“You’re the most romantic, non-romantic person I know. I do know one thing.” I squeeze her ass. “Quit it.” She giggles, rolling her eyes. “Someone can walk in at any second.”
“They’d get a good show. You’re fucking hot.” I lean in and bite down on her bottom lip, stretching it, eliciting a low moan out of her. “What do you know, Mads?”
Her breathing is labored, her eyes dilated as she glances through her hooded eyes. “I want to get married on theEndless Summer.”
“On the boat? Really?”
She tugs at the back of my hair as she thinks. “It’s where we said I love you again for the first time in so many years, and you’re happiest there.”
“We can?—”
“No. I’ve made up my mind, it’s on the boat,” she says with conviction.
My phone dings.
“For fuck’s sake. I have to go.” I palm the back of her neck and pull her lips hard against mine, leaving her breathless. “I’ll email you the information on where the blueprints need to be sent. Thank you again for doing this. If anyone gives you shit, blame the boss.” I wink, grab my briefcase, and leave before she traps me with her wicked ways.
Maddie
My tablet is pulled to my chest, my heels frozen against the polished concrete, as I stand off to the side, admiring my man as he commands his meeting.
I wanted to stop in quickly and make sure he was doing okay, and I’m glad I did. I don’t often see Nate hard at work, since I spend more time on Leo’s team than with Nate.
Since our days are jammed back-to-back, besides a few naughty emails—from Nate, of course—and the occasional lunch, we barely communicate.
But Nate’s had me a nervous wreck all day, and I needed to make time for him; I’ve never seen him like this except once in college.
Not realizing it until now, but both times were when he saw his biological parents.
He hates them, I believe that, but no matter the pain and trauma they caused, deep down, the hurt from a parent never leaves you.
I know that from firsthand experience.
Glancing around the office, I make sure I’m out of sight and not looking like a creeper.
I’m already overly conscious about my relationship with Nate, so I don’t need anyone to see me away from my desk, spying, or accuse me of not doing work.
“Let’s stop thinking about this as the new ‘It’ building,” Nate says, his commanding voice grabbing my attention.
I never realized this, but boss mode Nate is freaking hot.
He moves around the oval conference room table, his eyes meeting every single person there. “And start thinking about it as the future.”
The sleeves of his crisp white button-up are rolled up his forearms as he grips the back of the chair, veins climbing his arms, strong muscles flexing as he moves.
Like I said…hot.
The projector screen lights up behind him, while he continues talking. A slim marker twirls between his fingers as the screen flickers with renderings that I instantly recognize as his work.
Whereas Leo and I tend to lean toward modern designs in the city, Nate’s designs always felt more organic.
Using the space around him to adapt.
Someone clears their throat. An older gentleman I haven’t met before. Gray hair, wrinkly skin, and a skeptical posture.
“Then what are we thinking of it as, if not a building?”
Nate smiles, but it’s not the charming one I love.
