Ten sets of eyes land on me, completely shocked by my surprise announcement.
“Girlfriend?” Sutton scoffs, sounding offended, as if the word is poisonous.
“Yes, Erika.” I point to her through the window, hoping Sutton receives the message loud and clear.
Looking disgusted at my news, Sutton snaps her attention to Erika, who is pulling herself out of the pool, then, with all the grace of a swan, picks up her towel to dry off, dabbing her chest, then her stomach.
I would sell my soul to the devil to be that towel so I could wrap myself around her right now.
My eyes drop down Erika’s body and back up. Fuck me, those legs. The sooner they are wrapped around my ears, the better. My cock twitches in my pants.
Shit, not now.
I return my attention to my team and shake my head to clear the inappropriate, dirty thoughts from my mind.
“But... but...” Sutton stammers as the rest of the team congratulates me. “She was with Huck. And... and... she was supposed to marry him... and...”
“She didn’t love him.” There’s no simpler way to say it. I pause for a moment.
Mark, my legal advisor, slaps his hand against the table in approval. “It’s about damn time.”
“You two finally saw the light.” Sadie, my social media manager, shapes her hands around her mouth and lets out an almightywoo-hoo, causing us all to erupt into laughter.
Nigel, my head of marketing, who is sitting next to me, pats me on the shoulder. “Happy for you, man.”
“Took me long enough to get my shit together,” I admit, feeling my cheeks heat from the attention. “Took longer for Ash to give me the green light,” I mumble through the side of my mouth meant only for him.
“So, this is it?” he asks. Nigel has been with me from the beginning, and he’s asked me more than once why Erika and I weren’t together. It was obvious to everyone how crazy we were about each other.
Everyone but Sutton, it would appear.
Smiling, I nod, and he throws me a wink of approval. Once everyone settles down, I wrap up the meeting and thank everyone for spending their valuable Saturday with me, while Sutton sits at the opposite end of the table, glaring at me and grinding her teeth.
She’ll hate me even more when I ask, “Can you call Laura Banner and ask her to be on standby to send as many dresses as she has in sizes four and six to here for Erika, please?” Erika may have something in her suitcase, but if she doesn’t, at least I have a backup plan in place.
Sutton nods in agreement and mumbles, “Consider it done.” She’s already frantically typing on her phone, which I assume she’s emailing Laura, my personal stylist.
“Well, if that’s everything, then I guess, after tonight, I’m officially on vacation.”
My team wishes me well as they pack up their things, and they all poke fun, laughing at me when I inform them I will be turning my phone off when I am away. Unplugging myself from my job is the one thing I never do. I’m always on the clock and available to all of my clients.
I’ve already set a reminder for Monday morning to forward my calls to Sutton while I’m away. I put in a lot of effort this week by finalizing contracts, closing sponsorship deals for clients, and holding meetings well past dinner because I don’t plan to check emails while I’m away.
“I like this new you,” Nigel says with humor and admiration. He glances at Erika through the window, waves to her, and she responds with a big smile. “Have a great time, Leon. And don’t screw it up.” Nigel throws his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Erika, who is perched on the edge of the pool with her neck arched, bathing in the sunshine. She’s so beautiful, and I really am lovestruck by her.
“I won’t.”
Just as everyone is about to leave, I ask Sutton to stay behind for a minute and instruct the last person to exit to close the door behind them.
Nervously, Sutton tightens her grip around the straps of her backpack, which she never seems to be without, and I move closer to her end of the table, then sit down on it.
She looks up at me with so much hope in her eyes that I almost look away, as I hate what I am about to do.
“You’ve worked as my assistant now for four years, Sutton.”
“I have,” she confirms.
“But that’s what you are to me, my assistant. Nothing more.”
