“Perfect,” I muttered, zipping up my pants. “Exactly the kind of company culture and chaos I envisioned when I took this job.”
She grinned. “Oh, admit it, you love the chaos Ibring to the table, or well, the desk.” I looked at her, at the way her eyes sparkled with mischief, hair still a mess from my hands, and felt it again— that crack in my chest. The thing I hadn’t planned for. The feeling I was no longer trying to deny.
“I do love the chaos,” I said. “But only because it’s with you.”That shut her up for exactly three seconds. Then she blinked, soft and slow.
“Well, Mr. Jones, good thing I’m not going anywhere.”
My phone buzzed on the corner of the desk. I glanced at it.Singapore team, in 5 min.Sam caught the look, groaned dramatically, and leaned back on her elbows.
“God, nothing kills a post-orgasm glow like international time zones.” I stood, fixing my shirt, then leaned over to kiss her, slow, deep, with just enough bite to make her hum.
“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” I murmured.
Her brows lifted. “Are we talking about dinner or another HR violation?” I straightened my tie. “Why not both?” She smiled and walked away. The rest of the day was uneventful, just a bunch of meetings.
I texted Sam to come to my apartment for dinner.
Me: My place, at 7 p.m.
I’ll make you dinner. How does that sound?
It was a simple invite, but my pulse didn’t get the memo. I stared at the message longer than I should’ve before hitting send, and when she replied.
Samantha Hayes: Do you even know how to turn on an oven?
I smiled like an idiot.
Me: Guess you’ll find out.
And she did.
When she knocked, I was already in the kitchen trying to make sure nothing was burning. I opened the door with probably too much confidence for a guy who had nearly set off the smoke alarm twenty minutes earlier. She stepped in, glanced around, and raised one perfectly arched brow. “You really cooked?”
“I did,” I said, proud but cautious. She narrowed her eyes, taking in the scent. “Did you burn anything?”
“Not a single thing,” She laughed, head back, full and unguarded, and that was worth every second of effort. The kind of laugh that made a man think of forever. Dinner wasn’t elaborate. Just steak, mashedpotatoes, asparagus, a bottle of wine Harper insisted I try, and a chocolate tart I’d picked up from a bakery two blocks away. “This is actually really good,” she teased, cutting into the steak.
“I excel under pressure,” I said, pouring her wine. “And if you finish everything, you might get dessert.”
“Promise?” she grinned. “We’ll see, eat up.” She rolled her eyes, laughing at me.
For a moment, nothing else existed. Just her, in my space. In my orbit. Exactly where I wanted her to be. I served dessert, and after she licked chocolate off her fork and made me rethink all my life choices, I reached across the table, suddenly more serious. “Samantha.” She looked up.
“Be my girlfriend.” She blinked. “What is this, middle school?”
I didn’t blink. “You drive me crazy, you are insanely beautiful, you look at me like I deserve you, and I want to do everything to make you keep feeling like that.” Her breath hitched. “Look, I’m almost forty, I’m divorced, and I’m the CEO of a company that technically belongs to you. I’m not playing games here, not with you.”
I pressed forward. “I know you are still young, with a whole lot of future ahead of you, but I want you. All of you. In my life, my days, my nights. At my dining table. In my bed. All of it.”
She stood. Moved around the table. Straddled my lap with that familiar mix of power and grace that always undid me. “Took you long enough, 1A,” shewhispered, kissing me slowly. I curled my hand behind her neck and kissed her back. “Is that a yes?” She smiled against my mouth.
“It’s a hell yes, Mr. Jones.” Her ‘hell yes’ was still echoing in my chest when I carried her to the couch, her laughter warm against my throat. “I thought we were aiming for soft tonight,” she teased. “We are,” I said, settling her down gently, “but I like soft with a view.”
I lit a few candles. That, yes, Harper made me keep them stocked ‘in case I ever decided to have a soul’, and dimmed the lights until the room glowed golden, shadows dancing on the walls like something out of a movie. She curled into me, legs tucked beneath her, her hand pressed against my chest like she was syncing her heartbeat to mine. I wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
“I like it here,” she murmured.
“In the apartment?”
