I stretched and rubbed my eyes before silencing my alarm. I turned over to find Tony’s side of the bed empty. I sat up slowly, the memory of the previous night slowly returning. Toward the end of the workday, Tony’s office had gotten a call for a personnel extraction in Indonesia. Tony had to work late to get it all set up, so I went to his place to make dinner for him. Considering I was spending most nights there anyway, it was no hardship.
To be honest, I really did feel safer there. The wedged-open inner door in my building’s lobby seemed to be becoming a daily occurrence. I’d emailed the management company, but they only sent back a placating email saying they’d send out letters to all the tenants—again. Needless to say, Tony was livid when he heard that. He wanted to call the company and lay into them. I told him I was still living there and had to deal with them for at least another eight months. I could honestly say I’d never heard a man growl like that before.
I knew Tony wanted to ask me to move in with him. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It seemed like it was too soon. At the same time, I hated sleeping without him, so most nights, we ended up together at either his place or mine.
There hadn’t been any strange flower appearances and, as far as I could tell, no one had tried to break into my apartment again. I had gotten the door jammer bar and asked Michael to install a peephole camera. It might have seemed excessive, but the memory of the violent way the azalea flowers had been strewn in my hallway stuck with me. Tony was concerned, and I was going to heed his warnings. I had ignored my friend’s concerns about Randy and paid a steep price. I wasn’t going to let that happen a second time.
I wandered out into the living room, where Tony was seated at his desk in sweatpants and a tight-fitting black T-shirt. He looked incredibly edible. I wrapped my arms around him from behind and kissed his cheek. “How is it going?”
“They left JFK at nine last night. They’re about halfway there,” he replied.
“It’s a twenty-hour flight?” I asked in surprise.
“Twenty-two,” he corrected. “And that’s only because they’re going by private jet. If they were flying commercial, it would be closer to twenty-eight.”
“So they’ll get there somewhere around seven p.m. our time.”
He nodded. “That’s about right.” He swiveled in his desk chair and grasped my hips. “I’m going to work from home today. What are you up to?”
“I have a new character art commission to work on. I promised the author I’d get her a concept picture by this afternoon. I also have a request for an estimate for creating a website for a new restaurant set to open in Midtown.”
“Nice,” he said with a smile. He pulled me closer, sliding his hands down to cup my ass. “Sounds like you have a little time to get dirty before you get cleaned up for work.”
I ran my fingers through his thick, dark hair and smiled coyly. “I might.”
He hooked his fingers in the waistband of my briefs. “Why don’t we see what comes up?”
An hour later, we stumbled into the shower, where washing each other turned into mutual hand jobs. As I watched our combined spend wash down the drain, I started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
I grinned up at him. “I haven’t had this much sex since I was a teenager.”
He drew me close and kissed me. “I guess it’s true what they say about being in love.”
I rested my head on his chest while the warm water rained down on us. “I guess it is.”
After breakfast and coffee, I finally got down to work. I got my tablet out and started working on my concept for the character art, referring to the rough sketches I’d made during my conversation with her and after reading the scene she wanted me to capture.
While I was working, an email came to my business address. I huffed in annoyance. It was from the guy who’d insisted he’d wait three weeks for me specifically to revamp the graphics on his website. Except he’d never sent me the link to his website or even given me the name of his company. When I’d emailed him about getting together, he kept putting me off. Part of my to-do list for today was to tell him to find someone else.
“Let’s see what he has to say,” I muttered.
Mr. Hayden,
I apologize for the delay. I had a bit of a crisis at work and couldn’t get away. Would you be able to meet this afternoon at two? I’ll leave the choice of the place up to you—as long as it has outdoor seating. It’s a beautiful day today.
Sincerely,
Paul Jameson
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“What’s up?” Tony asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Just a potential client being annoying. Mr. Paul Jameson has been hard to pin down all week, and now, at the last minute, wants to meet today at two to discuss revamping the graphics on his website. But he never sent me the link. He seems to be incredibly disorganized.”
“You know you don’t have to take the job,” he said.
