“Do you know what today is?” Chase whispered into my ear as we cuddled on his couch.

“Tuesday.”

“Correct. It’s also our fifth date.”

I laughed. The party had only been a few days ago and we had yet to even go out in public together. With my brows furrowed and a smile tugging at my lips, I pulled myself out of his embrace and turned to face him.

“How exactly do you define a date?”

His eyes were lingering on the ends of my hair as he played with it, twisting a lock around his finger and releasing it before repeating the process. He seemed particularly fascinated by my hair whenever I curled the ends, which is exactly why I planned to continue doing so.

“Any day that we spend more than an hour in each other’s company.”

“That’s what a date is to you?”

“Is that somehow wrong?”

I thought about it for a long moment before I shrugged. I couldn’t think of an argument that would be likely to change his opinion on the subject and in the end, I knew it really didn’t matter.

“I guess not.”

“Wonderful. I plan to count all of our dates.”

“Seriously? For how long?”

“Forever?”

Oh boy. The thought of him counting the days we spent together for the rest of our lives was terrifying because I knew he would actually do it.

“Can you not do that?”

“Why not? I like milestones.”

“Just… pick a time limit. One that isn’t infinite.”

Chase let out a sigh of disappointment and offered, “Five years.”

“One year,” I countered.

“That’s hardly enough time. It won’t even be possible to reach five hundred.”

“We can celebrate normal milestones like most couples do. You know, like our anniversary?”

Chase seemed intrigued by the thought. He pulled his attention from my hair to mull over the idea in his head, nodding slowly to himself as he came around.

“Yes, that will be acceptable. I’ll count the dates until our first anniversary and then we’ll celebrate with years. I like it.”

“Good. I like it, too,” I agreed as I cuddled back up to him. I was just getting relaxed when a thought occurred and my eyes popped open. “Wait a second.”

“What?”

“Please tell me you don’t intend to count work days.”

“Stone Enterprises is a massive building, kitten. You’ll be working in a department that doesn’t report directly to me. Most days we won’t even run into each other.”

I narrowed my eyes and said, “I highly doubt that.”

Chase laughed. “You’re right. I intend to have lunch with you every day, though I won’t count that as a date. Satisfied?”

“For now.”

I felt his lips touch the shell of my ear just before he huskily whispered, “If there’s anything else I can do to ensure your satisfaction, please let me know.”

He shuffled me up and onto his lap, nestling his hard cock beneath my ass and tantalizingly thrusting up against me.

“Your pleasure is my highest priority.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” I breathlessly replied.

His hands came around to rest on my inner thighs, rubbing small circles as he chuckled deeply. The sound sent a shiver up my spine and it made the rumble of his chest even more prominent.

“Would you care for another demonstration?”

“Yes, please.”

Those were the last coherent words I spoke for the next several hours.

* * *

Working at Stone Enterprises was exhausting.

It wasn’t so much the work itself but the added demands of the man in charge on top of everything else. Chase wasn’t a patient man by any means and he insisted on having a ‘date’ nearly every night.

“I go out of town on business pretty frequently,” he explained one evening when I asked if he had any intention of spending a night apart. “Those trips will be brutal now that I know you’ll be waiting for me. I just wanted to spend as much time together as possible before that happens.”

He hid it well, but I could see the sadness in his eyes as he relented. The next night—my supposed night off—I found myself unable to relax.

We’d been together for less than three weeks, yet my apartment felt empty without him. I felt empty.

Lying in bed alone felt so wrong.

My body was sore and my mental state was worn to the ground, but I couldn’t fall asleep. I stared at the ceiling and cursed my inability to pass out until my buzzer rang at eleven o’clock.

“It’s me,” Chase’s voice crackled over the speaker.

I buzzed him up, too frustrated over my lack of sleep to be upset about him randomly showing up when he promised to give me the night to myself. I waited by the door and watched him drag himself up the stairs—pausing at the landing to give me a sad smile.

“I’m sorry for just showing up like this. I’m not here to ask you for anything and I won’t count this as a date. I just need to…”

Chase trailed off and I understood immediately. Stepping into the hall, I gestured for him to come inside. He started to step past the threshold when I was struck by the unshakable desire to hug him. His arms hesitantly wrapped around me in return.

“Thank you for coming,” I whispered against his chest.

“Always, kitten.”

We stood there hugging for what felt like forever. I looked up at him, smiling when I saw his eyes lazily open and his lips curl.

“I want you to count it.”

“Then I will.”

“That would make this…?”

“Date fifteen.”

I didn’t say anything else as I invited him inside, but my thoughts were running wild. The silence continued as he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed beside me to sleep.

As he spooned me, I realized that I liked milestones as well.

Date fifteen: The date I realized I was falling hopelessly in love with Chase.