I scowled as I heard how horrible April sounded on the phone. I knew something was up when I pulled in and she wasn’t at work yet. She always beat me into the office.

Brody walked in and plopped in the chair. “Did you suck on a lemon for breakfast?”

“No, April is sick.”

“That sucks for her.”

“I think I’m going to check on her.”

“I think she wants to be alone.” He sat up and put his arm on the desk. “Do you think she needs a sponge bath? I could get on board to help with that.”

“Shut up. I think the dust we stirred up moving the supplies made her sick.”

“Ah, fuck. Don’t be offering any workman’s comp or any other bullshit. The next thing you know she’ll need surgery and a fucking year off with pay.”

“You’re a dick.” I grabbed my keys. “She isn’t like that. Hold down the fort.”

* * *

I rang the bell, but she didn’t answer. I thought maybe she was sleeping and felt bad for waking her. She could go back to sleep after she was taken care of. I rang it again. I placed my ear to the door to listen for any movement inside, but I could only hear the television.

I knocked on the door and smiled when I heard her. “Oh, fuck. This better be good.”

My smile faltered when I saw how sick she was after she opened the door. She had a blanket wrapped around her as tightly as she could and her nose looked as if there was a ball of fire sitting on her face.

She started to close the door, but I slipped my fingers in and held on. “I brought soup.” I twisted to place my other hand through the door opening to show her. “It’s warm and delicious.”

She looked at the other bags on my arm. “What else do you have?”

I smiled. “You’ll have to let me in to find out.”

“I’m a mess. The apartment is a mess.”

“You’re beautiful.” It was true. She could’ve looked as if she was on death’s door, but she was always beautiful to me. I reached in and caressed her face. Her cheek was hot. I hoped my cold hands didn’t bother her. “Let me take care of you.”

I couldn’t contain how much it meant to me that she was letting me in. I wanted to take care of her, so no wasn’t going to be an option, but I was happy not to fight about it in the hallway.

“Go rest, and I’ll bring you everything in a minute.” I motioned to the living room with my head as I turned and locked the door.

I headed to the kitchen to get a spoon and to take the lid off the soup I bought for her. I wasn’t sure why she said her apartment was a mess. There wasn’t a mess anywhere I could see. Unless she counted the few dishes in the sink as a mess. It would take me no time at all to clean those up after she ate the soup.

The mess she had been referring to was the living room. The coffee table and sofa were covered with tissues. I stopped walking the moment I saw it but recovered and hoped she didn’t see my reaction. Truth was I didn’t care. I’d clean it for her so she didn’t have to worry about it. It just proved how much she needed me.

I narrowed my eyes as she cringed with each wipe of her nose. “Hey, stop using those. They aren’t helping.”

“What do you expect me to use, my shirtsleeve?”

I smirked at her attitude. Even sick she could give me a run for my money. I set the soup on the coffee table and pointed for her to sit back as I grabbed a tray from the corner. Once she was situated with the blanket wrapped around her, I slid the tray forward and set her soup on it.

“Eat this while I get the other things ready.” I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. I was dying and I didn’t want to sweat all over her. “How high do you have that thermostat set?” It wasn’t winter yet, but I did pull out my long sleeves. I didn’t think it was cold enough for the heat yet, though.

“I’m freezing. I don’t pay for the heat. It’s one of the perks of this apartment.”

“You’ll pay for it in other ways.” I looked around until I found the source of my pain and took a step toward it.

She stabbed the air toward me with her spoon. “If you so much as think about touching that, I will rip your balls off.”

I stopped and weighed the options in front of me for a brief second. “Okay then.” I reached behind me and pulled my shirt off. When I turned to toss my shirt to the coffee table next to the other bags I brought, I saw her staring at me. It was difficult to not smile, but I didn’t want her to know I caught her.

I dug around in the bags longer than I needed to. The boxes of tissues weren’t easy to miss, but I moved the cough drops and nose spray a few times as if I was having a hard time finding what I wanted. I wanted her to look at my body. I wanted her to see what she could have if she only gave me the option. As soon as she was better, I was going to push for that option and much more.

“Here we go.” I watched as her eyes traveled up my body as she forced herself to look at my eyes. “I picked up two kinds. This one has lotion, and this one has a cooling effect to it.”

“I’ll try the cooling ones, please.”

I opened the box and handed it to her. “Now, don’t forget to eat. You’re going to want to hold that to your nose all day as soon as—”

The moan that came from her as soon as she touched her nose with it stopped me in my tracks. I needed to hear that moan under other circumstances, but I needed her to get well first.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Eat, though.” I pointed to the soup and dumped the other items out of the bag to use it to collect all the tissues. I watched to make sure she was eating and took care of that when she was finished.

After putting the tray away and making sure all the dishes in the sink were taken care of, I sat next to her and pulled her closer to take care of her. Once her body came into contact with mine, my temperature spiked and it had nothing to do with her hand resting on my shirtless chest.

“You’re burning up. I thought my hands were cold when I came in at first and touched your face, but you’re really sick.” I sat up. “That’s it.”

“I’m not going to a doctor. It’s just a cold.”

“This is more than a cold, and you need to be in bed.” I bent down and picked her up, blanket and all.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed.”

“But you just got here.”

“Who said I’m leaving?” I stopped and looked at her. I was done pussyfooting around with her. It was time she knew what my intentions were and how serious I was about them. “This may not have been how I envisioned my first time in your bed, but I guarantee it won’t be the last time I’m there.”

I carried her to her room without looking at her again. I wasn’t sure what I was going to see staring back at me, but I would not allow her to argue with me about it. I didn’t care how we met or that I was her boss. I was falling for her and she was falling for me. There was no denying it anymore. I already considered her mine, but it was time she admitted it, too.

* * *

April missed the next two days but was determined to not miss any more work. I told her the only way I’d agree to let her come back was if she could sit through dinner without coughing, sneezing, or wiping her nose. It was my way of ensuring I got to have dinner with her again, but she didn’t need to know that.

She only allowed me to check on her after work after that first day. She felt guilty for taking me away and leaving the center short two people. I didn’t care. For the first time in my life, I was doing what I wanted to do. I only agreed to go to work to make sure her job was done. I didn’t want her to go back to a stack of work.

I stepped off the elevator with our dinner in my hands and walked faster to her door. April opened the door before I knocked. It was nice to see her as excited for our first official date as I was.

“I was watching for you.” She smiled, a little embarrassed that she admitted it, but I was happy she did. “I knew you’d have your hands full.” She took a bag from me as she tried to cover up her excitement, but she never needed to hide that from me. I was just as excited as she was.

We’d wanted to kiss each night I checked on her, but she wouldn’t let me. She was afraid of getting me sick. It was nice of her, but enough was enough. Her symptoms had all but disappeared, so I was getting that kiss.

I stood close behind her as I sat my bag down next to hers. I bent down and breathed in her hair. “You smell great.”

“I think that’s dinner.” She gave a nervous laugh and turned to me. “It’s amazing what a shower can do.” She looked at my lips since I didn’t back up.

“You should’ve waited for me.” I placed my hands on her hips and she brought her hands up to my chest. “I would’ve helped with the hard to reach spots.”

She looked at my lips again and back to my eyes. “Maybe—” Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. “Maybe next time.”

When she looked at my lips again, I couldn’t hold back. I pulled her against me and covered her lips with mine. Her kissing me back was all the invitation I needed. I pressed her against the counter as I ran my tongue across her lips and plunged inside when she opened for me.

I wanted to do more. I wanted to go farther than just that one kiss, but I needed to be smart. She wasn’t some high school girl who was curious what sex was like. She was the woman I’d hoped to spend a very long time with.

I pulled back before I got too overheated and adjusted myself. My jeans were a little tight. April was smiling, but she blushed when she saw my hand cup myself and lift to the right a little. She bit her lip when she turned around, but her ass grazed me and got me even harder. I was sure she purposely made that move, but if I took action on it, dinner would go to waste.

I moved her hair to the side and kissed her neck. “You’re playing with fire when you do things like that.”

She didn’t stop unloading the bags, but she did lean back and press her ass into me again. “Maybe I like things hot.”

I looked down to the jeans she was wearing. It was going to be a tight fight, but I was certain I’d have the room I needed. “Let’s see how hot you like things.”

I kissed her neck and squeezed her hips. She had emptied the bags and started folding them as if what I was doing wasn’t affecting her. She couldn’t fool me. I felt her lean back into me when I started kissing her neck. I moved my hand from her hip to her belly and pressed her back into me more. I kept my hand still for a moment. I wanted her to think that was all I was going to do. It was far from all I was going to do.

She reached over for a container and almost dropped it when I slid my hand inside the front of her jeans. I would’ve stopped if she wanted me to, but when my fingers met with her clit, stopping was the last thing on her mind.

“Tim.” She leaned forward a little and grasped the edge of the counter.

I whispered into her ear, “You’re right. You do like things hot.” I moved my fingers faster. I’d kept my fingers close to her belly when I slid my hand down, so I was able to get inside her underwear, too. I would’ve done what I could if I missed it, but I was grateful for the lucky shot.

“It feels as if I wasn’t the only one turned on by that kiss.” I whispered again, “You’re so wet.”

Her head dipped forward when my fingers moved faster. “Oh, God.”

It’d been a long time since I had a dry humping session, but I couldn’t stop my hips from grinding against her. She didn’t seem to mind and placed the back of her head on my shoulder. “I want you so much.”

“You’ll have me. Consider this an appetizer.” I stopped moving my fingers and started to slide out, but she gripped my wrist.

“Please. Please continue.”

I smiled. “Open your jeans.” I ran my fingers across her clit again but didn’t pick up the speed until her jeans were open. It gave me the room I needed to move as I wanted to. I dipped my hand lower and inserted two fingers.

She gripped the back of my jeans. “Yes, please, keep going.” She lowered the jeans off her hips a little more and went back to gripping the back of mine.

“Can you lean on the counter for me?”

She nodded and placed her hands on the counter. I wasn’t going to be able to keep her upright and give her clit the attention it deserved. Once she was in place, I moved my fingers in and out of her and rubbed her clit with my other hand.

“That feels so good.” Her breathing picked up as the moans did. Every time she moved her ass back into me, I swallowed. It wasn’t going to take much for me to unload in my jeans if she kept that up, so I needed to pick up the pace and take the control back.

She leaned forward even more and cried out, “Yes. Oh, please, yes. Just like that. God, that feels good.”

I added another finger and curled up until her legs shook. I smiled and moved my fingers faster, giving more pressure inside and on her clit.

Her whole body began to shake. “Oh, oh. Don’t stop. Please, don’t fucking stop.” She made fists and pressed them into the counter as she leaned on her forearms.

“You’re so close, aren’t you?”

She whimpered and nodded her head.

“You want to be pushed over that edge?”

“Do it. Please, fuck me.”

I nipped her neck and moved my fingers as fast as I could. She cried out and fell forward onto the counter as her body convulsed in my arms. I kept moving my fingers until her body stopped shaking and her fists relaxed.

I was proud I was able to get her off so well, but it made me horny as hell. I wanted to take her, but she needed to eat dinner first. Even if we didn’t have sex that night, I still considered it one of the best nights of my life.