CHAPTER TWELVE
JENNIFER
I wake up wrapped around Seth, my head on his smooth and muscular chest, his heartbeat steady and strong under my ear.
Yesterday was... everything. He made good on his promise, taking his time with me, showing me exactly how not casual this is.
I’m shocked we held out as long as we did.
I’ve wanted him since the moment I saw him that first day, but giving in that early would have been a mistake, I realize.
Our relationship wouldn’t have grown how it has; it would have been sex- amazing, wonderfully hot sex- but it would have lacked the connection.
I would have continued to want him, of that I have no doubt, but I wouldn’t have fallen for him.
Because I have fallen for him. Completely head over heels in love with a man that in reality is far too incredible for a simple woman like me.
It’s like a fairy tale, the handsome prince with the girl that cleans.
We made love once in the afternoon, then twice last night. In the afternoon and the first time at night, it was intense. The second time at night, it was slower and more tender. Then we fell asleep tangled together, his hand in my hair, my leg thrown over his hip.
This is what forever feels like, I think drowsily. This contentment. This certainty. This utter amazingness.
“Good morning,” he murmurs, his voice rough with sleep. His hand traces lazy patterns on my bare back.
“Good morning.” I tilt my head up to kiss his hard jaw that’s scratchy with stubble. “How'd you sleep?”
“Like the dead. In the best way.” He grins. “Turns out multiple orgasms are excellent for sleep quality.”
I swat his chest, laughing. “Is that so?”
“Purely scientific observation.” He rolls until he's hovering over me, his blue eyes bright and his grin wicked. “We should probably conduct more research. For the data.”
“You're terrible.”
“You like it.” He kisses me, and I'm already melting into him when his watch buzzes with our morning reminder.
He groans against my mouth. “Walk time.”
“Last night wasn’t enough exercise?” I tease.
Seth nips at my lips. “It’s tempting to stay in bed all day with you, but doctor’s orders. Thirty minutes of movement.”
I giggle and roll over to my side to watch as he gets out of bed. The man has a spectacular ass that my palm tingles to smack. “You just had plenty of movement.”
“Different kind of exercise.” He tugs at the sheet covering my breasts. “Come on. Walk, then breakfast, then I'll show you exactly how much movement I'm capable of.”
We take our morning walk hand in hand, and I swear the world looks different today. Brighter. More vivid. Like falling in love has sharpened all my senses.
Seth points out a hawk circling over the lake, and I actually see it this time. In awe, I watch it dive toward the water with its wings tucked.
“Beautiful,” I breathe.
“You're beautiful.” He pulls me close and kisses me. “I love you.”
The words stop my heart. He said them last night too, but in the heat and passion of lovemaking I tried not to think too much of it.
Except now, there’s something about this morning, the sunlight, the afterglow of great sex, and the perfect peace of everything that makes his declaration feel more real.
“I love you too,” I whisper against his lips.
Back at the cabin, he checks his blood pressure while I start breakfast prep. “One twenty-four over seventy-nine,” he calls out. “Perfect again.”
“You're officially boring,” I tease from the kitchen. “Consistently healthy. Where's the drama?”
“I prefer boring.” He comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing a kiss to my neck. “Boring means I get to keep you.”
My heart does that complicated flutter it always does when he talks about the future like it's certain and that us being together is a foregone conclusion. It’s so wild and hard to wrap my head around, no matter how many times or ways he tells me.
I’m a practical girl, and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Can falling in love with a man that should be entirely wrong for me truly be this simple and easy?
We make breakfast together, like we do most mornings, Greek yogurt with berries and homemade granola. He's been craving more protein, so I add some almonds while he gets two tall glasses of water for us.
“What's on your agenda today?” I ask as we take the food out on the deck to eat.
“Some reading, an hour of work- max,” he clarifies at my dark look. “Maybe a swim this afternoon if you'll join me.” He steals a strawberry from my bowl. “What about you?”
“Mostly the norm, I need to clean another cabin and then run into town to pick up supplies and check in with Mrs. Avery about next week's bookings.”
“I'll miss you,” he says, sticking out his lower lip.
A giggle escapes me at his cute pout. “I'll be gone three hours, max.”
“Still.” He leans over, kisses me. “Three hours is too long.”
I'm smiling as I clean up breakfast. He settles on the couch with his laptop for his allotted work time, and I putter around tidying up the kitchen. I’m heading to the bathroom to clean up when his phone rings.
He glances at it, frowns, but lets it go to voicemail.
It rings again.
And again.
“It's probably nothing,” he mutters, but his jaw is tight, and I can see the tension creeping into his shoulders. I absolutely hate what work does to him. Cleaning isn’t awesome, but I don’t stress over it. Then again, cleaning doesn’t pay me billions either.
The phone rings a fourth time. This time, he answers.
“What.” His voice is clipped and annoyed. Then his expression changes. “What do you mean the server crashed? No, that's impossible. We have data redundancies. We have... Allen, slow down.”
Seth stands and starts pacing, his long legs eating up the living room in only a few steps. His free hand is already tugging through his hair. It’s amazing he has any hair the way stress makes him rake through his strands.
“How bad is the data loss? Okay. Okay, tell me which clients are affected.” He's moving faster now, agitated. “Fuck. No, that's... we're talking millions in potential lawsuits if we can't recover that data.”
My stomach drops. I set down my cleaning supplies.
“I need you to call David in IT. Get everyone on this. I don't care if it's...” He checks his watch. “Seven forty-five in the morning there. Wake them up if you have to. This is a code red situation.”
He's at his laptop now, fingers flying over the keys. The carefree, smiling Seth from fifteen minutes ago is gone. This is the CEO, the man who ran himself into the ground and nearly died. He’s also the man who seems to be on a collision course to repeat the past if something doesn’t stop him before it’s too late.