Once I’m on our floor, I grab what I need and then scurry into Theo’s office, packing up the folders he has strewn across his desk into his briefcase as well as his laptop before going back downstairs.
Theo’s waiting in the lobby, talking to the fire chief. He looks up when the elevator opens, catching my gaze. His eyes fall to his briefcase in my hands, and he nods appreciatively before going back to his conversation.
Within fifteen minutes, we’re sliding into the backseat of his car and driving to his home. My body is hyperaware of his next to mine. He keeps sneaking glances over at me, and I wonder if he knows I can see him out of my peripheral vision.
We arrive at his building, and he leads me into the elevator, pressing the button for the penthouse level. My mouth goes dry with anticipation. I haven’t been to his home yet, much less apenthouse.
It’s everything I imagined it would be and somehow more. Theo’s home has all of the latest interior design trends and finest appliances to date. I try my hardest to keep my jaw from falling open the second I step inside his home, but I’m unsuccessful.
Theo watches me in amusement as I take everything in. I brush my hands over the sofas in the living room, loving the expensive texture of the upholstery. I wander over to the large,floor-to-ceiling windows and stare out over downtown Chicago.
“I think I can see my house from here,” I whisper, talking to myself.
“I’m sure you can,” Theo agrees, startling me as he comes up behind me.
“This is amazing.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he says, placing his hand on my lower back as we stare out the window for a while longer.
Finally, we agree that it’s time to go back to work. Theo shows me around and asks where I’d prefer to do my work. I decide to set up shop at his kitchen island, which he seems slightly surprised about, though he doesn’t protest. I don’t tell him it’s because I can appreciate the view from his windows from there, but I imagine he suspects my reasoning.
I get comfortable on the stool and pull out my laptop and planner. I was able to get my to-do list done this morning before the fiasco, but I still have a number of important emails to attend to. Theo disappears into his home office, and I don’t see him for the rest of the afternoon.
After a solid few hours of work, I close my laptop, call it a day, and swivel around on my chair. The sun is starting to set, turning the sky a fiery orange color and reflecting off the clouds in an ethereal way.
I lean against the back of the chair and sigh happily. I could definitely get used to a view like this. My mind is quiet as I watch the sky slowly turn from orange into a mixture of deep violets and blues once the sun disappears beneath the horizon.
Finally, then, I hop off the stool and go in search of Theo. Surely, he must be about finished with his work for the day. My heels click against his hardwood floors as I wander down the hallway until I get to his office.
My knuckles rap against his open door twice, and I wait for his attention.
“Hey,” he says, glancing up at me quickly before looking back at his screen. He’s squinting through his thick-rimmed glasses at whatever it is he’s reading.
I stand on the threshold of his office, unsure if I should approach him or not. My fingers knot together in front of me as I deliberate my small dilemma. As if sensing that something’s not quite right, Theo looks up again at me and frowns.
“Everything going okay?” His voice is deep, solid, and sure. When I hear his voice, all I can think about are the filthy things he said to me over the weekend as he coaxed me to climax over and over again. He must notice something on my face because he reaches for his glasses and pulls them off his face, dropping them on the desk.
“Yeah, would you mind calling the car to come pick me up?”
“What’s wrong?” he asks, eyeing me closely. I hate that he knows me well enough already to know when something’s on my mind. “I thought you’d be staying over tonight?”
“I—” I pause, taken off guard by his bluntness. But then I gather my wits and do my best to be bold and tell him how I’m feeling. “I feel stupid for even bringing this up after everything that happened today, but I’m a little heartbroken there wasn’tmoretoday.”
“More,” he repeats, almost like a question.
I nod. “It’s just, this morning, before everything happened with the fire, you acted like nothing over the weekend ever happened.”
He blinks at me, his chin rising ever so slightly as he observes me. “Isn’t that what we agreed?”
“It is,” I admit and then run my tongue over my lower lip. “So I know I’m being unfair and all, it’s just?—”
Theo stands from his position and crosses the room until he’s in front of me. He lifts my chin with two fingers until I’m staring straight into his eyes. He studies me for a moment before bending down and kissing me gently on the lips.
“I’m sorry I made you feel that way,” he breathes against my mouth when he puts a bit of distance between us. Embarrassment courses through me, and my belly knots together.
I shake my head. “No, don’t be sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
Theo frowns. “I’m glad you did. I don’t want you to keep things bottled up.”
