found his owner.”
    She leaned forward and placed her hand on his forearm. With a smile that drew his attention to her mouth and all the ways he’d like to taste her, she said, “I’m so glad he’s going home.”
    Home . He wondered what her place looked like. He shouldn’t care, but he was curious.
    Tish and Keith returned, and Blake tossed back the rest of his drink and settled both their tabs.
    “Thanks for the drink.”
    “Anytime.”
    Tish interjected , “Really? Anytime for a drink? Because we might take you up on that.”
    Drinks again with Kira? Bad idea. If he needed further proof just how terrible an idea it was, he got it when she slid off the stool, landing so close to him he could feel her heat.
    She gripped his bicep. “Don’t worry. We won’t hold you to that. Unless you want us to.”
    Hell yeah, how he did. He wanted her to hold him to all sorts of things.

    K ira gripped Tish’s hand and dragged her out the back door of the restaurant. “No. No, no, no. This is so wrong. I can’t have a crush on my boss. I can’t.”
    Her roommate collapsed in the car. “You want my advice?”
    Kira started the engine and backed out of the lot. “Only if you’re going to talk me off the ledge.”
    “Nope. I’m going to tell you to jump.”
    Every fiber in her body wanted to run back inside and drag Blake home with her. He’d helped her reach so many goals, and not just because of the money. Unlike when she’d been working for her dad, working with Blake allowed her to continue fostering. She didn’t even mind the long hours, because now she had more funds to contribute toward the community. Maybe parts of the job weren’t exciting, but she’d enjoyed going over the contracts and offering teasing hints that there was more to her than she’d admitted. She’d have to pick up a few more packages of pink sticky notes… But that was exactly why she didn’t want to ruin things. She needed to remember who she was and why she was working for him in the first place.
    “Ever since I met you, you’ve been focused on finding out what direction to take your career, and now that you have a chance to just have fun and enjoy a great guy, you’re hesitating. Get him out of your system.”
    It wasn’t that easy; it wasn’t like she could just go up to Blake and be all like, Okay, please give me some of your magic. She snorted.
    When a popular song came on the radio, Kira upped the volume. “We both know what happens to the employees who get too close. And even if he’d have me, I don’t want to be a drunken Friday one-night stand.”
    “Ooooh. You’re so right.” Tish hummed along for a