Devil in a Suit

Madison managed to undo some of that damage, encouraging me to lower my defenses. I wasn’t going to fully expose myself. Only a fool would do that. I was still surrounded by snakes. This was the business world after all, so I was going to protect myself unless I actually trusted the person. When it came to Madison, I trusted her completely.

“Careful with that. I’ll have quite a few requests to make,” Madison laughed as she peered at me in a coy manner.

I took a sip of my champagne before setting the glass down on my desk. I was glad that everyone in the building had finally left, allowing us to be alone. I stepped closer to her, placing my hands on her hips, and drawing her closer to me.

“Oh, really?” I asked as I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “What makes you think you’re the one that can give orders?”

Madison peered up at me with those big eyes of hers. They traveled down to my lips as she placed her hands on my arms, her fingers tightening around my biceps.

“What I want might be what you want too,” she pointed out as she tilted her head at me. She was trying to look cute, and it was definitely working.

I tightened my grip on her waist, digging my fingertips into her soft skin. I wanted to rip her clothes off now, but we had plenty of time for that later. For now, I wanted to celebrate her, to show her that I cared about her accomplishments. They meant a lot to her, and I wasn’t going to be an unsupportive boyfriend.

Truthfully, I was still wrapping my mind around the whole boyfriend thing. It had been a while since I had been in any sort of relationship. Being a bachelor had been a prominent point in my life for a while because it was easy and pleasurable. I didn’t want easy and pleasurable, though. I wanted something fulfilling. I finally found that in Madison.

“What I want is for you to know that I’m proud of you,” I told her.

“That means a lot to me,” she said sincerely. “Before I met you, all I cared about was school… work… anything that I could succeed at. You showed me that there’s so much more to be successful in.”

“That’s something I learned too,” I admitted as I reached up to cup her face. I ran away from affection, from emotion. I thought that falling for someone would distract me or hurt me. Instead, it made me the happiest I had ever been.

Madison shared a warm smile with me. “I’m ready to start my business and everything, but I also want to plan for our future together too,” she said, looking shy as she spoke.

I felt my heart race at her words, but I wasn’t scared. In fact, I wanted to get even closer to her now. I hadn’t ever really thought about a romantic future, like a wedding or kids. Now that I was with Madison, those things became more of a reality to me. I had a lot of things to consider now, but I didn’t shy away from what could make me even happier.

“I’m open to that. I was hoping that you’d stick around,” I chuckled as I gently stroked her cheeks with my thumbs.

“I think I will,” Madison said, her amused expression turning into a sweet one. She placed her hands on my wrists, leaning into my hands as we gazed at each other. It was like we were the only ones on the planet, only focusing on each other and nothing else.

At times, it was hard to tell what someone’s intentions were. I couldn’t trust some girls because they only wanted to be with me because of my money. That wasn’t a true relationship. I was just being sucked dry by someone who didn’t even know me.

Madison and I started out as anything but friends. She didn’t care to impress me or kiss up to me. All that she sought was respect, and she earned it. I respected her deeply. Now, I loved her. So much happened between then and now, but I wouldn’t change anything that happened in that stretch of time because I was happy with where we ended up. I couldn’t wait to see where we were in a year because it felt like things were only going up.

“I’m sad that you won’t be working for me, but I’m glad you’re starting your own business. You have a knack for it,” I told her. “We’re implementing your idea soon.”

The marketing department had been working hard lately to get everything prepared for this new phase. They had been developing new programs and incentives, thinking outside of the box, and taking a note from Madison’s creativity. It seemed like everyone was excited to finally try something new; it was a breath of fresh air for my company.