with the popping firewood relaxed me, and I reflected on the day.
After rolling around in bed earlier, we had gotten up, showered together, then dressed and went downstairs to eat turkey sandwiches and vegetable soup for lunch. Cole had come to sit with us, and we’d talked to him for a bit after we ate. The afternoon was spent wandering around the manor and chatting with the other guests before we had returned to our room and pulled at each other’s clothes again, going for that promised round two.
And here we were now, sitting in an easy silence in front of a warm fire as a winter wind moved through the trees outside the window.
I’d never really considered many things to be peaceful before, but it was the only word that came to mind as I sipped wine and sat there with Daniel.
“Will you do that again?” he asked, pausing in his typing.
“Do what?”
“Play with my hair.”
I smiled and slid my fingers through the silky strands. So many questions burned inside me. What happens when we go back home? Will we pretend this never happened? Daniel had shown me a sweet and playful side that day. Would he return to his neutral indifference and cold demeanor once we were back at the office?
My heart ached at the thought.
It had only been three days, but my simple crush had blossomed into something greater. Something strong. Falling for men too quickly was a major character flaw of mine, and it scared me when I realized Daniel had been added to that list.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Hmm?” His eyes remained fixated on the screen.
“Is this just for tonight?”
He stopped typing and leaned back, tilting his head up to look at me from his place on the floor. The look in his eyes made me wonder if the question had been eating at him too.
“I don’t want it to be,” Daniel whispered, furrowing his brow. “I haven’t felt like this in years.”
“Felt like what?” I played with his hair some more.
“Happy.”
That one word hit me square in the chest and weighed so damn heavily on my heart. Happy. God. I was happy too. And I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to that happiness or the peace it brought.
“Does it…” I swallowed hard. “Does it have to end?”
“A boss isn’t supposed to date his employee,” he answered, placing his laptop to the side and turning around. The flames from the fire danced in his blue eyes, but I felt kind of cold as I stared into them. Numb. Because I didn’t want this thing between us to stop. “If the higher-ups found out, I could lose my job.”
“Why, though?” God, even my voice sounded whiny. Why did I always do this to myself? Getting attached to the wrong men.
“It can be seen as favoritism,” he explained, reaching forward and lightly touching my jaw. “People might also think I’m taking advantage of you. There have been so many instances over the years of boss-employee relationships where the employee later said they felt trapped and that their job would be on the line if they said no.”
“But I don’t feel that way,” I said in a rush. “I know I can say no to you. Hell, I’m the one who initiated the first kiss.”
“Regardless, HR would have my ass if anyone found out.”
I exhaled and slumped against the back of the chair as I did. “So. That’s it, then.”
The sadness in his eyes mirrored the feeling in my chest. “Let’s not think about it right now. We still have tonight. And I know just how to spend it.”
Daniel slid his arms around me and stood up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him as he guided us over to the bed. Neither of us said a thing as we kissed, touched, and got lost in the feel of each other. Words didn’t matter anyway. They wouldn’t change anything.
When he eased into me, I hooked my arms around his neck and kissed him over and over again, our lips melding just like our bodies.
Sex was how I expressed myself. Touch was my love language. But sex with Daniel was unlike anything I’d felt before. He took me to new heights and made me feel… safe. Cared for. I wasn’t just a hole to him. That was clear in the gentle way he kissed me and how he worshipped every inch of my skin.
How the fuck was I going to go back to the way