“So, where to next?” Ethan asked, tucking her into his side as they left the restaurant. He wanted to take her home and prove to her that he was better than cake, but he’d promised her a day of exploring, and he hadn’t walked around the city in years.

“Some place that’s inside,” she said, burrowing into his chest. “It’s so freaking windy.” Her voice was muffled against him.

“It’s San Francisco in the winter. And you wanted to go out. We could’ve stayed in your nice, warm bed and had takeout delivered.” He pulled her tighter, pressing a kiss to her curls. He pretended that the shiver that rolled through her was because of his kiss, and not because the wind managed to cut through all their layers.

“I’m regretting my decision, but the cake made it worth it.” She titled her head back, grinning up at him, and he brushed a kiss across her lips. At her soft moan, he sealed his mouth to hers, giving in to his constant need to have her, to kiss her. He would never get over the feelings that rocked through him with just a small kiss.

“You and that damn cake,” he growled against her lips, and then deepened the kiss again.

Her arms wrapped around his waist, her body pressed flush against his, and it was his turn to groan as she skimmed her fingers along his lower back. 

After an endless moment, she broke the kiss, her breath just as labored as his. “Ethan, we should stop. Go someplace private. Someplace warm.”

He grinned. “Your place or mine?”

“Maybe your place.”

“Penny?” a voice called out, and she visibly stiffened.

“We should’ve stayed in,” she muttered. “I’m sorry, please don’t hit him.”

“Hit him?” he asked. He turned to look at the guy who jogged across the street toward them.

“Penny. I thought that was you,” the man said when he was finally at her side.

“Yep, it’s me. What do you want?” she asked.

The smile on the man’s face slipped, and Ethan immediately went on edge. Who the hell was this guy? Ethan tightened his grip on her waist, and glided his fingers along the small of her back, trying to give her whatever comfort she needed.

“Penny?” Ethan asked.

“Yes, Penny. You should introduce me to your friend,” the man said, his smile tight and overly bright.

“Ethan, this is Michael,” she drew out, her eyes imploring him not to do anything as his hand clenched at the base of her spine when she said that asshole’s name.

“Michael, huh,” Ethan said, gritting his teeth and tamping down the urge to flatten the douchebag with one punch. Anger radiated off of him, and Michael took a faltering step back. Ethan wanted to tell him to keep moving.

“Yes. And Michael, this is my boyfriend, Ethan.”

A thrill rolled through him at her statement. Sure, they hadn’t put labels on anything yet, but he’d gladly take that one. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually been in a relationship, but he wanted it with her. He wanted everything to work with her.

Ethan bit back his chuckle as the veneer dropped from Michael.

“Boyfriend? Really? How long have you known each other?” Michael demanded. Ethan itched to punch the guy.

“A few months,” she said, pulling herself up straight and asserting herself.

“Months? Really?” Michael asked.

“Yes, months,” Ethan repeated. “Is that a problem?”

“You didn’t mention a boyfriend at Christmas,” Michael said.

Christmas? What the hell?

“I was too busy resisting the urge to stab you with my fork,” she bit out, pulling Ethan from his racing thoughts. In the two weeks since the holiday, she hadn’t mentioned seeing Michael, let alone that he’d been at her Christmas dinner. He didn’t want to jump to any assumptions, but what the hell was he supposed to think? What else wasn’t she saying?

“Why do you fight this, Penny? We are so good together,” the asshole whined, and Ethan’s ability to resist punching the guy dwindled by the second. Was he for real?

“Pretty sure you cheating on me proves we weren’t good together. Now, please leave. We have nothing to say to each other. It’s over. I’m done rehashing. And stop bringing my parents into this mess you created,” she said, her exasperation clear, for which Ethan was grateful. And then he felt like an ass for thinking about himself when she was still dealing with her ex.

“Come on, Penny. We have history. I’ve been a part of your family for so many years. You would really throw it all away? For what? This guy?” Michael said.

Ethan bit back a growl. What had she ever seen in this slimy bastard? “That’s enough. You threw it away. You cheated on this amazing woman, and she’s moved on. Now, she asked you politely to leave. I will not be as polite if you don’t back up and disappear.”

“So you’ve moved on with a caveman? Your father must be so proud,” Michael sneered.

“Buddy, you have no idea what you are asking for right now,” Ethan said, keeping his temper in check, his hand still clenched at the small of her back.

“Just go, Michael. It’s done. We’re done. And if you keep this up, I will talk to my father about how you’re harassing me,” she said. Ethan wanted to high-five her, but resisted. He still had a shit ton of questions when the asshole finally left.

“Are you threatening me?” Michael asked.

“Nope. Just a promise. Now, go away,” she said, turning into Ethan, and gripping his hand. She tugged him down the sidewalk, never looking back to see if Michael had left. Ethan itched to look over his shoulder at Michael, but resisted, and kept pace with Penny as she walked briskly up the street.

When they reached the corner, he pulled her to a stop. “Are you okay?” he asked, his finger under her jaw, tilting her head up to look at him. The unshed tears undid him. He pulled her into a nearby alcove, away from the pounding wind and prying eyes.

“Talk to me,” he said, running his thumb along her cheek, the need to soothe her overtaking every question and concern he had.

“I’m sorry about that. He makes me so freaking insane. My parents had invited him to Christmas dinner because they thought we should talk, and I had no idea he was going to be there. I did threaten to stab him with my fork when he tried to grab my hand under the table,” she blurted out, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes before they could fall.

Pure hatred roiled inside him. “I’m regretting not punching him right now,” he said. She took the hand that wasn’t caressing her cheek and squeezed his fingers with hers.

“It’s not worth it. It just sucks that my parents are pushing this. I was so upset that I bolted from dinner and went home early. It sucked,” she muttered. She shot him a small smile. “I even missed the best part of the meal—dessert.”

He matched her smile. “That’s enough of a reason to punch him as anything.” He paused, running his thumb over her palm. “You could’ve called me.”

“I figured you had your own drama to deal with. And I didn’t want to talk about it.” She tried to duck her head down again, but he refused to let her.

“Don’t ever think you can’t talk to me. You might have to hold me back from inflicting bodily harm on your family, but I’ll still listen.”

Her smile widened, and he leaned down, pressing a kiss to her nose. “Next time stab him with the fork.”

Her soft laugh brushed over him. “I’ll keep that in mind, but there better not be a next time. I’m not sure how much clearer I can get.”

“I’m still having trouble believing your parents are encouraging him,” he said, shaking his head.

“Me too.”

He hated the pain in her voice. “You need to stand up for yourself. They are your family, not his. Stand your ground and walk away when you need to. They’ll realize they are just pushing you away, and if they truly care, they’ll back off.”

“I know. I can yell at Michael all day, but my family…I guess I just expected more from them and every time I hope for the best, they destroy that,” she said and it broke his heart.

“I’m so sorry you have to deal with this bullshit, but you’re a strong and amazing woman. And they are going to realize what they are doing is wrong.” Much like he truly believed his family had. Well, maybe not his brother, but the rest of them. He could kick himself for not seeing it sooner, but he didn’t want to focus on his family right now. Penny needed his support and he had the perfect strong shoulder for her to lean on.

“Do you want to tell me what exactly happened?” he asked.

“Yes, but not here. Can we go back to your place?”

“Absolutely. I have some hot chocolate and warm sheets with your name on them,” he teased.

“You do know the way to a girl’s heart,” she said, tucking herself back into his side.

Thirty minutes later, when he had her settled in his bed, the sheets pooling around them as she snuggled into his chest, and she told him about Christmas dinner, he was ready to commit murder. How the hell could her parents be so callous?

“Kevin, you can’t write off one hundred percent of this new machinery. It has to be listed as depreciation. And here, you wrote this off twice. Unless he purchased two of them. Do we have the receipts to confirm?”

They’d been in her office for two hours going over one account for a small business client. Kevin wanted to write off every little thing. And sometimes twice. Deep breaths. Calming breaths. She was going to strangle him if he huffed at her in irritation one more time. She’d show him irritation.

“The IRS won’t notice. What are the chances they would audit these specific clients?” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and scoffed at her. It was more of a sneer, and she wanted to wipe that expression off his face with a perfectly timed throat punch.

“With an attitude like that, those clients probably will get audited, and since my name is on the returns, I’m telling you to change them. You need to be logical here and err on the side of caution. Write-offs that are clearly high and not probable will get you into trouble. They will get this company into trouble,” she said.

“My father would take care of it. You shouldn’t concern yourself with this since they are going to be my accounts,” he replied. Her hand itched to hit him. And if he brought up his father one more time—stupid nepotism. Part of her wanted to hand the accounts over to him and hope he learned his lesson, but since she was supposed to oversee his work, she knew it would come back to bite her.

“Why would you want to bring a possible audit or lawsuit against your father? Against this company?”

He shrugged. “Are we almost done here? I’m supposed to meet my dad for lunch in fifteen minutes.” He glanced down at his watch, tapping the face. His expensive Movado watch. She only knew the name because he wouldn’t shut up about it and how his father, her boss—a fact Kevin always had to reiterate—had given it to him on his first day at the company so he would always be on time. Not that it made him punctual whenever he was supposed to meet with her.

“Yes, I’ll just wrap this up and then we’re done,” she said as she shuffled the paperwork back in the file. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to see him for the rest of the day. Until he had another question, of course. She was tempted to call in sick for the rest of the week, but she was swamped, and it would just mean more work when she got back.

“Good. This is so boring,” he complained.

“If you hate it so much, why do you work here?”

“Because one day my father is going to give the company to me, and it’s a cash cow. I’d be an idiot to not take it.” Awesome. She loved training this ungrateful little shit.

“Okay, I think we are done here,” she said as she handed the file back to him. “Enjoy your lunch.” She refused to suck up to him, but it wouldn’t do her any favors to be a bitch to his face. Behind his back was different.

“Great. So, what are your plans?” he asked as he headed for the door. “Lunch with Ethan?”

What. The. Fuck!

“Excuse me?”

“You’re dating Mr. Knight’s nephew, right?”

“My personal life is off limits,” she replied. Keep eye contact with him. Don’t let him think he’s got you. Fucking gossip. Office politics were like high school.

He smirked as he opened the door. “It’s so obvious.” The door shut behind him, and she wanted to throw something. She knew this would happen. And how long would it be before Robert said something to her? Or the entire office started believing that she was sleeping her way to the top?

She banged her head on her desk. She wished that Ethan was here to take her out to lunch, but the impromptu visits had to stop or the gossip never would. She hadn’t really spoken to him since they’d run into Michael last weekend. A few random texts, but nothing more. She thought she’d reassured him that she was over Michael, but what if he was avoiding her because he didn’t think she was over her ex?

She grabbed her phone to text him, refusing the wait for him to reach out first, and it dinged in her hand.

Ethan: Hey gorgeous, how’s your day?

She smiled at the text. She was getting used to the pet name. And gorgeous was much better than sweetie pie or something embarrassing.

Penny: Hi. I was just thinking about you.

Ethan: Hopefully dirty thoughts?

Penny: Always a perv. You, I mean. Not me.

Ethan: Sure, sure. So, what’s up? Thinking about a nooner?

Penny: Again, one track mind over there.

Not that she wasn’t thinking the same thing. It’d only been two days, but she missed him.

Penny: You started this convo. Did you need something?

Ethan: Not really.  I just wanted to tell you I miss you. When am I going to see you again?

Penny: I’m thinking about the game on Friday. I’ve been reading through my book and I think I have offsides figured out.

Ethan: Well I’m not planning on showing it to you during the game.

Penny: Of course not. But it always happens at some point.

Ethan: We try to avoid them, but it’s common.

Penny: So can I get a ticket for the game?

Ethan: Of course. It’ll be at will call again.

Ethan: You could always come to the game tonight, too. You know, since you miss me and all.

She grinned. She wanted to see him again, but her to-do list was insanely long.

Penny: I wish I could. Too much work to do. Too many corrections to make on Kevin’s stuff.

She probably shouldn’t bitch about another employee to the boss’s nephew, but Ethan swore he’d never say anything to Robert, and she believed him.

Ethan: That sucks. I’m sorry you have to deal with the spoiled kid.

Penny: Yes, but I’ll see you on Friday.

Ethan: Maybe I’ll swing by the office for a visit. Take you up on that nooner you keep suggesting.

Penny: To be clear, YOU keep suggesting it. But this week is crazy, so maybe no visits?

Ethan: Fine. But if you end up with some free time before Friday, I better be the first person you call.

Penny: I promise. And good luck tonight.

Ethan: Thanks. One day I’ll get a hattie for you.

Penny: I hope I’m in the arena when it happens. I’ll watch tonight.

Ethan: I can’t wait to see how many flags are missing from that book on Friday.

Penny: Don’t make fun of me. Soon it will be cleared of stickies and I’ll be an expert!

Ethan: I’m holding you to that. Good night, hot stuff.

Her grin split her cheeks as she texted him good night. He did things to her insides that she’d only read about in books. Was this what she’d been missing all these years?

She turned back to her list, wishing she didn’t have piles of stuff to go through or Kevin’s work to review. Her frustration grew every time he came into her office. What had she done to deserve dealing with this nightmare? Recently she’d been questioning why she stayed more times than she wanted to admit.

She had the savings to go out on her own, but the risk was massive, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to take it on. But she also wasn’t sure she could deal with Kevin much longer or continue to wait for the promotion that had been dangled like a carrot in front of her for far too long.