Mr. Grump (Billionaire Bossholes Book 1) by Leslie North

Author:Leslie North [North, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-08T16:00:00+00:00

20

KAITLYN

“There you are! Where’ve you been lately?”

Lou jogged up behind me and fell in step next to me wearing a huge smile despite the fact that he was red-faced and looked like he’d been running for a while.

“Hey Lou, been a while,” I huffed as we jogged side-by-side but not close. “I’ve changed my running schedule lately, so I guess that’s why we haven’t seen each other. How are you?” I slowed my pace so we could chat a bit. The new schedule worked better for Harper, but I had missed running with a buddy. Having a partner made it easier to keep my pace, and Lou was fun to talk to—funny and engaging, making the run go faster as he dished all sorts of entertaining dirt on the other residents in the neighborhood.

“All good, except for missing your smiling face. What’s new?”

“Not much,” I lied. No sense telling him that I was sleeping with my boss. He got a little too into gossip sometimes, and I wasn’t entirely sure I could trust him to keep something that juicy to himself. “Just really busy.”

He watched me for a few beats. “You seem…different. What’s going on?”

His tone was pushy, like I owed him an explanation.

“Oh yeah?” I glanced over at him and felt a little put off by the intensity of his stare. “How so?”

“Happier. More, I don’t know, comfortable here. Settled.”

I laughed, relaxing a little. “Happy, sure, but I wouldn’t say settled.”

“So you’re ready to move on, then? A new adventure?” He was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

God, I hope not. I wanted to stay here in paradise with James and Harper for as long as possible, but James had told me straight out that he didn’t know how much he could promise me. And I’d told him I was fine with things being undefined. But as much as I was enjoying my time with James, I couldn’t quite outrun the feeling that I could be tossed out on my ass at any moment. I didn’t want to hold the past against him, and I understood why he’d wanted to rush home to Harper that first night we spent together…but that didn’t actually erase the sting of being kicked out. Discarded. Just like my mom discarded me years ago.

“No, not quite,” I answer vaguely. “I mean, my assignment isn’t over yet, so there’s that.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re still here. Honestly, I was getting a little worried you’d left without saying goodbye to me. I wondered if that boss of yours had run you off. Not many people can deal with him, from what I’ve heard. Have you got any good stories about him? I bet he’s a tyrant.”

I stifled a laugh. Typical Lou—always mining for gossip.

“He’s been a really great boss. No problems to report,” I said simply, and I swear Lou slumped in disappointment.

We ran in silence for a bit until we reached our usual separation point.

“Hey Kaitlyn, before you go…” Lou said, moving so that he was standing in front of me, blocking my path.

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