Chapter 22—Bobby
I toss my glasses onto the table and rub my eyes.
I love my job, but sometimes I want to throw my computer through the window.
And a few of the members on the board as well.
The board is just to keep the public happy; they don’t really have a say in my company.
But sometimes, one or two of them get a wild hair and attempt to be more than just a figurehead.
That’s when the real joys of the job come in—taking them down brick by brick and keeping them in their place.
Or below.
All depends on how much they piss me off.
And this last one is about to get the worst of the worst. All for simply keeping me from going home at a decent hour and letting me find a way to get myself invited for dinner with the girls. Or back into Willow’s bed.
Is it too late for a booty call?
Jesus, I’ve got it bad. One night of pure bliss, and I can’t get her out of my thoughts all damn day.
Not a single moment went by that I didn’t think about her.
Wondering if she would handle a meeting or an email differently.
Curious if she bought her lunch in the cafeteria or had someone on her floor bring her something so she could work through lunch like I did.
Dammit. What if she didn’t eat at all? What if she just focused too much on the job and not on herself? I should have sent her something to make sure she ate.
But while I don’t give a fuck what others think of me and mine, I don’t know how Willow feels about it. If my small display this morning affected her more than me just saying good morning and telling her to have a good day.
She was off a bit in the morning, and I realized I was doing a poor job of focusing on her.
She knows work is important to me, but I want her to know she is as well.
A simple handhold was all I could manage at the moment, but it seemed to be enough.
I might not have had many relationships in the past, just one-night things that lasted a few hours, but I want this one to work.
I’m a workaholic, and my family make it a point to tell me when I’m nothing more than “all work, no fun Bobby.” But I want to make changes for her.
And I know her enough already to know that she won’t expect big shifts. Her dedication to the job matches my own. The big shift I’ll have to make is making sure I spend time with the girls.
Willow is a package deal. I knew that the moment she told me about them.
And I fell for them almost as quickly as I fell for her.
How could I not? Not only are they the spitting image of their mom, but they also have a unique way of wrapping anyone close to them around their little fingers.
I’m not the only one affected by this family either.
My entire staff has fallen for them. Well, not Alfonso, but he doesn’t like anyone.
He at least tolerates Willow when she comes to my office, and that’s the most I can ask for.
“Are you done yet?” Marco walks in after tapping once to announce his presence.
I take a breath, look over everything on my desk, and nod. “Yes.” I stand and put on my jacket, grabbing my phone and glasses off the desk as I go.
Marco keeps in step with me as we make our way out of my office and into the elevator. He hasn’t brought up what happened between Willow and me, but I know he has something to say. He just won’t voice it until I give the go-ahead.
“You can talk now.” I adjust my cuff links a bit as we descend.
He doesn’t respond right away. That alone has me looking over at him with a raised eyebrow. He isn’t looking at me but at the door. But I know he heard me. Even more, I know he’s working through his word choice from the way his jaw twitches.
“Yes?” I push once more.
His eyes cut to mine. “Hurt them and we’ll have problems.”
The threat doesn’t bother me. I know it’s directed at me. He’ll cause harm to me if I’m the one to hurt them, physically or emotionally. If it’s someone else, we’ll take care of it together. He might be the one inflicting the pain, but I’m the one carrying his leash.
I grin. I like that Marco has enough of a connection with Willow and the girls to feel he has a right to say something to me on the matter.
Not pushing me off getting with her, just doing what a father or an older brother would do: threatening the life of anyone who could make her sad or bring a tear to one of the girls’ eyes.
“In that, we agree.”
He nods as the elevator opens and we head to the waiting car.
“It’s also about damn time,” he mutters just as he opens my door, and I get in while laughing and nodding in agreement.
As I ride home, I promise myself that it’ll be the last time this week that I come home past midnight. It’s too late to stop in and say hello or even get a good night kiss after a long day.
A promise I failed to keep, as it’s now Friday, and each night has been the same, along with too early a morning to greet them either.
At least I make sure she’s eating. Breakfast is provided to them every morning, and I even started having pastries set up with light items for the rest of the company in the three cafeterias we have in the building.
It’s only been a few days, but so far it seems to be a perk that motivates my employees.
I’ve had fewer call-outs and an increase in production.
Guess breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.
If we continue to see an increase like this, I’ll be reaching out about supplying snacks as well. And I’m still looking into the housing idea Willow put in my head. She’s making changes around here, and she doesn’t even know it.
Speaking of which, she’s late.
“Alfonso,” I say into the intercom, then wait for his annoyed sigh to come through.
“Yes?” Annoying him is a secret delight I have.
“Please send in Ms. Frazzer.”
“She’s not here.” His response is immediate, stopping me mid-rise.
“Well, where the hell is she?”
“How would I know?”
I growl in agitation. I need to see my girl. It’s been long enough as it is, and I won’t go a second longer than I have to.
“Check your email.” Alfonso’s voice crackles through the intercom.
I pull up my inbox and see the recent incoming message.
Dear Mr. Leone,
Unfortunately, due to what happened last week, I felt it best to email you the results of our findings, with my summary below. Feel free to reach out if you have questions on the data. I feel this communication will be more effective than meeting in person going forward.
The next message that comes in is a cancellation of all future in-person meetings set for us that I’d created for the foreseeable future.
I reread the email a second time. Does she really think she can walk away from me? Usually, this type of thing would piss me off. Someone telling me what to do instead of the other way around. But when it’s Willow, all it does is make me smile.
She must think that what happened between us was a fluke. A stolen moment lost in a storm. She must think I was playing when I spoke about her being mine.
I wasn’t.
“Send in Marco,” I tell my secretary, and a moment later, my second-in-command comes in.
“Yes, sir?”
“Will you collect Ms. Frazzer for me?”
His eyes narrow before he must see something on my face that makes them glint with amusement.
“Of course,” he murmurs before leaving.
Once he’s gone, I pull out my phone and send a few messages while I wait.
As expected, it doesn’t take long for Marco to return with what I asked for.
I can hear her from outside, protesting that she already canceled the meeting, but I don’t pay Marco to listen to anyone but me.
“Ms. Frazzer,” I say loudly the moment Marco cracks the door.
He pulls it open for her, and she stands there, frozen like a deer in headlights as she looks at me, not moving forward as I sit on the edge of my desk and face the doorway.
Marco’s chuckle floats between us, but it isn’t until he puts a hand on her back and pushes her forward that she stumbles into my office. But she holds her position at the opening as Marco shuts the door behind her.
“Hello,” I greet her with a smirk.
She dips her head, then waves. “Hi.”
I raise an eyebrow, waiting her out. I know how to get answers from people. Not talking is key. It puts pressure on them to fill the unwanted silence.
And like a cookie, she crumbles under pressure.
“I sent you an email.” She takes a step forward.
“I got it.”
She worries her bottom lip with her teeth before taking a second step toward me.
“I put everything in the email. As you can see, we’re ahead of schedule and are moving into the next sectors that I outlined for you in week one.
We also were able to confirm no new inquiries were discovered.
Well, there were a handful we’re running again just to double-check, as there were errors in the documents, but nothing linked to this.
We’ll correct those anyway, and I’ll send you a follow-up report on that once it’s done. ”
“Perhaps I didn’t make it clear what I expect from these meetings.” I stand and take my time coming closer to her, putting my hands in my pockets to appear nonthreatening.
“And what is that?”
I reach out quickly, snatching her waist and pulling her body flush to mine.
“You. Here. With. Me. Where you belong.”
I waste no more time and kiss those lips I’ve dreamed about every night. The same ones I’ve thought about as I pleasure myself in the shower each morning.
I catch the scent of honeysuckle as I taste the fresh minty flavor on her tongue, like she’d just popped a mint into her mouth a moment before being dragged here by Marco.
She resists for a moment before she reaches out and grabs my arms, which I have locked around her in an embrace as she hangs on tight.
I settle once I’ve had my appetizer, but not my fill. I’ll never have enough of that.
“Let’s try this again. Hi,” I say with a kiss to the tip of her nose.
She smiles as she melts in my arms and leans her head against my chest. “Hi.”
I rest my chin on the top of her head, and we stay like that for a few minutes.
“You weren’t trying to avoid me, Wildflower, were you?”
I feel her stiffen, and I grin, happy to know I understood her actions.
“Maybe a little,” she mumbles into my chest.
“Hmm. Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear on a few things.” Just like last time I did this, I sweep her into my arms with ease before walking around my desk and setting her on it, moving my hands to her sides and caging her in.
Her eyes are wide and wild, just like her spirit. Her mouth is open as if to protest, but she doesn’t. Instead, a blush covers her cheeks from whatever thought just crossed her mind. One I’m dying to know about.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.” It comes out fast and breathless, leading me to many ideas that have me grinning down at her.
“Liar, liar, pants on… oh, but you don’t have any pants on, do you?” I glance down at the flowy, high-waisted black skirt. There seems to be a lot of fabric between me and what I desire.
“But do you have any panties on is the question.” My eyes flick to her face as I run my fingers down the outside of her fabric-covered legs until they trace the edge of her skirt.
Her breath hitches, but nothing more. Not even when I slide my hands, one on each knee, up her legs, bunching her skirt up as I go.
“What are you doing?” she whispers as she looks back at the door, panic setting in for a moment.
“Checking.”
“Checking if I have panties on? I do.” She attempts to push one of my hands away while resting on her other one to keep looking at the door, worrying that someone will come in at any moment.
I run my nose along the column of her neck, taking in her honeysuckle scent.
“God, you smell good.” I lick her just below the earlobe to chase away the shiver that racks her body at my words. “Taste even better.” I swear I can taste honeysuckle on her neck, and it makes me far more curious to know what it would taste like between her thighs.
We might have made love for hours a few days ago, but I was never able to get to all of her for as long as I wanted.
She isn’t a tour where you stop at each interesting part and move on quickly.
She’s meant to be savored. Every part of her.
On Monday, my mouth, when not attached to her lips, spent time worshiping her breasts.
They were far too captivating to move past at the time.
Today, I plan to explore all of her to my heart’s content.
Her eyes squeeze shut and her legs would, too, if I weren’t holding them open with my hands almost to the center of her.
“But I still need to be sure.” I’m vibrating with need for her. I’m half out of my mind with lust at what’s about to happen. My mind won’t let me think about a single other thought than what my mission has become.
“Sure of what?”
“If your pussy is soaked.”
And if it tastes as good as it smells.