“And why can’t I join you for that?” She slowly blinks her eyes while her lips form a straight line, and I laugh in response at the look she’s giving me that I’m pretty sure is telling me to read between the lines. “Fine, fine. The food should be here in about thirty minutes. Shower and then we’ll eat, and then I can eat you,” I tell her with a slap to her ass.
She walks downstairs shortly after the food arrives and hops up on the counter next to me while I’m plating the food from my favorite Thai restaurant.
“God, you do love me,” she says. “Food, wine, and flowers? You are kind of perfect, you know that?”
I know this is how she feels, but it never gets old hearing it. “And…” I go into my pantry and grab a bag from the shop I went to earlier, then hand it to her.
She opens the paper bag and practically screams when she sees what’s inside. “I was going to ask you if we could go! I can’t believe you remembered!”
“You can’t… believe I remembered something… about you?” I ask incredulously as I continue to plate the shrimp pad Thai onto her plate.
She pulls out a slice of the chocolate-covered gingerbread loaf from the local bakery we discovered the last time she was in town. Halle loves gingerbread and practically had an orgasm, then bought thirty dollars’ worth of it. She takes a bite and holds it out for me, and I take one as well, before sucking her fingers into my mouth to lick off the excess chocolate. I catch her gaze, holding it as I wrap my lips around her finger and slide my mouth up and down.
“Foreshadowing?” she quips, and I bite down gently on her finger and shoot her a wink.
She cleans off her fingers and helps me carry the food and wine into the living room before sitting next to me on the couch.
“Thank you for all of this. Do you ever get tired of taking care of me?” She grabs her plate and holds it in her lap before using her chopsticks to pick up a piece of shrimp and bring it to her mouth.
“Nope,” I respond without missing a beat.
She tucks her hair behind her ear and gives me a shy smile.“How was your day, by the way?”
“Long,” I tell her. “And I wanted to wait until you got here to bring it up.” I sigh before taking a long sip of water. I relay my team’s idea about us talking to my board together, and she listens intently while I describe how tomorrow would go.
“Of course,” she says as soon as I’m finished explaining the very loose plan that my team came up with. “Whatever you need. I actually brought something that would be perfect for me to wear. But do you think it’ll work?”
“I have no idea, honestly. I don’t think it would hurt to talk to them. Some of them may think we just get off on our dynamic.”
“Nice office,” Halle says over her shoulder with a playful grin as she drags her hand along my desk. It was her first time visiting the building where my company,Wilder Architectural Group,is located, and hearing her praise something I built with my bare hands is making me want to lock the door and take her against it.
I’m leaning against the wall, one foot crossed over the other, watching as she takes it all in. She trails her finger along my diploma hanging on the wall before taking a seat in my chair behind my desk. We have a meeting with my board members at nine, and I don’t really know what to expect. My lawyer, the head of my public relations, and the head of my human resources are all planning to be in the room, and while they’re there to support me, I hate that it’s come to this. That they’re making me feel like my relationship is wrong and that I need to have it approved. I understood that it wasn’t conventional, but the implication that I may be removed as CEO for misconduct stemming from a relationship I’ve had long before this company was even considered feels ridiculous and unjust. I meant what I said when I told Halle I’d walk away from this before I’d walk away from her.
Halle’s hands cup my cheeks, and when I focus on her sweet face, she wears a worried expression. “You were zoning out.”
“Sorry, just thinking about this.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. If they’re going to be assholes about it, it’s better that I know now.”
A knock on the door interrupts us, and rather than waiting for my response, my lawyer, Steven, enters, followed by Lola, Jack, and my human resources manager, Annie.
“We’re going to head in soon. We just want to make sure you’re doing okay,” Annie says to Halle with a warm smile. “Did anyone ask if you’d like some water or tea?”
Good. Regardless of what happens today, I’ll fire the fuck out of anyone who isn’t kind to her.
This is what I expect from Annie, though. She’s the perfect human resources manager—polite and formal, with a hint of warmth that makes you feel comfortable.
“Yes, someone offered me some water.” Halle points at the sparkling water that my assistant brought her to calm her nerves. Halle has never liked to eat or drink when she’s nervous or anxious, so I knew she wouldn’t want more than that.
“Wonderful, and Mr. Wilder briefed you on everything?” Annie follows up.
“Yes, we went over the deck you sent over last night.” She nods again, and despite the nerves I know to be coursing through her, her voice sounds strong and confident. We didn’t rehearse or have a script, but we did use some of the commentary they suggested. But at the end of the day, no one can tell the story of Halle and me better than us, and we are just going with the painful truth.
Ten minutes later, we are following the four of them out of the room and into the one where we hold meetings for large groups. It’s on the other side of the floor, in a massive room with a large mahogany table in the center, surrounded by thirty leather chairs. One entire wall is windows with a spectacular view of the city and the Space Needle. Five people are currently in the room and stand to greet us when we enter, then take their seats. Halle and I take a seat on the other side, while my team takes various other seats.
“I want to thank you all for meeting with us today. I understand that this may not be what you want to be doing on a Friday morning, but I appreciate the time nonetheless.” I clasp my hands on the table in front of me as I prepare to start. “First things first, this is Halle St. John. I met her for the first time when I was four years old, and her father fell in love with my mother. At one point, for a very short period, they were married, but he was tragically killed about a year into their marriage. At that point, Halle became an orphan because her mother died during childbirth, making my mother the closest mother figure she had. By the time her father died, Halle and I were already very close, and the thought of separating us wasn’t ideal, so my mother became her legal guardian. While this may not sway your opinion one way or another, she did not legally adopt her.” I clear my throat before continuing. “If you’ve seen any of the interviews that I gave at the start of my career, I did mention that Halle and I were present when my stepfather was killed during an armed robbery. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how traumatic that would be for a four- and five-year-old.”
