AJ
AJ looked out the window for the fourth time in as many minutes. Kat would be at his home any moment, yet he didn’t want to wait that long. He wanted to have her in his arms this second. She was the bright spot to his entire day, his entire week even. Between the lawyers and the media, his days were hell. Even swimming, his usual stress-reliever, wasn’t helping.
But Kat did. When she was around, his tension melted and the constant ache between his shoulder blades faded. Being in the water wore him out so that he was too tired to think of the consequences of Paul’s actions, whereas Kat energized him.
The alarm chimed, indicating that a car was approaching the house. The grin spreading across his face threatened to break it in half. She was here and it was the best he’d felt all day.
He ran to the door, excited as a kid on Christmas. Of course he had seen her at work, but he hadn’t had any time alone with her since he brought her soup four days ago. He hoped she was feeling better. At the office, she said she was feeling okay, but they were both so busy that he didn’t really have a chance to follow up. Tonight, they had the evening to themselves. An entire Friday night all to themselves. He couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend it than with Kat.
The driver he had sent to get her let her out in the large driveway, and he watched as she walked up to the door. He threw open the door before she even had time to knock, making her jump. The surprise put color in her cheeks that accented her beauty. Somehow, she was even more beautiful every time he saw her.
“Kat,” he greeted her, holding the door open for her to enter his home.
“That’s some security you have out there,” she commented.
“I try to have minimal staff here, but security is something I won’t skimp on,” he told her. He felt like babbling that he just had a weekly cleaning staff and personal chef who came once a day, which was nothing compared to many billionaires he knew, but he stayed quiet.
“Well, they certainly know how to do their jobs.” She sounded tired and slightly annoyed.
“Did they treat you badly?” he asked. As much as he wanted to have his home secure, the idea of them hassling her made him angry. He had specifically asked for them to allow her in without issue.
“No, no,” she assured him with a smile. “They were just very thorough. I’m glad I was on their list or I never would have gotten in.”
“You were on the list from the moment I found out your name,” he told her. She blushed and grinned, telling him it was exactly the right thing to say. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you,” she replied, kissing him on the cheek. Just the brush of her lips against his skin had his hormones firing into overdrive. It took more self-restraint than he was expecting not to just pull her into the bedroom and show her how he felt right then.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked, closing the door behind her. She leaned over and started to remove her shoes before officially entering the house.
“Kind of,” she said after a pause. “I’m still a little queasy, but it comes and goes.”
“Hopefully not for much longer, though,” he said, holding out his hand to help her with her balance. She took his hand almost gingerly and he wondered if he had said something strange. “Everyone else at the office seems to be getting over it pretty quickly.”
“Oh, right. Of course.” She smiled and relaxed slightly. “So, do I get a tour or what?”
He grinned. He brought very few people here. She was one of them and he was excited to show his home to her. He hoped she enjoyed it enough to stay. “You got it.”
The house was big, but not overly huge. He enjoyed his wealth, but he didn’t need fourteen empty rooms. He simply had a gourmet kitchen, a fancy dining room, a comfortable living room, two guest rooms, his office, a basement with the entertainment system and bar, and of course an amazing master bedroom.
“So, this is where you work when you’re at home?” she asked as they entered his office. “Wow, that desk is amazing.”
He imagined her stretched out across it, naked and willing and nearly lost his entire train of thought. It was taking a fair amount of energy to remain a gentleman with her this close after the past few days apart. She was becoming his drug of choice and he wanted more.
“How are the lawsuits going?” she asked, looking up at him with those beautiful green eyes. “I haven’t heard anything recently. ”
The weight of the world crashed back down on him again. He had managed to forget the disaster that was his work life for a few moments. “Not great. Paul really screwed the pooch,” he admitted. “Actually, screwing the pooch might have been better.”
She laughed appropriately and put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.” There was a heartfelt sadness to her voice that broke his heart.
He shrugged. “It has been a media nightmare this past week,” he told her. “But at least it seems like there’s an end in sight. The scandal seems to be losing steam. I’ll make it.”
Kat gave his arm a squeeze. He picked up her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “As long as things stay quiet, I think the company will weather this storm. We hit our lowest stock price yesterday, but as long as nothing else hits the fan, we’ll be fine.”
“Fine?”
“Better than fine,” he promised. He actually believed that things would work out when she was around. It wasn’t just her most recent business idea to rent their unsold merchandise, but how she made him feel. When she was with him, things felt possible.
“There’s still more I want to show you,” he said after a moment. “This isn’t the best room in the house by far.”