Page 56 of Lying to the Boss

“I don’t.”

“Which is why I want a different house. One I pick out. One I fall in love with.”

“You’re secretly a hopeless romantic, aren’t you?” he leans in closer, sliding his arm around me.

“So are you.”

“I’ve never denied it.”

I take his hand, looking into his eyes. They’re dark, but there is so much kindness there. Honesty.

I can see a future with this man. This man that I went after for a quick fuck because I was new to town and wanted to celebrate, who ended up being my boss and I thought I was making the biggest mistake of my life. And now? Somehow it’s turned into my favorite one.

One that… is so much more than I realized.

Or maybe I’ve been denying it to myself all along because it’s scary. But my feelings for Lane.. They’re big. Very big. Despite wanting to take things slow, I know how I feel about him. It’s only fair I tell him.

“You know,” I begin, my heart pounding harder. “I, uh… love… you.”

I blink and look away, not able to meet his eyes. My heart is pounding so hard now I think I’m going to pass out. I feel him watching me and I don’t know what to do with that.

“Sorry, that didn’t come out right,” I say quickly.

Still can’t look at him though.

He crawls over me, taking my chin between his fingers and staring directly into my eyes so I don’t have the option of looking away.

“It was perfect,” he says before kissing me softly. “I love you, too, Tage. I didn’t want to tell you and scare you away.”

“Why would you scare me away?” My voice is breathless; still hung up on the fact we just shared our first I love you’s.

He smiles. “I’ve learned it’s best to let you come to me.”

I frown. “Like you’re scared of me?”

He barks out a laugh that offends me a little. Like I can’t be scary or something.

“No, not like that. Just… I like to give you space. That’s all. You don’t like when people push you or pressure you into doing things. It has to be on your terms, on your own time, and that’s okay.”

“How do you know that?” I ask.

Sighing, he says, “When are you going to realize that I know a lot about you? Why is that so surprising?”

“I’m just… not used to it, I guess,” I admit.

“I’m sorry,” he says sincerely. “I’m sorry that you haven’t had anyone pay enough attention.”

That hits me way too hard. I can’t breathe. But then he sits back on the other side of the couch and puts my legs on his lap so we can finish watching Transformers, not making a big thing about it.

That’s when I realize it’s those things. Those are the things that make me appreciate him. That have made me love him. He doesn’t force things on me. He doesn’t tell me how or what I should think or do. He just… lets me be me. And he doesn’t get mad at me about it. I hadn’t realized I needed that from someone until him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lane

Tage and I walk out of the office together and get on the elevator to go down. We pick up a few people on the way, so I keep my voice low and my mouth close to his ear when I speak.

“So, I know you’re stuck on us only spending three nights a week together, and we’ve already done two of those three, but… I have a surprise for you.” I glance at him to see what his reaction is.