Chapter 17 Thatcher
THATCHER
My apartment door sticks slightly as I push it open, ready to grab a shower and have an early night. Who knew sleeping with a sex god would make you so tired? I didn’t.
I sigh as I remember Pierce’s lips on my body this morning and consider my post-shower options.
“Fuck,” I shout. “Alli, what in the ever-loving fuck are you doing sitting there in silen— Is that a kitten?”
My tired brain struggles to catch up, which is understandable. After all, I went from sexy, good thoughts about Pierce to jumping out of my skin because my best friend decided to use her key for the second time today to ambush me.
I look at the coffee table. Yes, this very much looks like an ambush.
“Don’t even think about running,” she says, rising gracefully to transfer the kitten to my arms. “Now sit. I brought wine and your entire comfort food inventory.”
She’s not exaggerating. The coffee table holds more snacks than our local corner store, and there’s an already open wine bottle, breathing in anticipation of confessions I’m not sure I’m ready to make.
Definitely an ambush.
“I appreciate the snacks, but I’m a little tired from work, so I’ll just…” I try to give her the kitten back, but the tiny devil sticks his…her…claws into my shirt. “Who’s this?”
“That’s Berry. Her full name is Strawberry Shortcake. Someone found her and brought her into the store because the— Don’t deflect. I want to know what happened last night.”
I sit at the other end of the couch and stroke the kitten. “Oh, gotcha. You’re ready to kiss and tell on your date last night?”
She raises a brow and reaches for a bowl of peanuts. “I’ll kiss and tell when you kiss and tell.”
“Who says I kissed?”
“Your state of undress this morning. Unless underwear is the new business wear, and Pierce is now conducting board meetings in your bedroom.”
Dammit, she makes a good point. I hate it when she corners me like this. My brain can’t function under this much scrutiny.
The wine tastes expensive when I take a slow sip. The slowest of sips. Alli knows my weaknesses: good wine, comfort food, and tiny animals in need of affection. She’s perfectly arranged everything to break down my defenses.
“As he said this morning, it’s complicated,” I say finally, earning an unimpressed look that makes me sink farther into the couch. The kitten climbs higher on my chest, her tiny paws kneading my shirt.
“It always is, honey. That’s why I got the good stuff.”
“Fine,” I say finally, cradling the kitten closer like a shield.
Alli’s smile widens as she reaches for her glass, victory clear in her expression. “Now start at the beginning. And don’t skip the good parts.”
I start with the kissing in the office on the night of the party, which was only two days ago, but feels like a lifetime. Alli puts the peanuts away and reaches for the cheese plate, munching like she’s watching a good movie.
“Then he practically dragged me out to the roof garden yesterday morning,” I continue, heat flooding my face as memories surface. Pierce’s mouth on my neck, his hands sliding under my untucked shirt… “It wasn’t planned,” I protest weakly, earning an unimpressed look from Miss Judgy.
“Nothing with you ever is,” Alli points out, but her tone carries fondness rather than judgment now. “That’s what makes it interesting.”
“We didn’t actually…you know…”
She shakes her head before her lips curl into an O. “Finish.”
I nod.
The kitten purrs against my chest as I try to find words for something that felt beyond language.
“It was so intense,” I manage finally. “Like he’d been keeping all this energy inside and in that moment, he snapped, and it all came spilling out.
It was like I was the single focus of his attention, and it was… mind-blowing, devastating.”
“Devastating?”
I grab Berry and turn her over to rub her belly. She purrs in my hands, and it’s the cutest sound in the world.
“Alli, when you get to experience someone like Pierce, how do you go back to not experiencing it again? How do you move on?”
“Wait, but that was at work, and he was here this morning?”
I drink more wine and take a few bites of the delicious cheese. I have a feeling I’m going to drink a lot tonight, and I haven’t had dinner, so I need to snack up.
“My dad called me yesterday. I’d just gotten back to the office after the roof garden…stuff.”
“What did your dad want this time?” Alli’s voice is filled with understandable worry. She’s been here for all the other times.
“Apparently, my brother’s firm has an opening for a junior analyst,” I explain. “Dad thinks it’s time I stopped ‘playing around’ with my current job.”
“Playing around?” Alli’s tone sharpens with familiar protectiveness. “You mean excelling at a corporate position while developing your art on the side? That kind of playing around?”
Her defense gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies, and it’s suddenly easier to keep going. “You know how he is. Nothing’s ever good enough unless it fits his exact vision of success. And now that Tobias is making all the good waves at the firm…”
“Screw your brother,” Alli interrupts. “And screw your dad’s narrow definition of achievement. You’re doing amazing things, Thatch.”
“I know,” I manage, though the words come out rougher than intended. “It’s just… Sometimes I wonder if he’s right. If I’m only fooling myself, wondering if I’ll ever be a full-time artist. Or if I need to accept it’s not going to happen, and I’m destined for a life of corporate boredom.”
“It seems your current corporate life is anything but boring, honey.”
I throw a cracker in her direction, and she catches it, stuffing it in her mouth.
“Anyway, met your dad. What happened next?”
“I couldn’t go back to the office in the frame of mind I was in, so I ended up walking along the river for hours. You were on your date, so…”
“So you called your boss to come comfort you? Finish what he started?” The words carry no judgment, just gentle curiosity that makes my confession easier.
“No, he came here.”
Her eyebrows shoot up high so quickly that even Berry jumps in my arms.
“He came here?”
I nod. “He thought I left because of what happened in the roof garden.”
“What happened when he knocked on your door? I bet you were surprised.”
I chuckle. “That’s an understatement. Alli, when I answered the door, he was right there wearing these dark sweatpants and an old hoodie. My brain unalived itself on the spot.”
“And he gladly provided mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“He listened,” I say softly, remembering how naturally our conversation flowed. “He asked about my dad, my art, my stories, my dreams.”
“And then…” Alli prompts when I fall silent. “The listening led to other activities…?”
The heat in my face probably answers for me, but the wine loosens my tongue anyway. “It was…intense,” I admit, and she leans forward with renewed interest. “Not just physically, though that part was…wow. But emotionally too.”
The kitten’s warmth against my chest feels like tiny pieces of comfort as I try to find words for everything Pierce makes me feel.
Like how he looks at my artwork with genuine appreciation, or the way his walls come down when we’re alone together, how he worried he was the one taking advantage of me.
“He… We’re going to New York next week. Together.”
Alli nearly chokes on her wine. “Wait, what? He’s taking you on a business trip?”
“Pierce has meetings in the New York office. As his assistant, it’s my job to go with him.” I shift the kitten to a more comfortable position. “It’s just a three-day work trip.”
“Let me get this straight.” Alli sets down her glass with exaggeration. “You’re going with your boss—the boss you’ve now had sex with multiple times—to New York. For three days. Away from the office, away from prying eyes…”
“It’s not like that,” I protest, but even I can hear how unconvincing I sound. “We probably won’t even stay in the same hotel.”
“Honey, if separate apartments couldn’t keep you two apart last night, what makes you think different hotels will help with your self-control?” She grins wickedly. “This is either going to be the best business trip ever or a complete disaster.”
“We didn’t even talk about it this morning,” I admit, anxiety creeping into my voice. “We got…distracted.”
“Are you worried?” she says gently, studying my face. “About the workplace complications? The power dynamics?”
The question sobers me. “Of course I am,” I admit, holding the kitten closer. “He’s my boss. He’s older, sophisticated, has his life completely together. I’m…me. Everything about this is complicated.”
“But?” She prompts when I fall silent.
“But he makes me feel safe,” I say finally. “Like I can be fully myself, chaos and competence, art and anxiety, everything I usually try to keep separate.”
“And CANVAS?” Alli asks. “Please tell me you’re finally going. After all, you’ll be in New York already.”
My face lights up despite my worries. “Yeah, I think I’m going.
The timing works out perfectly, and all I need is to figure out the return flight because coming back at a different time isn’t covered under work expenses, and I’ll need a hotel I can afford because I’ll be paying for the extra two nights since that’s a personal expense. ”
“That’s amazing! See? The universe is conspiring to help you.”
“Or to completely destroy my life,” I mutter, but I’m smiling now.
“Those aren’t mutually exclusive,” Alli points out cheerfully.
She reaches over to scratch behind the kitten’s ears. “Just promise me one thing. Promise you’ll be careful with your heart.”
I’m not sure I’m capable of anything but being reckless with my heart. People don’t call me Meatball for nothing, after all. But I can’t say that to my best friend because she’ll worry, and if I’m truly honest with myself, she has every reason to.
“I promise to try,” I say instead, which is the best I can offer.
It’s not much, but it’s all I’ve got.
“You brought out the good stuff for this interrogation. I’m turning the tables now. Tell me everything about your date last night.”
Alli’s expression shifts to something softer, more vulnerable, which makes me sit up straighter despite the wine-induced relaxation. “Did I tell you he’s a vet?”
I laugh. “No, but it doesn’t surprise me. You have a soft spot for anyone and anything that loves animals.”
She hides her blush behind her wine glass. “Let’s just say you’re not the only one who didn’t sleep alone last night.”