Misbehaving Curves: A Boss Romance Read online

  Misbehaving Curves

  A Boss Romance

  Piper Sullivan

  Copyright © 2020 by Piper Sullivan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Also by Piper Sullivan

  Curvy Girl Dating Agency

  Curves for the Single Dad

  Tara

  Single Dad Chris Jacobs was too hot for my peace of mind.

  And he was too much of a jerk for me to lust over.

  His hotness was right on par with his jerkiness, neither of which I needed in my life.

  So I put as much distance between us as I could.

  Until my mind focused on something other than his thick brown waves, and those hazel eyes that were mostly golden.

  Anything else.

  His Curvy Best Friend: A Friends to Lovers Romance

  Curvy Girl’s Secret: A Baby Romance

  His Curvy Enemy: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Small Town Protectors (Tulip Series)

  That Hot Night, Book 12: A Firefighter Romance

  To Catch A Player, Book 11: A Second Chance Romance

  Cold Hearted Love, Book 10: A Sheriff Romance

  Hero Boss, Book 9: An Office Romance

  Dr's Orders, Book 8: A Single Mom Romance

  Mastering Her Curves, Book 7: A Curvy Girl Romance

  Kissing My Best Friend, Book 6: A Fake Relationship Romance

  Undesired, Book 5: A Best Friend's Brother Romance

  Wanting Ms Wrong, Book 4: A Second Chance Baby Romance

  Loving My Enemy, Book 3: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Bad Boy Benefits, Book 2: A Roommate Hero Romance

  Hero In My Bed, Book 1: A Roommate Hero Romance

  Accidental Hookups

  Accidentally Hitched: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 1)

  Accidentally Wed: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 2)

  Accidentally Bound: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 3)

  Accidentally Wifed: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 4)

  Boardroom Games

  His Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games Book 1)

  Sinful Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games Book 2)

  Naughty Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games 3)

  Standalones

  Stranded: A Mountain Man Romance

  Dating the Doctor: A Single Dad Romance

  Dr. Daddy Next Door: A Single Dad Romance

  Cowboy's Fake Fiancée: A Single Dad & A Virgin Romance

  Cowboy's Barmaid: A Small Town Military Romance

  Let's Pretend : A Fake Fiancée Romance

  I’ll Pretend : A Fake Fiancée Romance

  Boxsets & Collections

  Misters of Love: A Small Town Protectors Boxset

  Misters of Pleasure: A Small Town Protectors Boxset

  Daddies & Nannies: A Contemporary Romance Boxset

  Cowboys & Bosses: A Contemporary Romance Boxset

  Kiss Me, Love Me: An Alpha Male Romance Boxset

  Accidentally On Purpose:An Accidental Marriage Boxset

  Small Town Misters: A Small Town Protectors Boxset

  Contents

  1. Joss

  2. Ben

  3. Joss

  4. Ben

  5. Joss

  6. Ben

  7. Joss

  8. Ben

  9. Joss

  10. Ben

  11. Joss

  12. Ben

  13. Joss

  14. Ben

  15. Joss

  16. Ben

  17. Joss

  18. Ben

  19. Joss

  20. Ben

  21. Joss

  22. Ben

  23. Joss

  24. Ben

  25. Joss

  26. Ben

  27. Joss

  28. Ben

  29. Joss

  Preview: Curves for the Single Dad

  Also by Piper Sullivan

  About the Author

  Joss

  Ben Rutherford was the principal of Pilgrim High School, which made him my boss as well as the man of my dreams.

  He was tall with a strength that radiated from him. Maybe it was the short almost buzz cut of his hair, and the thick, but well manicured beard that attracted me. I don’t really know. And I don’t really care. I want him, badly enough to make a fool out of myself time and time again.

  Like right now, fantasizing while he was asking me out.

  Finally.

  “Joss?” Ben’s brows dipped in concerned confusion.

  I blinked and looked directly into those green eyes before letting out a sigh that sounded suspiciously like a swoon. “Um sure, that would be great, Ben. Did you want to pick me up? Because I can totally meet you there.” It was customary for the man to pick up the woman, but I was a modern woman and I understood how things worked.

  Ben’s frown only darkened as he shook his head and I felt sick to my stomach. “A bunch of us, teachers and coaches, are meeting up there.” It was Friday night, which meant it was football night in Pilgrim, and plenty of the staff went out after the game for beer and non-school related conversation.

  “Oh.” Of course, he wasn’t asking me out. I’d been batting my eyelashes, attempting to flirt without crossing the line at every opportunity and sending out as many signals as possible without seeming desperate, and still, Principal Rutherford hadn’t taken the bait.

  And he wasn’t going to, ever. Clearly.

  But I straightened my spine and squared my shoulders as embarrassment threatened to flatten me. “I’ll see if I can make it.” It was as non-committal as I could be in that moment, utterly humiliated as I was.

  He flashed that charming, boy-next-door smile that melted my insides and shrugged. “I hope to see you there.” The unsaid, as a friend, no longer needed to be uttered, because it was clear he only wanted to make me feel included, as a teacher and a newcomer to the town of Pilgrim, Texas.

  When he was out of earshot, I turned to my friend Mara who’d witnessed the entire mortifying ordeal and dropped my head on her shoulder. “Did that look as humiliating as it felt?”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Mara insisted, but I didn’t need to look up to see the sympathy to go along with the smile in her voice. “But it wasn’t good.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of, because it felt terrible.” Worse than terrible, and it served as a perfect reminder why I didn’t take risks or go outside my comfort zone much. Moving to Pilgrim was probably the riskiest thing I’d done in my twenty-seven years of living. Or half-living, as my mom had told me on multiple occasions.

  “It was bold of you to assume, and that was pretty bad ass.”

  I looked up and stared at my friend’s twitching mouth. “Pretty stupid, you mean. What was I thinking? He barely knows I’m a woman, never mind interested. It’s time to call time of death on this crush. Permanently.” It was well past time, truth be told.

  “Or maybe you could just ask him out. I heard there are women who’ve done that and lived to tell the tale.” I appreciated Mara’s sarcasm and blunt honesty, most of the time. Tonight was not one of those times.

  I shook my head at her advice because it was pointless. “Mara
I have been dropping hints and signs galore, and nothing.” It had amounted to less than nothing, in fact. “So, either he is so uninterested that he can’t even see me as a possibility,” which was a devastating thought to my female ego, “or he’s pretending not to get the hints, so he doesn’t have to reject me outright.” Neither possibility made me feel like anything but a loser, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop the tears that stung behind my eyes.

  Mara shrugged as her gaze landed on Principal Rutherford, surrounded by five sexy women, all dolled up and leaning in to show off their bodies, inappropriately dressed for the weather as they were. “Sometimes, often, men are just clueless. If you don’t beat them over the head, like that,” she pointed to one mom who pushed a stroller back and forth with one hand, and grasped his bicep with the other. “They are totally clueless.”

  “Look at them! There’s no way I can compete with that.” Most days I wore my thick blond hair in a ponytail and I never bothered with any makeup other than mascara, while these women were expertly put together with professionally done hairstyles. “I look like a gym teacher, and they look like the hot librarian from porn videos.”

  Mara bit back a laugh and shook her head. “You’re being ridiculous Joss, you know that, right? If Ben had any interest in those women he wouldn’t be scanning the crowd in search of someone to save him.”

  My gaze followed her finger and sure enough, he was looking around for assistance. “It doesn’t matter. Tonight was the perfect chance for him to make his interest known, the fact that he didn’t tells me everything I’ve been ignoring for months.” For almost a year, because it hadn’t taken me long to develop a crush on him after I started working at PHS and he’d shown an interest in the suddenly winning Varsity girls soccer team.

  “So, that’s it? Crush over?”

  I gave a sharp, exaggerated nod. “It’ll take some time, but yeah, that’s it.” If I waited any longer, the situation threatened to become sad. Pathetic. Depressing. “It’s time to move on, to do what I set out to do when I moved here and took this job.”

  Mara turned to me, curiosity burning in her big brown eyes. “Does that mean you’re finally going to reach out to your brothers?”

  “Half brothers,” I corrected and nodded. “But yes. I’m going to actively look for love and I’m going to meet my brothers. Not necessarily in that order.”

  “Sounds like you have a plan.”

  “No, making a plan, is as far as my plan has gotten.” And it had only crystallized when my crush looked at me like I was a fool for thinking he might be asking me out on a date.

  “You know there is a well-known matchmaking service in town with a pretty good reputation for, you know, helping people find love.”

  Time for Love. They had an excellent reputation in Pilgrim and beyond, and it was probably the best chance someone like me had for finding a good match.

  “That’s a great idea, Mara. Hey! Maybe we could do this together and we’ll both find love?”

  Mara scoffed as I knew she would. “Pass.” There was no venom in her words, but everything from the set of her shoulders to the straight white line of her mouth told me she meant her words.

  “Why? You’re single and beautiful.” Despite her acerbic wit and dark good looks, Mara hadn’t been on a single date in the year and some months we’d been friends. “What’s the big deal?”

  “There’s no big deal,” she said, but I noticed Mara kept her gaze on the football field, clapping as if she was paying attention to the action on the field. “I tried love once and it bit me in the ass in the most spectacular fashion. I have no interest in feeling that way again.”

  I understood her reluctance, the humiliation that still burned through me was enough to make me want to hide under the covers for a week, but I wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet. “You have no interest in feeling in love, or the feeling when love doesn’t work out?”

  “Both. I don’t want to love someone so completely again, and that wouldn’t be fair to the other person, so here we are.”

  “But you’ll help me?”

  “Of course, I will. Don’t you want fashion tips from the woman who lives in jeans and t-shirts?”

  I looked down at myself and frowned. “I dress in jeans and t-shirts most days,” I insisted.

  “And you were just complaining that you can’t compete with those women. Personally, I think you’re miles better than them, but you clearly don’t, which means you need real help. The kind Sophie and Eva and Olive can give you.”

  “Okay fine,” I groaned. “You can give me moral support, right?”

  “Abso-friggin-lutely.” It wasn’t exactly the answer I was hoping for, but from Mara, it meant she’d have my back throughout all of this, which was all I needed.

  “Thanks, Mara.” I wrapped her in a hug that was more uncomfortable than it should have been thanks to our layers against the chilly evening.

  “Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome.” The woman was uncomfortable with any kind of emotion, and for some reason it only made me love her friendship and support even more. “Let’s not get crazy about it.”

  Crazy was moving to a small town in a state I’d never been to, just to meet two half-brothers I never knew about, and who probably knew nothing about me. They probably didn’t give a damn that I existed. But I was here and determined to see my plans through, which meant Time for Love.

  And Tulip.

  Eventually.

  Ben

  Nothing was better than a home cooked meal, except of course when the meal featured all of my favorite foods. It was yet another Sunday dinner at my mom’s house, the same house where me and my sisters grew up, with the same pine dining table that took up the entire dining room. The table was set the way it always was, the only difference was that the usually empty seats were now filled with brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews. And because of all the additional seats being filled, dinner was a much louder affair.

  Just how I liked it.

  Most of the time, anyway.

  “Ben, it’s time.” My mother, Rita Rutherford, was not one to hold her tongue, not even when it was clear that she was fighting a losing battle.

  I groaned in frustration, knowing I should have shoveled the mashed potatoes and cheesy pasta into my mouth as soon as I sat down, instead of being polite and catching up with my siblings and their husbands.

  “Not again, Mom. Please.” Every few months she got a bug up her butt about me settling down with a wife and producing more grandchildren, as if they were in short supply around the Rutherford household. “Why are we having this conversation again? Ella has two kids already and Emma’s got one, with twins on the way. How is that not enough?”

  She sighed and shook her head in disappointment, green eyes one shade lighter than mine set on me sadly. “You’re not even dating anyone seriously, Ben.”

  “I have two beautiful sisters willing to give you plenty of grandchildren.” Emma and Ella were identical twins who’d had their first children two weeks apart. “Isn’t that enough?”

  “No. It won’t be enough until you’re settled with children of your own. You don’t want the cousins to be too much older than the rest of the kids in the family, do you?”

  I hadn’t really given it much thought, to be honest. “We never did anything else together, why start now and with kids?” This was starting to border on ridiculous, and I shoved big slice of roast in my mouth before I said something to hurt my mom’s feelings.

  “They’ll be lonely.”

  “There will always be kids somewhere, Mom.”

  She let out a frustrated groan and yanked away the basket of rolls when I reached for one. Maybe two. “Yes, but not cousins. How long do you expect your sisters to keep having children?”

  I shrugged and flashed a smile around the roast in my mouth. “Until your bloodlust for grandchildren has been satisfied?”

  Emma laughed unabashedly, no care whatsoever for the glare Mom sent her way. Ella looked a
way and buried her laugh behind a delicious buttery role. “You’re not funny, Ben.”

  I was a little funny, but now wasn’t the time to say that. “Just be happy with the grandchildren you have, Mom. They’ll be annoying teenagers in no time, trust me.” As principal of the only high school in town, I was an expert in annoying teenagers.

  She flashed a soft look at Ella’s toddlers, eating slowly and having a secret conversation at the other end of the table. “They grow up so fast. And you’re missing out.”

  I wasn’t in the mood to fight, and I’d yet to win a fight with my mother, so I filled my stomach with more of her delicious food and kept my eyes on my plate. Fortunately, dinner in the Rutherford household wasn’t a multiple hour affair and as soon as she set Emma’s caramel cake on the table, a bad feeling settled into my gut that had nothing to do with the three plates of food I’d consumed entirely too fast.

  “You made my favorite, Emma. My favorite twin.”

  Ella rolled her blue eyes and snorted. “I would’ve made you a cake too, if I’d have known about the ambush.”

  It took a moment for Ella’s words to sink in, but by the time they did, there was a long cream colored envelope sitting on my plate instead of a slice of cake.

  “What’s this?” I stared at it like it might hold a venomous snake and looked up at the women in my life. “Well?”

  “Open it and find out,” Ella said, a smug smirk on her freckled face.