Counting the Kisses (Counting the Billions 3)

“Of course not,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “Come on, like I said, I would probably have done the same thing with Duncan. You need to quit beating yourself up over that. But I do think that a little more training will make you feel more comfortable if you need to take over for me again. I know this time was probably a bit overwhelming. This will make things better for both of us.”

“I don’t know if I’m really ready to start training to be a CEO yet,” I said, frowning. “That’s a lot of responsibility. And I feel like I’m only just starting to get a handle on the rest of my duties as your advisor.”

Daniel laughed. “I don’t plan on heaping responsibilities on you,” he said. “As you know, I hate delegating much of anything anyway. And if I make things too difficult for you, all you have to do is let me know and we’ll scale things back. But put it this way: I threw you into the thick of things and you handled yourself beautifully. I don’t really think you’re going to have any t

rouble.”

And with the way he smiled at me, I was sure he was right. He’d be there to coach me every step of the way. This was just training; the stakes wouldn’t be nearly as high as they’d been over the couple days of the trial when I’d had to cover for him. Not only that, but he was still so sure that I could do this.

I nodded at him. “All right,” I said. “If you think that’s for the best.”

“I’m still just glad that everything worked out all right with the trial,” Leanne said. “And that things worked out for you, Abby, in your trial as CEO of the company.”

I reached over and caught Daniel’s hand, smiling at Matt and Leanne. “I’m just glad that you had me over for dinner tonight,” I joked. “That was probably the best meal I’ve had in a while.”

There was laughter all around, and the conversation turned to lighter topics from there.

Daniel and I might still have more to discuss, but suddenly, all my worries of the past few days seemed so silly. Daniel would never hurt me, and just because he’d yelled at me, it didn’t mean that he suddenly hated me. Hell, he didn’t even want to fire me. I had to calm down about this relationship.

Daniel wasn’t like my exes—I just had to remember that. Let him show me the person he really was. Stop running away from this.

I smiled over at him, and he squeezed my hand. “I guess I should get going,” he said to Leanne and Matt, an apologetic note in his voice. “I want to get to work early tomorrow morning so I can get caught up on everything that happened while I was gone.” He glanced over at me. “I want to talk to Erin, in particular, about what Duncan did. I might see if there’s any sort of legal action we can take against him. Asking about my workers’ sex lives has to count as harassment or something.”

I frowned. “I feel like the press would be all over that, though. You step out of the office for two days and suddenly you’re back in the courtroom, this time as the prosecution?”

“True, true,” Daniel said, nodding at me. “We’ll talk about it before I do anything, I promise you. But I still want to talk to Erin and some of the other women first, just to get their side of the story and all of the specifics.”

A couple days ago, I might have been offended, but now I knew he wasn’t saying that because he didn’t believe my account. He was the CEO of the business, and he had to know everything that had happened on Friday. So I simply nodded at him.

I looked back at my brother and my best friend. “I guess that means I should be leaving as well. Can’t let this guy beat me to the office in the morning,” I joked.

“After the work you put in last week, you’re welcome to take the day off,” Daniel said, but I could tell from his tone that he was reluctant not to see me the next day. I appreciated his offer, but I shook my head.

“Nah, I’ll be there. No one better to get you all caught up on what you missed.”

“True,” Daniel said, nodding at me.

We both stood up and, after the goodbyes were said, headed for the door.

Chapter 17

Daniel

AS WE WALKED OUTSIDE, I couldn’t resist the urge to put an arm around Abby’s lower back, drawing her in closer to me. I was so glad that everything seemed to be resolved between the two of us. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. But it sounded like she appreciated my apology and was ready to look forward.

I knew I was going to see her at work the next morning, but I found myself hating the moment I had to pull away from her tonight. I’d missed her over this long weekend of not talking. Not only that, but we had both admitted that we loved the other tonight. It felt like leaving now was leaving things unsaid.

I wanted her to know how grateful I really was to have her in my life.

I spun her around toward me and kissed her gently. Abby leaned into me, her fingers twisting in the front of my shirt as she fought to keep her balance.

“Why don’t you let me drive you home?” I asked her, my lips still close to hers, close enough that I could feel her breath against my skin. It woke a fire in my groin, my body automatically pressing closer to hers.

Abby grinned against my lips. “Thought we needed to get home so that we could get to work early tomorrow morning,” she said. “Or are you telling me that you dragged me away from my brother and friend so that we could have sex?”

“As long as we’re in bed, it counts as resting, doesn’t it?” I joked.

Abby laughed and pulled away, regret in her eyes. “But I actually drove here this time, rather than taking an Uber,” she said, gesturing toward her vehicle.