Falling For My Boss

Chapter 16

~~~Hailee’s POV~~~
I wake up in the wee hours of the morning to Teeny whining at the door. Poor thing. Its been a while since she's had to sleep in the living room. She must miss me. I slip out of the covers and open the door for her, Brando sprinting over to join us when he hears the door open. Y/n stirs in her sleep as I slide back in bed, and I slip an arm around her. The pups curl up in their bed in the corner of the room. Y/n is so warm and snuggly in my arms, and I fall back asleep in minutes.
When I wake up again, the sun is streaming through the window. Y/n is still sound asleep next to me, her hair all messy from last night. Goddamn, she’s so perfect. A memory of her pushing her hair back while she was going down on me flashes through my mind, and I feel myself blushing. That’s when I realize why I just woke up. I hear keys jangling outside of my door, then my mom’s voice. “Hailee, honey, are you awake?” At that, Y/n wakes up, her eyes widening when I respond.
“Yeah, Mom, give me a second. Don’t come in!” I jump up and usher y/n into the bathroom quietly, where she left her backpack last night. She is visibly panicking, and when I close the door, I put a hand on her cheek. “Hey, it's ok, you have your stuff, get dressed and I’ll stall.” I hand her the backpack and smile nervously.
“Okay.” She looks like a deer in headlights. Why is she so cute all the damn time? I give her a quick peck on the cheek and go back into my bedroom. For time's sake, I just throw on a pair of undies and my robe before opening the door for my mom. Martini and Brando run out to greet her. I notice y/n’s swimsuit is still on the floor, next to mine, and I rush out of my room before Mom can come in.
“What on Earth were you still doing in bed at noon? You’ve always been an early riser.”  Mom asks, touching my forehead. “You aren’t sick, are you?” Just then, I hear Griffin calling to us.
“So am I going to see my sister before she leaves, or?” I pull away from Mom and start walking toward his voice.
“Yes, I’m right here! And I feel fine, Mom, I just had a long day on set.” We congregate in the kitchen to chat, and Mom starts going through the “Official Guide to the Caring of Martini and Brando Steinfeld.” that y/n made for whenever I go out of town, for whoever is watching them. Mom doesn’t really need it, but I thought it was such a cute example of y/n going above and beyond, I had to show her off a little, so I left it on the island. I position myself so that I can keep looking out for Y/n and distract them when she comes out of my room.
“This is so comprehensive! And the pictures are adorable, Hailee,” Mom compliments.
“Y/n actually made it, in case I wanted to hire someone instead of saddling you with them.” I always feel a little guilty asking, but she insists that she loves taking care of her ‘granddogs’ when I’m gone.
“How is that cute little assistant of yours?” Mom teases a little bit. “I think Griff is into her.” She bumps him with her hip, and he scoffs.
“She’s great,” I say, and then Y/n’s head pops out of my room. “She’s actually making sure the pool is all closed up before we leave in the morning.” I add, loud enough for her to hear. She slips out and runs toward the back door, safely unseen. I don’t realize I’m blushing until Griff chuckles at me.
“I don’t think I’m the one who’s into her assistant, Mom.”
“Wait, really?” Mom looks shocked.
“I’m queer, you know that.” I say, offended.
“No, no, it’s not that she’s a girl,” Mom is quick with the apologetic explanation. “Just, she’s your employee! And I didn't realize she was also queer,” she still looks completely baffled. Griff and I burst out laughing.
“Y/n is a lesbian, Mom,” Griff informs her. “And I’m only teasing.”
“Well, she is a good looking woman,” Mom shrugs.
“Okay! Can we please stop talking about her? She’s literally in the backyard.” I am getting a little flustered.
“Oh yes, the pool. Wait, are you regularly in this state of undress infront of her?” Mom gestures to my robe. She’s just giving me the third degree at this point, jeez.
“I was sleeping in, Mom.”
“Then how do you know she’s in the backyard?” Griff joins in on the interrogation.
“Because she stayed in the guest room, and she told me that was her plan this morning; what is with all the questions?” I’m in defense mode now.
“I’m just messing with you, Haiz,” Griff gives me a light shove. “And we don’t want you working her too hard.”
“I try, but Y/n is a big overachiever.”
“Don’t take advantage of that, or she’ll get burnt out,” Griff advises. Just then, Y/n strides down the hall.
“Oh, hi, Griffin, Mrs. Steinfeld. Sorry I didn’t answer the door, I was out back.” She makes her way around the island next to me before adding “Mornin’ Boss.” She’s dressed down today, since she wasn’t supposed to be working. High-waisted, flared corduroys and a solid t-shirt, which also means my mom can see her sleeve for the first time. They’ve met a couple of times, mostly in passing, but Y/n is clearly nervous right now.
“So, y/n, are you excited to go across the country?” Mom asks, eyeing the ink.
“Yeah, I am.” She shifts a little bit uncomfortably. “Could I load the dogs’ things up for you? I’m not busy at the moment.”
“Oh, if you’d like. I’ll help you though.” Mom starts walking toward the door with her. “You have to tell me all about that ink! I haven’t seen you with short sleeves on before.” When she says that, I see Y/n’s shoulders relax. When they're out of ear-shot, Griffin smiles at me conspiratorially.
“You hooked up last night didn’t you?”
“What? No! Gross, I’m not talking to my big brother about my sex life.”
“Oh my god, you totally did. Y/n snuck someone out of the house for you, didn’t she? Your hair is a mess, and she seems off.” Griff has spent a little more time with Y/n than Mom has, he comes to the studio to hang out sometimes, and Y/n went with me to one of his races a while back.
“No. I just slept in, and I was really tired so I went to bed with wet hair.” I stick my tounge out at him. “You think you’re so smart.”
“Doesn’t explain Y/n being weird.”
“She’s not,” I defend.
“She didn’t tease you for sleeping in late, and she couldn’t look at me or Mom. That’s weird.” Damn it, he is observant. “And, you’ve been MIA since you started filming. How is it going with her?” He looks at me expectantly, and I wish I never told him about my crush on her.
“It’s fine, Griff, we’re just busy.” Please believe that.
“So you’re not still madly in love with her?” And he’s back to teasing me. I roll my eyes.
“I never said I was madly in love with her.”
“You implied it.” He laughs. “But seriously, have you even tried telling her?”
“Can we not talk about this right now?” I ask, nervously glancing toward where she and Mom just disappeared. Griffin’s eyes widen comically.
“Oh SHIT. It was HER!” He’s barely keeping his voice down now. “That’s why she’s being weird!”
“Griffin if you do not stop talking I will-”
“You’re bright red! Holy fuck, Haiz.” He runs a hand through his hair.
“Shut up!” I almost shout, dragging him further into the house. “No, idiot! You’re wrong. Now stop talking about my assistant like that, or she’s going to overhear you and quit.” I’m not much of a secret-keeper when it comes to my brother, but I don’t want my mom to find out about whatever is going on with me and Y/n yet. Not before we’ve even had a chance to talk about it ourselves. I’ll tell him before I tell the rest of the family, but until she’s ready, only Flo knows. I pull my idiot brother back into the kitchen as Y/n and Mom are returning, smiling and  laughing.
“So for six months, you only wore long sleeves?”
“Yes, and then when I found out she knew, she was all ‘You should get a Kate one!’ I could not have been more wrong about how she’d react.” Y/n shakes her head at herself.
“You have a connection to Marvel, it’s sweet. Unlike that guy that got 30 pictures of Miley Cyrus tattooed on him trying to impress her.” Mom will never get over that. She was so afraid someone would do the same thing to me.
“I totally forgot about that guy!” Y/n says to her.
“I wish Mom would too,” Griffin rolls his eyes. “Honestly though, Y/n you should show the ink off more, it’s great work.”
“I do, just not when we have official business.”
“Or when you’re acting and you have to cover them all up.” I say, thinking about that day she filmed with Flo and I.
“Isn’t it cool to have tattoos now though?” Mom chimes in.
“Yeah, it isn’t that, it’s just that it’s harder for me to be as invisible as I’d like to be with them. It is a lot easier to get things done when people don’t notice you,” Y/n shrugs. After a few more minutes of talking and making sure they have everything, Mom and Griffin finally start heading toward the door with the pups. I spend several minutes saying goodbye to my babies before ushering them outside, and I’m alone with Y/n again. “So, did your brother figure it out?” she asks when I get back to the kitchen. She’s started cooking, and she doesn’t look up from the stove.
“He thought he did, but I convinced him otherwise,” I slip behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. “How about my mom?” I rest my chin on her shoulder, watching her work.
“Nope.”
“Good. That would have been incredibly embarrassing.”
“For her maybe, you’re an adult and this is your house. You can have sex, Hailee,”Y/n says a little curtly.
“I know, but she’s my mom! You’re telling me you wouldn’t have been embarrassed if she came in the room while we were in bed?”
“I think I’d be more mad about it than embarrassed. I mean, she doesn’t live here. If my mom did that I’d have been pissed at her.” Something is off.
“I knew she was coming over today, Y/n.” I feel myself getting defensive.
“I know, I know, I’m not blaming anyone here. It’s okay to be embarrassed about sleeping with your assistant.” She pulls out of my grasp to go to the fridge.
“You think that’s why I’m embarrassed? Y/n, I’d be embarrassed if I was sleeping with anyone and my mom walked in.” I follow her to the fridge and close the door, making her look up at me. “I’m not embarrassed about you. It's just, I’m still the baby in Mom’s eyes, you know?”
“Yeah, I understand. I just, I got in my head.” She reaches for my hand. “So you don’t regret it?”
“Hell no. If I wasn’t starving, I’d take you back to bed right now.” I bite my lip and grin slyly at her.
“After we eat, I’m gonna hold you to that.” She laughs and goes back to cooking.