Page 593 of Manhattan Bossholes

Like wind up in Cameron O’Connor’s bed.

I moved away reluctantly and touched my fingertips to my lips, trying to ignore the pull to kiss him again. Cameron looked physically pained by my choice, but he respected it—letting me go without a murmur of protest.

“Good night, Mr. O’Connor.” Then without another word, I slipped into my apartment and exhaled for what felt like the first time all night.

13

CAMERON

My entire body was buzzing.

I’d assumed my night out with Felicity was going to be enjoyable—maybe a little combative, but fun, the way things always were with her. But it had turned out even better than I’d imagined, both personally and professionally. The Veritique alerts on my phone were sounding off nonstop on my way up to my penthouse, and I’d peeked at one of the photos of us. As expected, it was perfect. Between the dim lighting, the lavender haze of flowers in the window, and the cinematic way we were framed as we kissed, the photo looked like an art director had composed it. I chuckled to myself. If these people swooning over our show at the restaurant could’ve seen our kiss just now by her door, they’d keel over.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about the way she’d stopped it so abruptly. It sure felt like she was enjoying it and like she wanted more just as badly as I did. Was I misreading her? Had I taken our flirtation too far?

I was so wrapped up trying to balance my stammering heartbeat with the reality of what had happened with the kiss that I almost ignored the unknown number buzzing through on my phone right as I got to my door. Cautiously, I answered.

“Hello?”

“Is this Cameron O’Connor?” the brusque voice asked.

“It is.” An uneasy sensation flooded through me. Late hour. Unknown number. This scenario felt too familiar.

“Hey, this is Officer David Jackson at Tenth Precinct. We’ve got a Tyler Boyd here for drunk and disorderly conduct. He said you might be willing to come down and bail him out. Is that true?”

My shoulders slumped, and I let out a slow sigh. Again, Tyler?

“Yeah, yeah, I can do that. I’ll be down shortly,” I replied quickly, taking stock of the fact that I had a very eager dog whimpering on the other side of my door. Before I could head to the precinct, I’d need to get Boris out for a quick walk, since I’d been gone all night. Tyler could suffer for a little while longer in the drunk tank. He deserved it.

I disconnected the call and unlocked my door, which ramped up the intensity of the happy whining on the other side.

“Hey, bud,” I said as I entered, dropping to my knees to greet Boris. He was more excited to see me than normal. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

I knew everything about my dog, so even a minor deviation in his behavior caught my attention. Tonight, he was almost frantic. He greeted me quickly then pawed the door, his signal that he badly needed a potty break.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said, grabbing the leash.

As we walked down the sidewalk, I checked the security logs for my place and discovered Tyler hadn’t shown up to walk Boris. So that meant he’d been out of commission for most of the day, which also meant he’d probably started drinking in the morning. He got wasted enough that he’d missed taking care of Boris? That was normally unthinkable. What the hell was going on with him?

I fumed, angry enough to consider leaving Tyler in jail overnight. What the actual fuck, Ty?

“Sorry, bud,” I murmured to Boris. I hated thinking of him holding it all day. But then again, I wouldn’t blame him if he’d had an accident.

I wanted to strangle Tyler.

Once back at my place, I looked around for any puddles and piles, only to discover a package of honey cough drops on the floor with empty wrappers scattered near it.

“Boris, what did you do?” I sighed.

He danced in place beside me, like he was proud of his foraging.

I quickly checked the ingredient list, then cross-checked it online to make sure it wasn’t poisonous. While the lozenges weren’t toxic, Boris was almost guaranteed to have an upset stomach after eating so many of them. I hated leaving him alone again without the chance to be able to go out when he needed to. Normally, I’d call my assistant and tell him to come over to look after Boris while I was out, but Daniel was off visiting relatives. Then it occurred to me that I had another option to keep Boris comfortable—a certain woman who was probably getting ready for bed a few floors below me.

I dialed before I could second guess myself.

“Hi,” Felicity said. The sound of her voice was enough to calm me down a notch. “Holy crap, the coverage is next level already. Have you seen the napkin wiping photos? They’re almost as good as the kiss!”

“Yeah, it’s great, but that’s not why I’m calling,” I said quickly. “I need to ask a favor.”