Page 3 of Property of my Boss

Chapter Two

Tilly

So, he’s hotter than I expected. Six and a half feet tall, tattoos, massive biceps, strong shoulders, big hands, a long salt and pepper beard, and a deep voice that resonates straight through me.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this, and I’m not okay right now. It’s one thing to seduce a middle-aged man who’s let himself go and clearly needs something fresh in his life. That’s easy. Those men are desperate for attention.

It’s another to seduce this guy.

This guy, I imagine, gets hit on all the time by plenty of women, beautiful women. Women that get their nails done and wear flashy outfits daily, like the one I forced myself into today. Women who keep their hair long and love to spend time on their makeup. Women who are nothing like me.

I’m not a girly girl. I like horror movies and the color black. I can’t remember the last time I spent more than five minutes on makeup, and I prefer four-wheeling and fishing over a trip to the mall, though I wouldn’t turn down a mall pretzel and a shopping spree at the farm store if the opportunity presented itself.

I bend onto my knees and use a paper towel to get the worst of a sticky maple syrup spill before I get the mop out to clean up the rest. The raccoon that broke in here last night had its way with this place. There’s marshmallow cereal everywhere, two milk cartons have been torn open and scattered, and aside from the syrup I’m trying to contain, there’re a couple bags of chips that have been popped and thrown haphazardly all over the sales floor.

I’d love to say that the scent of syrup, cheesy chips, milk, and marshmallow cereal was a pleasant one, but it’s not. It’s a cross between vomit and the inside of a carpet cleaner.

What am I doing? I’m a nurse. I spent four years in college struggling through anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, and organic chemistry. I know where I belong, and I worked hard to earn my spot there. I should cut this whole flirty girl act, walk straight up to this guy, and ask him point blank what happened to my friend, Wren. I should refuse to leave until he gives me an answer.

The second I think that thought through, I’m glad I’ve gone with this one. The one where I’m over the top provocative, hoping that he’s thirsty enough to buy in. I’ve only been in the world for twenty-six years, but for the most part, I’ve learned that men are simple in one very primitive way.

They’re all driven by sexual desire.

The more attractive they think you are, the more they’ll do for you. It’s subtle too. Sometimes, I don’t think they realize they’re doing it. The pattern is so ingrained that they act before they think. It’s the reason women are conditioned to wear bright, tight clothes, keep their hair long, and their lips full. If they’re appealing to the men, shit gets done. Furniture gets moved. Bills get paid.

It’s a sick, sad reality, and it’s one that I reject whole-heartedly ninety-nine percent of the time, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Trouble is… I don’t think this guy is into me. If he were, I doubt he’d be okay with me kneeling down on the ground to scrub this floor for over an hour.

“You learn your lesson yet?” His deep voice startles me as he steps into the small camp store, his big boots echoing as he walks. The whole thing reminds me of some scene from a corny camp porno I saw when I was flicking the channels late at night. The male main character was a marriage camp counselor, and the love interest was a woman who’d just split from her husband. I was way too invested in the plot and the weird love triangle that developed after the ex-found out, though the sex was very hot.

“Lesson?” I bend up and roll my shoulders back slowly, letting my tits do some work for me.

“Come on,” he groans. “Don’t play dumb. We both know your brother set you up to this.”

My chest tightens, and I impulsively want to take credit for this idea myself, but considering I’m supposed to be here for the love of campgrounds and the outdoors, I play my part. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would my brother want me to take this job?”

Tucker laughs under his breath and drags his big, muscular hand down over his beard. “Right. You gave up nursing to become a front desk clerk.” He nods toward a spot on the ground. “I think you missed some.”

I realize that I should not be horny right now. Okay, brain? I get it. This man could be a psychopath. He could be the one that made my friend Wren disappear. I know for a fact that plenty of people say they saw her at this campground right before she vanished. That has to mean something.

I need to stay focused.

This is important.

I’m here to seduce him.

So then why is my clit throbbing? Why is my skin aching for his touch? Why do I kind of like the way he ordered me to scrub another spot? Why do I feel like I’d like the way he’d order me to do anything?

Focus, Tilly!

“Do you have a shower I can use?” I wipe up the spot on the ground that I missed, then stand and nod toward the camp clothes on the rack. “I’d like to buy a T-shirt or something and change.”

“Prices are pretty high,” he says, sarcasm in his tone. “We’ve had some hard times the last year or so.”

“And you’re making up for that by gouging your customers?” I realize this isn’t sweet and seductive, but I’m not going to pay forty dollars for a T-shirt.

“I guess I could be generous and give you a ten percent employee discount.”

“Ten percent?” I gasp, the truth that this man isn’t interested in me clearly apparent now. “I just spent the morning scrubbing syrup off the ground for minimum wage. Don’t you think I deserve maybe a free T-shirt?”