Page 50 of Help Wanted

“I saw the charge on the credit card.”

He looked up at the ceiling, cursing his stupidity. Why hadn’t he used a personal card so she wouldn’t have seen the charge? Flowers obviously aren’t a business expense anyway. He had been too nervous to think that morning.

He wasn’t sure what to say next. He glanced around at all the other happy couples on the dance floor. He wanted that. He wanted to be a happy couple with Kenley and he’d waited long enough. He decided it was all or nothing.

“The flowers were for you. I was going to give them to you, and then ask you out. But I heard you on the phone talking about a date and taking it slow or something, and I ditched that plan.”

Her sexy lips formed a perfect O and then she giggled.

“I was talking about you. Vanessa thought our trip to Galveston counted as a date.”

“You said we were taking it slow?”

She shrugged and her cheeks flushed.

“We had been kind of flirting. I thought that was us taking it slow,” she explained. She was adorable when she was embarrassed. He wanted her all the more.

“I think our attempt at flirting was more like taking things incrementally and painfully slow.” They laughed together. For a second the moment seemed light, but too soon the awkwardness took hold of them again.

She was in his arms, she liked him, and she didn’t have a boyfriend. It seemed like the obvious next step would be to kiss her or ask her out on a real date, or at the very least to say something charming.

He couldn’t think of a damn thing. All the times before when he couldn’t seem to remember she was his employee caught up to him in that moment when it was the only thing he could think of.

She didn’t have anything to offer either. She tensed and watched the other dancers intently. When the music changed to a faster song, they sprang apart as if they were on fire.

He opened his mouth to say something at the same time she said, “I guess it’s getting late.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” It wasn’t even ten, but he could tell she wanted to get away. He needed to make sure they were okay. “Hey, about before.”

“Yes?” She seemed eager to hear what he had to say.

“I don’t want things to be complicated or awkward between us. You’re a valuable asset to the company, and I’d hate it if I did something to mess that up.”

“Right. I was thinking the same thing.”

So that was that. He’d admitted he had feelings for her. She’d admitted she had feelings for him. But it didn’t matter.

* * *

The moment was over. She’d messed it up. When he walked her to the elevator she was already planning to call Vanessa and tell her what had happened. Hopefully Vanessa would have some advice to help her. She really liked Zane, but between the fear of possibly losing her job and the terror of having to tell him she had never been with a man, she was barely able to speak. When she realized she wouldn’t be able to call Vanessa with a dead phone, her shoulders slumped. “I just remembered I left my charger plugged in the boat.”

She could only hope it didn’t sound like a ploy to get him alone on the boat. It truly wasn’t. She wasn’t smooth enough to come up with an elaborate plan of seduction.

As they walked back to the boat in silence, she desperately tried to think of something to say to get the moment back. She didn’t want to go back to inept flirting, or the miscommunications. She wanted him. And she needed her job.

He helped her onto the boat where she retrieved the charging cable from the deck. When she turned to leave he stood blocking the way. He stared at her for a long moment.

“Would you like some wine?”

“Wine?”

“It’s in the refrigerator. It makes it look classy when I rent it out.”

“Sure.” She grabbed on to any reason to stay with him. Maybe wine would make it easier to tell him she was a virgin, but didn’t want to be any longer.

She sat on the deck, listening to the sounds of him below in the galley.

Silently she braced herself for the next step. The final step. She wanted to be with Zane, and she wasn’t going to let fear stop her again.