Falling For My Boss

Chapter 23

~~~~Hailee’s POV~~~~
“Hey, Haiz!” Griffin answers his phone excitedly. “Did you have a good time at the race? You guys left so quickly!”
“We did, you did great. Listen, I need to ask you something,” This night alone has me overthinking a little after not being by myself for so long, and I need some brotherly advice.
“Anything for my little sis.”
“Do you think I’m rushing things with y/n?” I feel like maybe I’m pushing too hard with her, maybe I need to just let things happen instead of planning things out constantly.
“You’re doing the opposite, idiot.” Griff laughs.
“Really? I keep thinking maybe she isn’t ready for the same things I am.”
“She is head over heels in love with you, Haiz. She’d literally move to the moon if you wanted to,” he jokes.
“I don’t want her to do that! I want her to be her own person, Griff. What if being her boss and her girlfriend is too much for her? I don’t want to be her entire life. She deserves more than that,” I insist.
“Then tell her that! Make sure she doesn’t feel like you consume her. Show her you appreciate her opinions and ideas independently of you. But I swear, she loves her job separately from how she loves you. I think she’s nuts, but she literally enjoys making your schedule and grocery shopping. If she felt the way you’re scared of, you’d know it,” he assures me.
“You really think she loves me?” Of course that’s what I fixate on.
“Obviously.”
“Seriously, Griffin,” I can’t help but hope he’s right. I mean, I’m falling harder every day for y/n.
“Seriously, Hailee.” He mocks me. Having a best friend who is also your older brother comes with way too much teasing.
~~~~The next morning~~~~
“Hey, I picked up that new tea you wanted to try, come drink it while it’s still cold!” Y/n calls to me from the entryway. She makes her way into the kitchen and hands me the cup, smirking charmingly.
“And good morning to you too,” I jab before giving her a little kiss. “Did you have a good night?”
“I had a great night!” she exclaims. “We had some really good pizza, and I won at Phase 10,” she brags, smiling.
“And you caught up with your friends right? you didn’t just demolish their spirits playing the most competitive card game you’ve ever played?” I tease her. I’ve seen her get a little too aggressive about that game in particular.
“I did. We had a good long talk,” she assures me. “How was your night?”
“Good. Talked to Griffin for a while. Mostly just chilled. Missed you in bed though.” I give her a sly grin. “You’ve been spoiling me.”
“How have I been doing that?” She leans toward me innocently, putting her weight on the island. She widens her eyes comically.
“Giving me all of your time, staying with me so much, a girl might think you’re trying to make me fall in love with you.” I’m being coy, but she feeds into it.
“Oh, no, I couldn't trick someone into doing such a horrible thing as that!” She puts on a transatlantic accent like an old movie and mimes clutching her pearls. I laugh.
“What’s so horrible about it?” I take on the macho 50's movie lead voice, rounding the counter and wrapping my arms around her.I look at her for a beat then kiss her dramatically, dipping her in my arms. We’re still in that position when we break apart.
“I love you.” She says it quietly, breathlessly. I’m so baffled I almost drop her,and my mouth drops open. “I’m in love with you,” louder now, like she knows I need to hear it again to believe it. I stand her back up and put my hands on her face, and she wraps her arms around my waist.
“Really?” That's all I can say. I’m speechless otherwise. She smiles sheepishly.
“I wanted to wait and tell you on your birthday, but-” I cut her off with another kiss, pouring myself into her. It's a long time before I pull away.
“I love you too.” I didn’t realize I was going to say it back, but there it is. And I’m not lying. Oh my god, I’m in love with her.
“You mean it?” Her eyes widen with surprise. “Because you don’t have to say it if you aren’t ready.”
“I mean it,” I draw her chin up to look at me and kiss her again, softly. “What was I supposed to be doing today?” I ask her, and she gives me a confused look.
“Uh, um,” she stumbles for a second, still surprised. “Sorry, um, nothing?” She pulls her phone out of her pocket and opens up the calendar. “Yeah, you’re on a break until Monday.”
“That’s good.” I take her phone and put it on the counter before leaning down and scooping her up. Her legs wrap around my waist and I start walking down the hall.
“What are you doing?” She’s giggling. “Hailee, I still have work to do!”
“Should have thought of that before you decided to be the most beautiful woman on Earth,” I murmur, and kiss her neck.
“Hailee!” she swats at my shoulders playfully. “Put me down!” I do, reluctantly, and she rewards me with a passionate kiss. "Let me get my work done, then I'm all yours," she promises, and scurries off to the office.
"You're too responsible sometimes!" I call after her. But that's part of why I love her. I decide to pass the time working out, and maybe later the thought of being in love will be less dizzying.
~~~~Y/N's POV~~~~
When I get into the office, I hurriedly check that all of the bills I'm in charge of are set to auto pay, and get my emails open. A couple confirmations, good to go on the final schedule, yay! My heart flutters when I add the interview with Jimmy Fallon. He's the first big TV interview Hailee’s doing for the film, and she decided that's when she's going public with our relationship. The next one will be James Corden, and I'm sure that will be interesting. I'm still waiting on the list of what games and questions they want to have her team approve. No email on that, so that's annoying. I approved with Fallon's people before even picking the exact filming date.
Once my emails are done, I check my watch and decide I have a little time, so I start doing some final prep for Hailee's birthday party. I'm planning a small surprise during it, and her gift is a little elaborate, but it's the first birthday we're celebrating since we started dating so I want to go all out. It's also the first time I'm meeting a lot of her friends in person so I may or may not be geeking. I mean, Taylor Swift will be there. I spend half the time planning this party in awe of what I'm doing. When I'm done, I practically run out of the office to find Hailee.