13. Graham
Chapter thirteen
Graham
W hat the hell did I just do?
I stand at the bathroom sink, splashing water on my face as if it’ll somehow cool the burning sensation in my chest. Explosive.
It’s the only word I can queue in my brain to explain what kissing Rosay is like.
Her fire meets my gasoline, and I’ll be damned if she hasn’t blown my world to pieces.
Obviously, I didn’t learn my lesson from the tame kiss we shared in the car or the chaste one up at her parents’ house.
I can’t kiss her and keep a cool head about me.
She’s an addiction I need to kick before I’ve even started.
My chest constricts as I inhale deep breaths to calm myself, fighting the fuzziness at the edges of my vision. Having an anxiety attack in the bathroom of our rental because I’m entirely too turned on by the woman I’m fake engaged to is not how I planned to start this adventure.
“You okay in there?” Rosay asks from outside the door.
Am I okay? Fuck no, I’m not okay. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just freshening up.”
My voice sounds foreign to my own ears, though the soothing tone of hers breaks through the haze enough to get my heart rate back into a good rhythm. I look around the bathroom and complete the anxiety countdown my therapist taught me.
I flick the water on to hear the gush and pump some soap into my hands, lifting them to my nose to catch a whiff of the mango scent.
I rub the soft microfibers of a hand towel against my tingling fingertips while I catalogue the Americana themed items in the bathroom.
I can’t complete the countdown because all I can taste is the strawberry candy Rosay was sucking on, and that ramps my heart rate back up.
A glance in the mirror reveals a still flushed face, but I can’t stay in here any longer.
“Thought you got lost in there,” Rosay says when I step out of the bathroom.
I glance around the room, noting the long mahogany table and trying to ignore the urge to lay her out on it. Figuring it’s best not to poke the bear, I focus on everything else.
In the middle of the space is a staircase that most likely leads to the beds.
The walls are a dark cherry tone, and artwork of the Hill Country is strategically placed on the walls between wrought iron statues and horseshoes.
A kitchen island with a wooden counter sits off to the side of the front door, complete with stainless steel appliances and dark cupboards.
Behind the farmhouse-style sink, a mosaic of tan, gold, and white tiles creates a beautiful backsplash. It’s perfect for a vacation rental.
“This is a beautiful place. I’m sure their short-term rentals are nonstop.”
“Yeah, it’s nice. I’m glad they reserved it for us, so we don’t have to stay at their house.” I catch her use of the word ‘their’ and wonder if it was intentional. I’m sure the fact that her father built a new house is making her feel a lot of emotions.
“Hey.” I come up beside her as she grabs her bag and tosses it on the table. “How are you doing with all of this?”
“I’m fine,” she says, unzipping the top. Her cold tone assures me that she’s not okay.
“I’m here if you want to talk about it,” I say, but I’ve come to realize that when she’s ready to talk, she’ll most likely word vomit it up. I’ll be her emotiona l cleaning crew with gloves on, trash can ready, waiting for her to purge those feelings.
Rosay rifles through her bag, and a moment later I hear her sharp inhale. She tries to hide the box of condoms she apparently forgot in there, and I can’t help but chuckle.
“Big plans this weekend?” I tease, grabbing the box. “You got the wrong size, though.”
She shoots daggers at me with her eyes. “I didn’t put those in there.”
“Mmhmm. I believe you.” I grin at her, happy the sadness has been wiped off her face and replaced with the fire I know her to carry. “Though, I’m pretty sure there are rules against sleeping with employees.”
She scoffs and tosses the condoms onto the table. “First off, there are no rules against sex between employees, though it’s frowned upon. And brave of you to assume I’d even want to sleep with you.”
Ouch. “If I remember right, it was you that moaned when I pulled you closer.”
Her slight frown makes me want to laugh. “I was trying to unlatch my lips from your sloppy kiss.”
I stare at her, daring her to call my kiss anything except the best she’s ever had. Well, at least I hope it’s the best she’s ever had. If it was only life-changing for me, that’d be entirely too depressing.
“That’s beside the point,” she adds. “Even if I get the promotion, it still wouldn’t matter.
That’s probably an HR area of opportunity you might want to fix if you become the permanent CEO.
” Her mention of the promotion reminds me of why we’re here, and of her stalling.
She must realize what she said because she holds up a hand and says, “Let’s not talk about work right now. I’ve gotta get into wedding mode.”
“Okay. ” I oblige her request, hoping to circle back to it later. Three short vibrations in my pocket set me on edge, and I pull out my phone to find multiple notifications lighting up the screen. “I’m going to go get some fresh air.”
Rosay taps away on her own phone and waves me off. “Stay away from the bulls.”
“The bulls?” I ask. “I thought this was a winery.”
“Kieran rents out some of the fields to a ranch when they’re rotating their herd.”
“Got it.”
Outside, the sun bakes my skin as I search for a place to sit and respond to emails and texts.
A lawnmower chugs along in the distance as I approach a seating area with rocking chairs and a hulking fire pit.
I chuckle at the H-E-B branded seat cushions, but groan when I sit and feel how comfortable they are.
A slight breeze wafts the aroma of freshly mowed grass tinted with the faint scent of fertilizer my way.
There's a sense of peace as I look out over the panoramic view, the Tuscan-like charm of vineyards and scattered ranches blending with the rugged terrain. My reprieve is shattered when I swipe my screen and find sixteen emails, twenty text messages, and more news article notifications than I can count. My heart palpitates just thinking about what could’ve happened in the few hours that have passed since picking up Rosay.
Odds are, the emails are from clients or the board, so I start with them.
With increasing demand for energy stocks and the rise of cryptocurrencies, Thompson has been quite busy since I took over.
A fact the board doesn’t seem to care about.
For the most part, my predecessor was meticulous about his filing system and documentation of clients’ needs, which made it easy to transition once I was offered the job.
I rapidly fire off emails to a few clients and respond to a message from Preston asking about my ‘ plan’ to acquire new agriculture portfolios.
I’m in a haze of emails and text messages with my dad when Rosay’s warm hands start kneading my shoulders.
“You do know there’s supposed to be space between your head and shoulders, right?”
I groan when she pushes her thumb into a knot, working the tense muscles.
“Really? I thought you shrink an inch or two automatically once you become a CEO.” Rosay’s fingers work magic on my shoulders, releasing the tension and sending a calm over me I haven’t felt for years.
“You’re surprisingly good at this. A vice president of finance and secret masseuse. ”
“I’m not sure why that surprises you.” Her voice dips into a sultry tone, and she playfully wraps her hand around the base of my neck. Her hands don’t quite fit the entire way around, but she has a good enough grip it sends my body into overdrive. “I’m good at a lot of things you don’t know about.”
My cock wakes up in about one point five seconds, the pierced head throbs as if I didn’t pay it extra attention this morning in the shower before I picked her up.
She chuckles into my ear, and if I didn’t just assure the board and Preston I was focused on my plan, I’d toss her over my shoulder and take her inside to show me all the things she’s good at.
A four-wheeler motor blares in the distance, sounding like it’s coming our way. I pry her hands from my neck and pull her into my lap just as Winnie appears at the edge of the property. I wince as she lands, noticing the way she jerks up at the feel of me hard beneath her.
“The only thing you’re good at is driving my blood pressure up and breaking office supplies,” I say into her ear, hoping Winnie thinks it looks like we’re canoodling.
“Kieran and Waverly are on their way. Mom just got home,” Winnie says, tipping her head toward the house on the hill. I must’ve been so deep in my emails that I didn’t hear a car pass behind me.
“We’ll be right up,” Rosay responds, loosely linking her arms around my neck and staring at me with questions I’m not ready to answer in her eyes.
Once Winnie is out of sight, Rosay rises from my lap and makes like she’s going to follow her up to the house. I halt her with a hand around her wrist.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
I glide my thumb over her hand. “Your finger is bare.”
Her face scrunches, but a moment later the realization settles over her.
I’m surprised that wasn’t the first thing Winnie asked to see, but Reign commandeered the conversation the minute we got into the house with his wine test. Rosay’s stunned face as I correctly guessed the wines is something I’ll relish for a long time.
“Oops. Guess I should’ve put that on before we got out of the car. Think anyone noticed?”