Page 54 of Big & Bossy

I left the car on as I got out, keeping the heat blasting so it wouldn’t be freezing when I got back in. Winter had hit hard, bringing a lot of snow and ice. There was something magical about seeing Boulder from the angle of her office, and if I wasn’t so damn stressed out of my mind with keeping her safe after the break-in, I would have insisted we take a moment to appreciate the white mountaintops and the glittering snowfall surrounding us.

“What are you doing?” She asked, turning to me as she grabbed her bag from the car.

“Walking you in.”

“Oh.”

My brows furrowed as I shut my door. I’d been walking her in every day that I’d dropped her off at work recently. I padded across the wet ground to the passenger side and took her hand in mine as I led her toward the glass entryway of her building. Not a single photographer stood outside, no one there to snap photos of us or beg us for an interview, trying to obtain any comment they could get their hands on. The plan was working— we were slowly but surely being left alone.

“I guess you don’t have to kiss me at the door anymore,” she chuckled, pushing the loose curls that hung from her bun back behind her ears.

I sighed, the frown forming almost painful. I didn’t like this, any of it. Not her nonchalant attitude, not her wanting to go back home, not whatever this was.

I wrapped one arm around her waist, hating the way her woolen coat separated her skin from mine, and pulled her into my chest. I pressed my lips to hers as I cupped her cheek, a little rough at first and thinking far too much with my cock, but turning softer as she melted into me, welcoming me in. I could spend an eternity kissing her, kissing her and nothing else and be happy.

I pulled my mouth from hers just far enough to speak, our foreheads pressed together, the winter wind whipping around us and coating her jacket in little specks of snow. “I don’t need a reason to kiss you, princess. Never forget that.”

The fog of her breath hung thick between us for a moment before I let her go, her lips a little swollen and her cheeks pink, a small smile on her face.

————

I floored it as I made my way across town to the offices we were still, annoyingly, renting. I was desperate for Mandy and Harry to finish up at the new campus, I fucking hated coming to work here.

“Good morning, Jackson,” Angela deadpanned from behind her desk before glancing back to her computer screen. “Public Relations is waiting for you in meeting room two.”

“Perfect.” I set a takeout coffee on the top of her desk, the words vanilla bean written across the top in block letters. “Thanks for getting them set up.”

She glared at the coffee, her nose sniffing the air. “What is that?”

“Read the lid.”

She picked it up, her face contorting in disgust. You can’t be serious Angela.

“Vanilla bean? Eww.”

“My God, Angela, just be appreciative,” I snapped, reaching out toward the coffee to snatch it back before she had the chance to pull it closer, missing by an inch.

“I don’t like vanilla bean. I’ll drink it, though.”

“You liked vanilla bean, what, a month ago? You can’t just change flavors on me and not tell me.”

“I like caramel now,” she grumbled, setting the coffee down in front of her as she turned back to her computer. “You could have checked.”

I opened my mouth to spit out a retort but closed it as I realized it was pointless. Doing something nice for Angela would never be appreciated, and that was okay. She just wasn’t that person.

I made my way through the dark and dreary hall, the ceiling too low, the windows practically nonexistent. I almost wished I’d asked them to meet me at my home, but I needed to be in the office today, needed to check on how things were going with Infinius, and to deal with the situations at hand concerning coding and getting it all off the ground. We were so close.

But I’d still rather be at home with Mandy.

Pushing my way in through the door and rattling the blinds, I nodded at the room full of people already seated and ready to go. They’d asked Mandy to be in attendance as well, but seeing as she had her own work to do I’d scheduled myself alone.

“Good morning, Mr. Big,” Samantha chirped as she slid a small stack of papers out from her binder.

“Please don’t call me that,” I said. I sat down in the chair at the head of the table, my briefcase slapping against the wood. “When have you ever called me that?”

She shrugged as she twisted in her chair, rocking side to side. “Just don’t want to be on your bad side this morning. Angela said you were in a mood.”

“Angela always thinks I’m in a mood.”

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