Counting the Kisses (Counting the Billions 3)

“Those look perfect.” I groaned, already salivating just at the look of them. Abby grinned over her shoulder at me, and that was that.

We sat down to a peaceful dinner together, with Abby catching me up on what had happened at the office that day in my absence. I smiled hearing how perfectly she had handled a disagreement in the marketing team meeting. She looked uncertain, though, like she wasn’t sure she had made the right decision. I assured her that she had and was rewarded with another bright smile.

With each new smile from her, I felt more of my stress from the day melt away, until I could finally just breathe again. Abby favored me with one last smile as she grabbed my empty plate, then brought it over to the sink.

“Let’s just leave the dishes for tonight,” I told her, following her and putting my hands on her hips, pressing up against her. I brushed some of her hair back, kissing her neck, and I could feel her shudder against me. It sent lust zinging straight for my cock, which was already somewhat interested after having listened to her detail her competent work as a CEO that day.

I never would have thought it would be such a turn-on to find a woman who was so brilliant at running my family business.

Abby turned toward me, putting her hands on my shoulders to steady herself. “Whatever you say, boss,” she breathed.

I captured her lips in a heated kiss, pushing her back against the countertop, unable to resist the urge to slide a leg between hers and grind against her. She moaned into the kiss, her fingers creeping around the back of my neck to pull me closer, until the kiss was almost bruising in its fiery intensity.

When I let go of her, she looked raw and open already, as though we were already fucking rather than simply making out in the kitchen. I kept my dark, smoldering gaze on her as I grabbed her hands and walked backward toward my bedroom.

It took us a while to make it there. I couldn’t quit kissing her, pressing her up against the wall in the hallway, the banister, any surface we came across. As I kissed her, my fingers worked at the zipper on the back of her dress, slowly dragging it down, tracing her spine with featherlight touches. She was giggling by the time we made it to the top of the stairs, but her laughter died on a needy whimper as I slid the dress off her shoulders, carelessly letting it fall to the floor, before I pulled her nearly-naked body against mine again, fingers finding the cleft between her thighs.

Chapter 8

Abby

I WAS PRACTICALLY SHAKING with need by the time Daniel led me into his bedroom and started stripping off his own clothes. I fell back on the bed, somehow already nearly naked, and watched him with a hooded gaze, absently trailing my fingers across my own skin to satiate the desperate desire coursing through my body.

I honestly didn’t know how I was this turned on. But somewhere between the kitchen and his bedroom, my lust had become almost overpowering. Part of it had to do with the approving looks Daniel had been giving me during dinner as I told him about my first day as his stand-in at the office. There was something about knowing that he really did believe I could do the job.

It also had to do with the fact that, I was sure, we

both needed to blow off a little steam after a stressful day. It was nice to lean into his body, to find a place where I fit so well, to turn my face up toward his and forget all about my worries.

But there was something more to this than just blowing off steam. Daniel was more gentle with me than he had ever been, running his hands down my sides, trailing soft touches around the edges of my nipples. When he finally pushed his fingers into me, he set a slow, easy rhythm, focusing more on varying the pressure against my walls than on quick thrusts.

He held me close to him as he plunged his member deep into my core, covering territory that his fingers hadn’t been able to reach. I gasped, clinging to him, moving my body with his.

It didn’t take much for him to bring me over the edge—just a few correctly placed thrusts and I was cumming, his name on my lips. But he continued to rock into me, chasing pleasure of his own, and my core continued to burn with rapidly increasing need as I whimpered and begged for more.

I could tell that he was close as well, his muscles drawing taut through his chest and abs, his face twisting in surprise as lust spiked sharply through his body. He pulled me into one final, searing, all-encompassing kiss, his tongue desperately seeking mine as his hips stuttered off rhythm. He was all around me, inside me, filling me and keeping me safe.

I spilled again, unable to help it, my walls clenching around his twitching, spurting cock. My body sank into the memory-foam mattress, and a deep exhaustion settled over me, a combination of the sex, the crazy day, and my terrible sleep from the night before. Although I still didn’t feel any more confident in my position as McGregor Enterprises’ CEO, I knew then that I wouldn’t have any trouble sleeping that night.

A slow smile spread across my face as Daniel maneuvered us so that my head was resting on his chest. He bent to kiss my forehead. I could hear his heartbeat still thudding from exertion, a reminder of what we had just done, as though the loose and limber feeling of my body wasn’t proof enough.

Again, those three words. I love you??, I thought. But I was too exhausted to give voice to them now, and anyway, Daniel no doubt knew that without my saying it.

I relaxed against him, enjoying the way he toyed with my hair as I fell asleep curled around him.

Chapter 9

Daniel

FRIDAY WAS THE FIRST day I heard my lawyer sound anything less than confident about this trial. As Jude and I prepped that morning before entering the courtroom, she suddenly said, “You know, things could get dicey with this trial.”

I grimaced at how serious she looked, at least thanking my lucky stars that I had a whole legal team in my court. She was my lawyer’s co-council and just as determined to fix this... “You already told me about the possible sentences,” I reminded her.

“I know,” Jude said, nodding. “I just want to make sure you’re prepared. I’ll do everything I can to get the jury on your side, but the public is really getting involved with this case. It’s all over social media, and to be honest, the facts aren’t exactly on our side. All the chaos is working to Gerrard’s advantage.”

“I know.” I sighed. I had avoided looking at any of the news that morning, but Austin had sent me a message letting me know that there was a lot of bad press out there. Honestly, though, I wasn’t so much worried for myself than I was about how all of this would affect McGregor Enterprises and, by proxy, Abby. I didn’t want to think about how hard it could make her position as interim CEO, even though obviously none of this mess was her fault.

I shrugged at Jude. “There’s nothing we can do except plead our case, right?”