Page 88 of The Monster and the Masochist

As long as I had Cass in my arms, I felt like maybe my demons couldn’t reach me.

Iwas in an exceptionally good mood by the time I got to work that morning.

I could count on one hand the number of times a partner had managed to give me an orgasm before meeting Theodora. Apparently, everyone I’d slept with before had been incompetent morons, considering I needed two hands to count how many she’d given me just that morning.

And on top of that, those sexy, calloused fingers of hers seemed to be good for more than just stoking my clit. She’d somehow managed to fix that monstrosity of an espresso machine that had been the bane of my existence, so my triple long iced oat milk latte was in my hand before I even walked out the door.

“Hopefully, if I can make you your coffee at home, we can at least push that alarm back to four thirty…” she’d grumbled as she’d handed me my mint-green Yeti.

I didn’t bother telling her I usually had my coffee after my workout, so it wouldn’t really affect my day’s start time… but, if the whole four am thing really was that much of a sticking point, maybe I could push it back by fifteen minutes… even if it was a bit inconvenient and meant I’d have to rush.

I was still doing mental math, trying to figure out how to adjust my schedule so Theo could sleep in a bit more, when Alyssa nearly plowed into me.

“Ms. Walker! Good morning!” she beamed. I blinked and reluctantly tucked Theo safely away in the mental box I kept in the back of my mind so I could switch into work mode.

“Good morning, Alyssa. Thank you for all your hard work yesterday.”

“Is your fiancée all settled in?”

I smirked, thinking about how sleepy Theo had looked as she’d trudged back toward the bedroom, presumably to nap before training with Jerry.

“Yes. I think so.” I smiled.

“That’s so great!” Alyssa fell into step with me, and I slowed down slightly so she wouldn’t need to jog to keep up with me on her much shorter legs.

“So. For the wedding, I know you didn’t ask for help with that, but do you have a dress? I have a list of potential options, and I’ve taken the liberty of clearing blocks in your calendar for fittings if you need them. Also, do you have a venue? I would love to help with event planning if you don’t already have someone…” she babbled happily, and my cheeks flushed.

Shit.

I really needed to give Alyssa a damn raise.

Everything had happened so fast that I hadn’t even had a chance to think about planning the actual event.

Sure, we could just do it at city hall, but I didn’t think anyone who knew me would believe that I wouldn’t want any sort of true ceremony for my wedding.

I had a reputation for being a bit high-maintenance. If this had been real, I would have been planning it for months, and everything would have needed to be perfect.

I was going to need photos and stuff for an Instagram announcement…

But I was in the middle of onboarding a new case… I wouldn’t have time to do all that and plan a shotgun wedding too… Plus, the thought of staying even later in the office when I had Theo waiting for me at home made me want to slit someone’s throat.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Alyssa chuckled next to me, and I was sure some of what I’d been thinking must have shown on my face, because she gave me a sly smile.

“Why don’t you let me take this off your plate? If you give me an idea of venues, I can get started on that today.”

Already knowing how hard it would be to get a venue on such short notice after Ryan’s little crash out in my condo, I winced.

Would he care if we got married at Fairview, too?

Nah.

It was basically Cal and Ryan’s idea for me to ask Theo for help with this mess.

They would probably be fine with it.

“Can you email my brother-in-law and ask if we can have the ceremony at his place? It’ll be small. Just immediate family and close friends.”