here for a decade more.”
“I like you,” Sienna says thoughtfully. “I mean, I already knew I liked you, but I just have to say that I respect you as well. You handled her professionally, and then when that wasn’t going to work, the woman in you kicked in and stuck up for your relationship. We should all be so lucky as to have a partner like that.”
“That’s what you have with Quinn,” I remind her.
“Oh yeah. In spades. And it makes me happy that you and Carter have the same.”
Today got crazy.
After my dressing down by Mary, Sienna and I got slammed with a new client and didn’t end up leaving the office for the day until after six. I rushed home to pack some fresh clothes and got cornered in the hallway by Christopher, whom I’ve barely seen in weeks.
I miss him. I promised to have dinner with him one night this week.
Then I hurried over to Carter’s penthouse to get dinner going.
We didn’t eat until after eight, and I felt bad for it because we were all starving. There wasn’t a noodle or a piece of garlic bread left over.
Once Gabby went to bed, I wanted to fall face-first into bed myself.
But Carter had a few things to see to for work, so I tidied the kitchen while he tapped away on his laptop, and now we’re finally getting ready for bed.
“Now that Gabby’s asleep and your work is done, I have to tell you about what happened today,” I say as I spread toothpaste on my brush and start brushing my teeth.
“Okay,” he says, then whips his T-shirt over his head, one-handed, and I stop to stare. “Well?”
“Well what?” I ask with the brush still in my mouth.
“You’re so classy, darling,” he says with a laugh and kisses my temple. “What happened today?”
“Oh!” I hurry to finish brushing, spit in the sink, then rinse my mouth and wipe it on a towel. “So Sienna and I were called into a meeting with Mary in HR.”
I wet my face and scrub it clean, then reach for my moisturizer.
“And?”
“And she’s a first-rate bitch, but that’s neither here nor there.” I’m slathering the lotion into my face, watching Carter in the mirror as he strips out of his slacks and reaches for a pair of pajama bottoms.
He never wears anything on top, God bless him.
“We were in trouble for fraternizing with you and Quinn.”
That brow quirks up, the way it does when he’s annoyed. “Excuse me?”
“I told you this would happen.” I sigh and pump regular lotion in my hand to rub into my feet and sit cross-legged on the bed as Carter joins me, leaning his back against the headboard and watching me with concerned blue eyes. “She called us out for being affectionate at work. It was complete bullshit. I mean, I understand that she thinks it’s part of her job, but I also think she was being a vindictive pain in the ass as well. She’s both.”
Carter nods thoughtfully, and I keep going.
“Anyway, I told her to go fuck herself.”
Carter sputters, coughs, and then says, “What?”
“You heard me. I told her that Sienna and Quinn are married. What they do is none of her business, and that I’m in a relationship with you and if she has a problem with that, she can take it up with you.”
He reaches over and takes my hand in his, then kisses my palm in that way he does and covers his heart with it.
“You take my breath away, darling.”
“I’m sick of her bullying me. Of being afraid that she’ll gossip about us. So what if she does? You said it yourself that you own the damn company.”
“I do,” he says with a nod.
“But this is exactly why I was so intent on being careful,” I explain to him, needing him to see my point of view. “I knew that it would become an issue. Carter, you’re the most important part of my life. I’m absolutely crazy about you and Gabby. But I love my job, too. I need it. I need you both.”
“I know, and I’m sorry I was so hardheaded that I didn’t understand it before. And in that vein, I’m happy to report that as of today, that no-fraternization policy no longer exists.”
I still and feel my eyes go wide. “Excuse me?”
“That’s right. It seems while Mary was flexing her imaginary muscles with you, I was in a meeting with her boss, Quinn, and Finn. We decided to