tonight,” he blurts out.
I grab hold of him before he can bolt. “There’s nothing about tonight that I’ll regret.”
“I want our first time to be perfect. I owe you the fairytale experience.”
He rolls to his side and pulls me into the curve of his body, then tugs the covers over us, and we relax into each other.
Chapter Thirteen
The alarm goes off at six o’clock, and when I roll over, I run smack dab into a solid wall of muscle. Damon reaches for my phone and beats at it until the relentless chirping stops.
My hand rests on his chest while his arm cradles me. His free hand caresses my arm to brush the side of my breast. “More of that,” I beg.
“We need to get up, or we’ll never leave this room. Five more minutes of this, and I won’t be able to let you go.”
“You drive a hard bargain, and I would prefer to stay, but I can’t. You already made me miss work yesterday, and now I have to work harder today to catch up.”
“I’ll drop you off before I go home and shower. Can you join me for lunch around noon?”
“I’d love to have lunch with you. Are we still going to have our book club meeting on Wednesday?” I ask with a hopeful gaze. “It’s a long time until our Friday date.”
“Wednesday is on, but you have to find time to read the next fifty pages. It’s my turn to choose the restaurant and my turn to buy.”
“I’m an overachiever. I’ll get it done.”
I jump up, wearing nothing but my underwear, and make a beeline for the bathroom. When I emerge from my shower, Damon is nowhere in sight. I’m in the living room putting on my shoes when he walks through the front door with two coffee cups and a bag of pastries.
“Are you wooing me, Mr. Noble? Pastries and coffee are a surefire way to my heart.”
“You better look at what I brought before you offer your heart.”
“Good advice. What did you bring?”
“I brought a croissant, a chocolate donut, an apple fritter, and a banana muffin.”
“For this selection, you get my hugs and kisses, but if there was a cheese Danish, I’d give you my soul.”
“Pay up, then. I believe you owe me hugs and kisses.”
He pulls me into his arms, and his lips caress mine. It’s a good thing he’s holding me because his touch makes me unsteady.
“Get a room,” Em says when Anthony and her walk into the living room.
I’m in no hurry to leave Damon’s embrace, so I ignore her while we draw our kiss to a close.
“Gotta run, Em. I don’t want to be late to the office.” I pick up my purse and give her a hug.
“I’ll be home after work,” Em says. “You’ve got some splainen to do.”
“A girl never tells her secrets.” I grab the coffee, pastries, and Damon’s hand, and we’re off.
He drops me off at the front of the building and speeds away. I make it to my cubicle to find the phone’s red light blinking like a beacon. I press in my retrieval code and listen to the messages that have accumulated since my absence yesterday afternoon.
I wish they were all positive, but they aren’t. I wanted to make sure Anthony Haywood’s was represented in the gift bags and thought gift cards for nice cutlery or kitchen gadgets would be a nice tie-in. Unfortunately, the knife company doesn’t want to take part.
The one hundred cookbooks I got will help, and the leading manufacturer of stand mixers agreed to donate gift certificates for each bag. They’ll ship them to each of our VIP guests. Pleased with the way things are turning out, I lean back in my chair and smile.
“Hey, Kat. Glad you could join us.” Trevor leans over my shoulder, looking at the list of my latest acquisitions. “Nice job.”
“I’m happy with my progress. I beat your estimate, and I’m determined to achieve my goal of getting them to be worth ten thousand.”
“Tell me how you ended up helping Mr. Noble yesterday. I never had an intern called up for a project before, and I’ve been here a long time.” He eyes me with suspicion.
I want to be honest, but I want to protect Damon’s privacy, so I skate the issue the best I can.
“I know him outside of work. I didn’t tell him I’d applied for the internship, because I didn’t want him to interfere. When he saw me walking out of the elevator