Eveline
Out of earshot from their table, Jeronimo broke the silence. “So, you two are getting along, huh?”
She shot him a glare. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Be curious? You were clearly having a good conversation. I’ve never seen you smile like that.”
“Because we had a good conversation.”
“So, when is the date?”
“There is no date.” She sighed. “Jeronimo, please stop. I know you mean well, and you want the best for me—”
“But you don’t want me to get your hopes up.”
“That would be very nice of you.”
As she transferred into her car and disassembled her wheelchair, Jeronimo leaned against the car and crossed his arms over his chest. “Let me have a few questions and then I’ll stop pestering you about it.”
“Fine.”
“What if he asked you out, would you agree?”
“Happily.”
“Why don’t you ask him out? Maybe he’s just not wanting to take that step because you’re his boss now.”
“He seems pretty old fashioned. He may not appreciate a woman taking charge.” But that wasn’t the real answer, and Eveline wasn’t ready to discuss that .
“Understandable.”
“And that doesn’t mean I want you to push him.”
“Got it.” Once she’d finally disassembled her chair, Jeronimo crouched and took her hand. “I hope you know that the lack of a man in your life doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy. You are an amazing woman and even if it’s not Renley, one day you’ll find that man.”
“Jeronimo, please.”
“Hear me out. I’m not blind. I see how sad you are sometimes, especially when you see us with our families. It’s just not your time. Katrin and I didn’t meet until I was well into my forties. Your time will come too.”
“You need to stop.”
“I will, but only because I don’t want you to drive home crying. I just needed to get that off my chest.” He squeezed her hand and then stepped back. “I’ll see you Monday.”
It was only when Eveline got home and put herself to bed that she let herself bask in Renley’s compliments. After all, drunk people spoke their mind and if she believed that, she also had to believe that he meant what he’d said.
He’d called her “smoking hot.” Even now, lying alone in bed, it made her heart leap.
Her hand slipped down and into her panties, fingers finding her clit.
This was wrong, but the memories of her night with Renley had only been sweetened by his confession.
He truly hadn’t done it for the money, and that had her all hot and bothered.
She played with herself, remembering how it had felt when it was his fingers between her legs.
God, he’d spanked her too and she wanted that all over again.
She increased her pace, letting her imagination take her to all the wonderful kinky things she would let him do to her.
She imagined her pussy being spanked and fucked roughly like he had before.
God, she loved how he hadn’t treated her as if she couldn’t handle it.
He’d used her, taken her as he wanted. The raw lust sparkling in the chocolate of his eyes, dark and yet still soft.
She came hard, panting for air. When she opened her eyes, the illusion of Renley was gone.
Biting down the disappointment of not being in his arms, she reached for her phone and doom-scrolled social media until her eyelids slid shut.
By Monday morning, Jeronimo was back to his usual self.
As promised, he didn’t bring up Renley again.
He busied himself with the construction sites, leaving her to handle the admin work.
She didn’t mind. She even enjoyed the quiet side—or the boring side, as Jeronimo called it.
But she knew he’d jump in to help if she asked.
Mira, their secretary, had called in sick, so picking up reception tasks took up quite a bit of her day.
Late afternoon came much faster than she’d thought.
She was just returning to her own work when a knock on the door caught her attention.
She smiled. She just couldn’t help it when she saw Renley’s handsome figure.
“Hey,” he greeted shyly. “Mira asked me to fill these out.”
“I’ll take them.” She reached out and he stepped into the office, handing the papers over. “She stayed home today. Are you settling in well?”
“Yeah.” He took his hat off, running his fingers through his hair before replacing it on his head. “The guys are nice.”
“Ah, so you passed their initiation.”
“I was so fucking drunk. I don’t even know how I got home.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Sounds like a good night.”
“It was.” He glanced around the office. “You’re all alone?”
“It seems that way. Jeronimo was supposed to be back by now but I guess he got held up at the Bolton property.”
“So, you have more than one?”
“Two at the moment. Want to see?”
With a bright smile, Renley took the chair in front of her desk. “Can I see the one I’m working on too?”
“Of course.”
“Unless you’d rather go home. I don’t want to keep you longer.”
“That is very kind of you, but I usually stay much later than this.” She turned the screen towards him showing him the 3D model of the house he was working on. “They’ve decided to keep the fireplace, so we’re adjusting it to be electric.”
“That’s why you came last week, right?”
“Yeah, I wanted to see what else we could do if they decided to get rid of it entirely.”
“And you just come up with ideas on the spot?”
“Not always, but I guess I have an imagination for things like this.”
“Like an artist with an empty canvas.” He leaned closer to admire all the fine details. “I worked on that room today. It just looks like a construction site, I could never come up with a floor plan from scratch.”
“The owners help out a lot.”
Renley levelled her with a flat glare. “Take the compliment, woman.”
She couldn’t help but grin and judging by the heat washing up her neck, she was blushing as well. “Fine. Thank you.”
Renley’s shoulders shook with laughter. “What made you want to become an architect? That’s what you are, right?”
“Yes. I always liked the idea of creating something new or improving something old. I guess I’ve always had an eye for design.”
“Was that before or after Europe?”
“After. I got myself an internship after I got my bachelor’s.”
“And then you decided to be your own boss.”
“Not quite that quickly. I worked for a few firms over the years, but then I met Jeronimo and I offered to help him. He made me his partner instead.”
“I haven’t talked to anyone who doesn’t enjoy working for you, so you seem to be doing everything right.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but remembered the glare that had earned her before. “Thank you.”
He gave her a wink and watched as she pulled up the Bolton property. “Oh, this one is cute!”
“They wanted to restore the original structure instead of modernising it.”
“I like it.”
“I love the charm.”
She gave Renley a virtual tour of the house, relishing in his genuine interest and astonishment. Once it was finished, he leaned back and gave her a heart-fluttering grin. “You’re very talented.”
“Thank you.”
Then he pushed himself to stand and adjusted his hat again. “I’ll leave you to work your magic. Don’t work too hard.”
“I can’t promise that.”
He chuckled and turned but not without tossing over his shoulder, “Your cats might get lonely.”
She was still smiling when she locked up a few hours later.