There was a low, amused chuckle on the other side of the curtains. “Don’t mind me. I have Zayden’s clothes.” It was Hiro, not Cedar.
“Thanks,” I said, confused by my scratchy voice. Had I been yelling?
I was so proud of how wrecked Zayden was as he blinked at me in a heart-stopping, sexed-out way. When Hiro peeked around the curtain, I enjoyed the little bit of want on his face. I wasn’t sure if he’d been interested in Z or me, but that wasn’t something I was used to. I tipped Z’s chin up so Hiro could see how satisfied he was.
Hiro laughed. “I didn’t take you for that kind of Daddy. Nice. He’s beautiful.”
“Yep.”
Z grinned and turned to snuggle into my side. I gave him a hug. “Meet us in the office. Cedar wants to beg you to let him use some of your shots for his portfolio. Feel free to tell him no.” Hiro winked and walked out.
“Oh no,” Z said with a laugh.
“That’s what you get for being so pretty.”
He punched my arm, but he was so out of it that it didn’t hurt at all, and I laughed.
14
Zayden
Cedar offeredthe photos to us for free after we signed an agreement allowing him to use some of them in his portfolio. I’d been nervous at the thought of other people being able to see me like that at first, but then I remembered the way Dare had stared at me, as though I’d hung the stars in the sky, and I felt a confidence I hadn’t in a long time. He loved me the way I was and thought I was beautiful, even with my baby belly. He was the first man to accept my kinks and love me for them.
That’s why, a few days later, we were sitting in the Marigold conference room at the office and staring at Dare’s phone in awe. Cedar had sent us the edited photos and they were stunning. He made me look ways I never imagined I could. Iactuallyappeared pregnant, and my insides squirmed in excitement.
I sighed happily, leaning into Dare. “I’m beautiful in these photos.”
“You’re beautiful out of them, too,” he said, staring at me so intently my knees grew weak.
I glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching us and pecked him on the lips. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, boy.”
Someone cleared their throat, and I straightened on the seat. We were working on one of the cases Mr. Mansfield had given us. Olivia raised her brows at us from the door, a pile of folders in her arms, which she dumped on the long white table in front of us.
“This is for you, courtesy of the boss. Apparently the Chippenhams live in the past because all their files are on paper.” She rolled her eyes and huffed. “And we have to go through them manually. No control-F and find. Nope. We have to do it old school.”
Dare groaned. “Please tell me their new files are in a digital format.”
She gave me a sad smile. “No, sorry. The owners are in their seventies and don’t believe in computers.”
“Damn it.” Dare dropped his phone on the table and groaned, running his hands over his face. “These files will take us forever, and we’re already on that corporate-espionage bullshit for Mansfield.”
“Yes, it will take us forever because it’ll also be without the help of Zayden.” She gave me a pointed look. “Mr. Mansfield wants you in his office. He has another job for you.”
“Me?” I frowned at her. It wasn’t odd for Mr. Mansfield to add more work on top of our already high pile, but usually he had Dare and I doing it because we were stronger together than alone. “Not Dare?”
She shook her head. “Nope, just you.” Laying her hands on her hips, she sighed. “I had the message to call you to his office. He didn’t mention anything about Dare.”
I glanced at Dare nervously, and he smiled.
“You’ve got this. You can sayno, Z. You don’t have to work every weekend.”
“This is our job,” I murmured. I didn’t hate the extra work, I just didn’t want to be the only one doing it. Given the choice, everyone else in the office except Dare would hand it off to me. While they enjoyed their weekends, I worked hard for free.
“Right, but this is everyone else’s job, too,” Dare whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I sighed into his touch. “They need to take their share of the work. Don’t give in to them.”
I nodded. I knew he was right, of course, but it was harder putting it into practice. Rising from my seat, I gave Olivia a smile. Judging by the inquisitive look she shot back, I would be getting worked over for details about my new relationship later. Excitement tingled through me. It was wonderful to have something good to talk about. I walked out of the room and down the long corridor. I passed the offices of the other partners. They stared at me as I swept past them, their eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a thin line. They weren’t happy with me and Dare now that we were refusing to do their work for them.
