Page 83 of Takeover

The most memorable was our long weekend in San Juan. We had our own private villa at the St. Regis, complete with our own cook, pool, and a stretch of private beach. I spent the majority of the first day with Vincent while Ethan worked. We toured parts of the island and spent time swimming in our pool and eating exotic fruit. After forcing him to take a nap, we joined Ethan for a tour of the new BradCo location. Pictures and video of the three of us, with Vincent in the middle holding our hands, went viral.

After the grand opening and ribbon cutting the next day, Ethan tweeted it, and I trolled him mercilessly.

Ethan Bradford @BradCoCEO – Excited about BradCo’s first branch in San Juan. San Juan makes BradCo look good. Now off to tour the island.

TaraTaylor3 @ BradCoCEO – Did you mean eat the island?

I tweeted several pictures of him eating the local food, including one of him practically drooling in front of a plate of arroz con pollo.

Ethan Bradford @ TaraTaylor3 – I guess I worked up an appetite.

He left a wink emoji after that, and everyone went crazy. From people who thought the exchange was cute, to the ones who criticized us for being inappropriate.

The rest of the weekend involved no work and nothing but fun for the three of us. There was no nanny on this trip. In fact, I convinced Ethan we should give Carla some time off, and I would take care of Vincent when he had to work. I don’t know what it was about what I said, but he kissed me passionately before the words were out of my mouth. He practically ripped my clothes off and buried himself inside of me, all the while telling me how much he loves me.

On Saturday morning, he surprised us with a helicopter tour of the island, followed by a decadent lunch. While Vincent napped, we took a swim in our private pool, and I finally got a chance to wear the bikini from the picture I sent to Ethan weeks ago.

By the time we returned to New York, we were all sporting a tan and had smiling faces. Vincent was beaming and begged to go on another vacation. We floated on a high all week, from internet trolling to dinners at home and bedtime routines with the world’s cutest four-year-old.

The only stain on the week happened Friday afternoon. I worked from home that day and met Ethan at Vincent’s school for the spring open house. I arrived just as Ethan’s car pulled up. His Maybach was just one of dozens of expensive luxury cars lining the street. As soon as he saw me, he reached for my hand and we walked inside the school together. In all the months I’ve been with Ethan, I’ve never been inside the school, but everyone knew who I was, and despite the stares I received from some of the parents and staff, I walked through the building holding my man’s hand until we walked into Vincent’s classroom. He ran to us, and after Ethan picked him up and hugged him, Vincent ran into my arms and I kissed the top of his head. While we walked around the class and looked at his artwork, I felt a chill in the room, only to turn around and look into the cold eyes of Lindsay Bradford. She held my stare and then slowly looked me up and down. Finally, she arched one of her perfect eyebrows and looked away, dismissing me. She meandered over and offered her hand to Vincent, who was happy to see his mother. Once she took him to the other side of the room, she looked at me again, a small smile on her lips, as if she just won a battle. She kept Vincent with her until he had to get ready to perform a song with the rest of his class.

When it was our turn to speak with his teachers, Lindsay sat at the front of the class, her head high. Ethan directed me to take the other chair and grabbed another one for himself. I had no choice but to sit between him and Lindsay.

“Really, Ethan? Does she need to be here? This is about our son. She has nothing to do with this.”

The teacher cleared her throat, clearly surprised by Lindsay’s words. She turned and looked at her teaching assistant, whose face had turned completely red.

“If you have a problem with Tara being here, there’s the door, Lindsay. When you start paying tuition, you can dictate who can be here. Otherwise, shut up.” At Ethan’s rebuke, it was Lindsay whose face turned red. She cleared her throat and looked straight ahead. Thankfully, she did not say another word to us for the rest of our time there.

I haven’t seen Lindsay since, but she calls Vincent often, usually via FaceTime on Ethan’s private phone, and she will be at the penthouse tonight to pick up Vincent for the weekend.

The elevator dings and I step out to the thirtieth floor. Hunter is standing in front of Ethan’s office, talking to Amelia. He smiles when he sees me, and I smile back. I got to know him a bit on the trip to San Juan. He practically jumped on my lap when the plane was landing in New York.

“I’ll be your best friend if you get him to leave the office now. He’s been bossing us around all damn day, and I’m about sick of it,” he says to me. He opens Ethan’s door for me, and I step inside, but Ethan is nowhere in sight. “He’s on his way back now. He had a meeting in New Jersey.” Hunter checks something on his iPad and says, “His car just pulled up. He’ll be here any second now.”

“Hunter,” I say to him. “Isn’t he supposed to boss you around? He is your boss, right?” I ask.

He looks up at the ceiling and groans. “You didn’t hear this from me, but the ex-wife called this morning. I don’t know what was said, but he’s been in a mood all day.” Hunter leaves, and I sink into the sofa, sighing loudly. When it comes to Vincent and Lindsay, I let Ethan deal with that, only offering input if he asks, but I have the feeling that shit is about to hit the fan with Lindsay soon. I’m not sure what that will look like exactly, but something has been brewing despite her absence.

I don’t have time to think of Lindsay for long because the office door opens and Ethan storms in, Hunter and Amelia behind him as he gives orders. In the midst of all of that, he takes off his coat, hands it to Amelia, and she runs to hang it in the closet in the back of the office.

“Ms. Taylor,” Ethan says, finally addressing me. As Hunter talks, Ethan comes to stand directly in front of me. He looks into my eyes, and when he smiles down at me, all thoughts of our problems fade away. “Are you here to debrief me?” he asks. His lips twitch at our private joke.

“Don’t you wish?” I tease back. “I had a meeting in this building, so I thought I’d stop by.”

“For a caucus?” He puts a hand on my cheek and steps closer, eliminating the small space between us.

“We can caucus all night,” I tell him.

“Oh, I intend to.”

“But for now, I thought I’d offer you a kiss.” The last word is barely out of my mouth before he crashes his lips on mine, kissing me so deeply and completely, it’s as if he forgot we’re not alone. The kiss only intensifies until Hunter stops us.

“Caucus? You two have no shame. You know this is sexual harassment, right, boss?” he asks.

“Sue me, then, Hunter. I dare you,” Ethan says against my mouth. Like a drowning man who just got his first burst of air, he deepens the kiss again.

“Wally Blatt will be here in fifteen minutes for your appointment.” Hunter stops talking, looks around the room, and clears his throat. Ethan stops kissing me after this Wally Blatt is mentioned. “Er, I mean, meeting,” Hunter clarifies.

---