stamp all over it. A modern kitchen with quartz and steel that opened into a dining space with a table that could easily seat twelve. The focal point of the two-story living room was the towering stone fireplace. The furniture was deep and overstuffed. There were colorful throws and pillows everywhere.
“But, in this case, I might be okay with it,” I said.
“If you’re still on the fence, allow me to convince you.” He led me into the bedroom off of the living space. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked spectacular snowy mountain peaks and miles of forest. There was another fireplace in here and a grand four-poster bed buried under mounds of winter white linens and pillows.
The bathroom door was open, and I caught a glimpse of marble floors, thick towels, and a huge freestanding tub in hammered copper.
“Wow,” I whispered.
Dom yawned mightily. “I’m going to shower off the plane ride. Make yourself comfortable and be ready to spend the weekend making up for the last week. I had the staff stock frozen peas and Gatorade.” He added the last with a wink.
My heart did that annoying tip-tap thing again, and I waited until I heard the water turn on in the shower before hurling myself onto the snowy peak of bed linens. It took me five minutes in my best impression of a gopher to dig my way under the covers.
Settled under forty pounds of luxury, I pulled out my phone.
Me: How is this my life?
I attached a picture of this room with a view.
Faith: Girl, you soak that up. Also, my view isn’t so bad either.
She’d attached a picture as well. One of shirtless Christian James smiling lazily at her.
I did a little boogie on the mattress.
Me: I knew it. I knew you two would set the bed on fire.
Faith: And my office. And the backseat of his car. Oh, and his studio after you left the shoot Wednesday.
Me: I’m really happy for you.
Faith: Don’t make it weird. We’re just enjoying each other’s nudity.
Me: Don’t rule out non-naked fun with the guy.
Faith: We’ll see. Meantime, Mr. James is crooking his sexy AF finger at me. Gotta go rock his world.
Me: Make good choices!
Faith: I think you and I are both past that.
It was true. I hadn’t had any intentions of starting an actual relationship with anyone, let alone my grumpy boss. Yet here I was. In an “I missed you so I flew across the country and whisked you away to a luxurious mountain retreat” situation.
We probably needed to talk.
Things felt like they’d gotten serious without our noticing. I yawned and rolled over, snuggling up against a pillow that was probably stuffed with organic geese feathers and gold dust.
I was dozing when Dominic came back into the room, fresh from a hot shower.
I let him pull me against his naked body and wrap his arms around me. This was where I belonged.
“Just want to hold you for a minute,” he yawned.
And that was the last thing I remembered.
“I can’t believe we slept the entire weekend,” I said, leaning back against the headrest and admiring Dominic’s now well-rested profile as he drove us home.
“It wasn’t the entire weekend. There was sex and some food too,” he said wryly. “Next time, I’ll make sure we’re rested and hydrated for the trip.”
Dominic had gotten a pretty hilarious muscle cramp in his hip on his last orgasm, but he’d heroically powered through it to screw me into the mattress… and oblivion.
Next time. There was that flutter in my chest again.
“Are you kidding? It was perfection. How many people get to have a napcation?”
He took a conference call on the way home, and I listened while his team wheeled and dealed and made decisions that would affect how women around the world would look at raffia jewelry and raincoats.
“You’re starting to enjoy it,” I pointed out when he disconnected the call.
He shot me a side-eye look. “What?”
“You just listened to your team’s opinions, made a series of decisions, and didn’t have a crisis of confidence.”
He made a noncommittal noise, and I noticed his thumb was tapping on the steering wheel.
“Aren’t we going back to your place?” I asked with a frown, as he drove past the exit.
“I wanted to swing by your dad’s house and check out the progress,” he said.
I snorted. “I wouldn’t call it progress so much as chaos. Seriously, who knew home renovations could be such a pain in the ass?”
“Literally anyone who has ever attempted to do it themselves,” he said dryly.
“Har