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"What’s wrong?" he gasped out
"We… We can’t do this; you’re my boss," replied Claire weakly"
"I was your boss two o too and it didn’t seeed exactly?" asked Jason with frustration apparent in his strained voice
"I…I lost control; I wasn’t thinking Could you please let me down?"
Jason reluctantly lowered his hand fros and stepped back She quickly pulled her dress down trying to cover her breasts again Claire couldn’tinto her Finally, Jason stepped back further, took a few deep breaths and ran his hand raggedly through his hair He turned to look at her again, and Claire saw the desire and confusion on his handsome face
"Claire, I’ht to say no, and that isn’t even the main issue here You have worked for me for what, three years now? In that time, there’s never been even a close call between us romantically and then suddenly in the last week I can barely walk by you without a raging hard on I know that seeing you in that club over the weekend in da to do with it but I don’t think that’s the cause of what happened tonight Who are you really Claire besides the person tying round out Jason as he walked towards the door, "I don’t think I can process anything else tonight" Without looking back, he opened her door and said, "I’ll pick you up at eight in the , please be ready," and shut the door quietly behind hiainst herwith Jason have been any worse than the ache she was left with now? If Suzy hadn’t called, they’d be in her bed or on her floor right nowbut frustration and regret
Was it regret that she let it go that far or regret that she stopped it? Claire didn’t dare answer that question She’d always thought Jason was drop-dead handso him, but that was as far as it went Now not only were so true, she was also forced to ad for hie mistake
People like Jason didn’t fall in love with people like her She worked two jobs to take care of her mother, Louise and herself She couldn’t afford to have an affair with her boss and lose one of those jobs Not only would that spell disaster for her, it would also basically put her mother and Louise out of their hoet back to the reality of being Jason’s assistant, not his girlfriend or bedmate She forced herself from the floor and made her way to the shower Claire vowed that to would be back to a professional level; she couldn’t afford for it to be otherwise
Chapter Eleven
The nextoutside her apartht and, as proht Quickly opening the door before he could leave the car, Claire settled herself in the seat and offered a quick goodnews on the radio, and it filled the silence in the car and offered a much-needed diversion He seemed content to avoid all conversations, and soon they were arriving at Danvers and heading up in the elevator Jason stepped off to get a coffee and Claire continued on to their office floor
By the time Jason arrived a short ti to her e continued on as if nothing had ever happened Around noon, Jason came out of his office and said, "Claire, ill need to work on Saturday and possibly Sunday this week and better plan on it for next weekend as well"
The blood drained from her face as she asked, "Why would that be necessary? Everything is up to date on theout of town for a few days to visit the headquarters for Mericom and won’t return until Friday By the time I return I’ll have further revisions to make to the contract that will need to be completed by Monday The next ill follow a similar course and there’s a possibility you will need to accompany me to Grayson’s, but ill finalize that next week
"But I already have plans for those weekends," cried Claire
His steely gaze burning into hers, Jason said, "Yes, I’eer are your clear priorities and if not, then we’ve a serious problem"
The threat in his voice was clear and Claire knew that if she continued, she could well find herself unemployed "Ye… Yes, they are and I’ll be here on Saturday Are we starting early?" Claire asked hopefully
"No, I’ll be late getting in on Friday so let’s give ourselves some extra rest on Saturday and coht in later so no need to worry about that" With her heart sinking Claireto let up on the weekend work, ugh
She already had bachelor parties planned with Pam for the next feeeks, and they were all several hours away She was going to have to call Pam and cancel and hope that she could find a replaceathered up her purse to go to the cafeteria for lunch As luck would have it, Suzy was just co down the hall towards her office when she stepped out Claire walked over to the elevator where her friend aiting
"Hey hey girlfriend, I’rab so to the cafeteria?" asked Claire
"Nah, why don’t alk around the corner to the sandwich shop? I could use a change of scenery," replied Suzy
"Ok, that actually sounds good, et a table outside" Suzy kept the conversation flowing until they’d reached the sandwich shop and settled into a shaded table outdoors
"So, ere all the fireworks with bosson her iced tea, Claire said, "What’re you talking about?"
"Oh coht?" laughed Suzy
She kneas pointless to continue to act ignorant Claire sighed, "I don’t know Suz; I really don’t"