Chapter 1

After I finished working late, I realized someone was following me.

I called my boyfriend for help, but on the other end he was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

"Don't flatter yourself. Who's going to chase you around in the middle of the night? You really think you're that good-looking?"

Before I could finish, the line went dead.

The footsteps behind me rushed in. I bolted, but two steps later a hand yanked me by the hair and slammed me down onto the ground.

"Little slut, you sure know how to work those hips when you walk. Let me get a taste of what you've got."

I fought with everything I had and couldn't break free. Thank God a security guard heard the noise and came running, and the man took off.

I ran all the way home, but Denys James didn't even lift his head. "You're back, aren't you? Quit being so dramatic."

Two weeks later, the new coworker, Fern Henson, posted online that she'd been working late and couldn't get a ride.

In under ten minutes, Denys showed up outside the office.

He pulled the car door open, put Fern in the passenger seat, and even leaned over to buckle her seatbelt for her.

"I'm the boss. Looking out for my employees is only right."

Then he turned to me. "Dropping Fern off isn't on my way. Book yourself a ride home."

Fern covered her face, cheeks flushed. "Denys, you're so sweet."

So he knew how dangerous it was for a girl to walk alone at night.

I just wasn't important enough.

...

A cluster of people had gathered outside the office. Fern sat in the passenger seat, the window rolled halfway down.

The coworkers broke into laughter.

"The boss himself, playing chauffeur?"

"What kind of dream boss is this? He even chauffeurs the intern assistant. Fern, you must have saved the galaxy in a past life!"

Fern's ears went red. She ducked her head, pressing her lips together in a smile.

I stood outside the crowd, watching that smile, and something in my eyes started to sting.

My mind kept flashing back to that night, to being pinned to the ground, to the suffocation and the despair, to the sickening reek of alcohol on that man.

Flattering myself. Being dramatic.

That was what he'd called it.

But somehow, all Fern had to do was post once online, saying she'd worked late and couldn't get a ride.

And he was out the door without a word.

Fern leaned out the window and looked at me, smiling a little.

"Florence Cox, Denys just worries about a young girl like me being unsafe."

"He's got such a good heart. He always says it's on his way, that he'll drop me off."

"I've turned him down a few times, but he won't have it. He insists on driving me. I can't stop him."

No wonder Denys, the boss, left for the office earlier than I did every single day.

So that was where he was going. To play chauffeur.

But he'd never once driven me anywhere. Not one time.

I asked him why once, and he said we had to keep it discreet at the office, that it wouldn't look good if coworkers saw us.

So most of my coworkers had no idea we were even together.

A male coworker beside me knocked into my arm. "Florence, what are you staring at?"

"Eyes glued to the car. What, you want a turn in the boss's passenger seat too?"

The whole group burst out laughing.

"She's had that bag for what, two years? Does she even have the class for the boss's passenger seat?"

"Come on, don't be like that. She just wants a little TLC too."

Denys sat in the car as if he hadn't heard a thing.

No explanation. No defense. Not even a flicker across his face.

I turned my head and looked straight at the coworker with the loosest mouth.

"What about you, then? Still hanging around here. You looking to cozy up to the boss too?"

He choked on it, red-faced and furious, and in the end couldn't get a word out.

I turned to leave.

Denys's voice suddenly rose behind me.

He'd pulled a jacket from the back seat and draped it over Fern's knees.

"It's cold out. Keep this on."

"Don't catch a cold and end up miserable again. Then I'll just have to go buy you medicine."

Fern murmured something, and Denys smiled, soft and doting.

I paused for a moment. Then, without looking back, I kept walking.