Twelve
Eshim
J erry looked so fucking hot in a suit.
It was Thursday, and the meeting with the reps from Hanover's was just about to begin. Kat, Rita, Jerry, and I were in a conference room, and so were the two reps from Hanover's—Mr. Miller and… what was her name again? Oh, Ms. Jain!—and their assistant, Cole.
The assistants' job was mostly to take notes and observe, and I was sitting back against the wall with Rita, while Cole sat on the other side of the room behind his bosses.
Jerry had spent the last three days going over the proposal with Kat and Archer, deciding on where they'd be willing to negotiate and what was set in cement. We hadn't had the chance to go on another date, but I still got to spend all day around him, so I didn't mind. Much.
The meeting started off with lots of greetings, then a discussion of the small project we'd completed for them last week.
I took notes as they talked, the discussion moving seamlessly into their future projects and what they were looking for in terms of advertisement.
Hanover's was a multinational company that built everything from shopping centers to apartment complexes, and hotels. They had at least half a dozen active projects at any time—more if they signed us on for more than the North American branch—which would mean just as many new projects for us.
It would be a lot of work, but the sparks in Jerry and Kat's eyes told me they were more than up to the challenge.
The meeting lasted for almost two hours, and by the end of it my brain was almost mush. I'd had to use magical assistance more than once so I didn't miss anything in my notes, and I was ready for a break.
By the end of the meeting, we'd settled on all the terms of the contract. They'd decided to start us off with just the North American branch—which was a big win in itself—but with an added note that they'd review our work after a year and decide if they wanted to sign us on for the other branches as well.
Once the reps had left, Kat and Jerry grinned at each other.
"We did it!" Kat cheered, and Jerry nodded, his smile wide. Kat threw herself at him, and he caught her with a laugh, giving her a tight hug. I bit back a smile as I watched them, and quickly tamped down the hint of jealousy trying to squeeze its way on. Kat and Jerry were childhood friends and exes. I'd be a bad partner if I took it personally.
Kat stepped back, then turned to Rita, her assistant. "Can you please tell everyone we're celebrating at the pub tonight? Dinner and drinks are on us."
"Sure thing!"
No date night tonight either, it seemed. But that was okay. This was worth celebrating.
Kat went off into her office, while Jerry and I returned to his. I could tell he was still buzzing with the high of it all, and I wanted to taste it on him. So when he stepped into his office, I followed after him, then closed the door. While the front of his office was all glass, there was only my desk outside, so someone would only see us if they were passing by, and I'd sense anyone way before they came close enough.
Not that Jerry and I planned to hide...us, but I also knew he wouldn't want his employees to see us making out.
"That went well, don't you think?" Jerry asked as he turned to me, and I nodded.
"You were amazing," I said, and he rolled his eyes, but the faint blush on his cheeks told me he liked the compliment. I stepped around his desk until we stood inches apart, and he gazed at me, his green eyes bright and beautiful. I was one lucky demon.
I leaned forward, then paused, wanting to make sure Jerry was okay with this. He peered at me for a moment before nodding, and I smiled as I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips to his. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I held him to me as I deepened the kiss, and Jerry slid his arms around my shoulders, his fingers tangling into my hair.
I enjoyed kissing, and I'd done quite a lot of it over my long life. But I'd never felt quite so connected to someone with just a simple kiss. I felt like Jerry was a part of me, like I'd die if we were separated. I wanted to keep him close and protect him from everything. I knew he didn't need my protection, that he was strong enough to take care of himself, but the instinct was still there, burning just under the surface of my skin.
Tracing his lower lip with my tongue, I swallowed his moan as I slid into his mouth, humming at the taste of coffee and him. His hands tightened on my neck, and I slowly pulled back as I remembered he needed to breathe.
Jerry gasped, then sucked in a sharp breath.
"Careful. Breathe," I murmured, and he nodded as he did just that while I tried to hide the smug smile on my face. I liked seeing him react so visibly to me. It was rather...satisfying.
Leaning back, I pressed a soft, open-mouthed kiss on his lips, then took a step back. "I should get back to work. I need to organize the notes I took and get started on an update email for the teams. Let me know if you want to add anything."
Jerry blinked up at me, still a little hazy, and I bit back a grin as I turned around and made my way back to my desk. This office romance thing had its perks after all. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy teasing Jerry like this in the days to come.
Jerry
With everyone from the office here along with the pub's regulars, the place was crowded, loud, and full of the scent of sweat and fried food. Not a good combination, that one.
Kat, Archer, Lux, Fressia, Eshim, and I sat at one table, and I was sure our employees were very curious about why Eshim was sitting with us. They were scattered all over in smaller groups, mostly split in teams the way they would be at work.
Kat had declared everyone could order whatever they wanted for dinner, and get up to two drinks on the company dime—"You've got work tomorrow, people!"—and everyone was in high spirits.
"So how was the first date?" Kat asked, and I glanced over at Eshim, who was looking right at me.
"It was great."
"Seriously? Give me the details, Jer."
I rolled my eyes at her, then tried not to smile as I felt Eshim lean into my side. It was strange how close I felt to Eshim already. Once everything was out in the open, I felt like I'd jumped in headfirst into the whole mate thing. I liked spending time with Eshim, and I wanted to do more of it. Which was strange because we already worked together and were around each other practically all day. The only people I'd ever been around for that long were Archer and Kat.
"We had a nice home date with dinner and a movie," Eshim said, and I glanced over at him with a smile.
"Yep. And Hella paid us a visit," I remembered, making Eshim snicker.
"Hella goes where Hella wants," Fressia commented, and the conversation turned to the demonhound for the next few minutes as we ate.
After dinner, Lux got everyone drinks, and we made a toast to the new contract and our hopes for its success. Then Kat made a toast to Eshim and me, which I should've expected.
"You know, you two should take tomorrow off. Once this contract is finalized, you two will be very busy. So take tomorrow off and spend the weekend getting to know each other better," Kat said, and I blinked.
I hadn't really thought about it, but she was right. Once the contract was in place, we'd have a bunch of new projects to brainstorm and allocate. While I didn't do much of the actual design work now, I still had to look at every design and proposal and approve or reject them. There would also be a lot of meetings. Meetings with the project teams, meetings with the people at Hanover's... A long weekend off might not be a bad idea.
"What do you think?" I asked Eshim, and he grinned.
"I'd love to spend the weekend with you. Maybe we could go somewhere."
I couldn't remember the last time I'd been on a vacation, but it might be fun to go somewhere with Eshim.
"On Monday, we should talk to HR so our relationship is all aboveboard." Just because I was one of the owners didn't mean I was above the rules. In fact, being part-owner made it more necessary for me to be transparent.
Eshim's eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly. "I'd like that. Does that mean I won't have to hesitate before kissing you at work?"
Kat and Lux chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. "We still need to be professional," I said, and smiled when that made him pout. Then I leaned closer to him and whispered, "I won't mind if you kissed me in my office like earlier."
Eshim grinned, while Lux made an "Awww" sound that told me he'd heard me too. I'd forgotten about the demon super hearing.
"So, the weekend? You and me?" Eshim asked, and I nodded.
"We can make plans later," I said, mostly because I didn't want Archer and Kat's input-slash-commentary on whatever we settled on.
A few of our employees came up to chat or congratulate us, and I got dragged into a conversation about the current marketing themes and what kind of designs we could draw up to fit into them while still standing out. It was the biggest hurdle when it came to advertising of any kind, and the conversation ran longer than I'd expected.
By the time the two women I'd been chatting with drifted off, it was almost midnight. Archer and Lux had already left since they had to relieve their babysitter, while Kat and Fressia were on the small dance floor cleared in the middle. Eshim was right where he'd been sitting all evening, his side pressed against mine. I glanced over at him and he smiled as he met my eyes.
"So, where would you like to go?"
I blinked, then realized what he was talking about. "Hmm...I want to spend the time getting to know you, so nowhere crowded. We'll have time later to do touristy things, right?"
Eshim nodded. "Whenever you want."
Smiling, I took his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. "Then maybe somewhere outside the city? Somewhere it's just us and we can have some peace and quiet."
"I like that. I'll find us something tonight, and we can go tomorrow?" he suggested, though it turned into a question at the end as if he was unsure.
"Sounds good. I'm looking forward to it."
If Eshim wasn't friends with Lux and Fressia, if he wasn't a demon, if I hadn't known about the whole fated mates deal, I would never go on a weekend trip with someone I'd only been on one date with.
But I knew Eshim better than a first date. I'd known him for a while now, and everything I discovered about him just made me like him more. He was sweet, a little clueless. He mixed up his phrases and idioms, got them so wrong sometimes that I struggled to figure out what he wanted to say, and it was the cutest thing ever. He could also be bossy, which turned me the fuck on. I wanted to see more of that side of him, and I hoped I'd get to this weekend.