From: [email protected]
Dear Elise,
Unfortunately, I have to cancel our lunch plans today.
It seems going camping for two days without cell service means when I come back to reality, reality is waiting for me.
Luckily, I made sure to enjoy every minute of our camping trip.
The outdoors will never be the same.
Regretfully,
Weston
From: [email protected]
Dear Grumpy Boss,
That is unfortunate. I was very much looking forward to our lunch plans. Lucky for me, another Aldrich has volunteered to take your place.
Miles says hi, by the way.
Those two days were worth the slap in the face, right? Mine probably wasn’t as harsh as the one you experienced, but I’m hitting the ground running this morning.
Worth it, though. I’ve never felt more peaceful than I did this weekend with you.
I hope you have time to take a breath today.
Wistfully,
Elise
One breath. That was all I had time for. I sat back in my chair, sucking it in as pictures of our weekend flashed through my mind. I’d taken Elise to my spot, and she’d been all in. We spent two solid days hiking, fishing, and fucking under the stars.
She was easy to be with. So damn easy that when we were apart, which was more often than I liked, everyone else struck me as drudgery.
It had been a month since her birthday. For Elise and me, that month had been smooth. Without the looming deadline of telling Elliot hanging over our heads, we’d been able to let ourselves sink into our relationship.
Things between Elliot and me were getting better. He was wary, and rightfully so since he’d had a front row to my past relationships. Two weeks ago, he’d nearly knocked me out at the gym.
I put my phone down on the mat next to the weights, cursing under my breath. Disappointment sat like lead in my gut.
“Troubles?” Luca asked.
“I’ve got to fly out to California tonight to meet with our lawyers tomorrow morning,” I answered.
Elliot had stopped lifting, tuning in to our conversation.
“Why is that a problem?” Luca shrugged. “That sounds like a typical day for you.”
“Elise and I are supposed to be starting cooking lessons. I’m going to have to miss them. I have to be in California to meet with my team tonight.”
Elliot scoffed, wiping his face with a towel. He didn’t say anything, but I could almost hear his mind going.
“Oooh, cooking with Elise?” Luca bounced on his toes. “Tell me where it is. I’ll go with her.”
“No,” I barked, immediately and violently opposed to the idea. “It’s for her and me.”
“Then you should be here to go with her.” Elliot dropped his towel and approached where Luca and I were by the weights.
“If I could, I would. Believe me, I’d much rather be here with Elise than out there dealing with supply chain problems.”
His frown deepened. “Two weeks and you’re already letting her down. I warned her this would happen, and here we go. I have to say, it’s sooner than I expected.”
“Come on, Elliot. Elise will understand,” Luca chided.
“Sure she will. That’s who she is.” Elliot met my gaze in the mirror. “Will you be spending this evening with Marisol instead of my sister?”
I stiffened at his question. I loathed giving him the answer. “She’s the supply chain manager. Of course she’ll be there. If there was anything I could do about this, I would—”
Elliot took a step toward me, his jaw like iron. “You are the CEO and owner of the company. These people work for you, West. If you want to spend your evening with your girlfriend instead of your ex, you can and should make that happen. All I see is a man not willing to change or bend. My sister will be the one who changes and bends, and in the end, neither of you will like what that turns her into. This is your opportunity to set a precedent. Don’t bullshit me and don’t bullshit yourself.”
Heavy, hot breath heaved out of his nostrils as he stared me down. I was at a loss. That was the most I’d heard Elliot speak at once in all the years I’d known him. My mind was scrambling to take it all in.
“Elliot—” Luca started, but Elliot just shook his head and brushed by us toward the locker room.
Bending down, I grabbed my phone and stared at the email from the lawyers. It struck me I hadn’t questioned their need to meet first thing tomorrow. I was so used to handing over my schedule to others it hadn’t fucking dawned on me to do anything different.
I was an idiot.
“He’s right.”
Luca cleared his throat, looking away. “Yeah.”
My brow crinkled with incredulity. “You didn’t say.”
“You’re a grown man. I didn’t think I needed to tell you not to brush off your girlfriend.”
“I wasn’t brushing her off. I would never.” Heaving a sigh, I raked my fingers through my sweaty hair. “Shit.”
Then I fired off a text to Renata, telling her to shift my meetings forward so I could fly in and out in one day and would be here tonight.
I looked up at Luca. “Done.”
He cocked his head toward the locker room. “You might want to inform Elliot before he bursts a blood vessel.”
I wouldn’t call myself a changed man, but that conversation with Elliot had opened my eyes to how I was running my daily life. When I’d told him so, all he’d said was, “About time.” But he didn’t knock my teeth out that day, and since then, we’d shared a few meals together. Things were getting back to a semblance of normalcy between us.
I also hadn’t missed a cooking lesson with Elise yet. We were still shockingly incompetent cooks, but we were having fun screwing up.
Canceling lunch with Elise today had been a twist in my gut, but it had been a pipe dream in the first place. I’d warned her this morning it would have to be quick if it even happened, to which she’d assured me she could find another date if I stood her up.
Of course it was my brother.
I hadn’t spoken to him beyond a cursory greeting in the elevator since Elise’s birthday. Elise may have forgiven him, but I didn’t know I had it in me to do so.
My phone rang. “Yes?”
“Good morning, Mr. Aldrich. Nice weekend?” Renata asked.
I rubbed my forehead. It was a bad sign that my head was throbbing at nine in the morning.
“Great. What can I do for you?”
“Brian Lewis is on the line. He sounds pissy.”
No doubt he did. He must have heard we were in the process of negotiating with a new supplier. As soon as our contract ended with him, we’d be cutting ties.
In the past, I would have taken his call because of our history and some misguided sense of obligation. The truth was, in my position, there was no need for me to deal with the minutiae of all the Brian Lewises Andes worked with. These days, my time was far too precious for me to give it up to him.
“Please inform him Glenna will be handling West Coast operations from now on and put him through to her assistant if he’d like to make an appointment to talk to her.”
“I—” Renata paused. Papers shuffled. “Well, okay. I’ll do just that after I put in my earplugs. That man has a temper.”
“If he yells, hang up. You don’t have to handle that.”
I could almost hear her smirking. “Don’t worry, Mr. Aldrich. You pay me more than enough to handle a grown man’s temper tantrum. It’s the most entertaining part of my job.”
I was at the end of the longest conference call of my life when the door pushed open and Elise appeared, holding a small paper bag. My chest tightened at the sight of her in her swishy navy skirt and silky white button-down with a bow around the collar. She hadn’t given in to the Andes, Inc. culture of wearing active wear to the office, and I secretly hoped she wouldn’t. Seeing her in her sexy librarian attire never failed to make me sit up and pay attention. Both me and my cock.
She crossed the room and perched her plump ass on the edge of my desk, waiting for me to finish my call.
I half listened while slipping my hand up her leg, her skirt gathering on my arm as I ventured higher. She didn’t even try to stop me, her mouth curling and legs parting to let me stroke the velvet skin on her inner thighs.
The meeting ended as my fingers stroked the lace of her panties. I may have said goodbye, but I couldn’t guarantee it. Elise pressed the “end call” button for me. That much I knew.
“I brought you sushi.” She placed the paper bag closer to me. “I’m assuming you were planning on starving yourself.”
I bent forward, pressing my face into the creamy flesh of her thighs. “You keep me well fed.”
Her fingers slipped into the back of my hair, and she laughed softly. “Real food, Westie. You can’t eat me right now.”
I raised my eyes to hers. “I beg to differ.” Pushing her legs far apart, I fit my face between them and breathed in the heat emanating from her. “Christ, you smell good.”
She gently shoved my head away, tsking playfully. “Renata told me you have fifteen minutes. Make me happy by eating sushi while I keep you company. You can eat me tonight.”
This woman knew exactly how to work me, and I always wanted to make her happy, so despite the fact that the only thing I was hungry for was her pussy, and despite the aching erection tenting my pants, I sat up and opened the bag. Elise tried to slip off my desk, but I gripped her thigh, keeping her in place.
“Stay.”
Her mouth curled. “I’m staying. I was just going to sit in a chair.”
“Stay here. I had you by my side all weekend and now I’m not used to you being far away.”
“You’re sweet.”
I scoffed, opening the sushi. “You’re the first person to ever claim that.”
“I’m glad you saved it all for me, then.”
Popping a piece of salmon sushi in my mouth, I slid my hand up Elise’s skirt again. She smirked at me and closed her legs, trapping me there. I didn’t mind.
“You went to lunch with Miles?”
She nodded. “He was there when I read your email. He offered, I accepted.”
“And?”
“And what?” Her head tilted. “We had a good time. He was telling me about the new visual concept he helped design that’s rolling out in the US stores this fall. He’s really talented, you know. He has a sharp, artistic eye.”
I chewed harder than necessary on the next piece of sushi. Elise saying anything positive about Miles got under my skin. He didn’t deserve her company, let alone her praise.
“He draws okay,” I said drolly.
Her brow arched. “It’s a lot more than that or you wouldn’t have him working here. I wish you’d talk to him. I can tell he’s bummed the little connection you guys had before has been severed.”
“That was his doing.”
She slid her hand over mine, weaving our fingers together. “This isn’t the time to talk about this. We have ten minutes before you have to get back to the grind. I’m asking you to consider speaking to Miles. I’ll be there if you want.”
I glowered at her, annoyed my brother had taken up a third of our limited time together.
“Why don’t we talk about what we’re going to do this weekend to top the last one?”
She picked up a piece of tuna sushi, dipped it in soy sauce, and fed it to me like it was the most natural thing in the world. To her, it was. Elise was a carer, and she was damn good at it. And since I was competitive to a fault, the way Elise was compelled me to try harder, to be better for her.
“We have the fundraiser Saturday,” she reminded me.
“That’s right.” My gaze swept over her. My beauty. “I was going to say I’m not looking forward to it, but then I realized you’ll be dressing up for me.”
“For you?” She laughed.
“Mmm. Don’t pretend you didn’t pick your dress out with me on your mind.”
Her teeth were digging into her bottom lip. “You have no idea what my dress looks like.”
“If you’re in it, it’ll be sexy.”
“Weston,” she sighed. “You really are sweet.”
“To you and you only.”
“Good. Now, eat your sushi so I can go back to work knowing you’re not withering away.”
Something in my chest tugged me forward toward Elise. A visceral urge to grab her, press my face to her middle, and not let her leave this office. The need was so fervent I had to hold on to the arms of my chair to stop myself.
“Go, before I don’t let you.”
She slipped off my desk, angled down, and touched her lips to mine. “I’ll see you tonight, Westie.”
I growled. “Stop spending time with him.”
She giggled and kissed me again. “Bye, grumpy.”
Then she disappeared through my door, and I heaved a long breath. Before her, Andes was my life. It had never bothered me to skip obligations to spend more time at the office. Then Elise came along and, without even trying, dismantled everything I’d thought to be true about myself.
It was a dizzy, disorienting feeling, but I wasn’t fighting it.
Not when it meant I could have Elise.
I could prove Elliot wrong and be the man she deserved.
