Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THANE
She fell asleep almost instantly, and I felt like a complete ass. As much as I wanted her, I should have known better. She’s been so sick, but she also begged so sweetly.
Who am I if I can’t give her everything she asks for?
Much sooner than I’d like, I gently slip out from beneath her, my dick twitching in protest as it eases out of her warm pussy. Even though I’d love to spend all day ensconced in her wet heat, I need to get her cleaned up and get rid of this condom before Kara or Rafe make their way over.
Lottie groans, but her lids don’t so much as flutter. Orgasms will do that to you on a good day, but she’s also still fighting off the infections.
As I stand over her, the need to claim her, to beat my fists against my chest and tell the entire world that she’s mine, roars louder than my narrator’s ever been.
I don’t know what to do with that. I’ve never felt anything so acutely before. I’m not even sure what to call it, and I sure as hell don’t want to talk to Rafe about it.
Crossing the small room, I grab my notebook to add another note in my Lottie section. I’m even shocked that I have a Lottie section. I’ve only ever written down work ideas and personal reminders, but Lottie has changed all my rules. Turning the notebook around, I open the back cover and flip to a new page.
How do I handle the overwhelming urge to keep her safe, protected, secure?
How am I supposed to work when every thought is consumed by her?
Call the doctor to have my heart checked for an arrythmia.
That one pops out of nowhere, but it’s important because every time I’m near her, I’m twenty-five percent sure I’m about to have a heart attack, so it definitely belongs in the Lottie section.
After finishing the note, I head to the bathroom, where I remove the condom and prepare a warm, wet washcloth. Then I return to my girl and gently clean between her legs.
“Thane!” She kicks out and attempts to pull away from me. Her voice is groggy but no less sexy. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Quiet. I’m cleaning you so you can sleep.”
When she doesn’t respond, I peer up at her from my close-up inspection of her pussy.
“Do you… I don’t know. Is this something you do often?” That lovely shade of pink graces her face again, renewing my determination to have shirts made as soon as possible.
I shake my head and carefully finish my task. The scent of her arousal and our sex has me hard again. When she glances down, she bites down on that damn lip.
“I have never taken such care with anyone before,” I say. “But I will do it again, and only with you.” Before she can argue with me—because I know that she will—I return to the bathroom. “Sleep, Charlotte.”
The urge to have her again is fierce, but I need her healthy, so I toss the cloth into the hamper, turn on the shower, and step into the icy spray, feeling like a skyscraper in a small town.
That’s what she does to me. She makes me stand out and own it, and that might be the greatest gift I’ve ever received.
* * *
When I step out of the bathroom, Lottie is fast asleep, wearing one of the shirts I’d folded and set on the chair in the corner.
My skyscraper grows another ten floors as I take her in for a long moment, then decide that she’s well enough to be left alone for a little while. I dress, grab my computer, and head downstairs to wait for Rafe and my sister.
Settled at the coffee table, I quickly get lost in work, but when I reach for my notebook, I remember it’s upstairs. I don’t want to disturb Lottie, so I search for a piece of paper. Even scrap paper would work at this point.
There are three stacks of mail from Mr. Abboud in the kitchen, and I pick up the first open envelope I find. Surely, she won’t need a ripped envelope, so I remove the letter and go to set it back in the stack, but the name of a law firm catches my eye.
It’s from her father, and the urge to protect her has flickers of lava bubbling in my chest.
With a quick glance at the stairs, I open the letter and read. My hands begin to shake even though I already know most of the details from fuck-face Roger.
He really is suing her—his own daughter.
Anger boils over to rage and then turns into all-consuming hatred for the man who created my woman. In all my time as an entrepreneur, I’ve never cared about what other companies were doing. I’ve been confident in my skills, unlike others who feel threatened and are constantly attempting to tear others down.
Staring at this letter, I now understand the appeal of ruining something. Until Lottie, I haven’t cared enough. But this is after-Lottie me, and after-Lottie me is out for blood.
I’m going to ruin this miserable excuse for a human being, and then I’m going to watch him burn while she soars like the motherfucking unicorn that she is.
“Thane.”
I don’t have to face her to know that she’s pissed.
Well, I’m pissed off too. She should have told me about this so I could fix it. She should be in bed so she can get better. She should just listen to me.
“What, Charlotte? This?” I hold up the letter I’m reading.
“Yes, that.” She tightens the sash of her silk robe. I want to know if the fabric is as soft as it appears, but her scowl tells me to stay put.
See? You are learning. Fucking narrator.
“You can’t keep steamrolling into my business, Thane. That’s not how this works.”
“I already knew about this. I knew within days of you telling me he was suing you.”
Her eyes narrow into tiny slits. “How did you know?”
“People at the courthouse talk, sweetheart. Especially when a name like yours or mine is involved. How do you think the entire world knew about my father’s fifth DUI before I did?”
“Did you actively seek out this information?” She drops onto the sofa, crosses her legs, then swings her right foot aggressively.
“Yes.”
“Jesus, Thane. I told you I didn’t want to tell you.”
“And you didn’t, so what’s the problem?”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to know. Did that ever once cross your mind?”
“No.” I refold the letter, my hands trembling with anger at her father. “How can I find a solution if I don’t understand the problem?”
“This isn’t your problem to fix.” Her voice rises to a pitch I’ve never heard from her before.
“Yes. It is.”
“The Hotline has nothing to do with you outside of you being a client, which also makes what we did upstairs wrong on so many levels.”
Wrong . That punches me in the gut.
“Stop.”
Her gaze jumps to mine.
“First, what happened was in no way a mistake. Take it back.”
Lottie’s mouth hangs open, and then she laughs in my face. Fucking. Laughs.
“Take it back? Thane, we’re not in the fourth grade.”
“Take it back.”
“I can’t. It’s the truth. You’re my client. It’s wrong in every professional scenario I can dream up.”
“You’re fired. I haven’t called Rowan once since I’ve been here anyway, so there’s no issue. As far as I’m concerned, I fired you a month ago.”
“You… You can’t fire me. We have a contract.”
“So you’d like me to be your client.”
“Yes. We have a contract.”
“And you’re my girlfriend.”
“I—”
“The only acceptable answer is yes.”
“Gah, Thane. Stop pushing me. What I do, what I want, and when I want it is my decision, not yours.”
What the hell is she talking about?
“You said you were mine.” The words hurt as though they became barbed wire on the way up my throat.
Something has her face softening, though, and I stare at her intently to find out what.
“I did,” she whispers. “It’s just…this is a lot, and fast, and so much to figure out.”
“Agreed. But what happened was not and will never be considered a mistake.”
“Fine. It was a conflict of interest. Is that better?”
I consider that long enough that she rolls her eyes. “Yes,” I concede. “That’s better. I don’t agree with your assessment, but it’s an easy fix. I no longer require your services, so I’ll pay the fee to terminate the contract.”
“It’s like talking in circles.” She flops back against the sofa and covers her face with her arm.
“What’s wrong? Are you about to faint?”
She groans in response, and I cross the room to lift her into my arms.
“Oh my God. Stop trying to carry me everywhere.” She scoots farther down the sofa. “Seriously, you need to chill out. I’m not made of glass. I’m not a shrinking violet. And while you’ve managed to outmaneuver me at every turn, I still have agency over my life, so back off a little.”
I frown. She’s being completely unreasonable.
“Why would I back off when I have solutions?”
“A, this is not your problem to solve. B, I’ve been racking my brain since I received the summons. I know there’s a solution, and I’ll figure it out, but these things take time. C?—”
“No, they don’t. If you’d just let me into your network, I could have easily proved where your company was built. And if you would trust me, I know how to move your company forward so you’ll never have to sell, but you will grow and utilize what you’ve created to the best of its ability.”
“My head hurts. What are you talking about?”
A headache can be solved quickly. I take the stairs two at a time, grab her medication and some Tylenol, then jog back to her.
She accepts the pills and Gatorade bottle with a heavy sigh then motions for me to continue.
I mimic the gesture. She has to take the meds first.
“Annoying,” she mutters.
That makes me grin. I’ve never minded being called annoying—I’ve heard it my entire life, but with her, it warms my soul as if it’s a term of endearment.
She tosses the pills into her mouth and washes them down with the drink, then glares at me.
“First,” I say, “I need to trace your IP networks and your files all the way back to the day you started building the hotline. Once I prove you didn’t build it on his system, then we move to phase two. You’re going to need a tech company big enough to handle rapid growth and change as your company does. You have a vast knowledge of your algorithm, but you need more experience on the technology side to expand into areas where you’re not as versed.”
“You really believe that a hotline for single parents and maybe a dating site will grow that much? Come on. There are hundreds of sites and even more apps.”
“True, but none of them are as comprehensive as yours. And those two things are literally the stepping-stones for what you’ve created here.”
She tucks her legs beneath her and bites on her nail. I’ve never seen her do that before. It’s disgusting but somehow manages to turn me on at the same time, so I stare at the ceiling to compose my thoughts.
“I don’t know what to do with these distractions, Lottie. You breathe, and I get hard.”
She releases a dry chuckle, and I steel my resolve before allowing her into my line of vision again.
“I’m not sure I’m following you.” Her face scrunches into a frown. “What else is there besides my hotline and a matchmaking app?”
Is she serious? When she stares at me with a weird shake of her head like Kara does when she’s waiting for me to say something, I realize she’s very serious.
“Sweetheart, you’re not thinking big enough. What you’ve created, it’s unlike anything else out there. It’s like you took the science behind every personality test, combined it with a knowledge that only comes from human emotions and wove them into something that can quite literally change lives.”
Lottie drops her head to the back of the sofa and then pinches the bridge of her nose. I want to crawl inside her mind. I hate being shut out from her thoughts.
“I get that helping people find love can change lives. But you’re making it sound as though I’m missing something earth-shattering. How else are you envisioning me implementing this?”
How can she not see its potential?
Before I say something stupid, I stand and pace the room.
“Okay, I’m going to think out loud. These are off the top of my head, and I can explain in greater detail if you want to know more.”
My palms are itchy, so I wipe them on my thighs. Am I nervous? I don’t get nervous, so why is my stomach swirling as though I’m about to throw up?
I side-eye Lottie. Maybe I caught her germs. It would be my own fault. I mean, I did fuck her before she’d even finished her antibiotics. Slept with her? Made love? Saying “I fucked her” sounds crass. I’d much prefer my narrator to be dormant sometimes.
“It can help in pain management and treatments,” I say. “Fashion advice. Social media feeds. Fantasy football?—”
“You like football?”
Her question halts my pacing. “No. I hate it. But every time something enters the digital space, I learn it, learn from it, and understand how to make it better or build from it. Fantasy football hooks millions of people every year for very specific reasons. If you built something that integrated your system, you could create game strategy assistants that adapt to personality-based decisions. What you’re doing is integrating highly logical strategies with gut-feeling decisions to give them guidance based on intuition and strategy.”
She leans back on the sofa, a little pale.
“Are you okay?”
She nods. I’m not sure I believe her, but my mind is spinning, and these ideas need to be released, so I continue.
“On top of dating and relationship matches, you could go a step further and create coaches for specific personality types.” My brain is working faster than I can speak. “Take someone like me, who isn’t the easiest person to get along with. It doesn’t mean I don’t get lonely, but I also don’t have the skills to meet someone on my own. Or how about the way law enforcement could use your strategies to deepen their criminal profiling? It could change the world. It would work better than existing models for hiring, team bonding, and conflict resolution. In education, it could help guide students to learning models best suited for how their young brains work and develop.”
Lottie bites her nail again, but at least she appears to be taking in what I’m saying without immediately shutting me down.
“The problem is…”
Her gaze snaps to mine, all wide-eyed and completely intoxicating.
“In the wrong hands, your platform can also be used to discriminate against people like me, or anyone who doesn’t perfectly fit the mold. It could encourage fraud, identity and thought manipulation. Social engineering, privacy breaches, and emotional productivity manipulation are all real concerns.”
“Jesus, Thane.” She stands abruptly, and now she’s the one pacing. Her place is too small for us both to take the floor, so I sit in the spot she vacated. “This is all off the top of your head?”
“Yes.”
“You keep saying how it can help or hurt someone like you. You’re making it personal. Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Her brows dip low. “Not to me.”
“I never imagined I’d get a girlfriend, let alone someone like you. Do you know what happens when I go into a bar and try to pick someone up?”
Her cheeks turn a shade of red I’m not sure I like, so I quickly continue.
“The music makes it hard for me to focus on what anyone is saying, so it usually ends one of two ways. They either throw a drink in my face and storm off or tell me I’m an asshole for not listening and storm off. When I was growing up, none of the tutors knew how to handle me, so I homeschooled myself. Imagine how it would have been if there was a way to tailor my learning needs to a specific lesson plan?”
“Thane.” She approaches me slowly, then sits so our legs are touching. “You say all of this as though you’re still on the outside looking in.”
“I am. I always have been, but what you’ve created has the potential to bridge the gap between people like you and people like me.”
“What do you think you’re like?” Her lashes are damp, and my skin grows tight around my bones. What the hell have I done now?
“I’m different. I’ve always been different in every way.” I don’t have an emotional attachment to this answer. It is what it is, but Lottie wipes away a tear. I never want her crying over me.
“And I like you.” Her voice is so soft, but it crashes into me like a Mack truck hitting a guardrail.
“Then you’re likely different too.” I chuckle. “That doesn’t happen very often.”
The small crinkles appear around her eyes.
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this.” Her words are hesitant. What’s going on in her mind now?
“I have. Once I saw it in action at the nanny camp event, my mind hasn’t stopped whirling with possibilities.”
“And yet, Wilder Minds hasn’t sent me an offer.” Her brows furrow, and I reach out to smooth the line between them.
My stomach drops as though I ate ten pounds of bricks for breakfast. She needs to know about LotiTech. I only created the company so she would have the reach she’ll need. Okay, at first, I wanted to own her science outright, but now that I know her? This company, her ideas, they need to stay in her hands.
“Lottie!” Kara opens the door with so much vigor it bounces off the wall. “You’re up. Are you doing better?”
Lottie looks at me as though she’s about to ask a question but then flashes a gentle smile at my sister.
“I am.” Her gaze glides back to mine. “Thane has taken very good care of me.”
And that one sentence sends my entire body floating into the stratosphere—I took care of my woman.