“Okay.” I leaned down and kissed his lips, sighing when he deepened the kiss, one big hand coming up to palm my head and hold me in place while he plundered my mouth. I pulled away before I could decide to ditch my plan and jump back in bed with him. “I’ll see you soon.”
~*~
Julie was nowhere to be found when I let myself into the apartment, but my new phone was waiting in the pile of mail that Julie had brought in with her the day before. And the beautiful bouquet of tulips sitting on the counter beside the mail reminded me that it was Easter and Chuck was leaving early the next morning.
Stuffing a change of clothes and the box containing the new cellphone into a duffel bag, I rushed through a speedy but thorough shower, pulled on a change of clothes, called a room service order in to the hotel, and was tapping my foot impatiently on the sidewalk when the Uber pulled up in front of the building. I arrived at the door to Chuck’s hotel room at the same time as the room service waiter, passing him a twenty to let me deliver the little rolling table myself.
“Jules? Is that you?” Chuck called out from the half-closed bathroom door as I walked in, rolling the cart over to the balcony door.
“It’s me,” I called back, slipping into the bathroom and shivering when the deliciously Alpha scented steam assaulted my nostrils. “Damn, you are sexy.”
Chuck paused in his shaving, the blade stopped over his cheek and smirked at me in the mirror. “You think, do you?”
“I really, really do,” I confirmed, pressing up against his back and wrapping my arms around his waist. “But breakfast is getting cold, so hurry up.”
“You brought breakfast?”
“More like ordered,” I confessed. “I was going to take you out, but then I decided I didn’t want to share you, so I figured that we could have an intimate little Easter breakfast on the balcony, just the two of us.” I pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. “Clothing optional.”
That got me a laugh and when he’d finished shaving and rinsed his face, Chuck spun around to pull me close. “If you don’t watch it, I’m going to start suspecting that your motives aren’t exactly pure,” he purred.
“You think?” I reached down to unknot the towel around his waist but caught myself. “Damn it!” I huffed at him, grinding our erections together before stepping back. “This time, I actually did have pure intentions and you distracted me!” I accused, wagging my finger at him. “Now, come out here before your eggs benedict gets cold and your mimosa gets warm!”
Chuck’s face went from playful to downright smitten. “You set that up for us?”
“I did,” I nodded affirmatively. “And I really don’t like cold eggs as much as cold pizza.”
Chuck laughed at that and brushed by me, dropping a light kiss on my cheek. “Agreed. Give me a minute to grab some pants and I’ll be right there.”
I wheeled the table out onto the balcony and uncovered the plates of steaming eggs and chilled fruit, then pulled my new phone out. The Uber ride from my apartment to the hotel had been just long enough to set it up and after connecting to the hotel Wi-Fi, I fiddled with it as I waited for Chuck. I was surprised to see an email notification from the recruitment seminar pop up and I thumbed it open.
Dear Mr. Loukas,
We’re pleased to inform you that your resume has been matched with a non-profit organization located in Texas. As explained in the seminar, all matches are blind hires, so while you will be given the information on the organization, they will not have access to any personal information other than your qualifications and educational background unless you accept their offer.
My jaw dropped as I continued through the salary offer, the explanation of the residential housing preference, and other key details. I was re-reading the offer for the third time when Chuck strolled out to join me, his wet hair towel-mussed and his eyes soft.
“Whatcha reading?” he asked, settling into the seat across from me.
Did I tell him? My inner beastie shook his head, delighted at the thought of the prank we could play on our Alpha and for once, I was completely on board. I clicked therespond to proceed with applicationoption and closed the screen, setting my phone on the table.
“I got a job offer,” I said blandly, tamping all of my excitement down.
“That’s terrific!” Chuck enthused, breaking the yolk on his eggs. “Any chance it puts you closer to me?”
“Actually, yes,” I said calmly, sipping from my mimosa. “I’m not sure on the exact location,” I hedged, mentally crossing my fingers, “but it is in Texas.”
“Really?” The joy on Chuck’s face almost made me regret holding out on him. Almost.
“Yep,” I sang out, unable to keep the grin off my face.
Chuck swiped the wheeled table out of the way and lunged for me, claiming my mouth in a punishing kiss. “I want you every weekend,” he said when he finally released me. “If you want your own room, I’ll set you up with one, but I want you with me at ODI whenever you can be there. Please?”
“I want that, too,” I agreed, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tight. “And I definitely don’t need my own room unless you want your privacy. You’re going to see me so much that you’ll be sick of me.”
Chuck shook his head and pulled back to meet my eyes. “Jules, I can absolutely assure that that will never happen.”
Epilogue
