“Yes, I’m paying attention,” I say, walking over to her and pulling her against me. “I’ve been paying attention all day.” I bury my face into her neck, smelling the flowery scent from her shampoo and the sweet scent that is just her. I kiss her neck.
“Ash,” she protests, even though I can hear the change in her breath. “Asher, we can’t do this. He could walk in,” she says, but her body contradicts her words, melting into mine.
“He’s not going to walk in,” I insist. “He’s on a call with Everest.”
“Everest?” she asks as I nibble at the soft skin just below her ear.
“The gin company,” I say.
“Oh. Right,” she breathes, and I graze my teeth along her neck. I take her face in my hands and kiss her. She responds byarching her back, pressing her body into mine, and coming up on her toes. I work my jaw to push the kiss even deeper, and we both get lost in the kiss. Her hands rake through my hair, while my hands wander down to her firm little ass that looks fucking unreal in this skirt.
I bite her lip, and she moans into my mouth. Her fingers run down my neck and over my chest hard enough to leave claw marks. She seems to have a thing for my chest, and I make a mental note to do more presses.
After giving her ass a good squeeze, my hands travel up her back, around to her navel, and up to her breasts. I cup them in my hands, loving how they feel under the tightness of her blouse. I rub my thumbs over her nipples, making her whimper into my mouth.
“Ash, we shouldn’t,” she murmurs, even though her body language contradicts her words. “He’s going to see us.”
“I told you he’s on a call. He’s not going to–”
“Jesus Christ, you will not believe the deal I just landed!” We hear Jaylen’s voice tunneling from his office. Harper and I rip apart just in time for him to come walking through the door. He’s grinning, which tells me he didn’t see anything. Plus, whatever he’s excited about has him distracted enough that he doesn’t notice me fixing my hair or Harper straightening her blouse.
“A deal?” I ask. “What deal?” I clear my throat and fold my arms across my chest. I attempt to look interested even though I am struggling to catch up right now.
“With Everest! They do have lavender-infused gin, which will work great for those floral martinis people are asking about. But guess what else?” he asks, and we both just stare at him. I hear Harper swallow, and Jaylen’s eyes narrow slightly. “Am I missing something here?” he asks.
“No,” Harper says.
“So why do you look like you used to when you got in trouble for stealing cookies from the jar on the counter?” he asks Harper.
“We were just talking about–” I start, but Harper cuts in.
“Daniel,” she says.
“Daniel?” he arches an eyebrow, and I’m pretty sure my face is making the same expression until I fix it.
“Yeah,” she waves it off. “He copied…one of our…appetizer recipes.”
“Which one?” he asks.
Yeah, Harp? Which one?
I am silently praying she actually knows what appetizers we have on our menu.
“Buffalo chicken dip,” she says, and I thank God.
“You were discussing buffalo chicken dip,” he states, looking at me. I nod.
“Yeah, but his is trash compared to ours, so–”
“Listen, fuck buffalo chicken dip. Everest just started bottling absinthe.”
“Absinthe,” I echo. He now has my full attention.
“And thanks to your boy here, they want their premier to be at our opening.”
“They’re partnering with us for absinthe, too?” I ask. Absinthe isn’t all that rare, especially in Colorado. Absinthe from a company like Everest would be a very big deal in the bar world and could give the new place an edge.
“Yep. They wanna meet with us at the new location.”
