Snowed in with my Boss Read online

  “Adam,” I said, testing the waters by watching his reaction carefully. He looked… pleased? Very pleased. It made me nervous. “I-I just wanted to tell you that this is the best meal I’ve ever had.”

  “Thank you,” he replied, the sincerity obvious in his voice. He rose from the table and took my plate with his, dropping them in the sink before reaching into the fridge. “Did you leave room for dessert?”

  My stomach was beyond full, yet I couldn’t say no when he pulled out two cups of what looked like chocolate mousse.

  “It’s physically impossible for me to say no to chocolate,” I said as I reached out and took the cup and the spoon he offered. “Did you make this too?”

  “I did.”

  I scooped up a spoonful and outright moaned as soon as the fluffy chocolate hit my taste buds.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered after swallowing the bite. “Your food would spoil me.”

  I ate half the mousse before I realized Adam hadn’t touched his. He was staring at me from across the table, his expression grave and his pupils wide.

  He didn’t seem at all bothered about being caught. He simply raised an eyebrow and murmured, “You really enjoy your food. It’s… nice.”

  My cheeks felt hot as I tried to recall the noises I made while eating. I was drawing a blank and the very heated way he was looking at me wasn’t helping my mental capacity.

  He wants me. Mr. Reynolds wants me. I must be completely insane.

  My throat felt unnaturally dry. If I didn’t get out of this cabin soon, there was a strong chance I’d do something to embarrass myself.

  Unless my first instinct was right and he did want me. If that was the case, it wouldn’t be so embarrassing.

  However, I wasn’t willing to risk my job on a hunch. It took a great deal of effort, but I managed to finish the mousse without a sound. Once I was finished, I pushed my chair back and rose from the table.

  Adam—Mr. Reynolds—immediately followed suit. He frowned at me as I inched toward the doorway.

  “I should get going. It’s getting late.”

  “It’s only five.”

  “Five? Five o’clock?” I asked, my eyebrows raised high. “I’ve been here for two hours? Shit!”

  Driving through snow was bad enough. Driving through snow in the dark was so much worse.

  Even though I was aware of how rude I was being, I still rushed from the room and grabbed my coat. Mr. Reynolds was right behind me, frowning as I struggled to get it on.

  “Kayla, I—”

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I’d taken up so much of your time. It was really nice of you to make me dinner but I really should be getting back and—”

  “You’re a rambler,” he cut in with a soft chuckle. “Adorable. Take a breath, Kayla.”

  He didn’t have a jacket on, but he kept up with me as I backed to the door and tried to reach behind me and blindly open it. I couldn’t look away from his face, sucked in like a moth to a flame to that desirous expression.

  He called me adorable.

  Get a grip, Kayla.

  “I-I have to go. I’ll see you at work.”

  With a strength of will I didn’t even realize I possessed, I tore my eyes from his.

  My sense of victory died the moment I opened the door. My mouth gaped as I glanced around in equal parts awe and dread.

  “It’s only been two hours,” I muttered as I stuck my foot into the snow piled on the porch. I turned back to Mr. Reynolds, swallowing hard. “There’s at least six inches here.”

  He frowned and tugged at my arm, pulling me back. I made a weak noise of protest even as I let him pull me back into the warmth of the cabin.

  “Let me check the weather,” he said once the door was closed.

  I watched as he tapped on his phone for a few minutes before his eyes widened and he looked up at me with a deadly serious expression.

  “You can’t leave, Kayla.”

  “W-What?”

  He handed me the phone and the dread multiplied.

  “They’re calling for two feet!” I exclaimed, my voice more shrill than I intended. “I can’t drive in that!”

  “I wouldn’t let you drive in that even if you thought you could,” he said before running his fingers through his hair and letting out a harsh breath. “I’m sorry, Kayla.”

  “What am I going to do?” I whispered. “I… How can I get home?”

  “You can’t. Not tonight, at least. You’ll stay here.”

  I was muttering to myself in a daze, unsure of how to react to the entire situation. Stranded in a tiny cabin with my sex-on-a-stick boss? Where would I sleep? Was there a second bedroom? How long would the snow keep me trapped here?

  Did I even mind being trapped here?

  Adam sensed my inner turmoil and made a soft shushing sound as he moved behind me and gently pulled off my coat. I watched as he carried it over to the door and hung it on a hook beside his. The only thing that was helping me hold myself together was how freakishly calm Mr. Reynolds was acting about all this.

  “You really don’t mind me staying here?”

  His smile was almost sad as he said, “Honestly, I’d appreciate the company.”

  That settled it. I didn’t mind being trapped.

  As long as I didn’t do anything I would regret later.

  Adam

  The plan couldn’t have gone better.

  Between the amount of food there was to sample on the table and a great deal of small talk, I managed to keep Kayla entertained long enough for the storm to arrive.

  Even I didn’t realize that two hours had passed. Time really did fly when you were having fun. That explained why the work day felt so long.

  I’d gone to the bedroom out of the pretense of using the restroom, though I only did it to grant Kayla some privacy to call her roommate and explain why she wouldn’t be back tonight. The urge to eavesdrop was strong, but I managed to resist.

  After a couple of minutes, I turned off the faucet and hesitantly stepped back into the living room. She must have just ended her call because she was placing the cell phone back into her purse with a sad sigh.

  “Everything all right?”

  She startled and turned around, smiling wryly and shrugging as she said, “As all right as it can be, I suppose.”

  There was a tense pause during which I recognized a crucial flaw in my plan.

  I really had no means of entertainment in the cabin beyond myself and books that I doubted she would find interesting. There wasn’t anything to fall back on in terms of passing the time until her mood brightened.

  My eyes scanned the room, locking onto the plain folder she had placed on the coffee table. It wouldn’t exactly be entertaining, but I hoped it would at least kill the few hours until bedtime.

  “Shall we?”

  Kayla watched my hand gesture and followed my gaze, nodding when she saw the folder. Judging by the look on her face, she appreciated the distraction. I sat beside her on the couch, leaving a good foot of distance between us, and settled in to listen to her musical voice as she went over the work she had done.

  Four hours later, I was repeating the irrational demands of a client and how I intended to please him without actually giving in to his requests when my speech was cut short by a loud yawn. I cocked an eyebrow at Kayla while she flushed red with embarrassment.

  “I’m sorry. Keep going.”

  “No, no. It’s fine. I’m getting tired myself.”

  “I really didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “It can wait,” I said with a genuine smile. “We may very well be spending the next few days together.”

  At the reminder of the weather, Kayla hopped up and rushed over to the window. She pulled the curtain back and stared out. When I reached her side, I realized she was squinting in an attempt to see.

  I switched on the porch light and she gasped. I stood beside her and watched the snow accumulate in silence.

  “It’s not going to
stop, is it?” she quietly asked.

  “It will eventually. Always does.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know.”

  Kayla made no response, just stared out the window with a combination of wonder and sadness. Meanwhile, I was internally trying to force away my guilt.

  It wasn’t working.

  “Do you have Christmas plans?”

  A small trickle of relief arrived when she shook her head.

  “Just hanging out with my roommate and her parents.”

  “What about your family?”

  “I don’t have any family left alive. Well, I do have an uncle somewhere, but I haven’t seen him since my dad passed away when I was a kid. I wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him on the street.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Thanks, but it’s fine. It’s not something I can control, you know? I do my best with what I’ve got.”

  “Admirable,” I murmured, turning to face her instead of the snow. For the first time, I was able to recognize and name one of the many things that drew me to her.

  She’s lonely. Like me.

  “What about you? Did you really plan to spend Christmas out here all alone?”

  No. I planned to spend it with you.

  “Yes. I like the quiet.”

  “What about your family?”

  “If my mother was still alive, I’d be with her. But I’d much rather be alone than spend another holiday with my father.”

  “You don’t get along with Senior?”

  Senior. It only confused employees to call two men Mr. Reynolds when I joined the company, so most began referring to my father as ‘Reynolds Senior’ as his hours started to decline and I stepped into his shoes as CEO.

  But I’d overheard enough conversations to know that those who just called him ‘Senior’ were women he instructed to do so.

  “You’ve met him?” I asked, a harsh edge to my voice that I couldn’t control.

  “A few times. He’s… something.”

  I turned away, trying and failing to control my anger. I didn’t even realize he’d been to the office enough during the past two years to meet Kayla. Most of his time was spent in either the London or Los Angeles office, if he came in to work at all.

  “He hit on you?”

  Silence met me and I dared to turn back and look at her face. I expected her to stare at me with wide, horrified eyes, wondering how I could possibly know that.

  Instead, she fixed me with a blank stare and nodded solemnly.

  “With all due respect, Mr. Reynolds—your father is a prick.”

  So this is what it feels like to fall in love.

  She didn’t know it yet, but she couldn’t have chosen a better thing to say to me. Years ago, I briefly dated a woman who took it upon herself to defend my father at any given chance.

  It didn’t take long for me to follow the paper trail and find monthly incoming checks from my father to her.

  He didn’t even deny it. She wasn’t an escort in the strictest sense of the word, but he hired a woman to be ‘an adoring wife’ and provide me with all the heirs I could ever want.

  In my father’s eyes, love didn’t factor into marriage. If a woman was gorgeous and faithful, she qualified for the position of wife.

  The position could only be reversed if she failed to give a man a son or cheated.

  The rules didn’t go both ways. My father repeatedly cheated on his wives—my mother included—and he used money and power to do it.

  Unfortunately, there were always women willing to fall into bed with him for the mere chance at getting knocked up and being set for the rest of their lives. It was how my half-brother was conceived all those years ago.

  Luke had died in a car crash in his early twenties, but his mother was still alive and well, living it up in a mansion in Miami last I heard.

  “Adam?”

  I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of her voice, smiling at her raised eyebrow as she waited for a response.

  “Darling, you have no idea how right you are. In fact, I think ‘prick’ is being a little too generous.”

  “Oh?” she asked warily. “What would you call him?”

  “A misogynistic, manipulative sack of shit pretty much sums it up.”

  “You should add ‘pervert’ and ‘creepy’ somewhere in there.”

  She said it in a joking manner, but there was nothing funny about it in my eyes. It only increased my rage—making me desperate to know every detail of what happened between them.

  Without thinking, I reached out and grasped her shoulders, leaning down until our faces were inches apart as I growled, “What exactly did he say to you?”

  Kayla

  He’s going to kiss me. Oh my God, he’s going to kiss me.

  “What exactly did he say to you?”

  Or maybe not. Damn it!

  Kiss or no kiss, I was still flustered by the proximity of his lips. They were contorted into a sneer and—to absolutely no surprise—the expression made my thighs tremble.

  God, he’s so sexy.

  He was also impatient, I could see that from the look on his face. I searched my memory for the scene I had mostly managed to block, telling him the gist of what happened.

  “He started with small talk before asking questions about how I liked working for you. It seemed normal at first, but I could tell he was trying to push me into complaining about you. When I refused, he complimented how dedicated I was and put his hand on my thigh and said I’d have ‘a more enjoyable time working under him.’ I declined.”

  Adam gaped at me for a long moment before he asked, “And you didn’t report him for sexual harassment?”

  I considered it. Oh, how many hours I spent considering who to tell first and the consequences that would surely follow. In the end, I pushed the memory to the back of my mind, grateful that I didn’t have to see him on a frequent basis.

  “I didn’t want to rock the boat,” I said with a shrug. “I really do enjoy working for you and I didn’t want to risk losing my job over one perverted comment.”

  Adam opened his mouth to argue, snapping it shut after a long moment without saying a word. The truth was, we both knew exactly what would have happened if I slandered his father. There was no doubt I’d lose my job because while Adam controlled nearly everyone in the company, his father was the one person out of his reach.

  Adam was the CEO, not the owner. My employment situation would have been completely out of his hands.

  “This…” he said softly, trailing off as he hung his head. “It’s so fucked up. I’m so sorry, Kayla.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  The look on his face was nothing short of miserable. What was going on inside his head? I would have paid any price to find out.

  Before I could even ask, another yawn came out of nowhere. Adam’s look softened and he smiled.

  “Let’s get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

  “It really has.”

  I glanced at the couch with a grimace. Sitting on it wasn’t exactly a comfortable affair. Sleeping on it was going to suck. But even though I was tall for a woman, Adam still stood a good six inches over me. There was no way he was going to fit.

  “You’re not sleeping on the couch,” he said dryly, having followed my gaze to the piece of offending furniture.

  “I don’t see how you will,” I countered, making a vague gesture at his body. “You’re way too big.”

  A beat of silence passed as he stood there staring at me.

  “I don’t have enough blankets for it.”

  “I’m not sure I’m following you.”

  He couldn’t seriously be suggesting what I thought he was suggesting… could he?

  “The only blankets in the cabin are currently on the bed. We’ll have to share.”

  So much for not doing something I would regret. Being in bed with Mr. Reynolds would just be a
sking for trouble.

  My natural response was to crack a joke, hoping that it would ease my tension.

  “Sleeping with the boss, huh? Can’t I get in trouble for that?”

  “There’s no rule against it,” he said, dead-serious. I stumbled over an attempt at a response and he abruptly added, “Let’s make a deal, hmm?”

  “What kind of deal?”

  “While we’re here—I’m not your boss. I’m… just a normal man. Just Adam.”

  That was easier said than done. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it, but the almost pleading look on his face made me want to try.

  I nodded in agreement, forcing a smile on my face as I asked, “Shall we go to bed, Just Adam?”

  He grinned and the tension was completely broken—at least the nervous tension.

  But my lower abdomen was only getting warmer.

  I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

  I repeated the mantra in my head like a prayer as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. What I didn’t consider when I agreed to think of him as ‘Just Adam’ was the fact that I had no clothes except the ones I was currently wearing, which meant I was donning a spare t-shirt as a nightgown.

  I couldn’t sleep in my bra—it was pretty, but the underwire would probably stab me—so I’d taken it off before pulling the cotton over my head.

  My nipples would not go down thanks to the cold and that wasn’t even the most embarrassing part of this.

  How inappropriate would it be to sleep next to my boss without panties? If I kept them on, would I even be able to sleep with the thong digging up my ass?

  Probably not. With a wince, I bent down to slip them off, biting my lower lip nervously as I turned around to check how much the t-shirt covered.

  “Not enough,” I muttered when I saw half of my ass in the mirror. I tugged the shirt down as I pondered my options. After a moment of deliberation, I cracked open the door and called, “Adam?”

  “Yeah?”

  I pushed the door a little further open, poking my head out to look at him standing by the dresser. He was wearing a pair of flannel pants and the same shirt from earlier, his eyebrows raised in a silent question.