Share
The Numbers
Related chapters
Stay the Night I'm Responsible
Aston“I should have seen it earlier.” I could kick my own ass up and down this beach all day long for missing it. “If I’d had more experience, I would’ve figured it out before you had to show me.”“But remember, the branches don’t get sent the same numbers I do,” he reminded me. “Trust me, Aston. You’ve done everything right. There are people at fault here, but you’re not one of them.”“Even so. It’s my branch, my people, my responsibility. Promise me that if the cuts have to made, you’ll let me tell them and do it my way.” Most people probably would’ve begged to let Blake or someone else from corporate deliver the news or have asked for corporate protocol so they could try to absolve themselves from any blame.But that wasn’t me. If it came down to cuts being made, it was up to me to make them. The least I could do was to try and soften the blow. Whether it was policy or not to do it, I intended on promising anyone affected that I would hire them back as soon as I turned the branch
Stay the Night It's Your Job
BLAKEIt was cloudy when I woke up the next morning. Cloudy with a chance of kicking my brother’s ass if he hadn’t sent those numbers yet. Rolling out of bed, I headed straight for my laptop.I was done waiting for him. The email would either be there or it wouldn’t, but I wasn’t waiting for Danny to call the shots anymore.He and I were going to have a serious talk today. Sighing, I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms above my head while I waited for my computer to fire up.Danny had another thing coming if he thought I was making any further cuts without a fight. While some cuts had been justified, I was becoming more convinced than ever that what Danny ordered had been excessive.It no longer felt like Danny wasn’t sending me the numbers because he forgot or was busy. It felt like he was keeping them from me on purpose. I thought it was just about New York, but I was starting to suspect it was more than that.It was taking too long for it to only be about New York. Danny thought h
Stay the Night One for the Road
Blake“Don’t play that card with me. I wouldn’t be doing Dad a favor, I would be doing one for you. Now, usually I wouldn’t mind, but I’m not yanking people’s livelihoods away on a whim you can’t even justify with actual numbers showing that it’s necessary.”Danny spat out a string of curses. “Could you just do this one fucking thing, or do I have to drop everything else and come over there to do it myself?”“No.” It took everything I had to keep calm, but I managed it. Only just. “That won’t be necessary. I’m coming back to Florida to settle this. Today. I’ll see you later.”“Don’t you dare come back here before you get it done, Blake. I’ll—” I didn’t listen to whatever threat he was about to make. I was done with him for now. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I punched down on the disconnect button and brought my phone to my forehead.I wanted to slam the phone down on the floor or hurl it off the balcony, but I tossed it on the table next to me instead.It was about time I stood
Stay the Night Addicted
ASTONMy cheeks were hot and my lips stung a little. My heart was beating so wildly it felt like it was about to blow a hole in my chest. I pressed my hand to my heart, feeling it beat madly as I tried to calm it down.Blake slipped out of the supply closet with a final, comparatively chaste kiss and was gone. I stared at the door, wishing he would decide to forget about his trip and come back to me instead. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen. It was too important to go to Florida, for his family’s sake as well as that of the company. Meanwhile, my hair was probably a mess and my whole body felt hot. It would never fail to amaze me what Blake could do to me with just a kiss. If he wasn’t going to take care of the itch he caused, I wondered whether there was any way I could get away with doing it myself.But I pushed that thought out of my mind. I was at freaking work. There was no way I could do something like that right now. It was just going to have to wait until later. Before
Stay the Night Spreading The Word
Aston“Did Blake run out the door? I kind of wish he would’ve stayed, but that’s selfish of me. What’s going on between us is a really good question, actually.” It was one I’d asked myself a few times now. I couldn’t avoid the truth about it anymore. Sleeping with Blake the first time may have been about getting my cherry popped by a nice, hot guy who I got along with, but it wasn’t just like that anymore. “We’ve never really talked about it. It’s weird, we’ve talked about pretty much everything else, but we’ve never talked about what’s going on between us. I honestly don’t think either of us really knows at this point.”Tiffany’s expression sobered and she lowered her voice, her eyes darting from side to side before she spoke. “While you’ve been talking about pretty much everything else, did you happen to talk to him about the cuts?”I gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. A shiver of excitement ran down my spine at the good news I could share. “I did, and we don’t have anything to worr
Stay the Night Back in Florida
BLAKEThe wheels touched down on the tarmac late in the afternoon. The pilot made the usual announcements, thanking the passengers for choosing the airline, then there was the crush and rush of people trying to be the first to grab their carry-on baggage and get off the plane.I remained seated at first, knowing I would get off the plane when I got off of it. There was no point in joining the rush.While I waited, I decided on my itinerary for the rest of the day. I had to talk to Danny, but I was going to go see my father first. I couldn’t wait any longer. I hadn’t even smelled the Florida air yet, but I was already more anxious to get to him, knowing just how close I was.It was getting late and Danny probably wouldn’t still be at the office anyway. Despite his ranting about how busy he was, he’d never put in the kind of hours Dad and I did.There was also no chance in hell he was waiting for me to get to the office since I’d told him I was coming. He made it plenty clear he didn’t
Stay the Night Unexpected Visitor
BlakeAston giggled again. “Is that so? And how exactly would I have managed to make it more fun?”Her voice was huskier, flirty. The recognition of that tone, the same one I’d heard from her in bed, was like a fist around my cock, which took notice immediately.But as much as I would have enjoyed it, I couldn’t just pull over to have phone sex right now. I tabled the thought for later though. “I don’t know, maybe because I would have had someone to play backgammon and tennis with.”She laughed. I could almost see the way her eyes lit up and her eyebrow raised when she did. Damn, she was beautiful. “Backgammon and tennis, huh? I was hoping for something a little more interesting than that.”Jesus, Aston being light and flirty was really getting to me. For a brief second, I considered pulling over and risking arrest just so I could hear where the conversation would go if we kept it up. But Aston was at work, and the thought of having to call Danny to bail me out after getting arrested
Stay the Night I've Changed
ASTONBy the time my shift ended, I was bone tired and yet still strangely exhilarated at the same time. The hard work that came with being the manager now that the hotel was so much busier left me exhausted at the end of each day, yet more fulfilled than I've ever been before.My exhilaration wasn’t only work-related though. My earlier conversation with Blake left my head in the clouds and my heart beating double time. During that conversation, for the first time I felt like I really knew him and that there was something between us that was real.I logged out of my computer and locked up my office, still wishing I could have taken Blake up on his offer. Tiffany was walking down the hall just then, skipping up to me when she realized I had my bag slung over my shoulder."Well, would you look at that? Our fearless leader is packing up on time for once. Hey, what are you going to do now? I’m heading to the beach. Running into you like this makes me think fate wants you to come with me."
Latest chapter
