Page 29 of All Tied Down

Gripping the back of her head, I pull her mouth to mine, licking at her lips before pushing my tongue into her mouth and making her moan.

“You’re hired.”

She laughs softly. “You couldn’t afford me, Mr. North.”

“A trade then…” I murmur, rolling us so she’s pinned beneath me, eliciting a gasp and a breathy giggle, “for services rendered?”

“I’m always open to negotiations.”

“Good, because I love a good oral debate.”

“Don’t we all, Garrett.” She sighs as I start kissing my way down her body. “Don’t we all.”

12

EMERSON

“Good morning, Samson.” I pause mid-step toward the car. “Should I call you Samson or do you want me to call you Nico?”

“Either is fine.” When I don’t move, he swallows whatever he was about to say and dips his head. “Nico.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard.”

“No, ma’am.”

Amused, I let him hold the back door open for me as I slide in, pulling my laptop from my bag before he’s even buckled his seatbelt.

Despite Garrett doing everything in his power to keep me in bed, I was up early, answering half a dozen emails including a statement that Roan sent me to approve stating that Garrett and I are enjoying our time as newlyweds and to please respect our privacy.

Simple.

Straightforward.

And absolutely not going to deter anyone from putting us under a microscope if they really want to.

“Nico?”

“Yes?”

“When we get to work, I want you to meet up with Des and merge your calendar with mine so he can keep track of where we both need to be.”

“I can take a look, but I went through with Tom and⁠—”

“Nico, listen to me.” I wait for him to look at the road then back at me in the rearview mirror. “I want parent-teacher conferences and school holidays. Half days. Read your kid a book at school day.” I wave my hand. “I can’t guarantee that everything will work out perfectly, but I will do my damnedest to make sure your girls get their dad as much as possible.”

He clears his throat—twice—and then nods. “Thank you. I, uh, that means a lot.”

I’ve only met Poppy and Georgia once, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to have two little girls under six while trying to navigate a new and dangerous career and the entirety of your support system is your mother.

It’s a lot for anyone to navigate.

Any of the guys on the team would drop everything if Samson or his girls needed something. Hell, so would I. My favorite thing growing up was when my father would let me spin around in his office chair. I felt like I was on top of the world, like the view of Chicago from the high-rise was simply my playground.

Years later and not a whole lot has changed.

I smile and turn back toward my laptop, knowing that he probably needs a minute, and that’s just as well because I have a mountain of work to do before we get to the office. Unfortunately, the moment I open my email is the exact moment Oakey decides to text me.

OAKEY: How’s it going?