An Instant Connection (Insta-Spark)

I leaned close and brushed a kiss to his lips. “Congratulations, Mitch.”

He wound his arm around my waist, yanking me tight and kissing me with passion. He swept his tongue into my mouth with a low groan and wrapped his hand around my neck, keeping me close.

I was almost panting by the time he finished.

“Um, wow?” I whispered.

“This is the one, sweetheart. It will make the company number one. I know it. We won’t be able to keep up.”

I chuckled, wiping my gloss from his mouth. “We’re already having trouble with that. If you took on every project you were offered, I wouldn’t see you for three years.”

He tapped the end of my nose affectionately. “That will never do.”

He leaned across me, picking up my coffee and taking a long drink.

“Hey! That was mine.”

“I know. I love drinking from your cup. Your lips add an extra flavor to it.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are such a dork.”

“Romantic. You’re always mixing up your words, Mandy. I’m romantic.”

“Whatever.”

He studied me, then with a wink, took another long sip.

“I’m thinking of opening a second office.”

“Here?”

“No. I was thinking overseas—Sweden. We’re getting so many tender bids over there. I would prefer to have an office to work from—a central location.”

My heart sank. If Mitch opened another office overseas, he’d be away more. I’d hardly ever see him. But I forced a smile to my face.

“That will be interesting.”

His phone rang, but he ignored it. His eyes searched my face, and he frowned. “What is it?”

I waved my hand. “Nothing. You just surprised me. I’m sure it would be amazing.”

His phone rang again, and he dug into his pocket. “Shit, I need to take this.”

I made my voice sound chipper. “Enough flirting with your staff, Mr. Mitchell. Get back to work. I’m going to put these flowers in water and make you your own coffee.”

I slid past him as he answered his phone, not meeting his eyes. I needed to process so I could support him.

But the question kept returning.

What about me? What about us?

* * *

Mitch

I glanced up from my drafting table, stretching my arms. It was later than I thought. The sun had set, the automatic lighting already on. I had been so lost in my vision, I hadn’t even noticed. I bent sideways, peering into the outer office. Mandy’s desk was empty, but I knew she was around. I crossed the office, stopping by the heavy glass door that gave me privacy and the quiet I needed to concentrate but allowed me to see everything happening when I wanted to, and located Mandy. She was on the huge sectional sofa, sorting papers on the coffee table. I held back my smile, knowing she was working on my expense report. Once she was done, I would have to take her to dinner to say thanks.

I was awful at keeping track of my expenditures. Mandy had full access to my credit cards and tried to keep up, digging through my pockets and wallet to find the receipts I forgot to drop into the box she kept for them. Whenever possible, I had the receipt emailed, but I was a fail at that a great deal of the time as well.