“You will.” He grinned. “I’ll have the paperwork for your raise all ready to go. Since you won’t let me promote you or buy you things.”

Jane shook her head. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Go out with me Saturday night.”

Damn. He was so freaking tempting, and now that she’d kissed him she was really going to have to shore up her defenses. She could not have a fling with the boss. She barely had time to do all the crap she had to do on a regular basis. When would she fit fling-time in anyway? And Dax would be… a lot. He was just a big personality and would be very hard to pigeonhole into a booty-call box.

“Can’t,” she said. But she paused. She bit her bottom lip. She tried not to say it. But in the end she said, “But you could go out with me Saturday morning.”

“Yes.”

He didn’t ask what they’d be doing, what time, anything. Just yes. Jane’s heart tripped a little at that.

“And I’ll let you buy my coffee and muffin at Zoe’s.”

She’d be at Zoe’s anyway, and if he met her there for coffee it was only kind of a date. For all anyone knew, they’d just both happened to be there at the same time. If she drank coffee and ate pastries with him in the morning, she would not be tempted to spend the night with him. Something she was sure would cross her mind if they went out to dinner or to the bar again. She wouldn’t be even able to spend the day with him. She always went from the bakery to see her dad. Kelsey usually met them there unless she had dance practice or a school trip or something. So Saturday morning coffee and muffins was the safest way to see Dax. It would be in public. It would have a time limit on it, and it would be a less-typical time of day for banging.

Though the idea of being in bed with Dax at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning was not the craziest thing she could imagine.

“Breakfast, and I’m not even waking up with you?” he teased.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. She ignored the jab of jealousy over the thought that he’d probably awakened with and gone to breakfast with plenty of women.

He nodded. “I’ll be there at ten.”

“Well, I’ll be there at eight,” she said. Her internal clock was too well set to sleep much past seven. She wished she could sleep in and be leisurely in the morning, linger over her coffee, lie in bed and watch Netflix or read before getting up and at ’em. But she’d been getting up early for too long, and once she was awake her brain wouldn’t stop thinking about all the things she could be getting done if she wasn’t lying in bed.

“Eight?” He sighed. “You’re a morning person.”

“Have to be.” And he wasn’t. Big surprise. They were total opposites.

Except for the fact that they both tried to take care of one of their parents while having issues with the other. And that they both liked and cared about the people who worked at Hot Cakes—she really did believe that Dax cared about them as people after working with them for the past several days. And they both liked pizza. And each other.

She really did like him. Even though anything long term, other than friendship, would be impossible. So friendship. Yeah, they could do that. They could joke and tease and even kiss… Okay, maybe they shouldn’t kiss.

“I’ll be there at eight,” he finally said. Then he added, “Maybe eight fifteen.”

She laughed. “I’ll wait until eight twenty, but I’ve got places to be.”

“Fine. But I’m going to expect some very good… muffins.”

Yeah, he absolutely said that with an-inappropriate-for-a-boss-to-use-with-his-employee tone.

A warm shiver went through her.

“You show up by eight oh five, and your chances of getting those are much better,” she said. With that same inappropriate tone.

Though it was true. You had to get to Buttered Up early. There was always a morning crowd even on Saturdays.

“Duly noted,” he said.

She could have sworn that along with that amused grin, there was a little bit of affection in his expression.

Like friends would have looking at one another.

Friends could be affectionate. And eat pizza together. And spend a Saturday morning together.

And make out against her car again at the end of the night…

That would be very friendly.

She was in a lot of trouble here.

“You’re a real pain in my ass, Marshall,” Grant said as he came through Dax’s office door the next morning.

“Missed you too,” Dax said with a grin at the guy who liked to seem perpetually annoyed with them all but who loved Fluke Inc., and the energy and dynamic between the five men who made it up, as much as any of them did.

Grant Lorre was the oldest of the five partners, a year older than Aiden and Cam and two older than Dax and Ollie. He’d been a business management and econ major at the university when they’d all met. He and Aiden had met at some dorky seminar for business majors and had struck up a conversation that had extended past drinks after the seminar and well into pancakes and coffee the following morning. They’d been fast friends, and when Aiden and Cam had ”discovered”—their word, not his—Dax and Ollie down the hall in the dorm working on their idea for a video game, Grant had gotten looped in.

Dax annoyed Grant. On purpose. The guy was so fucking serious about everything. Grant thought he was looking out for Dax and Ollie when they went on their crazy trips to conferences and fan meet and greets, but the truth was, Dax and Ollie felt it was their duty to get the guy out of the office, out of his suits, and out of his routine.

It was thanks to Dax and Ollie that Grant had any interesting stories to tell. They reminded him of that and told him he was welcome, on a regular basis.

Grant kept a bottle of Tums and one of ibuprofen in his desk drawer. He wrote DAX on the side of the antacids and OLLIE on the side of the painkillers.

That was fucking funny, and Dax loved Grant’s dry, subtle sense of humor.

He also loved doing things that made Grant reach for those bottles. Because that meant he’d done something to spice things up for his I-live-by-spreadsheets-and-planners friend.

Grant didn’t like messes. Literal or figurative. His fucking apartment in Chicago was all sleek lines and polished surfaces. He was a neat freak, a bit of a germaphobe, and took everything seriously.

Dax loved shaking things up. From surreptitiously rearranging Grant’s tie rack in his closet to calling him at 3 a.m. to come pick him and Ollie up somewhere.

The fact Grant stuck around and had even considered investing in yet another business with them, told Dax everything he needed to know.

Grant liked him. In spite of their differences.

“Grant.” Aiden was clearly surprised to see their partner in Appleby.

Dax was a little surprised too. He’d called Grant last night—well, this morning, since it had been 2 a.m.—but he’d really thought Grant could handle what he’d proposed via phone and email.

“’Morning,” Grant greeted Aiden. “You’re on my list too,” he said to Ollie, who was lounging in the blue beanbag.

“Me?” Ollie sat up a little straighter. Or as straight as you could get in a beanbag. “What I do?”