I’m dressed for work, sitting in Danny’s office while waiting for him to return from his meeting, ready to jump back into the thick of things once he gives the okay.

He enters the office looking stressed, and it has me worried.

“How did it go?”

He loosens his tie and heads for the huge, black executive chair behind his desk.

“As expected, mixed reactions. Some people didn’t see it as an issue at all, a few said that I needed to end the relationship.” He shakes his head. “At the end of the day, I’m the head of the company, and I explained once again why our relationship should be a non-issue for those who couldn’t get it through their thick heads.” He holds up a hand and counts off his fingers: “Not related by blood, didn’t grow up together, met as adults independently of our parents. I might have even used some of what my mom said, word for word. Reluctantly, the few dissenters dropped the angle from their personal feelings and brought up the potential to turn off clients who don’t have the benefit of having it explained to them. In the end, I made it clear I wasn’t terminating the relationship and pointed out that we lose potential clients for all sorts of reasons and can’t prevent all misunderstandings or cater to the most puritan. I reminded them that we probably lose people with particular religious values, environmental concerns. That some might even take issue with us having a female COO. I asked them if we should fire her since there are undoubtedly a bunch of men who still resent women in such positions. Finally, I reminded them that we couldn’t send the message that we cave to petty blackmail, and I assured them our legal team was on it. Then I asked for any remaining objections or questions, and everyone seemed satisfied. Now that everyone knows, we can get ahead of it, maybe even prepare a cutesy news story about it—people are suckers for love in the end.”

He avoids my eyes for a moment, and I consider pouncing on what he said, but I’m not sure either of us is ready to go there yet.

Besides, he’s talking about a public relations move—of course that’s how the story would get spun: true love found in an unusual place.

Adorable.

“You look so tired,” I say, feeling bad for him.

“Well, I am—worrying about this whole thing took a lot out of me. But now that it’s all handled, I’ll be fine. You ready for lunch?”

“Man, am I spoiled—I haven’t even started work for the day! I don’t folks to think ‘cause I’m screwing the boss I get to come in at twelve and go straight to lunch, and then who knows? File a thing or two but get paid the same…”

“Who cares what they think? Besides, we have to give the PR team time to do their work.” He pauses. “The gossip machine is already against you, anyway.”

“Oh, great.”

“But from what I can tell, no one hates you or anything. Yet.” He grins at me, and I’m not sure if I should take him seriously or not.

Then I remind myself my usual stance—who cares? I don’t have time to waste explaining myself to everyone.

I’m not planning on working here forever anyway, so it really doesn’t matter what my temporary coworkers think.

All I can do is my job, and be friendly and pleasant and cooperative when I can.

Some people will find any excuse not to like you, and no matter what you do, it’s wrong, so why bother trying to please them?

As Becca used to say, if they’re not feeding, financing, or fucking me, who gives a fuck what they think?

“We should take a vacation together,” I propose.

“Okay, now you’re pushing it,” he says lightly.

“Not like a week or anything—I’m talking about over the weekend when we’re both off the clock. Spend two days outside of here.”

He seems to like the idea.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty good. I actually haven’t had a vacation in a while—not since my birthday. I barely take the weekends off from work mentally, so a trip totally away from here—and not with our parents—would probably be good.”

“Awesome,” I say, closing the distance between us.

I throw my arms around his shoulders and reach up for a kiss.

He meets my lips and our kiss begins gently but gets more passionate quickly, and we start holding each other tighter, pressing our bodies against each other.

My core revs up, wanting even more.

Danny pulls his lips away to my disappointment.

“Now that we don’t have to hide anymore, we can do it whenever and wherever we want,” he says. “And as much as I’d love to take you right here, right now, I like making myself wait sometimes.”

“So you are into tease-and-denial.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, I’m just into making sure we do a lot more than fuck like rabbits. I know you feel like you’re on a timeline, but we have so much more to discover about each other, and I look forward to it. Besides, you’ll appreciate what happens after I’ve made myself wait.”

I nod my head thoughtfully. “You know what, I think I will.”

* * *

After the workday ended, we headed to his penthouse, and there, we went at it like wild animals.

After fucking my brains out in various new positions for us, he joins me in the shower now.

“You look so magnificent dripping wet like that,” he says.

“I hope you like your shower spray on the hot side,” I warn him.

“I sure do,” he says with a suggestive edge. “Listen, my mom reminded me of our place near Lake George—the three of us went there once in a while when I was a kid, and I think it’ll be perfect for our mini-vacation. It’s about a four-hour drive from here. What do you think?”

“Sounds awesome! But are you sure bears aren’t living there now or something? Sounds like you guys haven’t been there a while.”

“Well, we usually rent it out, but mom says it’s been unoccupied for the past two months.”

“So how many houses do you guys have exactly?”

He laughs. “Well, my mom and I are down to two now, since she’s selling the main house.”

“How did you feel about that by the way? Her getting rid of the place you grew up in?”

“Well, I didn’t really grow up there. Mostly at boarding schools, so I have no real attachment to the place. Someday, though, I plan to move out of this penthouse and have a house of my own to put a family in.”

“Oh, I see. So you’re about that wife and 2.5 kids life, huh?”

“I never really felt a need for it honestly; it certainly wasn’t on my bucket list, as you would say. But it seems like a possibility now—one I might be interested in if the right girl comes along.”

I decide to leave that one alone for now.

Instead, I let myself get distracted by his growing cock.

“You’re kidding me,” I say as I stare at it. “We did it twice already!”

“Third time’s the charm?” he says before dropping to his knees.

He positions me so the shower spray is pounding my back, missing him entirely, and he spreads my legs a little then goes to town on my pussy.

I have no objections when he stands back up and positions me to take his long, hard dick again.

* * *

SATURDAY - CABIN

“This place is amazing. I love it so hard,” I say as we return to the interior of the cabin.

We got here Friday night and couldn’t explore the lush exterior in the dark, but it’s the first thing we did this morning.

Last night he gave me the grand tour of the place—a spacious three-bedroom, two-bathroom home made of cedar and stone with lots of gorgeous wood furnishings.

“You do? Then I’ll keep it for sure. In addition to thinking more seriously about that family home idea.”

“Whoa—you’ll hold on to an extra abode we might visit a few times a year just ‘cause I think it’s cool?”

“Yup. I’ll do whatever keeps that smile on your face, and that lightness to your step, because, Emma, I love you so hard.”

I gulp and everything seems to have gone still.

“Excuse me?”

“I love you, Emma. I hope I can hold on to you.”

“What makes you think you can’t?” I ask, my heart hammering my chest.

“You’re a wanderer. And if that makes you happier, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that.”

“Are you kidding me? Part of why I was such a goddamned nomad was because I didn’t have anything like you in my life. Now that you’re here, I don’t feel the urge to keep moving. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always gonna be into traveling, but I’m stoked to have someone share it with me—it’s better that way for most trips. Do you have any idea how lonely I was most of the time out there? No matter how much I enjoyed meeting new people all the time and getting to know some a little while sleeping on their couch or whatever, the connection ended eventually. And then I was alone again. But you showed up and… I really don’t want to go back to that. I love you too, Danny, and I’m not sure you could get rid of me if you tried. Actually, you did try.”

“I failed so hard.”

He grins at me, and we move toward each other the same time and kiss.

“Boy, am I glad I didn’t chase you away,” he says once we separate our lips, but his arms remain around me. “Seems like you could really disappear once you don’t want to be found.”

My shoulders droop. “Ah, damn it—you’re making me feel bad about my dad.”

“Yeah, you guys had kind of a weird dynamic. What’s that about?”

“I caught him with another woman once, and he made me stay silent about it for a bit. But sometime after we got my mom’s cancer diagnosis, I got so mad at him, I blurted it out and Mom heard, and it was awful. I hate that she had to hear about it when she was sick and that she died knowing my Dad had broken his vows to her. Once she died, I could barely look at him. He feels guilty about everything still, so he doesn’t push me too hard, which means I get away with a lot.”

“But you love him.”

“Of course, I do.”

“You should tell him.”

“I know,” I say quietly. “But I don’t want to think about that now—this weekend is about us, remember?” I smile up at him.

He nods and we disentangle.

“So what’s on the itinerary for the rest of the day?” I ask him.

“Some hiking, fishing. Maybe a cruise, some waterskiing. We can even go horseback riding…”

“A stallion?!”

He regards me curiously. “Maybe. As for tonight, I have a chef coming by to cook us up a seafood dinner… what?”

“Sometimes I forget you’re, like, a zillionaire, and then at times like this, I remember.”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, I guess I’ll find a way to deal with it,” I say with a shrug. Then I grin at him. “How about we actually rough it tomorrow, though?”

“What, like, catch and skin a squirrel? No thanks. Louis will be back to hook us up with dinner before we leave too.”

I roll my eyes.

* * *

“My mom wants to know if we’re enjoying ourselves.”

“Very much! You told her you’re keeping this place, right?”

“It’s all mine for as long as you want it.”

“Is she with my dad?”

I hear him ask if my dad’s around then he nods at me.

“Let me talk to him,” I say, holding out my hand.

“Put him on the phone,” he tells his mom before handing his phone to me.

“You okay, sweetie?” my dad asks immediately.

“Yup. Danny’s been wonderful. And this cabin is bitchin.’”

He laughs. “Well, I’m glad to hear it. I…”

“I love you, Dad. I just want you to know that. It’s been hard for me, but no matter what I’m going through, I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetie,” he says, his voice sounding strained all of a sudden.

“I’m giving Danny back to his mom,” I say, handing Danny back his phone before I get a cry-ball in my throat too.

* * *

“This is so romantic,” I tell Danny as he settles back at the dinner table. “Super classic, but very thoughtful. Even a girl like me can appreciate it.”

A mix of red and white rose petals are spread across the dinner table in a pleasing design, a gorgeous, rose-dominated bouquet in the center of it.

“I considered more candles, but there’s a lot of wood around here. I mean, I wouldn’t mind showing off my super manly saving-you-from-a-fire skills, but I’d rather not.”

I giggle.

Boy, I can’t wait to tell Becca about this.

“So…have you ever thought about getting married someday?” he asks. “Not that I’m proposing,” he adds quickly, “but are you open to that 2.5 kids life?”

I chuckle. “Well, if the right guy came along, sure,” I say with a careless shrug. “I have very specific tastes, though. He’d have to be dark-haired and tall, for one; most women love that whole tall, dark, and handsome thing—I’m no exception. And he’d probably have to have a Manhattan penthouse way too big for one person. Oh, and owning a bitchin’ cabin near a lake is a must, as well as having a mom named Daisy…”

He somehow sweeps me up from our sitting positions and plants one on me, his kiss deep and hard and full of emotion.

“So that’s a maybe,” he says after pulling away.

Laughter bubbles over in me, my heart swelling.

“I’m just saying I’d probably say yes if I ran into that particular guy.”

He laughs and I giggle with him as he spins me and kisses me again.

“I love you, Emma Winters.”

“I love you, Danny Masters. Now put me down so I can I get to that chef-prepared food.”

He throws his head back and laughs again, and I know for a fact, that there’s no way I’d turn this guy’s offer to wed me and put me up in a big old house somewhere quiet and beautiful.

I might even be open to three whole kids.

And boy, I will spam the hell out of Becca with pics of all of them.