Teaching The Boss

Chapter Fifteen

April held the neon orange skirt up to her as she studied her reflection. "I don't know if I can pull off orange."

"I'm a firm believer that every woman can pull off every color if they wear it with swagger," said Jessica from behind her. "But there is no way in hell I'm letting you buy that."

A distressed moan escaped April. "Why?"

"Because it's probably going to make your ass look fantastic and I refuse to let you wear that around Sam."

A wicked grin spread across April's face. What would Sam say when he saw her? What would he do? Good Lord, she was having an office affair. This was so HBO. Nothing like this ever happened to plain old April Morgan.

Jessica grunted in disgust. "Get that look off your face. At least try to look ashamed."

April set the hanger over her arm and moved on to the next rack of clothes. "Could you at least pretend to be happy for me?" After she'd giddily called Jessica right after Sam left, they'd planned a Sunday shopping trip. April thought it would be fun to splurge on a few new outfits for her reunion with HuntCorp. Apparently Jessica thought it was an intervention.

"This isn't you. Sam is a toxic influence you need to purge from your life. You've only been together two days and you're already being sucked back into your old job. Remember why you left in the first place? The prestige for working for Donald Hunt. The money."

"None of that has changed. My resume will be as pristine as ever. Just now I get to have more fun." She pulled out a black dress with a pattern of yellow triangles. "Does this look work appropriate to you? Like, my work, not yours."

Jessica didn't look amused. "What if something goes wrong? Do you have any idea what will happen if either of the Hunts blacklist you?"

"Sam wouldn't do that to me." Even as the words left her mouth, she knew how naive she sounded. How many other women had said the same things about their lovers, boyfriends, and husbands? But she really meant it. "Besides, you date powerful men all the time. What makes this different?"

"The difference is that I don't shit where I eat. You need to keep your professional and personal life separate."

April pushed through another rack, but wasn't paying attention to any of the clothes. Instead, all the ways this thing with Sam could go wrong raced through her mind. "I've wanted this for years."

"And you got over it. Where was Sam all that time you were crushing so hard? Oh, yeah. Out drinking, partying and running over defenseless women."

"Damn it, Jessica. It's not like that. He's worked hard to change."

Jessica scoffed. "Please. If I had a nickel for every time I heard a guy tell me that. What does the girl he crippled have to say about all this anyway?"

April took a deep breath. This was a bad idea. She'd known how Jessica felt about Sam, but for some stupid reason thought Jessica would be happy for her. "I haven't talked to Annabelle since before the party."

"Too afraid to tell her? That's understandable." Jessica crossed her arms over her chest.

Slamming a hanger on the metal rack loud enough to draw the attention of a few other shoppers, April turned to face Jessica. "You know what? She actually likes Sam. She thinks his attempts to change are sincere and, even though she's suffered because of his mistakes, she's forgiven him."

"Please. Is that what she said as she was cashing the big, fat check he wrote for her silence?"

"I can't believe this. At least Annabelle would be happy for me."