Aston“It’s not boring to me at all.” His mother’s eyes shone with humor. The corners of her mouth were pressed in as if she was fighting a smile. For a woman who hadn’t been around for so long, she looked positively motherly at the moment.“I’m not bored either,” I piped up, but Blake started moving toward the door anyway.He cocked his head, holding his hand out for me. “I’m sure, but we should get going.”“Okay.” I smiled at both of his parents. “It was lovely to meet you both. I hope to see you again soon.”Both of them nodded. His mom said goodbye and his dad grinned like he knew something I didn’t. “I’m sure you will, dear. Keep up the good work.”“I will,” I said, then followed Blake out the door. He took my hand when we were out in the hall, guiding me back to the front exit. “What did you two talk about that I’m not allowed to know?” “It was nothing, just him rambling about all my traveling and stuff.” There was probably more to it, but he would tell me when he was ready. A
BLAKE Dad was awake. Mom was apparently back in our lives. It remained to be seen how long she would stay around this time. Aston was here, then she was gone. I would be seeing her again soon, though.Everything was different than it had been when I opened my eyes just a couple of hours ago, but nothing more so than I was now walking into our corporate headquarters as the acting CEO of the company.I didn’t know how long Dad would be out for, but he hadn’t mentioned coming back at all. I got the distinct feeling that he was retiring for good, not just taking some time off to recover. I was sure he would still be around, and that he would never step out completely, but it felt like he’d placed the reins firmly in my hands.They were heavy, but they felt good. It was like I could see everything more clearly now, like the world had shifted on its axis and everything had finally come into focus. I’d never even considered that I might head up the company one day.In my mind, it had always
BlakeStepping off the elevator onto the floor where Dad, Danny and I had our offices, I pushed Aston and my thoughts from my mind. I had to get my head in the game and give everything I had to the conversation ahead of me now.“Is he in?” I asked Norma. Her face split into a wide smile as she nodded. It made me wonder how much she knew about what was about to happen. One day, I would ask her, but that day wasn’t today.“Thanks, Norma.” I strode past her desk and into Dad’s office where I knew Danny had set up shop. Choosing to work in Dad’s office instead of his own was yet another sign to me that he didn’t respect the chain of command and simply took what he wanted.Danny was sitting behind Dad's desk barking orders into the phone. He had spun the chair to be facing the ocean instead of the door and didn’t notice me walking in right away.I didn’t hesitate or wait for him to see me. Instead, I walked right over to the desk and hung up the phone for him. Danny stopped midsentence and
ASTONIt had been a month since I had gotten back from Florida and today was the first day that I wasn’t quite feeling the sparkle from getting to meet and speak to Wayne McAllen in person. I had powered through this last month and the branch was doing better than ever.But maybe it was time that I started listening to the staff when they told me to slow down, because I was pretty sure I was coming down with something. The long hours had really worn me down.Exhausted, I trudged into my office two hours before my shift was supposed to start. I fired up my computer but nearly fell asleep before I had done so much as log into my emails.Enough, I told myself. A strong cup of coffee and a little bit of blood flowing through my veins was what I needed to get going.Ignoring the kettle in my office, I headed to the staff break room where there was a state-of-the-art coffee machine we had just received last week. It was a gift from Wayne McAllen himself. The card had been addressed to all o
AstonChuckling, I imagined Blake’s reaction if Tiffany called to tell him she thought I was overworked and burning out. Once I imagined his reaction though, I realized he would probably agree with her that I needed to go home and take some time for myself.I stopped laughing immediately. “You wouldn’t. Please don’t. He’s got enough on his mind as is. The last thing he needs is to be worried about me for no reason.”She sighed but agreed. “If you’re not feeling better by tomorrow, stay home or I might actually just call him for real. If you won’t stay home for yourself, stay home for us. If you’re coming down with something, you don’t want to infect the rest of the staff.”“Fair point,” I told her. It would be catastrophic if I ended up being contagious and inadvertently passed it on to the staff. We had tons of events coming up. There was the anniversary party tonight, a birthday and a bar mitzvah this week and a special tasting menu at the restaurant up on the deck on Friday night.
BLAKEMy plane touched down in California late on Friday afternoon. I couldn’t deny that I’d never been happier to be there. It had been a damn long month without Aston and if I had to wait one more day to see her, my dick and my heart were both going to explode or go on strike.Both organs were desperate to see her, and my brain had become obsessed as well. I planned on spending every waking minute with her this weekend, and to sleep next to her when we couldn’t be awake anymore.There were only a few more things I had to take care of before I could shut down for the next few days and just spend time with my girl. One of them was to finish the conversation I was having with my father on my way to the hotel.“We need to clean up in New York, Blake,” he was saying. “The situation there has been going on long enough and it’s high time to end it.”I sighed and resisted the urge to squeeze my eyes shut. Since I was driving, letting them close was probably a bad idea. “I know, Dad. I’ll ge
BlakeI buried myself in work, but there was always a constant ache in my chest. Until I had her in my arms, and only then did everything feel okay again.Our tongues twisted and tangled together. Aston’s hands twined into my hair and gripped it hard, like she was trying to keep me against her.We were like two fires raging, coming closer and closer together to meet and combust in a giant ball of pent-up passion. Our kiss was fierce, hungry, filled with longing that broke me apart before it started putting me back together again.When we finally came up for air, she smiled against my lips. “You sure seem happy to see me.”“Ditto.” I kissed the tip of her nose and then ran mine down its length. “I missed you, too. How are you?”Something in her expression faltered, but it was gone in a flash. “I’m surviving. Doing much better now that you’re here.” “Yeah? That makes two of us,” I told her. When she stepped out of the circle of my arms, I realized that she looked a little tired. Stunni
BLAKELife rarely surprised me. So far, the curve balls it had thrown at me were pretty limited—the day Mom left us, and a couple of weeks ago when my brother called to tell me about my dad having a stroke.But now this? I blinked.Tears glistened in Aston’s eyes, causing the hope in them to shine brightly. She wrung her hands, waiting for my reaction.There were probably a million things I should do, should say. None of them came to mind. I was completely blank. All I could think of was that one word. The word that changed everything.Pregnant.My heart hammered in my chest. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out. “Are you sure?”One tear escaped from each eye as she nodded. “I did three tests. The symptoms are all there. I’m tired, nauseous. My body is achy.”It sounded like the flu to me, but what did I know? This was one area where I was flying blind. What I did know was that the tests could be wrong. They gave false positives all the time. “Have you been to the doctor?”Releas