Chapter Four
“What are you doing?” Abigail asked, laughing.
“Simple. I have arranged for us to go on a picnic. The sun is shining and we all know summer does not exactly last that long. Come on.”
Waking up next to Roman was a surreal experience.
Not only had he called to have one of his suits delivered to her apartment, he’d also called for a picnic basket. She’d already cooked them breakfast a few hours ago, and she expected the morning after to be tense and awkward. It was anything but. There was no atmosphere.
They enjoyed breakfast, and they did end up having sex on her table. There was no bacon or maple syrup involved, although Roman had wanted to pour some maple syrup on her. Thankfully, that hadn’t happened.
“A picnic?”
“Yes, at the park.”
“I didn’t think a busy man like you had time for a picnic in the park.”
“I make time for these kinds of things.” He held his arm out to her. “It’s a glorious summer afternoon. Work starts tomorrow, and I know it’s going to get stressful.”
Abigail smiled, and she followed him out of her apartment, grabbing a cardigan on the way out. She locked the door, and Roman took the key from her and slid it into his pocket. She didn’t bother with her cell phone, because she was with her boss. If he needed her, he could just tell her.
They rode the elevator down toward the ground floor. No one else got on the elevator. Once they were at the ground floor, they made their way out of the building. She expected to see a car waiting for him, but there was none, and they were walking to the park.
She lived a twenty-minute walk from the park. When she first moved in, she would make time to go for a walk each weekend. Once winter hit, life with Roman got so hectic that taking the walk was just too exhausting.
Brad always refused to go with her.
Sundays were usually stressful. They walked all the way to the park, talking about everything and nothing.
They found a private spot that hadn’t been taken by a family.
She helped Roman get set up, laying down the blanket.
She had seen a life hack in keeping bees and insects away, and she put a small jar several inches away with a bit of honey.
She couldn’t stand when bees flew all around her, or threatened to sting.
With the blanket set up, Roman pulled out several items like pasta salad, sandwiches, and a few other things. They all looked so delicious, and handmade.
“How do you find these places?” she asked.
“I love home-cooked food, but I don’t cook. I find places that offer me what I need, and I’m happy to pay.”
“You love home-cooked food?”
“Yep. My grandma was the best cook around. My mom, not so much, but she tried.”
“I don’t know much about your family life,” Abigail said.
“Not much to tell. My grandfather started this business in advertising. My father, who was an outsider, and in all honesty, a gold digger, didn’t know what he was doing.
My mother was never interested in business, she just liked spending money, not making it.
My dad ran the business until there was nothing left.
My grandfather, seeing what was happening, removed my dad from his seat, at eighteen he put me in the seat, and from there, he taught me everything about the company.
I rescued it with my grandfather’s help. ”
“Wow,” Abigail said. “I have never met your parents.”
“My grandparents died many years ago, old age. My parents died in a car accident. My dad had been drinking, and he thought he was still capable to drive him and my mom home. They died instantly.”
“Wow,” Abigail said.
“Yeah, wow. They died before my grandparents. I know it’s strange, but I feel like my grandparents waited until they knew I could make it on my own, you know?”
Abigail nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“Oh, wow. My mom left me and my dad when I was fifteen. He worked two jobs, and ended up having an accident at work that killed him,” Abigail said.
“Okay, wow,” Roman said.
Abigail nodded at him. “Yeah, it was really strange, because the company was actually in the wrong. They had cut corners, and in doing that, killed my father. If it wasn’t for a lawyer who was determined to make this company pay, I would have ended up on the streets.
My dad still had a mortgage. Anyway, he won the case, and I got a settlement out of it—quite a bit of money—and I sold the house and moved to the city.
Not to my place now. I got a job at your company when I was twenty-one years old. Nine years ago.”
“You were the mail girl,” he said.
She smiled. “You remembered?”
“Kind of hard to forget the woman that made my advertising manager look incompetent.”
Abigail had forgotten all about that. Six months into the job.
She had never seen Roman before, and she’d been on the elevator, when the lamest commercial idea was thrown out.
She didn’t have much of a filter and hadn’t really thought about her working environment, and spoke her mind.
Less than a year later, her idea was playing on television, the advertising manager was fired, and she was promoted.
That one idea helped make the company millions of dollars.
From advertising, to finance, in the last nine years she had worked in pretty much every department for Roman.
He wasn’t just into advertising, he had his hands in so many different pockets.
The main building had one floor for each of his companies, and he oversaw it all.
There were other buildings spread throughout the country, but the main one was the base of operations.
“Have you heard from your mom?” he asked.
“She died of an overdose the same year I came to work for you,” she said.
“Shit,” he said. “I never knew.”
“My dad’s death when I was eighteen was hard. I loved my dad, he was there for me through everything. He was even there at prom. He wasn’t my date, but he did warn my date.” She laughed. “He told me it was the prelude to walking me up the aisle. He never got that chance.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“It’s not your fault.”
“What about the construction company? I might be able to fuck them over for good.”
Abigail laughed. “That is kind of sweet, but trust me, they are no more. I was not the only one they had wronged. Or, I should say, my dad is not the only person they had killed.”
“This was not the mood I wanted to set for this picnic. I feel like I’ve spoiled it.”
“Absolutely not. This is wonderful. The summer sunshine, the heat, and the sandwiches.” She picked up one, and it was cheese and mayonnaise. Not a combination she would usually try, but it was tasty. “So, tell me, Roman. Why haven’t you been married off by now? Shouldn’t you be wanting an heir?”
“I’ve not met the right woman, but trust me, when I do, I’m putting my baby inside her.”
****
Several Days Later
Roman was pissed off.
After Sunday, he got a call on the way back to Abigail’s apartment, where he intended to kiss every inch of her body.
He was needed at one of the other companies.
At first, he thought it was just going to be a quick job, and he told Abigail to stay so she could be at the office on Monday.
By Tuesday, he was in England and had no choice but to have Abigail flown to him.
The last few days had been nonstop work.
There was an advertising rival intent on stealing one of their biggest accounts.
Ironically, it was the same account Abigail had gotten nine years ago.
It was for a large cosmetics firm, and they didn’t like the latest pitch for a collection of their products and wanted to pull the plug on the contract.
Another advertising company had pitched a deal, and he’d given Abigail the details. He didn’t intend for Abigail to take over the meeting. His current advertising manager had put a young twenty-something year old, straight out of college, who loved makeup and knew she could make this work.
This had become a disaster.
Thankfully, although Abigail was his PA and no longer worked in advertising, it would seem she was still on first name terms with Cameron Pierce, who was not happy with the pitch.
With just a few hours’ notice, Abigail had walked into the meeting, greeted Cameron personally, much to his advertising manager and clearly his little bedmate’s chagrin.
After an intense hour, he saw Cameron felt heard and started to open up to Abigail’s ideas.
Roman watched her. She was a force to be reckoned with. Partway through the meeting, he had sent his manager and the assistant out. He was going to have to deal with that problem.
After an entire evening of fleshing out the details, putting finishing touches to the contract, Abigail put an arm on Cameron.
“I have told you before, when you were nervous about me leaving this job, if you ever have any doubts, I’ll take care of it,” Abigail said.
“You’re a darling, Abi.” Cameron put his hand on top of hers, then looked toward Roman. “This woman is a starlet. You should make sure no one attempts to poach her away.”
“My Abi cannot be bought,” he said. “Her loyalty is mine.”
Abigail smiled.
“Make sure he pays you double, and don’t forget to take in the sights. It’s England, so trust me, bask in the sunshine while you can. It’ll be colder than the fucking North Pole before we know it.”
Cameron kissed her cheek, then left the room.
One by one, people left and Abigail filed the paperwork, then handed it straight to him.
“You’re welcome,” she said.
“You didn’t even give me a chance to say thank you.”
“Cameron is one of your biggest clients. Losing him would cause no end of backlash. You know it, I know it, we all know it.”
He laughed. “You could pretend to have some confidence in me.”
She grabbed the remote and played the childish, amateur advertisement. “This is a company that has dedicated its line to mature women, yet I don’t see a single woman over the age of twenty-one here.”
Roman winced.
“Trust me, once you break Cameron’s trust, it is hard to win him over. You’re lucky he agreed to stay.”
He was getting rock hard watching her. “What do you mean?”
“Cameron texted me. Told me this was a disaster before I had even gotten on the plane. I told him to give me time to get here. It’s why you got the extension. I have not slept in twenty-four hours.” She did look tired.
He got to his feet and cupped her face. “You look terrible.”
She chuckled. “Thanks.” She pulled away, and he knew he had crossed that line at work.
Abigail had given them enough space, as the door opened and there was his advertising manager, his England-based one, Edward.
“We’ll talk later,” he said, looking toward Abigail.
She already had the details of the hotel where they would be staying. Abigail nodded her head. She didn’t say another word, but Edward came into the office and apologized profusely.
Roman was not interested in hearing the bullshit coming out of his mouth.
For one, he had clearly given an unqualified woman a job, and one of the biggest accounts that she nearly lost. They were clearly having sex, not that he could judge, seeing as his woman was going to be waiting for him back at the hotel.
The moment Abigail had walked into the office, he had been completely enraptured with her. Edward had attempted to silence her, but he’d told the man to shut up.
Cameron had been difficult, which was expected.
Roman terminated Edward’s contract, fired his female friend, and then Carl was waiting to take him to his hotel.
He arrived an hour after Abigail. There was no sign of her, and he found her in the bedroom, fast asleep, on top of the bed.
She looked absolutely exhausted. She’d taken on a lot of work, flying to England, not to mention no sleep.
Trying to figure out how to deal with Cameron.
This woman was a machine. He wanted to wake her up.
Instead, he eased the blanket around her and made his way into the en-suite bathroom. Removing his clothes, he stepped beneath the shower spray, tilting his head back, and allowing the water to wash over his body. His cock was rock-hard as he thought about Abigail.
It was so strange. On Sunday they were talking about the first moment he had met her, and he had never forgotten her, with her straight-talking way of dealing with things. She had captured his attention nine years ago, and it held.
Four years ago, when she finally got the role as his PA and was in his world the whole time, other women had stopped.
He’d taken women to special events and held them on his arm, but that was where it had ended.
Each night, he would send them home with nothing more between them. The only person he wanted was Abigail.
He turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. With the other, he dried his hair and brushed his teeth. Tiredness was starting to sweep over him, and he made his way into the bedroom and watched Abigail.
Other men might have found pleasure in another woman. They might have cut her off and fired her.
Just being close to her had been enough. The jealousy hadn’t gone away, but that need had stayed with him.
Removing his towel, he made his way around the side of the bed, slid inside, and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her neck and knew he had a precious gem in his arms, and there was no way he was giving her back.