Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Raven
Sunlight streamed into the bedroom as I rolled over and stretched. Sunlight. I never stayed in bed after sunrise unless I was sick. What day was it? Then everything smacked me in the face. Ryan.
He had broken into my apartment and then I asked him to stay with me.
I bolted up and glanced around the room, thankfully not seeing any trace of him.
He must’ve left before I woke up. Heat rushed to my cheeks as I thought of how awkward I would've been if he had still been there. I groaned. I was never going to be able to talk to him again, or I’d die from embarrassment.
Rubbing my eyes, I padded to the bathroom where I stopped dead, the memories from the night before floating back one by one. I had told him. Not everything, but I’d told him about the one thing I didn’t tell anyone. Mom and Dad knew most of it, but they were forbidden to bring it up unless I did.
Another realization barreled into me. Work. Fuck! I was late. So late. I ran to the nightstand and grabbed my phone, seeing that the clock read seven fifty-five. When I turned the phone over, there was a sticky note on the screen.
“Open my texts before you freak out.”
Too late. Already there, buddy. I tore the note off the phone and saw new message notifications from Ryan and Joanne. Ignoring the thread with Ryan, I tapped the message from Joanne.
Instead of asking where I was, her text read, “Oh no! I hope you feel better!”
What?
My eyes flicked up to the message before hers. That asshole.
Switching into the convo with Ryan, my blood was boiling. There were a slew of voice messages from six a.m.
I hit play on the earliest message and the voice I couldn’t get enough of drifted from the speaker.
“Take a deep breath. I know you’re probably panicking right now.
I texted Joanne from your phone and said you weren’t feeling well, and that you would call her later this morning after you got some more sleep. ”
How did that fucker get into my phone? He must have used my fingerprint to unlock it while I slept. More frustration crept up my spine, but his message continued on and I found it hard to be anything but obsessed with that voice.
“You’re going to call Joanne and tell her you’re staying in bed today. Do it now then listen to my next voice message.”
Fuck this guy. I had too much shit to do at work to not go. I didn’t care if he made me feel some type of way last night by staying with me and holding me after a nightmare. I scrolled and tapped the next message.
“I know you didn’t call. Seriously, Raven, call her.
I have a plan for your day that doesn’t involve working.
Give me this. I know you probably haven’t taken a day off in a long time or ever.
So fucking call. Now. In case you did call before listening to this, that’s my good girl. I know you didn’t, though.”
I blew out a breath. This guy. I threw the phone on the bed and paced the room with my hand on my hip, mentally ticking through all the things I needed to get done at work before the weekend.
The Lopez account needed to be finalized for early next week.
I guessed it could wait until tomorrow or Monday at the latest. Then I had all of the doc review for Mia to do as I always did on Friday.
Fuck, and I needed to email the woman I actually wanted to hire for the receptionist position. What was her name? Anderson?
I scrubbed my hands down my face. Had it really only been yesterday that I interviewed her? It seemed like ages ago. My mind flicked to the last interview I’d had the day before. Ben Jones. I laughed. Ryan must love to come up with names for himself. I wondered if he had alter egos as well.
Stopping by the bed, I threw my hands up. “Fuck it.”
Grabbing the phone, I opened the contact and tapped Joanne’s name from the Favorites list.
“Raven!” she chirped after she picked up. “Are you all right? You must be really sick if you’re staying home.”
I cleared my throat trying to sound like it was scratchy.
“Yeah, Joanne. I…woke up not feeling so well last night. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I think I should stay home.
I don’t want to get anyone else sick.” I tugged at the hem of the robe I still wore.
“I’ll try to work remotely later. Tell Mia to go ahead and see what she can do with the Lopez account and have her email what she manages at the end of the day. ”
“Sure thing. Are you sure you’re okay?” A hint of suspicion tinged Joanne’s words.
“Yes, yes I’m fine. Promise you’ll text or call if you need anything.” It would be just like her to try to not bother me, but this was the first weekday I hadn’t gone into the office since I started the company.
“Of course, Raven. I hope you feel better!”
Her genuine care for me had me smiling to myself.
“Oh, wait! As your first act of being office manager, can you call the lady I liked from yesterday? I’ll email her at some point, but I’d like for you to informally offer her the job.
If she verbally accepts, cancel the other interviews and if not, reschedule. ”
“Yep, can do. I know you liked her. Oh! Monday, I need all the details on Mr. Hot Stuff.”
My cheeks burn. “Joanne! He’s younger than your son!” I squeaked.
She laughed. “Oh, honey, age doesn’t matter. When you’re my age, the young studs remind us of the good days. Anyhow, I’ll let you get back to resting. Don’t worry about the office, okay?”
I scoffed. “You know I will. Talk to you later.”
I ended the call and tapped back into Ryan’s messages, clicking play on the third one.
“All right, now, if you didn’t do as I asked and you are getting ready for work right now, I’m going to have to punish you. Not to mention you’ll miss out on the great day I have planned. If you actually did as I asked, go into the kitchen.”
Punish me? I had to admit, I liked the dom in him, but maybe we needed to level the playing field soon. It's all about balance after all, right?
I shook my head and shoved my feet into my slippers, heading toward the door. As soon as I stepped into the hallway, my nose went on alert at the delicious smell permeating the apartment. My stomach growled, and it was like I stepped right into a bakery. In the kitchen, I was greeted with a note.
“Breakfast is in the oven. French toast muffins. Sit down and take your time eating. I assume you always rush through meals so today, you’re going to enjoy them. After breakfast, listen to the next voice message.”
He made me breakfast? My mind glitched at the thought that the person who broke into my apartment to fuck my face had cuddled me the rest of the night and then whipped up breakfast for me. Maybe he had bought the muffins at the store?
The smell intensified when I pulled open the oven and my mouth watered.
The muffins definitely weren’t store bought because they were in my muffin tin.
They looked like something from a high-end restaurant.
The tops were golden brown and instead of typical liners, they were in little parchment paper squares with the corners sticking up.
That's probably all I had for him to use to make them, although it actually looked fancier.
I pulled the pan out of the oven with a dish towel and sat it atop the glass top stove.
As I moved to reach for the cabinet that held the plates, I saw one had already been placed on the countertop with a fork resting in the center.
Now he was just showing off. I wondered what else he had done while I slept.
I trudged over to the coffee machine and lifted the lid.
I preferred a typical coffee maker to the espresso and single serve ones, and when I looked into the stainless-steel water tank, it was filled to the top.
I knew the grounds would be resting in the basket as well, but I checked anyway.
Sure enough, all I needed to do was press ‘Brew’.
The aroma of coffee mixing with the cinnamon was a dream. I situated myself at the island with my breakfast and did as I was told. Usually, everything in my soul would be screaming at me to rebel, but today, all was quiet.
I took a bite of the muffin, the flavors exploding on my tongue and groaned into the empty kitchen. It was the best thing I’d ever tasted. Great, he could cook too. Shaking my head, I pulled up his texts and hit play on the last voice message.
“I’m so proud of you, baby. I know you’re probably struggling with this, but I’m proud of you for taking some time for yourself, even if I had to push you a little.”
I tapped pause as warmth spread through me at the words.
My parents always made sure I knew they were proud of me, but it felt different coming from him.
Water pooled in my eyes, and I fought to keep it from spilling over.
I thought I didn’t need anyone else except Mom and Dad, but now I was starting to realize maybe I wanted someone else.
Specifically, I wanted this sweet and mysterious man who kept surprising me.
“Go into your room and get ready for the day. You can do as much or as little as you want. This is about you. If you want to go the whole nine, do it. If you want to do nothing, that's also fine. You’re perfect either way. Just dress in casual, everyday clothes. No pantsuits. Text me when you’re finished.
My mind kicked into overdrive. What was wrong with me?
I was ditching work, doing exactly what a man I barely knew said, and I was going to keep doing it.
He was right. I never took time for myself and maybe it was time I started.
Maybe there was more to life than work and calculating every single decision I made.
Throwing caution to the wind, I finished breakfast and got myself ready in jeans and a lightweight plum sweater.
With no makeup and my hair down, I actually felt comfortable.
I grabbed my phone and texted Ryan.
“All right, I’m dressed and ready.”