Page 52 of Stick to the Plan
The picture of a man completely satisfied.
I hold his gaze in the mirror as he walks up behind me. He plants his hands on my hips for a quick squeeze and a passing kiss on my neck before he turns to lock the outside door and drape the soaked clothes over the side of the tub. I crawl back into bed with a happy sigh and stretch. I don’t wait long before Colin is crawling in behind me and pulling me against him.
I smile as his comforting scent surrounds me and wiggle closer into his embrace. His warning moan makes me chuckle as I settle in. Tonight was different. This wasn’t fucking. This felt like making love. That is my last thought before I drift off to sleep in his arms.
Chapter thirty-five
I'm Done
Branna
The sound of tinkling bells infiltrates my sleep and slowly wakes me. As I stretch my slightly aching muscles, I smile, remembering the mind blowing night before. Eyes still closed, I reach out looking for Colin, but find only a warm pillow. Blinking back the last remains of sleep, I push myself up on my elbow and look around the room.
I am alone. Not even Riley is in his usual spot at the end of the bed. Where is everyone?
I am still debating if I should get up when Colin walks back into the bedroom, fully dressed and carrying a steaming cup of coffee. Seeing me awake, his lips spread into a tender smile as he approaches the bed, placing the mug on my nightstand. The bed dips as he sits and I slide closer to him.
Colin tucks my tousled hair behind my ear before dropping a kiss to my forehead. “Morning, beautiful. How’d you sleep?”
“Fine, you?” The sheets fall to my waist as I sit up to take the steaming coffee. Colin licks his lips, eyes darkening with desire as he stares at my half naked body.
A half strangled moan escapes his lips. “God, I wish I had time to give you a proper good morning, but I have a flight to catch.” He leans forward and nips at my lips and shoulder before standing back up. “I already let Riley out, but I have to finish packing. Get ready for work - if I stay here with you like that, I’m going to miss my flight.” With one last heated look over his shoulder, he leaves the room.
After another long draw of coffee and a contented sigh, I go through my morning routine. Twenty minutes later, I’m walking into the living room, showered, hair in a French braid, dressed in a navy sheath dress and yellow heels. Colin is waiting by the door, giving Riley an affectionate scratch and whispering to him. They make an unlikely but adorable pair. The sight of them together never fails to make me smile.
He straightens as I approach and I tug on his button-down shirt to bring him down for a kiss. “Have I told you this is my favorite shirt?” The fabric is dark maroon, highlighting the red tones in his dark hair and making his green eyes pop. The collar points sport his initials embroidered in matching thread, giving it a bespoke look.
“In that case, I’ll be sure to wear it more often, eh.” He deepens the kiss, gripping my still damp braid to keep me close.
Reluctantly, I break the kiss and lean back, straightening the wrinkles out of his shirt. “You’re going to miss your flight.”
His dimple winks as he smiles down at me. He cups my jaw and strokes my cheek with his thumb. “I wish you were coming with me. This conference is going to be so boring.”
Leaning into his hand, I smiled back. “Someone has to stay behind and keep things going. Rounding up potential buyers is important too. You’ll be back before you know it.”
Suddenly looking serious, Colin lifts his hand to cup the other side of my face too. He leans down and his lips meet mine in a kiss that is all softlips and tender emotion. Pulling back slightly, he searches my eyes. “I love you, Brianna. I’ll hurry back.”
Frozen, I’m still standing in shock as he drops one last kiss to my forehead before grabbing his bag and heading out the door.
Did he just say he loved me? I can’t have heard that right. On autopilot, I find my purse and head to the office. What just happened?
Once I get to the office, there’s no time to obsess over Colin’s parting words. Everyone is buzzing about the news of the competing generator. The hours speed by as I field one call after another. I’ve taken over Colin’s office and declared it a war room. Stan and some engineers have been in and out all day, helping with the investigation and gathering evidence that we invented the technology first.
As I respond to an email from the legal team, Richard Stone bursts into Colin’s office. “Everybody out.”
Those still in the room get up to comply. Stan shoots me an unmistakable look, asking if he should stay. I wave him off with a minute shake of my head. He doesn’t look happy, but with a last pointed look, he leaves, shutting the door behind him. I stay in my seat and look up at a fuming Richard.
The man is a mess; his hair is sticking up and his normally impeccable suit looks wrinkled. “Brianna, do you understand how bad this is? The board is out for blood and breathing down my neck. How did you let this happen?”
Anger flares at his words. Before I say something I regret, I bite my cheek and count to five. “I didn’t let anything happen, sir. All project files were encrypted, and I followed all company policies. You can’t blame me for this. I’ve been working with the team and legal all day to gather proof our designs are original so we can stop this competing patent.”
Richard paces and pulls on his silvering hair. That explains the hairstyle. “IT found emails from our servers to the other company. They haven’t found the sender yet, but someone is going down for this and it won’t be me.” He stops his path and turns to me sharply, his blue eyes crazy with stress. “We should turn it on Innovative Solutions, so C.A.E. doesn’t go down. Yes! You can say it was all that McLeary guy. If you say he did it, the promotion is yours.”
I sit in stunned silence. Richard is offering me everything I want. What I’ve pulled fifty plus hour weeks at the office on top of the nights and weekends at Pop to accomplish. The job is mine. I just need to betray a man who has been nothing but supportive of me. The culmination of my five-year plan, and it just feels hollow. Taking Colin out of the equation, I still don’t feel right taking the job if it means stepping on someone else to get there.
My heartbeat is surprisingly steady as I eye the man in front of me. For the past year, I’ve let him push me around. Insult me, belittle me, and disenfranchise me. He’s played the pied piper, and I, the fool, danced to his tune. Again and again, I’ve made myself less and sucked up my pride to appease this man. I feel some slight delight at holding his fate in my hands, but I am done selling myself short. I deserve better.
“No.”was
