Counting the Kisses (Counting the Billions 3)

I liked having her around the mansion with me. Somehow, she filled all those empty spaces that had bothered me ever since Austin had moved out. Somehow, even when we weren’t talking, when we were just curled up together reading or working in the living room, Abby seemed to kill those terrible silences.

But I had used her absence that night to work on something slightly different, and I was proud of myself for getting everything done before Abby came inside.

She paused when she found me in the living room. “Hey,” she said, smiling at me. “What’s that look for?”

“I have something for you,” I told her slowly, and I watched the excited curiosity fill her eyes.

“Oh really?” she asked, coming over to the couch and sitting down next to me. She leaned in for a quick kiss. “What is it?” she asked.

I reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the white envelope I had placed there. “Now, I know that me handing you envelopes has a little history to it. Something that we’d rather not repeat,” I said slowly, and Abby laughed. “This is a good surprise, I promise you,” I told her.

Abby flipped over the envelope and lifted the flap, pulling out the papers from inside. Her jaw dropped. “Is this for real?” she asked.

“One hundred percent,” I promised her, grinning at her hushed excitement. “Two one-way tickets to Thailand, one for me and one for you, leaving in a little over two weeks.” I paused. “I moved around some of our meetings, with Erin’s help. I have to admit, I was kind of surprised to find out how willing everyone was to let me take a vacation. I guess a lifetime of great service pays off eventually.”

Abby shook her head, still looking stunned. “And the other employees?” she asked. “What did they say?”

“I haven’t told everyone yet,” I admitted. “But I think things are going to be fine. They’ll be in Erin’s capable hands.”

Abby’s head snapped up. “You’re putting her in charge as interim CEO?” she asked, and I couldn’t read the expression on her face. Having recently put Abby in that position, though, and realizing just how uncomfortable it had made her, I could imagine some of what she was thinking, though. Hell, she was probably wondering what would happen if Erin outshone her. If I would keep Erin as my advisor instead or something.

“I didn’t ask her to be interim CEO, no,” I said quickly, keeping my voice gentle. “She’ll basically be doing the same thing that she’s always done, only with a bit more scope now. She’ll be in charge of making things run as smoothly as possible in our absence and letting us know about everything that we need to handle right away. The meetings that can’t be rescheduled, she’ll sit in on them and take detailed notes for us. That sort of thing.”

“Oh wow,” Abby said, shaking her head. “And you really think this will work?”

I shook my head as well. “To be honest, Abby, I don’t really care if it works or not. All I know is that as irresponsible as it may sound, all I want to do is show you all the places you’ve always dreamed of seeing.”

A slow grin broke across Abby’s face. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“Thank you,” I said to her in response. “You know, before you came along, the only thing I could focus on was work. And I definitely love my company and the work we do. This isn’t the end of that. But on the other hand, you’ve made me want so much more than just that.”

“How long are we going for?” Abby asked, looking down at the tickets again. “These are just one-ways.”

“I know,” I said. “There are two reasons for that. The first is that if anything big does happen with the company and I need to fly back right away, or we both need to fly back right away, we have the flexibility to do so. Of course, I’m hoping that nothing like that happens, but I figured we should be on the safe side either way. We can always pick back up once everything settles down again, so don’t worry about that.”

“Makes sense,” Abby said.

“The other reason is that this leaves us free to pick our own route once we’re over there,” I continued. “Rather than lock ourselves into a certain amount of time in Thailand followed by a certain amount of time in Australia, this gives us the chance to explore for as long as we want. Maybe we only end up seeing Thailand. Or maybe on the way down to Australia, we decide to stop off in Indonesia or somewhere as well. I just didn’t think it made sense to lock ourselves into anything.”

“I love that plan,” Abby said, grinning at me. She shook her head, though. “I still can’t believe this is real,” she said. “I feel like you need to pinch me or something.”

I laughed and gave her a hug. “How was drinks with Leanne anyway?” I asked.

Abby seemed at a loss for words for a moment. Then, she smiled. “Not nearly as exciting as this,” she joked. But her eyes turned serious again. “Really, Daniel. I can’t imagine a better gift than this. Getting to see the world with you? That’s amazing.” She paused. “Thanks again.”

I leaned down to press a soft kiss against her lips. “Thank you again,” I murmured. “I know you don’t believe I was ever the terrible person that the tabloids make me out to be, but still, I have to thank you for always believing in me.”

Abby grinned up at me as we pulled apart, then got to her feet, setting aside the envelope and pulling me up to my feet as well. “Let’s go upstairs,” she suggested. “I think this time, it’s my turn to show you how truly grateful I am.”

Chapter 24

Abby

I ROLLED OFF OF DANIEL and flopped down against the mattress, just trying to catch my breath. Daniel twisted his fingers in mine, but it was clear that all he could do was breathe for the moment, too. No matter how many times we’d had sex th

is week, it seemed like we kept reaching higher and higher degrees of ecstasy. Each time I came, I was sure that I could never cum so hard again. But each time we made love, Daniel seemed intent on proving me wrong.

I certainly wasn’t complaining.