“And how does that make you feel, Ms. Hale?”
“I’m guessing it’s similar to what Convington’s flowers made you feel.”
He flashes me a sinister smile. “Then I guess it’s my job to make you feel better.” He reaches one hand under his desk and aclicksounds. Seconds later, the windows of his office turn opaque once again. He sets me down on my feet and stands behind me, then presses me down until my chest is flush against his desk. He hikes up my skirt.
“I guess it’s a good thing I kept your panties,” he says, running a hand up over my bare ass. “Look at you bent over my desk and spread for me. Fuck, baby.”
“I need you inside me, Asher,” I practically whine.
He lets out a groan that sounds like a combination ofapproval and relief. “You might want to hold on to the edge of the desk,” is all he says before plunging inside me.
ASHER
I’m a lucky fucking man.
Ella left my office over an hour ago, and I’m still reeling—in a good way. I can smell her perfume on me, and I swear I can still taste her on my tongue. But it’s not just the sex that has me practically floating in my chair, it’s the relief of having her back with me. Life suddenly makes sense again, and the overwhelming sense of depression and dread I’ve been harboring for the last three days has disappeared. It’s a euphoric fucking feeling. I still have worries knocking around in the back of my mind, but they’re much easier to deal with when I’m not also fighting the pain of being away from Ella.
That blissful high is only slightly dimmed when Haley knocks on my office door, and I give her the go ahead to enter. Ella’s remark about Covington reminded me of something I’ve neglected, and it’s time I set a few things straight.
Haley places the box Ms. Graham delivered from my penthouse on my desk. It’s the box of watch bands and the diamond bracelet Covington gifted Ella. I shove a not-so-subtle back-the-fuck-off note I wrote for Covington inside.
“Matthew,” I say, hitting the speakerphone button on my desk phone. “Come into my office.”
“Yes?” he says a moment later as he strolls through my door.
“I have a package I need you to personally deliver to Blake Covington of Vericom. Not his receptionist, not his PA, him. Idon’t care if you have to storm into a meeting and pull him out by his goddamn collar. Deliver this to him, from me.”
“Anything you’d like me to say as I do so?”
“My letter should do the trick. And if it doesn’t, I’ll grab his company by the balls and break it.”
“Did something happen between you and Covington?”
I open the box and show him the contents. “He sent flowers to Ella when we returned from London, as well as jewelry and watch bands as a thanks for the launch.”
Matthew tilts his head. “That doesn’t seem too out of order. I send gifts to our subsidiaries and partners for things like this all the time for you. Ninety percent of the time, you don’t even know.”
“He knew,” I spit. “He sent her another massive floral arrangement this morning along with his condolences on her situation with Kyle. He also told her to call him if she ever needs anything or if she thinks her security measures are notadequate. He’s not even trying to play coy. Look at this.” I take out the diamond bracelet that had me seeing red back when we returned from London and toss it to him. “Look at the engraving.”
He catches and examines it. “Bold.”
“I’ll fucking say.”
“I’ll make sure he gets it.”
Now that that’s out of the way, I take out my phone to text Pierre to make sure everything is set for dinner tonight. Tomorrow, I leave for Singapore for ten days, so I want this last night with Ella to be perfect. I want to remind her again why we’re so good together and why we don’t need space. I want to give her something to hold onto while I’m gone so that she’ll be craving me as much as I crave her by the time I return.
“By the way, your mom called,” Matthew says before he leaves my office. “She’s beside herself with everything that’shappened and is insisting on meeting Ella. Dinner is at seven o’clock at your parents’ house.”
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
I let out an annoyed breath. “No. This is my last night before I leave, I don’t want to spend it at my parents’ house. I have a whole plan of a romantic dinner at home with Ella.”
“Take that up with Catherine.”
My phone vibrates with a text from Ella.
I’ve been meaning to ask you, what is the dress code for tonight? Does your family do more formal or casual dinners?
