S

pringtime in Portland wasn’t usually noticeably different from much of winter. When it started raining in October, it usually didn’t stop until June. So, when the forecast for an early April morning called for sun and temperatures not requiring a heavy coat, I was more than happy to walk.

Sunshine always put me in a better mood, even if it was a Monday.

Although, for the past three weeks, Mondays weren’t nearly a hardship when you were waking up with Aiden in your bed. Or in his bed. Or even waking up with Aiden Daniels inside of you, because that happened once or twice. Being woken up with sex was, quite possibly, my new favorite. On some occasions it could even wake me up better than coffee.

Unfortunately, that morning hadn’t started with an orgasm.

Aiden had an early meeting somewhere in Washington and was gone by the time my alarm went off. My alarm, which usually was just my wake-up call to get out of bed, had turned into a wake-up call to make love with Aiden.

Who knew morning sex would be my thing?

I’d pushed snooze more times in the last month than I had in my entire life.

And it was incredible.

We’d fallen into a comfortable routine from the very beginning. We’d go our separate ways in the morning, after the sex, and meet up for dinner. Regardless of whether we were at his place, or I cooked dinner at mine, or we went out, we hadn’t spent one night apart since our first together.

On weekends if I had to work he got some work done too, or did his own thing, but the days always ended with us in the same bed.

It was the most wonderful feeling I never knew I was missing—the idea of coming home to someone. The idea of coming home to Aiden—there was nothing better.

On the rare occasion I didn’t have to work we did things together, things I’d normally done alone. He went jogging with me along the waterfront one Saturday morning. He came with me to a farmer’s market and watched me sift through fresh produce and pick out flowers for my table. Last Sunday we jumped in his truck and he took me on a scouting trip for potential build sites. It was amazing driving through areas that were, for all intents and purposes, undeveloped and watch Aiden visualize a magnificent house there.

He’d brought a blanket and I’d packed a lunch and we’d had a picnic in the woods. The picnic had ended in some pretty fantastic get-in-touch-with-Mother-Nature sex and we both almost died laughing when he pulled a twig out of my hair halfway back to Portland.

Was I happy? Yes. But was I constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop? Absolutely.

But, in that moment, I was content and satisfied. Plus, Stephanie would be by with coffee and our Monday morning meeting would get the week started off on a productive note. I was ready to tackle anything.

At nine o’clock we had our coffee and my team started making their way into my office. The sun was streaming in through the windows and caffeine was pulsing through my veins.

“How is everyone today?” I asked once everyone was seated. They all responded with smiles and tales from their weekend adventures. Some of them had worked, some hadn’t. They all seemed to be in just as good of a mood as I was, though, and that made the meeting jump off to a great start.

“Mark, what’s on your agenda for the week?” I asked, pen ready to take notes.

“Surprisingly, it’s a slower week for me. I have some corporate events coming up, but a lot of the details are already ironed out, so I’ll just be out of the office a few times during business hours to oversee events. The biggest thing on my schedule is the campaign fundraiser for the mayor on Saturday night.”

“That must be absolutely on point, Mark,” I said, pointing my pen at him. “We’ve got to live up to our excellent reputation with the mayor’s wife,” I said, giving Riley a wink. Everyone in the room chuckled since Riley was the daughter-in-law of the mayor and first lady of Portland. Sometimes she worked on their events, but a lot of the time she deferred. I understood. Working with family could get sticky sometimes.

“There’s no reason to believe it won’t be a complete success,” he replied confidently.

“I know you’ll do an awesome job.”

“Rachel, what’s on your plate?”

She let out a sigh and she sounded a little stressed, but she put on a smile and gave me a report anyway.

“You know springtime is wedding season. From now until the end of September, weddings are going to be a main focus of the company, so I’m trying to stay on top of everything.”

“How can we help?” Riley asked before I had a chance to.

“At this point, if anyone has extra hands just for scheduling, that would be great. Perhaps some of the more experienced consultants could take my notes from brides and scout locations? A lot of venues have renovated and we need new info.”

“Jasper is all yours. I have this coming weekend off for the fundraiser so most of my appointments are early this week. I can totally handle it on my own. Use him.”

“Thank you,” Rachel said, slumping her shoulders with a relieved sigh.

“We will round up a few people to do scouts and scheduling. You need to focus on the brides who have events coming up soon, yes? How many?”

“I have two weddings this weekend—Saturday and Sunday—and three next weekend. And at least one per weekend for the next two months.”

“When our meeting is over I want you to put together a list of what you need this week and next, and then we’ll go over it together and figure it all out, okay?”

“And I can absolutely help out later this week. I’m yours all day Friday, in fact. I can rearrange my schedule mid-week and free up that day.”

“You’re the best,” Rachel said to Riley, giving her a genuine smile.

The rest of the meeting went just like any other. We made plans, rearranged them, and when all was said and done, everyone felt as though they had the tools and resources they needed to accomplish their goals. I planned on spending a lot of time with Rachel, helping her manage the wedding workload.

Around lunch time a knock on my door pulled my attention away from my computer.

“Hey, boss lady.”

Aiden’s voice washed over me and I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. He was leaning against the doorjamb, looking like he jumped right off a roll of Bounty paper towels. Since the weather was unusually warm, he’d ditched the puffy vest and I was free to look at his chest in all its flannel-covered glory.

“Hey, Mr. Lumberjack. What brings you into the big city? I thought you were out in the boonies today.”

“I was,” he said, pushing off the doorframe and walking farther into my office, closing the door behind him. “Wasn’t a cell phone service bar in sight.”

“Sounds horrible,” I said with a laugh.

“It was beautiful.”

“Hmmm. Well, what are you doing here?”

“Made it back and thought perhaps you’d like to go to lunch.”

I looked at the clock on my computer and winced.

“You know I’d love to have lunch with you, but today just isn’t great. I promised Rachel I’d help her get a head start on her events for the week, and I still need to do a couple of things before I can give her all of my attention.” I gave him my most apologetic expression. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, babe,” he said with a chuckle. He walked the rest of the way to my desk and then rested his perfect backside against it, crossing his feet at the ankle and folding his arms over his chest.

I could have sworn he did that on purpose just to make me stare longingly at his biceps.

“Can I convince you to skip the gym tonight after work and come home for a different kind of workout?”

Immediately, my cheeks heated at his words and that now familiar ache between my legs made its appearance. I was very aware in that moment that the walls of my office were see-through.

“Today is my cardio day,” I managed to reply with a smooth expression, even if the redness I could feel gave me away.

“Need to burn some calories, sweetheart? I think we can manage that.” His eyes traveled down my body slowly, stopping at all the parts I knew he was particularly fond of.

“You’re terrible.”

“You seem to enjoy my personal brand of terrible most of the time.”

He was in a mood and I was pretty sure if we weren’t in the view of my entire office he’d be removing all my clothing. Suddenly very graphic and detailed scenarios of him and me on my desk flashed through my mind, making every part of me hotter.

“I’ll go straight home,” I finally managed to state.

“I’ll make it worth the sacrifice.” He stood then, but only moved closer. He came to stand in front of me, my eyes following his, my head tilting back to take in his huge frame. When we were both standing, even when I was in heels, he still had inches on me. But with me sitting in my chair and him looming over me, that sexy smirk on his face, it felt as though I was his prey.

He bent down, bracing his hands on the armrest of my chair, bringing his face level with mine.

“I’m going to kiss you now. But I want you to know that this is only a fraction of what I’d like to do to you right now with my mouth.”

Before I could even digest his words, his lips pressed gently against mine.

It wasn’t exactly chaste, but it wasn’t filthy either. It walked a thin line between safe and scandalous.

His tongue brushed my lips as he let out a small, growly rumble, making my breath catch in my lungs.

“It was so hard to leave you in bed this morning.” He pulled back just far enough to brush the words against my lips.

“Next time wake me up,” I replied, pushing forward just slightly until our lips met again, not ready to be done kissing him.

The entire office could have been watching, and they likely were, but I didn’t care. I knew I should have, but I just didn’t. Nothing mattered more than feeling some part of him against some part of me.

“You may regret asking me to do that. You’re going to lose a lot of sleep.”

He laughed against my mouth and I laughed along with him.

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Fuck,” he said, pulling away. “I better go.”

“Okay,” I replied, sitting up straight, trying to make the effect he had on me less noticeable.

“You need a new office, babe. Something with real walls.”

I balked at him.

“I love my office. I’m completely transparent with my staff. They always know I’m here and working alongside them.”

“Yeah, but one day I’d like to fuck you on your desk, babe. And even though I understand the appeal of having an audience, no one but me gets to see you come.”

Holy. Sweet. Jesus.

“Okay, time to go.” I stood up and pressed a hand against his chest, noticing the way it bounced as he laughed. “You don’t get to visit me at work anymore if you’re going to say stuff like that.”

“Stuff like what? Stuff that turns you on?” He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled me to him. I went willingly, damn it all to hell. His free hand cupped the back of my neck and he bent down until his lips were pressed against the shell of my ear. “A month ago, you were afraid to get close enough to touch me. Worried, for some crazy reason, you weren’t capable of having a fulfilling sexual experience. And now I’ve gone one morning without you, and I literally cannot think about anything except peeling off that skirt and burying my face between your gorgeous thighs. Tell me you’re aching the way I am, Rose.”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat. It was either a ball of emotion or lust trapped there, or both, but it made it difficult to breathe.

“I feel it too,” I managed, my fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt, needing to grasp onto anything available. “It’s not just the sex, though. Not just the physical connection. I missed seeing your sleepy face this morning, and watching you lace up your boots while you sit on the edge of my bed. I missed waking up to your breath against the back of my neck.”

He shuddered, a physical reaction to my words, and his grip on my neck and waist got tighter.

“Nothing has ever changed my world like you have, Rose. I never want to go back to a life without you in it.”

I couldn’t imagine it either—going back to the way it was just one month earlier. It seemed cruel, the existence I was leading before.

“Aiden.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. “I didn’t come here to get all serious. Quite the opposite. It’s just overwhelming, what I feel for you.”

I pulled back far enough to cup his cheeks with my hands, his beard softly scraping against my fingers.

“I feel the same way. I promise.”

Pressing up on my toes, I kissed him one last time before I made him leave my office. I could only handle experiencing so much emotion in front of my entire staff before it became embarrassing.

“I’ll be home right after work,” I said quietly. A shock ran up my spine when I thought about Aiden waiting for me.

He made an unhappy sound, like a rumbly grunt, then kissed me quickly before turning and walking out the door.

Not moving, my body still as I watched him go, my mind raced at a million miles an hour. Thoughts lapping themselves as they circled.

You’re falling in love with him.

This is happening too fast.

He has to be too good to be true.

He’s the best man I’ve ever met.

I’d never fallen in love before, but I never imagined it would be so tumultuous. The highs were euphoric and the lows devastating. I was a confident woman in most aspects of my life, but when it came to Aiden I was constantly questioning myself. Was I too needy? Was this how all women felt when they were sleeping with someone? Was it normal to think about sex this much? To need someone the way my body needed his? Was any of this healthy?

“Rose?”

Riley’s voice startled me out of my own head and I realized she was now standing in my door, looking at me with concern written all over her face.

“Everything okay?” she asked tentatively. “It looked like things got a little intense in here.”

I let out a breath and turned, then sat, slumping back in my chair.

“Can we talk for a minute? Like, can you pretend I’m not your boss for a second?”

Riley gave me a sad smile and then stepped farther inside my office, closing the door gently behind her. She took a seat in the chair on the other side of my desk.

“Rose,” she started, my name said with such fondness. “You are my boss, but you’re also my friend, I hope.”

“I appreciate that, and I hope so too.”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I think things are getting serious with Aiden. Seriously serious. And I have no idea what I’m doing or how to do it.”

I couldn’t miss the smile that spread across Riley’s face at my words, or the smile on my face that mirrored hers.

“There’s nothing to be done, really. Relationships, no matter how many you’ve had, are always messy and wonderful. The good ones are anyway. The only instruction you need is just to follow your heart. Trust your instincts. And for what it’s worth, I know I’ve said this a hundred times, but Aiden is such good guy.”

I nodded, suddenly on the verge of tears, my bottom lip pulled between my teeth.

“I know,” I managed before a cry snuck out. I swiveled my chair away from Riley so I was facing the window, hoping no one in the office saw my breakdown. I’d already given them enough fodder for one day. Trying to keep my voice even, I asked Riley, “Can you please close the curtains for me?”

I heard her stand and the swishing noise of the curtains closing, then the tell-tale sound of a tissue being pulled from its box.

“Hey, what’s this about?” she asked, kneeling down beside me, holding the tissue in her hand.

“I’m just not sure I’m cut out for this.”

“Cut out for what? Happiness?”

“Is that what this is?” I asked through a sob mixed with laughter.

Riley was laughing slightly too, her hand resting on my knee.

“I don’t want to sound like a creeper or anything, but I couldn’t help see the way you guys look at each other. It was like there was no one else on Earth. You were all he could see, Rose. He’s smitten, if not completely and totally in love with you already.”

“That’s crazy,” I whispered in argument, even though I knew it was true. I was totally and completely falling in love with him. “It’s only been a few weeks. We hardly know each other.”

She raised one eyebrow sharply. “You’ve probably spent more time with him one-on-one in three weeks than we’ve ever spent together in five years. You know him.”

She was right.

Riley moved from my side to sit right in front of me on the ground, crossing her legs like you did in kindergarten when you sat on the rug for story time.

“Just because it’s the first time you’ve felt this way, it doesn’t make it any less valid.”

“I think it just makes it scarier. I don’t know.” Wiping under my eyes with the tissue, I tried to gather my thoughts. “How did you know it wasn’t going to hurt in the end, with Camden? How did you just let go of the fear of your heart getting demolished?”

Riley’s face softened a little and her smile returned.

“I didn’t. In fact, I pushed him away a lot because I was afraid to get hurt, afraid of what I felt for him. And he wasn’t even my first, so I can’t imagine what that’s doing to your poor, little brain.”

“I think this would have all been easier if Aiden hadn’t turned out to be so wonderful, ya know?”

Riley laughed again.

“Yeah, damn him. Why couldn’t he have been a jerk?”

“No, I mean, and I’m sorry if this is too much information for you, but he was so sweet with me. You know, afterward? I wasn’t expecting that. I had all these expectations and none of it mattered because he didn’t meet any of them. He exceeded them. And I hadn’t planned for that.”

“I think that’s really the core of the issue here. You can’t plan this. You can’t plan when to fall in love, or who to love, or how. It just happens.”

“It goes against my nature to just let go and hope for the best.” I nodded while I spoke, because she was right.

“I don’t think anyone would blame you for being scared, Rose. Not even Aiden. In fact, this is probably something you should tell him. I bet he’s scared too.”

“You think Paul Bunyan is scared of me?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“No, but I bet he’s scared of what he feels for you, scared that he’ll lose you.”

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt—him or me.”

“So, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about relationships, it’s that hurt and pain go hand in hand with love. You just have to decide if one is worth the other.”