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  “You were nowhere to be found.” She looks at the chairs opposite my desk. “Can I sit?”

  I tilt my chin up. “I won’t stop you.”

  She settles into one, crossing her legs at the knee. The bright orange dress she’s wearing is conservative for her. “Can I speak freely?”

  Leaning back in my chair, I wave my hand in the air. “Be my guest.”

  She studies me as if she’s choosing her words wisely. “I know that you changed your will.”

  My jaw tightens. “How the hell do you know that?”

  “Your lawyer sent it back over this morning.” She sucks in a deep breath. “I opened the envelope to see what it was.”

  I point to the large white envelope on my desk. “It’s clearly stamped personal and confidential, Blythe. Do I need to buy you a goddamn dictionary so you can read up on the definition of those two words?”

  A small smile breaks her serious demeanor. “If you do, look up the definition of friend. I consider myself one of yours.”

  I’d say the same about her, but I’ll never admit it.

  “I’m worried about you, Jeremy.”

  I close my eyes to get my emotions in check. “I’m fine. The update on the will was necessary. I don’t plan on dying for the next sixty years at least.”

  “I’m not worried about that.” She shakes her head. “I know why you changed your will. You want to keep your father away from your fortune.”

  I nod succinctly.

  “I know you were with a woman last night.” Her voice softens. “I’m worried that you’re going to push your happiness aside because you think there’s no room in your life for that.”

  Six months ago I may have felt that, but since meeting Linny, I’m determined to figure this shit out.

  I want her. I want the life I already have. I want it all.

  “Don’t let your father’s sins, destroy your future, Jeremy.” She moves to stand.

  Reaching for the bag she dropped on my desk, I ignore her advice. My father is in my past. That’s where he’ll stay. “Get back to work, Blythe.”

  She tosses me a curt nod. “Will do. I’m here if you need me.”

  Chapter 42

  Linny

  I could get used to this.

  I finger the edge of the small white card in my hand. It was delivered with a large coffee that was spiked with too much sugar and cream.

  At first, I thought my dad had dropped the coffee on my desk after his afternoon run to the café around the corner, but then I saw the telltale small white envelope with my first name written on it.

  It was a perfect match to the two that I’d received before from West.

  My breath caught when I slipped the card from the envelope and read the masculine handwriting.

  Us in your bed this morning: everything.

  It had felt that way; like everything. Everything I’d always wanted in a relationship with a kind and generous man. Everything I’d always wanted in a lover.

  Jeremy is becoming everything to me.

  “I want those mock-ups on my desk by the end of the day.”

  I hear my father’s voice approaching in the corridor, so I open the bottom drawer of my desk and toss the envelope and note inside.

  Guilt wraps itself around my heart.

  I can’t keep doing this. I can’t hide what I feel for West just to advance my chances at the CEO job.

  “Linny,” my dad happily says my name as he rounds the corner and enters my office. “I got off the phone with Ivy Walker thirty minutes ago.”

  I wrap my palm around the coffee cup, taking comfort in its warmth.

  “I trust she had only good things to say about the Whispers of Grace campaign.”

  I know that she did. I spoke to her myself this morning and her exuberance carried straight through the phone. I could feel her excitement over the increased interest in her store here in Manhattan and her website.

  The next task she’s handed me is to create a buzz for her store in Las Vegas.

  I’ve already been jotting down ideas.

  “You knocked that one out of the ballpark.” He mimes hitting a ball with a bat. “It’s not often that we have a client who is that thrilled with the job we’ve done.”

  I’ve done.

  I want to correct him, but I don’t.

  I don’t want Mitchell to earn an ounce of credit for this. I’m the one who put in the hours and effort to make Ivy happy.

  “She told me about her store in Vegas.” He skims his hand over his head. “You’ll need to be there for the re-launch.”

  The pain of what I did in Vegas a lifetime ago still lingers in my father’s eyes. I was twenty-one, foolish and naïve.

  We never talk about it, but it’s always there like an invisible wall between us, keeping us a breath’s away from the closeness we shared before I went on that trip.

  “I’ll handle it,” I say briskly. “I’ve started brainstorming ideas for that campaign.”

  The corners of his mouth dip into a frown. “I’ll take the trip with you. I haven’t been west in years.”

  Trust.

  That’s what this is about. He doesn’t trust me to travel to Vegas and back without a life-changing mistake even though it’s been five years since I let him down.

  “Am I missing out on a family meeting?” Mitchell appears in the doorway of my office. “What’s going on?”

  My dad’s face brightens as he turns to look over his shoulder. “You haven’t missed a thing, son. I was just congratulating Linny on a job well done, and now it’s your turn.”

  I don’t have the stomach to listen to my dad applaud Mitchell for his work on the bookstore account.

  “I have something pressing I need to tend to.” I sigh. “Would it be alright if I caught up with you two later?”

  “Of course.” My dad stands. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart.”

  His words ring in my ears as he walks out with Mitchell, closing the door behind him.

  I scoop my phone into my palm and text out a message to West.

  Linny : Thank you for the coffee.

  His response is instant.

  Jeremy: My pleasure, angel. I had them make it just the way you like.

  I laugh aloud, realizing that he must have been paying attention to how much sugar and cream my dad dumped into my coffee during our last meeting.

  I start typing my response, my pulse quickening.

  Linny: I’d like to cook you dinner at my place tomorrow night.

  I press send and wait.

  And wait.

  Finally, his response pops up on my phone.

  Jeremy: I’ll be there. Name the time and the wine.

  My fingers fly over the screen before I press send.

  Linny: 8 and bring a bottle of Rizon vanilla.

  Jeremy: You’re a woman after my own heart.

  He’s right. I am. I’m after his heart. I’m falling hard and fast for him. I hope with everything I am that he’s falling just as hard for me.

  Chapter 43

  Jeremy

  “You cooked this, Linny?” I wave a hand in the air over my empty plate. “You created this incredible dinner in that tiny kitchen of yours?”

  Smiling, she points at her kitchen and the pile of dirty dishes littering the counter. “Do you think I ordered take-out and dumped the food in my pots before you got here?”

  Yes? No? How the fuck do I know?

  I’ve lived in New York City my entire life. A great kitchen isn’t on the top ten list of must-haves on everyone’s list when they’re looking for an apartment.

  Many New Yorkers never cook at home.

  I count myself in that group, although the last few years I have eaten more dinners at my dining room table than in a restaurant.

  I’ve never been the one behind the stove though.

  “How did you learn how to cook like this?” I take a sip of water.

  She eyes me carefully. “On the internet.”

&nb
sp; I furrow my brow. “You’re serious?”

  Her head shakes slightly. “I’m joking. I took a cooking class with my friend, Harmony, a few years ago. She wanted to cook gourmet dinners for her fiancé and she didn’t want to go to the class alone, so I signed up too and surprised her during the first class.”

  “You’re good friends with her, aren’t you?”

  She looks down at the faded, torn jeans and short sleeve white sweater she’s wearing.

  I lost my breath when she opened her apartment door and I caught sight of her. She’s barefoot and wearing minimal makeup. Her hair is a mess of curls that are tumbling around her shoulders.

  She looks relaxed and content.

  I didn’t bother changing after work so as soon as I got here, I shrugged out of my suit jacket, lost my tie, shoes and socks. I may not look as casual as she does, but I feel comfortable. I feel at home sitting across from her at her small dining room table.

  “We’ve been friends since we were kids.” She sighs. “In high school it was Harmony, Priscilla, Kendra and I. We were inseparable.”

  “And now?” I ask. “Are you still in touch with the other two? Priscilla and Kendra?”

  She forks the last bite of pasta on her plate. “They were with me in Las Vegas. We were there for Kendra’s bachelorette party.”

  “I should send Kendra’s fiancé a case of Rizon vodka.”

  She slides the pasta into her mouth and chews. I watch intently as she swallows slowly. “He’s her husband now and why would you send him a case of vodka?”

  I lean closer to her. “To thank him for asking Kendra to marry him. If that hadn’t happened, you would never have been on the flight that morning headed to Sin City.”

  Her tongue slicks her bottom lip. “Who should I thank for you being on that flight?”

  I smooth the pad of my thumb over the path her tongue just took. “You can thank me, angel. I had a later flight booked, but decided to get an early start so the night before we met, I called the airline and changed my flight.”

  Her eyes widen. “Seriously?”

  I part her lips with my thumb. “Seriously. I almost missed my chance to see you in that tutu.”

  Her teeth nip my skin. “Are you always going to remind me about the tutu?”

  I pull back and laugh. “Always, angel. I’ll never let you forget it.”

  I want it to be always. I want to remind her a month from now, a year from now. I want to remind her of the day we met forty years from now.

  I need to find a way to make that my reality.

  ***

  “Can you stop by my office the day after tomorrow at three o’clock?” She stretches out on the bed. “I have a surprise for you.”

  I palm my still hard cock. “The surprise you gave me earlier was more than enough.”

  She sucked me off after dinner.

  She called it dessert. I called it perfection.

  After that, we took a bath in her tub with my leg dangling over the side and her fingers strumming over her clit.

  She came for me, touching herself as the heat from the water reddened her skin. Her eyelids fluttered shut the moment she came.

  I’ve never seen anything more erotic.

  After that, I carried her to the bed and made love to her.

  “I’ll be there,” I answer as I feather a kiss over the soft skin of her neck. “I take it I need to keep my clothes on for that surprise?”

  Her gaze skims my nude body. “If I had my way, you’d never wear clothes again.”

  “I could arrange that. I wouldn’t argue if you locked me in this apartment forever.”

  Something in her expression shifts. “I think about that. I mean I think about us being together for days on end.”

  “You’re not smiling,” I tease.

  The corners of her mouth lift slightly. “If only life were that simple. I have a job. You have a company to run. We have families and friends. We can’t disappear for days on end.”

  “I’ll take a night here and there for now.”

  Her fingers trace circles on my bare stomach. “I think about telling my dad about us.”

  I know it tears her apart inside that she’s had to keep our relationship hidden. I see it her face and in her demeanor every time I’m in the same room as her and her father.

  “Will you do that after the campaign is over?” I brush a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I can be there when you do that. I’ll assure him that you handled yourself with nothing but professionalism when you were working on the vodka launch.”

  She closes her eyes briefly. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. I always get stuck trying to imagine how he’ll react to the fact I’m in a relationship.”

  “I take it he’s protective?”

  She heaves a sigh. “Overly.”

  “Has he always been?” I move slightly to lean on my forearm. “Was he one of those dads who interrogated every guy you dated in high school?”

  She tugs the blanket up to cover her bare legs. “I didn’t date a lot in high school.”

  “Me either,” I confess.

  Her brows inch up. “You’re kidding? You didn’t date in high school?”

  I fucked. I didn’t date. I didn’t see the purpose in putting in the effort to spend time with anyone if I could skip the dinner, movie or hang-out and get right to the fuck.

  “I didn’t.” I gaze up at the ceiling. “I haven’t had a serious relationship. I haven’t enjoyed spending time with anyone before. That changed when I met you.”

  Her eyes widen. “West.”

  I swallow hard, determined to get the words out that have been trapped in my throat all night. “I’m crazy about you, angel. I love being around you. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before.”

  The words hang in the air between us as she studies my face, her bottom lip trembling.

  I lean closer to her, trailing my finger over her chin. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know how I feel.”

  “I love being with you,” she whispers. Her hand jumps to the middle of her chest. “I haven’t felt this close to anyone in my life, Jeremy. This is all new for me.”

  “We’ll figure it out together.” I rest my forehead against hers. “We can do anything together.”

  Her lips brush over mine in the softest kiss. When she pulls back, she smiles.

  This is my world staring back at me. This is my future and I’ll do whatever it takes to make this woman mine forever.

  Chapter 44

  Linny

  Harmony: It’s not even close to April 1 st , Linny. The joke is on you.

  I look down at my phone and laugh at the text message Harmony just sent me.

  Her class let out a few minutes ago, so we’ve been texting back and forth playing catch up.

  I just confessed that I’ve been seeing the man I sat next to on the airplane on our way to Las Vegas.

  Linny: I’ll invite him to brunch the next time you come into the city.

  Her response is quick and typical Harmony.

  Harmony: Make it an early dinner and I can be there within the hour.

  I sigh, wishing that I could introduce her to West today. I want him to be a part of my life beyond my apartment and the conference room.

  Linny: I’m actually meeting him (for work) in a few minutes, but I’ll introduce you two soon.

  Harmony: I’ll hold you to that. I’m happy for you! Really happy!

  “Linny, let’s go,” Mitchell calls from my open office door. “Jeremy and Trent will be here any minute.”

  I grab a notepad and pen from my desk and stand. “Where’s my dad?”

  He glances down at his watch. “We had lunch with the suits from Vrite Footwear. Dave’s still with them.”

  Dammit.

  I’m irritated, but mostly I’m disheartened. I told my dad that I had a surprise presentation for Rizon today. He knew that this was important to me.

  “Dave ordered a bottle of th
e best champagne to toast to my hard work.” He raises his arm in the arm and stumbles. “I’ve never seen him more proud.”

  I narrow my eyes. “How much champagne did you have?”

  Leaning forward, he shrugs both shoulders. “A few glasses.”

  “I don’t need you in the meeting, Mitchell.” I round my desk. “Go home and sleep it off.”

  “No can do, Lincoln.” He waves a finger in the air. “Dave sent me to watch the presentation in his place. I have to report back to him.”

  Disappointment and anger wage war inside of me. This isn’t how I envisioned this afternoon, but my issues with Mitchell and my dad need to take a backseat to work.

  “You’ll sit quietly and listen.” I push a strand of hair behind my ear. “Don’t mess this up for me.”

  He doesn’t say a word as he follows me out of my office.

  ***

  I rub my hand over my neck. I’ve been able to keep my composure around West but today feels different.

  Today he’s dressed just as he was the first time I saw him on the airplane in the same gray suit and black dress shirt.

  The sunglasses he had on that morning were perched on his nose when he entered the conference room.

  He slid them off before greeting Mitchell and me.

  I glance over at the poster board that’s sitting on an easel at the head of the conference table. Right now, a large white sheet is covering it.

  It’s a last minute addition to the vanilla vodka campaign.

  I steal a quick look across the table at West. “Are you ready?”

  Trent’s gaze jumps up from his phone to settle on my face. He looks to his left at Jeremy. “I’m dying to find out what’s under that sheet. Aren’t you, boss?”

  West nods. “Go ahead, Linny.”

  I take a deep breath. “As you both know, our aim with this campaign has always been to attract the attention of your loyal customers as well as potential new customers.”

  West leans back in his chair. “You’ve done a remarkable job of doing both, Linny. The contest is in full gear. The response has exceeded my expectations.”