“I love you,” I say, kissing her gently. It’s the complete opposite of what I just did to her, but I like that we have it both ways. Fast and dirty or slow and soft. She gives me every side of her and that’s what I crave. All of it and all of her.
“You’re going to fuck me back to sleep.” Her eyes are heavy and she’s kissing me lazily.
“You’re allowed a small nap,” I tease, kissing my way down her neck and then turning off the water.
My cock slips out of her and hangs thick and wet between us. She licks her lips and I shake my head. “If you start that, I’ll never go to work.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?”
“No. But the sooner I leave, the sooner I can get back. I’ve got a few open cases I need to finish and then I think we’re due for a few days of vacation.”
“Didn’t we just get back from Milan?” she teases, and I shake my head.
“It doesn’t count, and even if it did, I want more time with you.”
Lately I’ve been considering my workload and how much I actually want to keep up with the pace I was going before I met Erin. There’s got to be a better balance of working while still being able to have the time I want with her. I’m planning on bringing this up to Renee when I get to work today and go over the brief from Italy. Maybe this is something she needs for her own relationship. I never thought about the time she and Danielle had together until I met Erin, and now I see how unfair our hours may have been to that.
“I’m going to send a wedding planner here today to talk to you and Betty.”
She perks up at this and smiles at me. “Seriously?”
I carry her out of the shower and dry her off. “Anything you want, the sky’s the limit.”
“I need to check on Grams.” Her eyebrows pull together and I lean forward, kissing her.
“I made a few calls last night and this morning. She’s totally safe and I’m going to get to the bottom of this.” I hold her face and look into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”
She nods without hesitation. “Of course I do. I think that’s why I know this will all be okay.”
“Shit, that’s awful,” Renee says after I recount what happened last night.
“I know. I can’t figure out how they tapped into our building’s security system.” I shake my head. There’s been no new update from Jarico. “It’s so similar to what happened to Erin that it makes me sick to my stomach. I think someone might be trying to harass her.”
“Yeah, this feels like some sort of crime of passion.” Renee crosses her arms like she’s chilled. “Hopefully they’ll get in touch with an update soon.” She’s trying to be positive and I appreciate that. “Let’s talk about the proposal.”
I’m immediately thrown back to that moment in bed together when I put the ring on her finger. “Umm, I’m not sure we’d call that a proposal as much as a demand.”
“That makes perfect sense,” she chuckles, looking out the window. “Maybe that’s what I should have done with Dani a long time ago.” Her laughter turns into a sigh as she looks down at her lap. “She’s going to leave me when she finds out you proposed to Erin.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s been too long and she probably thinks I don’t want to go through with it.”
“Do you?”
Her head snaps up and she scowls at me. “You know I do.”
I lean forward on my desk and prop my elbows on it. “Then stop thinking about every reason she shouldn’t be with you and make it so that she can’t leave.”
She looks away and after a long moment she nods. “Okay, so back to business.” She changes the subject as we discuss the case in Milan and then what else we’ve got on the board.
We talk a long time about who is taking what and how many new cases we’re going to take on. We also talk again about hiring a partner to help out with the workload and we agree it’s finally time.
“I’m going to call Mateo and see if he’s interested,” Renee says, making notes.
“Do you think he’d leave the island?” She shrugs. “He’d be the perfect fit.
“I know.” She’s smug as she flips the page and looks at her notes. “Now, up next on the agenda is staffing.”
I groan because I hate that we’re still dealing with this shit. I swear when we hire this new partner I’m letting them handle all of it. “Have we still not found someone to cover for Samantha while she’s on maternity leave?”
“No, we’ve got that. It’s the guy the staffing agency sent us for Oscar’s position in IT. He quit while you were gone.”