Brazen Bossman: A Hero Club Novel

but they’re few and far between.
The sun is just barely seeping through the large glass windows of our office when I step through reception. I wanted to get in early so I could make sure everything is in order for Nathanial’s meeting this morning, which is apparently so important I was forced to stay up until three  prepping the spreadsheet and handouts for it.
I place my bag and laptop case on my desk and head down the hallway to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee because… caffeine.
Since it’s too early for anyone to be awake… period, I’m not expecting the intoxicating aroma of coffee to caress my nose before I even reach the kitchen.
There must be someone here.
I round the corner into the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks so forcefully; I stumble on my heels and have to catch myself on the wall.
There are arms around my waist before I even realize it, and the crisp scent of mint, soap, and man fills my senses.
“Careful.” Nathanial’s smooth voice runs over my skin.
It takes me a solid ten seconds for my brain and my body to communicate long enough for me to pull myself from his touch and step back. During those ten seconds though, there was this sizzle, this electric current coursing in the air between us that I am trying my best to ignore, because clearly I’m losing my goddamn mind.
“Are you all right?” he asks. “I’m used to women falling at my feet, but I didn’t take you to be the type.”
My eyes meet his then I roll them to the heavens. “Wow. Even when you have a sliver of kindness, you say something like that.”
“It was a joke, Piper. I do make them from time to time.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that a secret. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that getting out.” I cross my arms over my chest.
He looks downright delectable today in his charcoal gray suit and crisp white shirt underneath. He has forgone a tie, and it’s a choice I appreciate. I can see the tiniest bit of chest hair because he hasn’t buttoned the top button yet, and there is just something about it that makes me weak in the knees.
“You’re here early this morning. I wasn’t expecting you to roll in until your usual two minutes late.” He pours himself a cup of coffee then retrieves another mug from the cabinet above the counter.
“A, the train schedule is not my fault, and B, I always stay two minutes later than I’m scheduled to make up for it. Your attempt to nitpick is flawed, at best, sir.”
I see the slight flicker of his lips pursing as he pours coffee into the second mug and adds two sugars and one cream.
“For you.” He slides the mug across the counter toward me.
“You know how I take my coffee?”
“I’m a very perceptive man, and as it would happen, that spreadsheet isn’t needed for this meeting. I suppose I forgot to email you about that when I got the call around dinnertime that they had cancelled.” He picks up his coffee and takes a sip.
I stare blankly for a few moments, giving him my best slow blink before speaking. “You knew last night, literally minutes after I left the office, that I didn’t need to work at home. Last. Night?”
“Yes. As I said, it slipped my mind to inform you.” He lifts my mug from the counter and offers it to me. “Here. It seems like you could use the caffeine. You’re a bit grumpy, I think.”
What an asshole.
I yank the mug from his grip, suppressing the desire to toss the scalding coffee in his face and grip it with both hands.
“Then why are you here so early if there is no meeting?” I ask, blowing the steam swirling up from the mug.
“I am expecting someone this morning. They should be here any minute, actually.”
He leans against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest in a way that is both authoritative and relaxed. It makes my head spin.
“Must be important then. You’re never here unnecessarily.”
“With all due respect, Ms. Kingston, I’m here entirely too much.” He pushes off the counter and straightens his collar and it’s clear to me this conversation is over, at least according to him.
“Why do you do that?” I cross my arms the way he just had his.
“Do what?”
“Call me Ms. Kingston sometimes and Piper other times.”
I would never admit it out loud, but I love when he calls me by my name. I like the way the P sounds rolls off his tongue. And to be honest, Ms. Kingston gives me billionaire Dom vibes, and that’s a mentality I cannot have at the office because I’ll never get any work done.
“I call you Piper because it’s your name, and Ms. Kingston when I’m trying to get my point across.”
I swear that I see a bit of a… look… on his face when he says that, and it makes me squeeze my thighs together.
I clear my throat then speak.
“Well, I guess I should get to work, considering I’m here ninety minutes early.”
“That is what I pay you for.”
I release a heavy breath and turn on my heel toward the door, but his voice stops me in my tracks.
“Piper.”
I turn toward him. “Yes?”
“I’d like you to sit in on the contract meeting with the studio we are pegging to produce all the audiobooks. Tomorrow, midday. There will be some deal points tossed back and forth and I’d like you to take note of them as they occur.”
“Are you sure the meeting is really happening, and I won’t get here tomorrow and be told otherwise?” I level a stare at him.
“Guess you’ll have to find out.”
“I’ll be ready with bells on. I’ll be chained to my desk, I mean at my desk if you need anything,” I tease as I leave the room.
Was I… was I flirting with him? Jesus Christ, I’m in the Twilight Zone.
“Hmm. Chains. I