Updated Dec 2, 2025 • ~8 min read
Three days after their perfect first date, maintaining professional distance at work was torture.
Layla saw Garrett constantly—in meetings, in hallways, during events—and every time their eyes met, the memory of his kisses, his touch, his whispered confession of love made her skin flush.
They were careful. So careful. No lingering glances in public, no casual touches, nothing that would raise suspicions.
It was exhausting.
On Thursday afternoon, Layla received an email.
FROM: Garrett Hawthorne
TO: Layla Rivera
SUBJECT: Q3 Events Review
Ms. Rivera,
Please come to my office at 5:30 PM to review the quarterly events performance metrics.
-GH
It was perfectly professional. Perfectly appropriate.
Except they’d never scheduled a quarterly review for 5:30 PM—after most people had left for the day.
Layla’s heart raced as she read the email again, understanding the subtext.
He wanted to see her. Alone.
At 5:28, Layla knocked on Garrett’s office door.
“Come in.”
She entered to find him behind his desk, looking every inch the professional director. But his eyes tracked her movement across the room with barely controlled heat.
“Close the door,” he said quietly.
She did, and he stood, moving around his desk. For a moment they just looked at each other, the air between them charged.
“This is a terrible idea,” Layla said.
“The worst,” Garrett agreed.
“Anyone could walk in.”
“I locked it.”
“Someone might notice—”
He kissed her, cutting off her protests, and Layla melted into him. God, she’d missed this—missed him—even though it had only been three days.
When they broke apart, both breathing hard, Garrett pulled her to the small couch in the corner of his office, away from the windows.
“We have maybe twenty minutes before it looks suspicious that we’re in here together,” he said, keeping her hand in his.
“Then we should probably actually review those quarterly metrics.”
“There are no quarterly metrics. That was a terrible excuse to see you.”
Layla laughed. “You’re getting sloppy, Mr. Hawthorne.”
“I’m desperate, Ms. Rivera.” He brought her hand to his lips. “Three days of seeing you and not being able to touch you, talk to you, even look at you properly—it’s killing me.”
“I know the feeling.”
They sat close together on the couch, savoring the stolen moment.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Garrett said after a while. “And I need you to be honest.”
“Always.”
“Are you okay with this? The sneaking around, the pretending, all of it. Because if it’s too much—”
“It’s not ideal,” Layla admitted. “But I understand why we’re being careful. We need to figure out the right way to tell my dad, the right way to handle things at work. Rushing would make everything harder.”
“You’re sure?”
“Garrett, three days ago you told me you were falling in love with me. I’m not going anywhere.”
His expression softened. “About that—”
“Having regrets already?”
“The opposite.” He cupped her face, thumb brushing her cheek. “I keep waiting to wake up and realize I imagined this whole thing. That you’re not actually this perfect, that I’ve built you up in my head into something that can’t be real.”
“I’m not perfect.”
“You are to me.” He kissed her softly. “Can I tell you something?”
“Anything.”
Garrett was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
“That first day,” he started, “when you walked into my office for your orientation—I knew immediately.”
“Knew what?”
“That you were going to be a problem.” A slight smile. “You looked so nervous but determined. And when Quinn introduced you, when our eyes met, I felt this—recognition. Like some part of me already knew you were going to matter.”
Layla’s breath caught.
“I tried to convince myself it was just surprise,” Garrett continued. “Shock at seeing you all grown up, at you being there at all. But then you started talking about your qualifications, about your goals for your career, and you were so articulate and passionate—and I realized I was in real trouble.”
“That’s why you were so cold that first day.”
“I was terrified. You were my best friend’s daughter, you were my employee, you were twenty-four years old—every rational thought told me to keep maximum distance. So I did. Or tried to.” He laughed bitterly. “I failed spectacularly.”
“When did you know you were failing?”
“Week one. You brought me that coffee—perfectly made despite what I said—and you smiled at me like you weren’t intimidated at all. Like you saw right through my walls. And I thought, ‘I’m done for. Absolutely done for.'”
“You hid it well.”
“I had to. Because the alternative was admitting that I wanted you from day one. That every time you walked into a room, my focus shifted entirely to you. That I reassigned myself as your supervisor just for an excuse to be near you, then had to reassign you to someone else because I couldn’t trust myself around you.”
Layla’s heart was racing. “I never knew.”
“I couldn’t let you know. It was inappropriate, impossible, wrong on every level. But Layla—” His eyes met hers, raw and honest. “I have wanted you since the moment you walked into my office. Everything after that—the fighting it, the pushing you away, the pretending—was just me being a coward about something I knew from the beginning.”
“What did you know?”
“That you were going to change my life. That once I let myself have you, I’d never be able to let you go.”
The confession hung between them, heavy with meaning.
“I wanted you from day one too,” Layla whispered. “I kept telling myself it was just attraction, just a crush on the boss, but—it was never just that. You were never just that.”
Garrett kissed her like she was air and he was drowning—desperate and reverent all at once.
When they broke apart, he pressed his forehead to hers. “We can’t keep doing this. Meeting in my office, sneaking around. It’s not sustainable.”
“So what do we do?”
“I don’t know yet. But we’ll figure it out.” He pulled back to look at her. “I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If this gets too hard—if the hiding and the complications become too much—you’ll tell me. You won’t just suffer through it because you think I need you to.”
“I promise. But same goes for you. If you’re drowning in guilt about my dad, if this is destroying your peace of mind—”
“Then I’ll talk to you about it instead of running away.” He kissed her forehead. “We’re in this together now. For real.”
“For real,” Layla agreed.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, just being close, until Garrett reluctantly checked his watch.
“You should go,” he said, though he made no move to release her. “We’ve been in here too long already.”
“Five more minutes.”
“Three. Then you leave first, and I’ll stay another fifteen minutes to make it look like I had work to finish.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“This is necessary. For now.”
Layla stood reluctantly, smoothing her clothes. Garrett stood too, pulling her in for one last kiss.
“Tomorrow night,” he said against her lips. “Dinner at your place? I’ll bring takeout.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“And maybe we actually talk about a timeline. For telling people. For making this official.”
“You want to make this official?”
“Layla, I want to shout from the roof that you’re mine. But I’ll settle for a plan that doesn’t get you fired or make your father hate me more than he will anyway.”
She kissed him again, soft and sweet. “Tomorrow. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
Layla left Garrett’s office at 5:52 PM, careful to look professional and composed. She made it all the way to the parking lot before letting herself smile like an idiot.
He’d wanted her from day one.
Day one.
Her phone buzzed as she reached her car.
FROM: Garrett
I’m not going to make it to tomorrow night without seeing you again. Breakfast? There’s a place twenty minutes south of here that makes amazing pancakes.
She laughed, typing back.
You saw me ten minutes ago.
Not the same. I want to see you without worrying about who’s watching. Without having to pretend you’re just an employee. Please?
How could she possibly say no to that?
Tomorrow. 8 AM. Send me the address.
The response was immediate.
Thank you. I know I’m being ridiculous.
You’re being sweet. There’s a difference.
A pause, then:
I love you. I know we said we were falling, but I’m already there. Completely, terrifyingly in love with you.
Layla stared at the message, her eyes burning with happy tears.
I love you too. Completely. Terrifyingly.
We’re really bad at taking things slow.
Best mistake I’ve ever made.
Layla drove home with her heart full, already counting down the hours until she could see him again.
They were in love.
They had a plan to make a plan.
And somehow, despite all the complications, everything felt like it was falling into place.
Reader Reactions