“Will do, now get some sleep,” I tell him. “No staying up all night working. You’re still on vacation until tomorrow so you aren’t allowed to do excessive work.”
He grumbles a little before agreeing, and then ends the call before I have a chance to give him any more crap.
I get up, making my way into the kitchen. I need some food before I crawl back into bed for the night. The lack of sleep I’ve gotten over the past week is catching up to me. I find a container in the fridge with the leftovers from the lasagna the other night, so I pop it into the microwave. The moment the sauce hits my tongue, I practically moan, it tastes so good. Tina is an amazing cook, and I’d eat her food every day if I had the opportunity. I’m almost bummed that Sunday dinner with Grandma Betsy had to be postponed until another date, as she wasn’t feeling all that well.
I scroll through my calendar, checking over what this coming week has in store for me. It isn’t unusual to have a handful of special orders each week, with more on the weekends for parties and get togethers. This week is no different, but thankfully, it is all easy orders. Cupcakes, cookies, and muffins make up most of the orders, which Lacey and I can make with our eyes closed, some days.
I clean up from my late dinner, then head back to bed. I double-check my morning alarm before I pull out my kindle. I can’t be oversleeping tomorrow, and I know that if I don’t have one set, there is no way I’d wake up with enough time to open the bakery on time and have muffins and other goodies ready for the morning rush. It’s a good thing I set it, as I don’t make it very far in the book I’d started reading before Nathan came back home and into my life before my eyes are too heavy and I’m falling back to sleep.
The hours pass quickly and I’m startled awake by my alarm. I want nothing more than to roll over, shut off the offensive alarm, and roll back over, preferably into the warm arms of the man who filled my bed for the last week. It is amazing how quickly I adjusted to him being here and in my life, my bed. Now, I miss him like crazy and wonder how so many years passed us by while he avoided coming home. At least he did it for his grandmother’s birthday and not her funeral.
11
Nathan
I pushthe takeout container across the counter. I can’t take another bite, even if I wanted to. Today has been one meeting after another without any breaks. We ordered in lunch and worked right through it, and I’m just now finishing my dinner at almost ten pm.
I pull my cell from my pocket, noticing multiple notifications that I missed while I was dealing with a big client tonight. After hitting the texting app, I notice almost all of them are from Harper, and my heart sinks. I was just so busy, and now it’s way too late to call her with the time zone change, coupled with the fact she has to get up around five to go open the bakery.
Harper:Hey! I’m home from the bakery, call or text whenever you can.
Harper:I’m going to go swim for about forty-five minutes and won’t have my phone on me, hopefully you’ll be available afterwards.
Harper:Just wanted to let you know I’m back home, showered, dressed and ready for bed. Hope you’re day has been okay. {kissy face}
Harper:Call me crazy, but I’m worried about you. I hope everything is okay. I’m crawling into bed, will read until I can’t keep my eyes open anymore.
I feel like shit for missing her texts from the last few hours, but I hate it when people constantly check their phones when in a meeting. If there was an emergency, Rose would come and get me.
Nathan:So sorry I missed your messages today. I was in meetings the entire day and didn’t have my phone on me. I don’t want to risk waking you up with it being so late, so call me when you are free tomorrow, I shouldn’t be so busy.
I slide my phone back in my slacks pocket and pull the tie that is hanging around my neck off. As soon as my last meeting ended, I untied it, leaving it hanging and open. I enter my bedroom and head straight for my walk-in closet. I hang the tie up, then slip my shoes off and put them back on the shelf. I strip out of the remaining pieces of clothing, being careful with my suit and adding my dress shirt to the pile that needs to be sent out for dry cleaning this week.
I head for the bathroom; a hot shower is just what my tired body needs. I flip on the water, turning it up nice and hot, and give it a few seconds to warm up before I step in and under the spray. The heat and pressure from the shower head go to work on my tight and tired muscles. I reach for the bottle of body wash, adding some to the palm of my hand. I lather it up between my palms and start with my abs. As my hand slides lower, my cock twitches and images of Harper flash in my mind. What she looked like riding me, what she tasted like coming on my tongue, how she moaned and cursed my name when I slowed things down and teased her until she was coming on my cock.
I wrap my hand around my cock, giving it a quick pump from the base to the tip, circling around the head as I slide it back down to the base. I brace my other hand on the shower wall and let the memories of the last week play on in my mind as the perfect montage while I seek release. It doesn’t take long before I’m ready to come. My orgasm barrels out of me, and spurts of cum land on the wall. I collapse into the arm braced on the wall, seeking support in my exhausted state. Not only am I sated from the orgasm, but my body clock is all messed up from the time difference.
I rinse off the wall, paying special attention to the area that I know for sure I sprayed with my cum. Once that is rinsed off, I quickly make it through the rest of my shower.
Once dry, I wrap the towel around my hips so I can stand at the bathroom sink. I brush my teeth, then run a quick razor over the stubble that has grown the last couple of days. Walking into my bedroom, I discard my towel in my hamper and pull on some boxer briefs before sliding between the cold sheets. I love the feeling of freshly washed sheets. One thing I’ve never minded paying for since I became a billionaire, and that is a housekeeper. Shelly is a godsend, and I would be lost without her. I can depend on her to keep my place clean, stocked with easy-to-heat meals, my dry cleaning in a regular rotation, my clothes clean and my sheets changed on a weekly basis.
I don’t have long to think about Harper, or anything else for that matter, before sleep claims me.
* * *
“Knock knock.”Leo raps his knuckles against the doorframe for my office. I look up from the contract I’ve been reading over all morning. I run a hand along my neck, squeezing the tight muscles as they scream in pain from being in the same position for so long.
“Hey, what’s up?” I ask, waving him into my office.
He holds up a bag, and it’s then that the smell of whatever he’s got hits me. My stomach growls at the same time, and I realize just how hungry I am. “Rose ordered us lunch, figured you’d forgotten about our meeting.” He chuckles as he takes a seat at the table in my office. He starts emptying the bag, pulling out multiple containers.
I leave the contract on my desk, stopping at my dry bar that’s hidden in a wall of cabinets. I pull out a couple of plates and take them over to the table, joining Leo for our meeting.
We dig into the food Rose ordered. She’s always taking care of us, usually two steps ahead of where we are. I’m not sure how either of us would be where we are today without her. We lucked out that she needed a job right when we needed an assistant and, well, it was kismet.
“I was going over the contract from Jones, I’m not liking the terms, at all. They’re trying to pull a fast one on us. Something just isn’t adding up. What’s your gut telling you about them?” I ask Leo.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. He seems pretty sketchy, and like a con man. I say we completely shut the negotiations down. I’m not willing to lose even one hundred bucks to this guy, best yet a few million.”