Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Gigi
I wake in the morning, the pit in my stomach not matching my languid pose. I’m on my back, Rush’s weight half on top of me, one of his legs between mine, his arm wrapped tightly around me.
I should be comfortable beyond compare.
But instead, fear sits on my chest. Vigo was here yesterday. My perfect bubble destroyed. But that’s not even the worst of it.
Rush asked me for truth, and I haven’t given it to him. What would he think if he knew that I’d married Vigo? That I have a personal connection to the man trying to ruin his New York development project?
I need to tell him. He’s right. He’s been promising me protection, and in return…I need to give him honesty.
I groan softly as I try to slide out from under Rush.
He wakes with a start, his arm turning to steel around me. “Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom,” I say with a smile. Rush is not a man who wants space and I am more than fine with that.
His hand slides down my side and then over my stomach, his fingers splaying out across my skin. “Without me?”
I swat at his arm. Comfortable as I am with closeness, I’m not sure I’m ready for him to see all the indelicacies.
Maybe that’s why my past with Vigo is such a problem. Not only is it conflict as an employee, that I have a personal relationship with his most difficult competitor, but I don’t want him to see this less-attractive version of me.
The one that followed Vigo because I was afraid and lonely, and ended up not only detonating my life, but I put my daughter at risk.
“I am not pretty when I—” I start.
He digs his fingertips into my skin. “You are beautiful beyond measure. You do not need to be pretty every moment of the day.”
The pit in my stomach eases as I lean close, rubbing my nose against his. I know I have to tell him all of the truth. It sits between us and he can feel it.
The longer I go, the worse it’s likely to be. And honestly, he didn’t even seem to blip when I told him that my ex was not Emma’s father.
It was one of those circumstances in my past that I thought might change the way he felt, what’s developing between us. But it didn’t, and that gives me some hope.
“I am fairly certain that isn’t true,” I say as I back up, wrinkling my nose.
“Why would you say that?”
“As your assistant, it’s one of my jobs to present a good face. And as a woman, who just started sleeping with you, I am aware?—”
“We are doing more than sleeping together.” He’s on top of me then, his body pressed to mine as my arms wind around his neck.
“Are we?” I ask, turning my head to the side. I am dating a handsome and powerful man. One who is my boss, no less. Most women understand, you keep a relationship like this pretty and light. You don’t ask for much and you make yourself as attractive as possible in all ways.
“Are you using me for sex, Gigi?” he rumbles into my cheek.
A laugh bursts from my lips. “Most definitely.”
He chuckles, low and deep, his nose sliding over my cheek. “That’s fair. There are two things I’m particularly good at and that is one of them.”
I turn to look at him, my brows going up. “Real estate development is the other?”
“That’s right, but I’m working on a third.”
“What is it?”
“Protector.” And then he lifts off me, climbing off the bed. “Go the bathroom, Gigi. Take your shower. I’ll get coffee and breakfast started.”
I lift up on my elbows, naked, as I watch him pull on his underwear and then his slacks. “I think I’m going to need to leave a few sets of workout pants—” He turns back and catches sight of me, his eyes going black. “On second thought…”
And then he grabs my foot, pulling me toward the edge of the bed.
I let out a breathless giggle as my shoulders hit the bed, my elbows coming out from under me with his tug.
His pants are down in a second, and then he grabs the back of my thighs and spreads my legs, one knee coming to the edge of the mattress.
I look up at him, his broad shoulders filling my view and I bite my lip. “Rush,” I start, not sure what I even want to say.
“Yes, love?” he pauses, his cock pressed right against my entrance.
“I’ve never been safer.”
His answer is to slam into me, filling me all at once. It feels so good, I curl my hips up to take more of him in.
It’s fast and hard, and my body takes every bit of it, my orgasm as quick as the pace.
I cry out, even as he brings his torso down to press against my chest, his mouth finding mine. He punches into me a few more times and then groans out his own finish, his body jerking and shaking as he cums.
I wrap myself around him, holding him close as he collapses his full weight on top of me.
Whispering words of comfort, I run my hand through his hair. I think I love this man.
It’s unlike any emotion I’ve experienced before, the rightness I feel whenever we’re together. Like he understands exactly what I need, and I understand what he needs too.
He picks up his head, his eyes languid, his face more relaxed than I’ve ever seen it. “That was something.”
My lips curl up in pleasure. “Yes.”
He brushes my hair back, still inside me, as he kisses me again. “This weekend, let’s talk about work and our relationship and how they best coexist.”
I tense, a little worry replacing the joy. I’m so glad to be with him, I just need to know that I can count on the job and on the apartment.
I can’t let Emma suffer for my feelings. “I need to work here,” I say, my panic tightening my voice. “Emma is so happy?—”
He searches my face, confusion clouding his. “Who said anything about you not working here? You think I’m going to let some other man be your direct supervisor? I’m the only one who gets to stare at your ass in those skirts when you bend over the filing cabinets.”
I give a snorting laugh. “So that’s why you hired me.”
“Your law experience is also an asset.” But he laughs too, even as he pulls me up and grabs his t-shirt from the floor, pulling it over my torso.
He kisses me when my head makes it through the neck hole, laughing again as I push my arms into the sleeves.
And as I turn toward the bathroom, he gives my ass a smack. I click my tongue against my teeth, but grin over my shoulder as I leave the room, heading for the bathroom.
But I’m just about to enter when a knock sounds at my door.
I should be used to it, but every time an unexpected visitor arrives, I tense.
“I’ll get it,” Rush calls from the bedroom, Emma appears in her doorway, looking sleepy as she rubs her eyes.
“Who is it?” I ask, not entering the bathroom. “Killian?”
“No,” Rush answers. “A delivery for me. Or, more precisely, a delivery for Emma.”
“For me?” she asks, her eyes instantly opening wider.
Rush whistles as he makes his way to the door, swinging it open.
I enter the bathroom, not wanting to be seen, but the sound of the door closing is closely followed by Emma’s squeal of pure delight.
Peaking my head out again, I gasp.
Sitting in the middle of the living room is a giant box of doll accessories. Rush pulls a doll kitchen from the interior, even as Emma dances around with a doll, still in her box, wrapped in her arms.
“Is it my birthday?” she asks, jumping up and down.
“Not for two more weeks,” I answer, staring at Rush, my eyes wide.
But he doesn’t return my look as he bends down to scoop Emma into his arms. “Do you like them, sweetheart?”
“Yes!” she shouts. “I don’t want to go to school today, Mama.”
Rush’s eyes do find me then, pulling into a slight wince. “You’ll play with your new things tonight,” I answer firmly, even as I close the bathroom door and smile to myself.
Buying presents for Emma is a really sweet gesture and it makes me feel a little steadier in what I have to do next.