known? All of this is new to you, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she replied quickly. “Of course. I just expected something like that to be known in the office. What happened? I take it they missed.”
“Sort of,” I replied.
Chloe waited for me to elaborate. She wasn’t going to let up until she had all the information. She deserved to know. Kara had been my assistant and friend. Now Chloe was my assistant, and she was quickly becoming a friend too. Maybe even more than that.
If anything ever happened between us, she’d find out sooner or later what I was hiding on my back. Might as well show her now.
I grabbed the bottom of my t-shirt and lifted it off over my head in one smooth motion. When I looked back at Chloe she was staring straight into my eyes. Most women would be looking elsewhere right now. What did it take to impress this girl?
“Are you hot?” Chloe asked. “Because we could just turn on the air conditioning.”
I looked away from her, waited a few seconds, and then quickly looked back catching her staring at my chest. Busted.
“You just checked me out,” I teased. “Like what you see?”
“I’ve seen it before,” Chloe replied. “And I wasn’t checking you out, I was looking to see if the wound was healing.”
“The wound’s on the other side.”
Chloe pursed her lips, but didn’t say anything.
“Fine, I was admiring your tattoos,” Chloe responded. “Can’t a girl appreciate good artwork?”
“So you’re saying my body’s a work of art?” I teased again.
I was relieved to see her cheeks turn slightly red with embarrassment. If she was embarrassed, that might mean she did actually feel something for me. That should be a bad thing, but there wasn’t much point pretending I didn’t want her. I might lie to myself about the things I’d done for work, but there was no tricking my brain out of this one.
“How about you tell me why you took your shirt off to reveal this ‘work of art?’ Or do you always strip off in front of your employees? Actually, you know what, don’t answer that question.”
“I’ll have you know, I’ve never slept with any of my employees.”
“Really?”
“Well, I’ve never knowingly slept with any of my employees. We hire a lot of people and I’ve slept with a lot of--”
“Alright, how about we get to the point?”
I couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t like it when I talked about other women. Okay, so I didn’t like it when she talked about other men either, but at least we were on an equal footing this way.
I turned my back to Chloe and told her to look at my lower back.
“It’s a tattoo of a skull,” Chloe said, as I felt her eyes on my back. I subconsciously tried to tense my back muscles, but that just hurt the wound in my side. Why was I so damn keen to impress someone I could never have sex with?
“Look carefully at the left eye socket.”
Chloe shifted on the sofa and moved her head closer to my back to get a better look, being careful not to actually touch me while she did so. Did she think I was contagious or something? Would she only touch me after I’d been stabbed? If so, I’d be seriously tempted to go get a knife and--
“There’s a scar there,” she remarked. “It looks like… a bullet wound.”
“That’s because it is one.”
“You were shot.”
“Yep. I got lucky. The bullet just missed my spine, and the doctors were able to repair the damage to my internal organs.”
“You got in the way, didn’t you?” Chloe asked. “Someone tried to kill Kara, and you stepped in the way of the bullet.”
“It’s not quite as heroic as it sounds. I acted on instinct.”
“That’s exactly what makes it heroic. Most people’s instinct is to dive away from bullets, not towards them.”
“I never was all that bright.”
I turned back to face Chloe, but decided not to put my shirt back on. It was a touch cold in here, but getting dressed was the last thing on my
“Yes,” she replied quickly. “Of course. I just expected something like that to be known in the office. What happened? I take it they missed.”
“Sort of,” I replied.
Chloe waited for me to elaborate. She wasn’t going to let up until she had all the information. She deserved to know. Kara had been my assistant and friend. Now Chloe was my assistant, and she was quickly becoming a friend too. Maybe even more than that.
If anything ever happened between us, she’d find out sooner or later what I was hiding on my back. Might as well show her now.
I grabbed the bottom of my t-shirt and lifted it off over my head in one smooth motion. When I looked back at Chloe she was staring straight into my eyes. Most women would be looking elsewhere right now. What did it take to impress this girl?
“Are you hot?” Chloe asked. “Because we could just turn on the air conditioning.”
I looked away from her, waited a few seconds, and then quickly looked back catching her staring at my chest. Busted.
“You just checked me out,” I teased. “Like what you see?”
“I’ve seen it before,” Chloe replied. “And I wasn’t checking you out, I was looking to see if the wound was healing.”
“The wound’s on the other side.”
Chloe pursed her lips, but didn’t say anything.
“Fine, I was admiring your tattoos,” Chloe responded. “Can’t a girl appreciate good artwork?”
“So you’re saying my body’s a work of art?” I teased again.
I was relieved to see her cheeks turn slightly red with embarrassment. If she was embarrassed, that might mean she did actually feel something for me. That should be a bad thing, but there wasn’t much point pretending I didn’t want her. I might lie to myself about the things I’d done for work, but there was no tricking my brain out of this one.
“How about you tell me why you took your shirt off to reveal this ‘work of art?’ Or do you always strip off in front of your employees? Actually, you know what, don’t answer that question.”
“I’ll have you know, I’ve never slept with any of my employees.”
“Really?”
“Well, I’ve never knowingly slept with any of my employees. We hire a lot of people and I’ve slept with a lot of--”
“Alright, how about we get to the point?”
I couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t like it when I talked about other women. Okay, so I didn’t like it when she talked about other men either, but at least we were on an equal footing this way.
I turned my back to Chloe and told her to look at my lower back.
“It’s a tattoo of a skull,” Chloe said, as I felt her eyes on my back. I subconsciously tried to tense my back muscles, but that just hurt the wound in my side. Why was I so damn keen to impress someone I could never have sex with?
“Look carefully at the left eye socket.”
Chloe shifted on the sofa and moved her head closer to my back to get a better look, being careful not to actually touch me while she did so. Did she think I was contagious or something? Would she only touch me after I’d been stabbed? If so, I’d be seriously tempted to go get a knife and--
“There’s a scar there,” she remarked. “It looks like… a bullet wound.”
“That’s because it is one.”
“You were shot.”
“Yep. I got lucky. The bullet just missed my spine, and the doctors were able to repair the damage to my internal organs.”
“You got in the way, didn’t you?” Chloe asked. “Someone tried to kill Kara, and you stepped in the way of the bullet.”
“It’s not quite as heroic as it sounds. I acted on instinct.”
“That’s exactly what makes it heroic. Most people’s instinct is to dive away from bullets, not towards them.”
“I never was all that bright.”
I turned back to face Chloe, but decided not to put my shirt back on. It was a touch cold in here, but getting dressed was the last thing on my
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