I never meant to live with my boss, Dominic Miller. I was just a junior assistant in his company’s project department, doing week I never planned to live with my boss, Dominic Miller.

In the office, he was the kind of CEO who barely spared me a glance, just another junior assistant in the project department. Outside the office, I was a pet sitter on weekends, a quiet little side job no one knew about.

One Saturday, I was blow drying a client’s cat when the front door opened and in walked Dominic. Turns out, the client was him all along. Worst part was, he recognized me. He didn’t fire me for the side gig, instead he offered me a deal: move in, take care of his moody, scratch-prone cat, promising to overlook my “forbidden” side hustle if I agreed. With no choice, I moved in.

A month later, we had barely crossed paths except for the occasional breakfast he left for me on the table. Then came the night of the video conference. My mentor, Thomas, had invited me to sit in, unaware I was also under strict orders from Dominic to keep Ginger the cat quiet during his own meeting. It was going fine until Ginger appeared in my camera, then moments later in Dominic’s lap. And then, in front of the entire executive team, Dominic said smoothly, “Ginger, go find mommy.” Not even a minute later, I look down and I see Ginger at my feet, staring up at me with bright and adoring eyes.

Now, my top priority? Keep Ginger far away from my webcam before rumors spiral out of control.