Romance: The Boss Read Online Free

only to catch his eyes again, a piercing command to them that for some reason I find hard to break away from.
    What is in these cocktails, some kind of love potion?
    I don’t usually have this reaction when I see a stranger on a night out.
    Wait.
    Stranger…night…
    ‘Strangers in the Night’ by Frank Sinatra, that’s the song that was playing earlier! As if this situation couldn’t get any tackier.
    “I can’t believe you just did that!” I bark at Brooke, who is sitting there looking very pleased with herself.
    “Why? He’s obviously interested.”
    “Because I told you I didn’t want to hook up with anyone tonight. I thought this was just going to be a fun, casual night out?”
    “It is,” she says with another toss of her hair. “Only now it’s going to be really fun!”
    “Well I didn’t what any added perks,” I tell her. “It’s bad enough that this place is out of my league. I don’t need some hoity-toity guy judging me tonight as well.”
    “Lauren,” Brooke says sternly. “I’m only going to say this one more time: You. Are. Gorgeous. That alone earns you the right to be here.”
    I’m not sure I agree with her on that—that’s about as shallow a statement as they come.
    “Look, I would’ve preferred to just lay low.”
    “Wow,” she exclaims, rolling her eyes at me again. “Your life is so PG-13!”
    “What? My life is not PG-13.”
    That was completely unfair of her to say… my life is MA rated at least.
    But the words dance off Brook’s lips like a poisonous tango. “Oh it so is.”
    “No, it’s not!”
    “Yes it is!” she persists, eyes tightening on me like a schoolteacher reprimanding a student. “Come on, you only just left Steamboat Springs. Colorado is the only thing you’ve ever known. You’ve been a secretary for most of your life, for crying out loud. It’s time to live a little! And get away from those damn comic books. Fashion and dating, that’s what you should be focusing on right now.”
    Fashion and dating?
    Is she serious?
    Since when has she ever seen me without thick leggings, a long jacket, and snow boots on?
    Fashion has never been a main priority for me.
    And as for the dating part, I’ve been on lots of dates with guys… just not many second dates.
    “Secretary and personal assistant, thank you very much,” I correct her. “And why are you bringing up the comic book thing again? You’re making it sound like I read them religiously. I like old-school comics, okay? But I don’t own a whole collection or anything, so calm down.”
    His voice comes out of nowhere, deeply gravelly with a distinct air of authority. “I like comic books.”
    I’d almost forgotten about Brooke’s little wave of invitation.
    I look up to see the guy in the navy blue suit standing over us, a smirk etched on his perfectly chiseled face.
    Damn, he’s even better looking than I remember.
    “Hi,” he says, looking straight at me. “Did I hear right? You like comic books?”
    His eyes sit like two soft-blue beacons, an intensity burning in them that seems to beg mine for surrender.
    Jeez, I must look like a stunned mannequin to him right now. A stunned, tipsy, and beetroot-turning mannequin, that is.
    “Lauren loves comic books!” Brooke pipes in before I can answer.
    Well hasn’t she changed her tune on the topic.
    So much for not talking about comics to guys.
    “A gold digger that loves comic books. Interesting. May I sit?”
    “Absolutely,” Brooke chimes, quickly changing seats so he can squeeze in between us.
    I clench my teeth and shoot her a look like I want to strangle her. But in total Brooke Sawyer style, she brushes it off.
    The suit assertively sits down next to me, flattening his arms out on the bar before hailing the bartender with a simple nod of his head.
    “Another whiskey on the rocks, Mike,” he says before turning back to face me. “So, what comic books are we talking about here? Are you a Marvel fan or more of a DC?”
    Let me be